RE: BMW 135i M Sport: Spotted

[s m]

Wolands Advocate said:

Thanks. The worst thing about the 135i coupe was that I owned one when the 1M came out... I had a good go in the 1M pre-launch and liked it a lot, and could have had a slot, but the idea of paying double for a 1M what the 135i was then worth trade really put me off because the two cars didn't feel all that very different to me. I wouldn't quantify it as night and day.

Obviously it wouldn't have done had I known that the 1M would go on to effectively not depreciate.

• *Goes off to find a wall to bang my head against...again***

Yes, they never quite depreciated as so many predicted the turbo engined M-car would. I do like them but at least you get to have a sunroof with the non-M coupé

I wonder if FS upgraded to the 'M' car

[Tim bo]

I ran one for around 2 years. Absolutely loved it, probably the car out of all I've owned that I grew the most fond of.

[nickfrog]

selym said:

Jimbobr said:

Nope 125i better coupe looks, just need the remap to make it a 130i to unlock the triple stage intake

Err, there'll only be one 130i and no amount of play acting as one will cut it!

Actually there are 2. A remapped 125i is a 130i in a Coupe body, with slightly better throttle response courtesy of Evolve's throttle map.

Same wheel size as LCI 130i btw.

[ChesterUK]

Lots of talk about tuning a 125i to have 130i power. Why not sacrifice the coupe shell for a more practical 3-door sport hatch and have the 130i LE?

http://www.carenthusiast.com/reviews/article/1908/...


All I can say is if you're thinking about one, just get in one, then you'll understand!

[selym]

nickfrog said:

selym said:

Jimbobr said:

Nope 125i better coupe looks, just need the remap to make it a 130i to unlock the triple stage intake

Err, there'll only be one 130i and no amount of play acting as one will cut it!

Actually there are 2. A remapped 125i is a 130i in a Coupe body, with slightly better throttle response courtesy of Evolve's throttle map.

Same wheel size as LCI 130i btw.

Aah the Inter City 125 + 5i.

[neil342]

I have had mine for 3 years now, in that time it has had a new water pump (under warranty),
Break pads\Discs and one set of tyres.
Absolutely the best car i have ever had, never fails to put a smile on my face.
The best thing is the engine, it pulls from such low revs that you find yourself in a much higher gear
than you think, cruising in 6th at 30mph.
Mine is a 2010 N55 manual.

[gl20]

My only ever from new private car purchase was a 135i in mid 2009. Per usual for me, I was going to look for a slightly used one but, this being right in the depths of the financial crisis, the dealer did me a deal on a factory build that meant even with options I was only paying £500 more than a 6 month old one. White with red leather, I drive plus a few other bits.

As above it was the massive torque band from around 1500 revs to the red line that impressed the most. Nice manual box, reasonably handling bit brakes were over servoed. Mine was debadged so just blended in. Nearest thing I've had to a Q car and only saw 2 others in the two years I owned it. Ownership was sandwiched between a 987.1 S and then a 987.2S. The Porsche is The better car imho but the 135i was great nonetheless

With that great deal I only lost around £5k once it came to PEx.

[R400TVR]

I still fancy one of these now. Loved my 130i Msport, but swapping it for a Chimaera was great fun, i'd not quite as practical.

[s m]

R400TVR said:

I still fancy one of these now. Loved my 130i Msport, but swapping it for a Chimaera was great fun, i'd not quite as practical.

Nice to have a sunroof

I've got a hatch and it is useful for carrying stuff plus the extra seat over the coupé but I do prefer the coupé over the hatch in 1-series

[mikeyscott]

I've got a N55 manual with Birds suspension and for the money I struggle to pick something else.

Drop another £10k for M3/Cayman/RS5 etc etc. Lot of money for unsure upgrade.

What I keep coming back to considering is M3 LCA, improved subframe bushes/inserts and maybe LSD. Not interested in BMWP exhaust etc.

If it was that bad, I'd sold it one by now and as Rob knows had a few cars recently that prob shouldn't have....

My regret about the car, not going for DCT, but that's me and I like the lazy DSG aspect on my R32.

[HannsG]

mikeyscott said:

I've got a N55 manual with Birds suspension and for the money I struggle to pick something else.

Drop another £10k for M3/Cayman/RS5 etc etc. Lot of money for unsure upgrade.

What I keep coming back to considering is M3 LCA, improved subframe bushes/inserts and maybe LSD. Not interested in BMWP exhaust etc.

If it was that bad, I'd sold it one by now and as Rob knows had a few cars recently that prob shouldn't have....

My regret about the car, not going for DCT, but that's me and I like the lazy DSG aspect on my R32.

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

[aeropilot]

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

[RobM77]

aeropilot said:

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

What I was told bu Birds is that the LSD becomes a necessity with the optional ARBs and reasonable power in the car. My car has very little power, so I'm fine with ARBs and a standard open diff.

[s m]

RobM77 said:

aeropilot said:

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

What I was told bu Birds is that the LSD becomes a necessity with the optional ARBs and reasonable power in the car. My car has very little power, so I'm fine with ARBs and a standard open diff.

Plus Birds are the sole UK distributors of the Quaife torque apportioning diffs for BMW.......


I'm sure it makes a difference ( and the most of the upgrades ) but the 135i would still have a reasonably competent traction control system

[RobM77]

s m said:

RobM77 said:

aeropilot said:

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

What I was told bu Birds is that the LSD becomes a necessity with the optional ARBs and reasonable power in the car. My car has very little power, so I'm fine with ARBs and a standard open diff.

Plus Birds are the sole UK distributors of the Quaife torque apportioning diffs for BMW.......


I'm sure it makes a difference ( and the most of the upgrades ) but the 135i would still have a reasonably competent traction control system

Oh, I'm sure it does, but I'm guessing what Birds mean is that with the ARBs the more powerful BMWs such as the 135i might lean on the TC a lot more. I guess we're all different, but I hate TC; more specifically I hate that tugging feeling when TC won't shut up. I prefer to manage a bit of slip gently with my right foot and the steering, that to me feels much more gentle and natural than a stuttering engine.

[DMN]

ChesterUK said:

Lots of talk about tuning a 125i to have 130i power. Why not sacrifice the coupe shell for a more practical 3-door sport hatch and have the 130i LE?

I went with a 125i as I wanted the better rigidity of the Coupe for track work. I didn't wanted a bigish NA engine that would last and last.

[aeropilot]

RobM77 said:

s m said:

RobM77 said:

aeropilot said:

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

What I was told bu Birds is that the LSD becomes a necessity with the optional ARBs and reasonable power in the car. My car has very little power, so I'm fine with ARBs and a standard open diff.

Plus Birds are the sole UK distributors of the Quaife torque apportioning diffs for BMW.......


I'm sure it makes a difference ( and the most of the upgrades ) but the 135i would still have a reasonably competent traction control system

Oh, I'm sure it does, but I'm guessing what Birds mean is that with the ARBs the more powerful BMWs such as the 135i might lean on the TC a lot more.

Actually the reasons Birds say that the LSD is a necessity with the ARB's fitted, is that the extra stiffness of the ARB's mean that the inside rear will spin up a lot more with no LSD/ATB.
Their recommendation for the 135i is either:-
B1 springs + dampers (+ non-RFT's) on their own
or
B1 springs + dampers (+ non-RFT's) + f/r ARB's + Quaife

[RobM77]

aeropilot said:

RobM77 said:

s m said:

RobM77 said:

aeropilot said:

HannsG said:

Why does everyone go on about the birds suspension? The 135i comes with no diff? Electric or otherwise?

Maybe because its actually rather good.

But I would qualify that with the comment, 'for the road only'.
It's not a suspension for the track.

And, as a road car, I didn't find the lack of a locking diff to be too much of an issue in my 6 years ownership of my 135i, once the Birds kit was fitted. It would have been a 'nice to have' rather than a 'necessary to have'....IMHO.
Of course, if the intention is wanting some sort of drift machine, then yes, its definitely a requirement!

What I was told bu Birds is that the LSD becomes a necessity with the optional ARBs and reasonable power in the car. My car has very little power, so I'm fine with ARBs and a standard open diff.

Plus Birds are the sole UK distributors of the Quaife torque apportioning diffs for BMW.......


I'm sure it makes a difference ( and the most of the upgrades ) but the 135i would still have a reasonably competent traction control system

Oh, I'm sure it does, but I'm guessing what Birds mean is that with the ARBs the more powerful BMWs such as the 135i might lean on the TC a lot more.

Actually the reasons Birds say that the LSD is a necessity with the ARB's fitted, is that the extra stiffness of the ARB's mean that the inside rear will spin up a lot more with no LSD/ATB.
Their recommendation for the 135i is either:-
B1 springs + dampers (+ non-RFT's) on their own
or
B1 springs + dampers (+ non-RFT's) + f/r ARB's + Quaife

Yes, that's what I said

Or at least that's what I meant!

[Snowy No.1]

£13k seems steep, particularly if you're going to put several thousand into the chassis and drive train. Most cars depreciate abut 18 to 20% a year (reducing balance basis). I've owned 3 of these "also-ran" BMWs - until recently an M235i, and have just taken on an M240i and because they don't quite hit the performance pinnacle, they tend to depreciate even more quickly than usual (after the first two years of hype have died down). I buy them as they still offer good performance, Q car looks and ultimately lower depreciation per BHP than their full blooded M brothers. Avoid run flats - my M135i had them - they were "tricky" on uneven B roads, and bone shaking at the best of times.

[RobM77]

Snowy No.1 said:

£13k seems steep, particularly if you're going to put several thousand into the chassis and drive train. Most cars depreciate abut 18 to 20% a year (reducing balance basis). I've owned 3 of these "also-ran" BMWs - until recently an M235i, and have just taken on an M240i and because they don't quite hit the performance pinnacle, they tend to depreciate even more quickly than usual (after the first two years of hype have died down). I buy them as they still offer good performance, Q car looks and ultimately lower depreciation per BHP than their full blooded M brothers. Avoid run flats - my M135i had them - they were "tricky" on uneven B roads, and bone shaking at the best of times.

The 205/55/16 RFTs on my last car were fine, and the same size in a non RFT way too bouncy, so I think it depends on the sidewall profile etc. As usual, test drive and decide what you like.

Buying a 135i and fitting the full Birds kit is certainly expensive, but if it's what you want and you're willing to pay for it, then so be it . For me the Birds kit was justified because at 80k miles I needed new suspension anyway, so I only really paid about £500ish more for it over and above the standard BMW kit.