RE: BMW M140i Finale says bye to rear-drive six-pot

[iSore]

ITP said:

If most of your driving is crawling on the M42 for miles then you have bought the wrong car if you have a 140i. Or anything remotley sporty. You would be a lot better off in an automatic Honda Jazz, nice and comfy and cheap.

So, if you can only have one car, where can you drive a 140i every day that doesn't involve heavy traffic?

You realise you can manually shift a BMW auto? You have been able to since about 1996. Perhaps BMW can have a 'cassette' app on the touchscreen for this who really revel in old technology.

[DoubleD]

iSore said:

So, if you can only have one car, where can you drive a 140i every day that doesn't involve heavy traffic?

You realise you can manually shift a BMW auto? You have been able to since about 1996. Perhaps BMW can have a 'cassette' app on the touchscreen for this who really revel in old technology.

Fair enough if you enjoy pushing a button to change gear.

[va1o]

Sounds suspiciously similar to the Shadow Edition we get over here so I'd be surprised if this made it over to the UK. Also I didn't think the M140i was sold in the US...

Sounds like a nice spec though!

[bern]

The last small 6 cylinder RWD BMW, and they celebrate by giving it some extra cup holders?

What a load of bks.

[ITP]

iSore said:

ITP said:

If most of your driving is crawling on the M42 for miles then you have bought the wrong car if you have a 140i. Or anything remotley sporty. You would be a lot better off in an automatic Honda Jazz, nice and comfy and cheap.

So, if you can only have one car, where can you drive a 140i every day that doesn't involve heavy traffic?

You realise you can manually shift a BMW auto? You have been able to since about 1996. Perhaps BMW can have a 'cassette' app on the touchscreen for this who really revel in old technology.

There are loads of places in the uk without heavy traffic.
I have had 3 bmw autos and one manual. ‘Manually’ shifting a bmw auto is nothing like an actual manual car. No auto is. There is a pedal missing.

[aeropilot]

sgtbash said:

Article states will be available in the US? Funny as they were never sold over there before!

I would bet that these won't be available in the US, and that is a typo (or the usual PH standard of article accuracy we're seeing these days )
No way will BMW be going to all the aggro of type approval etc just for a run-out edition, and a run-out edition of something they've never had anyway.

[neil-1323bolts]

wab172uk said:

For the next 1 Series, BMW please.

1) Give it an option of a manual gearbox. Those of us that prefer manuals, don't give a sh*t if it's 0.2 seconds slower to 60.

2) AWD and 350bhp will be nicer than 300bhp.

3) Please for the love of God, make the next 1 series (and 2 Series) an attractive car to look at. The past 2 efforts is the reason why I've never even considered one.

This car already exists , it's called a focus RS .

[SOL111]

xjay1337 said:

Would be significantly more expensive if it was....!!!

It's a car around £30k........or at least the m135i was when it first came out.
You get an amazing engine, amazing gearbox, a nice interior, and excellent brakes - suspension is not the best, but it's not AWFUL...

I've heard this said a lot but truth is, they just got the damping wrong. On the right road it was great but over a typical A/B road it fell apart.

BMW got this so wrong, which is a shame as I could live without the LSD but couldn't live with the damping.

[f1ten]

I loved my late 2016 m135i in estoril blue. I actually thought it was quite a musclular looking machine. I loved the engine and I didn’t even bother remapping it. Lots of power and sounded good.

Ok the suspension was a let down on bumpy B roads as the car did fidget but 1700 would have sorted that with some new birds dampers and supspension

The rear drive set up a thrill and I enjoyed giving it a push in the wet. I also saw 155 in Germany and was impressed how quickly for a hatch back it got there.

I don’t care how good Audi rs3 drivers think they are, the skill level to pedal an m140/135 on a B road especially in the wet is on a different level

Edited by f1ten on Monday 11th February 21:34

[daytona111r]

This makes me sad.

[Sofa]

KPB1973 said:

My mistake - the mini uses an Aisin.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2014/09/17/exclusive-m...

Aren't the newer JCW MINIs getting a DCT unit? Wouldn't be surprised if that works its way into the new M130ix/M135ix/BMW A45 AMG.

[jontykint]

Monty Python said:

JackReacher said:

I think the manual may have been discontinued for emissions reasons, but it was also a low seller. Most people chose the point and squirt option.

I'm glad I went manual with my m240i, adds a bit more involvement but the auto is a good a good box.

You also can't have things like active cruise/automatic collision mitigation with manuals, and given the way the EuroNCAP is going, lacking these features will affect the rating.

My manual Mk7 Golf R had both of these in 2014

[nickfrog]

ITP said:

Must say, much as I like the idea of the m135/140 I think what may be a more fun road car would be a nice 2dr 125i coupe from the 08-13 era, the one with the 3.0 N52. A manual of course. With the remap to make it the same as the 130i. I think that would be plenty fast enough, and more fun using the revs rather than torque surfing of the turbo cars.
Less bork factor too and much less likely to be robbed as an extra benefit.

I had both, a 125i "Evolved" and fitted with 130i brakes and a 3dr manual M135i. Both cars were fitted with their contemporary M front LCAs to reduce the inherent understeer. I really liked the 125i and I miss it. I am currently looking for one for my son. But the M135i was a better car both on the road and track. The engine actually trumped the N52 as it had a proper top end too yet was much more interesting / challenging at lower revs from a traction management pov and that's my main issue with n/a : they are perhaps a little too user friendly to drive, not enough of a challenge.

[nickfrog]

SOL111 said:

I've heard this said a lot but truth is, they just got the damping wrong. On the right road it was great but over a typical A/B road it fell apart.

BMW got this so wrong, which is a shame as I could live without the LSD but couldn't live with the damping.

You're not the only one to say this but I don't agree, I think it's well judged for a "mini-GT", wheel and camber control were pretty good, but it's soft and probably slightly under damped but not catastrophically so IME. They had to optimise traction because of the lack of LSD, which is a must on those cars, like on many cars IME. I do think the LCI cars were an improvement on the suspension kinematics front though, so perhaps yours was a pre LCI ?

[Scribble BM]

I am considering keeping mine at the end of my finance more and more. The B58 engine is absolutely unreal, so much torque,power and glorious noise when you need it but surprisingly economical when don’t.

I average 31mpg with motorway runs in the low to mid 40s. I even did 49mpg on a 3 hour drive to Durham with cruise control at 65mpg to see what it could do.

I’m taking it on track day too next month to see how it copes.

Yes the suspension is a bit hard at times but my friends RS is worse. But let’s not forget that BMW had to design this suspension to be able to travel across Germany at 155mph with 5 people in the car and a boot full of luggage, so a compromise was required.

It’s not a full fat MCar, but that is brilliant as you can use it every day because consumables, servicing and insurance are all about half the cost of an M2/4.

It’s just a shame that they are so cheap that 21 year olds are jumping straight out of Fiesta STs, into an M140 before crashing it and sending everyone’s premiums up.

In any case, I think solute BMW for even producing the M135i/M140i in the first place! 😍

[Tarico]

I was wondering this week of something like this might happen. If they reintroduced the manual (and the full option list) I'd probably bite (assuming the usual BMW Fi discounts - I'm not made of money). My current M140i is a great car, but I resent not having the opportunity to get my exact spec - particularly the upgraded hifi and adaptive dampers.

But I can't see this happening, tbh. BMW UK are notorious killjoys. Now, what was that about a RWD Guillietta?

[GTEYE]

This is a non story, the Shadow Edition has been available since summer 2017.

[bodhi]

ITP said:

Must say, much as I like the idea of the m135/140 I think what may be a more fun road car would be a nice 2dr 125i coupe from the 08-13 era, the one with the 3.0 N52. A manual of course. With the remap to make it the same as the 130i. I think that would be plenty fast enough, and more fun using the revs rather than torque surfing of the turbo cars.
Less bork factor too and much less likely to be robbed as an extra benefit.

I'd ignore Lee's theory the old N/A lump doesn't have any torque. I've got a 125i with the remap and with anything above 1500 rpm you can put your foot down and it will go - and they are quick enough at the top end to leave an M140i for dead if they aren't entirely paying attention

Don't ask me how I know however....

[kambites]

Did you really just say one car is faster than another car as long as the other car doesn't bother to accelerate?

[schaeffs]

nickfrog said:

You're not the only one to say this but I don't agree, I think it's well judged for a "mini-GT", wheel and camber control were pretty good, but it's soft and probably slightly under damped but not catastrophically so IME. They had to optimise traction because of the lack of LSD, which is a must on those cars, like on many cars IME. I do think the LCI cars were an improvement on the suspension kinematics front though, so perhaps yours was a pre LCI ?

Totally - I'm running this alongside a GT4 at the moment and whilst the GT4 body control is excellent, the M135i is not let down at all. Yes it gets a little ragged at the outer edges of the handling envelope, but that actually makes it more fun and endearing IMO. I introduced an LSD as a little upgrade after 3 years and its also a revelation - the car massively benefits from it and I'd thoroughly recommend anyone who has one to seriously consider it. The car no longer spins away power and feels wonderfully hooked up and sorted in even low grip conditions. Mine is an early LCI. Proper little hot "mini-GT" and perfect as a daily driver.