RE: BMW 135i M Sport: Spotted

[lord trumpton]

I've had one of these and fitted a jb4 tuning box. Absolutely rocket ship fast.

No lsd diff though

[seefarr]

323ti said:

The N55 would be my choice even though both the 54 and 55 are open deck blocks and probably aren't as strong as they could/should be. Especially when the boost is turned up.

Huh? N54 have made ludicrous amounts of power on stock internals. There are guys in the US claiming over 800hp and there are quite a few over 700hp. You can claim American HP, not a flywheel dyno etc. but the fact remains these are a very strong engine in stock form.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BMW/comments/2k0x5d/new_n...

[s m]

bodhi said:

Mellow7 said:

...or for slightly lower running costs how about a 125i M Sport Coupe...I went for an auto 2008 model with just over 46k miles and £5k worth of factory extras for under £10k - looks identical to the 135i in the photo but 218bhp...just getting fed up with the rattly dashboard though...fixed the A-pillar common rattle, now the glove box et al are joining in! I think it's simply got too many pieces to it...Otherwise, very pleased 4 months on...cheapest, fastest car I've ever bought...

I was going to suggest this - I've had a manual 125i M Sport for 3 years now, and it's been hands down the best car I've had. Only reliability issues have been the aftermarket headlights the previous owner fitted, however my car guy sorted out the dodgy wiring and they've been fine. I'd rather have the OEM Xenons, but these seem an improvement on the standard halogens. Think the units are made by Sonar, no idea who made the HID kits though.

I had all the dashboard rattles you mention, but managed to fix them in one fell swoop - I swapped the runflats for Michelin PS4's, and they disappeared overnight - no joke. Whilst it doesn't exactly ride like a Citroen now, it is a far more comfortable proposition for the 20k a year I'm doing in it.

There's also a cheeky remap available to take the 125i up to 130i levels of power (same engine), so ~250/260 bhp depending on who does it.

The turbo coupe gets hydraulic steering doesn't it whereas the n/asp has electric assistance I believe?

[Rosewood Red]

RobM77 said:

Lots of useful stuff

seefarr said:

I've got a 335i with the Birds B3 package and love it. The only thing it needed after that was a few extra horses and the N54 can be taken to close to 400hp with just a remap. It now rides really well and will smoke both rear tyres at once.

The Birds package for the 1er:
http://www.birdsauto.com/product-information/b1-dy...

Thanks for the info chaps. I also remember reading that the 135i coupé having hydraulic steering, which is a plus.

Food for thought...

[RobM77]

With regard to the Birds kit, I'd highly recommend the uprated ARBs - their effect is obvious, with them making a huge difference to my car's cornering ability and having a positive effect on handling (subjectively, of course). However, Birds advise against their fitment without an LSD; I'm lucky in that my 3 has very little power (163bhp!) so after discussing it with Kevin Bird I opted for the ARBs on their own, which is fine for me, no matter how wet and slippery it is. I suspect his advice would certainly apply to a 135i though.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 13th July 15:50

[bodhi]

s m said:

The turbo coupe gets hydraulic steering doesn't it whereas the n/asp has electric assistance I believe?

It does - the electric steering has never really bothered me, doesn't seem any worse on feel than the hydraulic based E46 330d I had previously to it. But then, it does spend more time schlepping up and down the M6 than on B-Roads these days.

[Mike1990]

Its a shame they didn't put this engine in the Hatch version.

[RobM77]

Mike1990 said:

Its a shame they didn't put this engine in the Hatch version.

The E87 135i coupe had the N54 engine from 2007 to 2010 and the N55 from 2011 to 2013. The F20 hatchback M135i then continued with that later engine.

[HannsG]

Probably my next car once I stop shedding in a Panda 100HP

[HairyPoppins]

"Is the 135i a looker? Not really."

There's one in our car park and frankly from 20 yards it's mundane in extremis.

[Maxus]

At a BMW event it was one of these that I was really impressed with. Felt like a spiritual successor to an E30 325i. Nice and compact, 6 cylinder growl, neat handling and felt very lively. It was a hoot.
Do they really have that many engine problems? Shame if they do.

[Gez79]

I had a 130i before switching to a n55 335i manual and would have had a 135i first time round if I could have afforded it and 2nd time round if I hadn't had kids in the meantime.

One thing I noticed though is the 135i is quite lardy. It's not much lighter than my 3 series.

My water pump went on my 335i on almost exactly 70k which seems the common point but otherwise been very reliable

[Wolands Advocate]

I bought a new 135i coupe with a manual box but otherwise most of the options list back in 2009, which was the earlier version with the N54 engine but with the updated non-folding iDrive (massive improvement on the older version). It was a cracking little car. In the end slightly too little (although more practical that you might imagine with four decent seats, which is why I eventually changed it for something else. But drive-wise, it was great, and I got many compliments on what a subtle and tasteful car it was (mine was Monaco Blue with dark brown (Terra) leather).

I shall paraphrase what I wrote about it at the time:

"While I wouldn’t go so far as to describe this as a Jekyll and Hyde car, it definitely has two sides to it. The first is one of surprising maturity – the large-capacity straight-six and weighty feel of the controls endow it with the effortless feel of an expensive luxury express. You can see why the likes of Evo and Autocar were disappointed that it wasn’t the hooligan machine they were hoping for. In sixth gear, it devours trans-European motorway distances in quiet cruise-controlled comfort. With that in mind, this could probably be a perfectly nice car with an automatic gearbox. But that would be a waste. Because, if you prod past the initial stages of throttle aperture, the car switches into an alert, growling accomplice, ready to streak up a challenging road with a previously unsuspected snarl.

Hooligan? Perhaps not. But it nevertheless certainly has a darker edge beneath that demure facade. On rockface-edged roads, this is a car where you open the sunroof and windows to hear the rise/fall crescendo of howls and growls. The sort of noise that encourages you to seize the car by the scruff of its neck. It doesn’t shriek through the upper rev-range quite the way the older BMW straight sixes do, but it’s still pretty special.

And make no mistake, when you want it to, this car goes like stink for a “baby” coupe and will show a clean pair of heels to many more overtly sporting machines. Because the performance is -unless you deliberately provoke it- delivered in such a seamless wave, it’s easy to feel that the car isn’t actually as urgent as the statistics suggest. But it is and a glance at the speedo can be a shock if you aren’t concentrating.

I also ended up having one of BMW's Performance exhausts fitted – improved the sound even further. Gave it a lovely burble at idle, a deep purposeful sound in normal operation, a distinctly old-school pop and crackle on the overrun and a full-on “ripping calico” shriek if really provoked that wouldn’t disgrace something much more exotic. And from cold, the almighty din it created in the garage was almost embarrassing. It also changed the feel of the car – it felt much more urgent, which is presumably largely due to the fact that the added soundtrack made you feel much closer to the mechanicals, and rather less clinically modern.

So, yes, if you can get yourself a well-cared for example for under £15k, it could be a great choice.

Edited by Wolands Advocate on Thursday 13th July 19:39

[nickfrog]

bodhi said:

There's also a cheeky remap available to take the 125i up to 130i levels of power (same engine), so ~250/260 bhp depending on who does it.

I did this with Evolve and upgraded the brakes too. Fantastic car that I truly miss in many ways. I thought it was an impossibly good looking car too, however strangely styled.

Edited by nickfrog on Thursday 13th July 19:43

[Smokey32]

seefarr said:

I've got a 335i with the Birds B3 package and love it. The only thing it needed after that was a few extra horses and the N54 can be taken to close to 400hp with just a remap. It now rides really well and will smoke both rear tyres at once.

The Birds package for the 1er:
http://www.birdsauto.com/product-information/b1-dy...

To get to 400 you typically need intercooler, air filter and catless downpipes. With just a map your looking at 360ish.

[aeropilot]

I bought my N55 engined 135i new in 2011, only sold it earlier this year, just short of 6 years ownership, and did 65k miles in it.

Specced mine quite highly at the time, DCT gearbox, leather, lumbar support, power fold mirrors, Nav + Bluetooth + Harmon Kardon audio etc.
My dealer later found out that it was the only 135i ever delivered in the UK in the colour combination of Bluewater Metallic with Coral Red leather.
I also had the Birds B1 spings and dampers fitted at about 18 months old when the original RFT's had worn out. Made a huge difference, much more compliant ride and control. Also had a Forge intercooler fitted which added 19hp in my before and after dyno test
With the DCT box it really was a very quick under-the-radar 'Q-car'.
Very rare car though, BMW only sold about 1250 in the UK in the 6 years they were on sale here.

They are a cracking car, and I miss it hugely. My neighbours are much happier now though, as I had the BMWP exhaust fitted at about a year old, and it was a tad raucous at 6.45am on cold start .....

[MNut]

I have one of these and I have to say it's seduced me. I have however gone down the route of making it into a 1M of sorts in all but looks.

It's had the M3 LSD, arbs, wishbones and bushes. The awful M Sport dampers and springs were binned in favour of Bilstein B12 (B8 dampers and Eibach Springs). That little lot has transformed the car and it is bloody brilliant.

I have a BMW Warranty on my car and it's had all the main issues these cars suffer with dealt with in the last 12 months

Water Pump
Turbos
HPFP
Injectors

In addition to the above I have added catless downpipes, a metal charge pipe and an upgraded intercooler to maintain boost pressure. It's also been remapped by Evolve and makes just shy of 400bhp.

I've also ditched the run flats in favour of proper tyres in a proper size (Michelin PS4 225 up front and 255 at the rear)

It's a proper little stormer now.

This or a 335i are both fantastic cars. Just ensure you either get one with a decent warranty or buy one that has had all the issues seen to (like mine - although mine isn't for sale)

[oversteerer]

My little beauty. As previously mentioned, installing an E93 M3 front anti-roll bar, 1M front and rear trailing arms and rear subframe bushes absolutely transform the car. The standard suspension is crap.

[Player1pressstart]

Better get a 125i instead ! This is THE collector IMO.
Last 3L N/A coupe from BMW...
It just need to be detuned to 130i specs (218 to 274-280HP) as originally it's got nothing above 5K.
The engine is 80kg (!) lighter than the turbo one, so on track it's as fast as a 135i but it doesn't understeer unlike it.
The reliability is top-notch too (did 100'000 km with no problem), it's super efficient too (8.5 l/100km AVG in my case over 8 years).
With a performance exhaust the sound is just perfect.
And finally the diff crown is NOT welded which means that you can mount directly an LSD without changing the whole rear axle (I had a Quaiffe in mine, jsut perfect).
If you can, get one without electric steering as it was an option.

[RobM77]

Player1pressstart said:

Better get a 125i instead ! This is THE collector IMO.
Last 3L N/A coupe from BMW...
It just need to be detuned to 130i specs (218 to 274-280HP) as originally it's got nothing above 5K.
The engine is 80kg (!) lighter than the turbo one, so on track it's as fast as a 135i but it doesn't understeer unlike it.
The reliability is top-notch too (did 100'000 km with no problem), it's super efficient too (8.5 l/100km AVG in my case over 8 years).
With a performance exhaust the sound is just perfect.
And finally the diff crown is NOT welded which means that you can mount directly an LSD without changing the whole rear axle (I had a Quaiffe in mine, jsut perfect).
If you can, get one without electric steering as it was an option.

80KG?! bloody hell. Do you have a link proving that? If true that's extraordinary. You're right, that's a huge amount to have held away from the CofG, although BMWs obviously minimise these effects by having the engine so far back in the chassis.