Discussion
yonex said:
Riknos said:
I like the idea of these but I love the 1 series coupe looks better than the hatch, but they command a hefty premium - 130 is a bit of a performance bargain!
Under £6500 for 270 odd HP, manual, RWD, straight 6 with toys. What's not to like?
A friend has just sold a well sorted 130i with BMW upgrade brakes, LSD, remap, sports exhaust & fast road/track geo & I was really surprised by how it got down the road & it was also a useful track toy on track orientated tyres - it also kept a Porsche 996 very honest. I couldn't believe what VFM they are currently & like many of their era are probably one of the last of the proper engined cars before the smaller turbo engined cars started to be built. A great 'sleeper' that will surprise many modern hot hatches 
As though it were some sort of sign from the car gods a 130i has just come in as PX at my place of work. Had a quick little go, such a smooth engine, shame this one was an auto, it's got a proper little chunky, chuck it about character about it. Looking forward to the update with the LSD and the Suspension!
petrolveins said:
As though it were some sort of sign from the car gods a 130i has just come in as PX at my place of work. Had a quick little go, such a smooth engine, shame this one was an auto, it's got a proper little chunky, chuck it about character about it. Looking forward to the update with the LSD and the Suspension!
How well is the auto suited to it? budgie smuggler said:
petrolveins said:
As though it were some sort of sign from the car gods a 130i has just come in as PX at my place of work. Had a quick little go, such a smooth engine, shame this one was an auto, it's got a proper little chunky, chuck it about character about it. Looking forward to the update with the LSD and the Suspension!
How well is the auto suited to it? budgie smuggler said:
How well is the auto suited to it?
The auto doesn't really suit the N52 engine as its quite a nice fizzy engine that likes revs and it has relatively low torque so it doesn't match an auto very well, my 330 with the same engine is an auto but I crave for it to be a manual nearly every time I get in it.The engine is superb though and deserves to be mated to a manual gearbox I think.
petrolveins said:
Can't comment really, barely drove it. But as a fun and involving car I didn't like the Auto, it's character is better suited to manual, a car like my 540i is better suited to an Auto.
cerb4.5lee said:
The auto doesn't really suit the N52 engine as its quite a nice fizzy engine that likes revs and it has relatively low torque so it doesn't match an auto very well, my 330 with the same engine is an auto but I crave for it to be a manual nearly every time I get in it.
The engine is superb though and deserves to be mated to a manual gearbox I think.
Thanks chaps. I was hoping the tiptronic/paddle mode would be a happy medium between full auto and manual. I've got nackered knees and edging forward 20cm at a time on the A127 is annoying to say the least with a manual box. Might just have to MTFU The engine is superb though and deserves to be mated to a manual gearbox I think.
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