BMW M140i vs Golf R. Which is best for Britain and tuning?

[liner33]

HM-2 said:

To be fair, that thread is pretty old now. Targeted theft of M135i/M140i does still occur, obviously, but I don't think it's anywhere near as prevalent as it was 4 years ago. Many thieves have moved on to newer, shinier things.
The Fiesta is the UK's most stolen car.

The Fiesta is also the UK best selling car so its hardly surprising

[Dylanaledhall]

liner33 said:

The Fiesta is also the UK best selling car so its hardly surprising

As much as I like my Fiesta I have no idea why they're targeted. It might be to do with the mediocre security but you can steal much better cars imo. Does anyone know what makes them so attractive to thieves? Cause I'm clueless to it apart from the fact there's quite a few about so stolen ones don't stick out as much as other cars.

[Dylanaledhall]

resolve10 said:

Why would you put all that money into a car you're planning to move on next year? Save the money towards a better car or keep the Fiesta, surely? Doesn't make any sense.

Sorry about the confusion I know I said I'd be looking to sell in a year but that's if I wasn't going to do anything else to the car. I would like to finish my project first then move to something else. Sorry about the confusion, I didn't make that clear in my earlier reply.

I agree that modifying the car so much and selling on would be pointless. I aim to enjoy it if I'm going to get it to where I want ( i.e 300bhp region)

Edited by Dylanaledhall on Wednesday 10th February 11:30

[liner33]

Dylanaledhall said:

Sorry about the confusion I know I said I'd be looking to sell in a year but that's if I wasn't going to do anything else to the car. I would like to finish my project first then move to something else. Sorry about the confusion, I didn't make that clear in my earlier reply.

I agree that modifying the car so much and selling on would be pointless. I aim to enjoy it if I'm going to get it to where I want ( i.e 300bhp region)

Edited by Dylanaledhall on Wednesday 10th February 11:30

You probably wont, those that tuned their MK8's up to that level sold them shortly afterwards, most people do modify and then sell or return to stock and then sell, same happens with the R and m140's mind

The MK7's are easy to steal as you know and like the Golf R/M140 they have a demographic who either have a lower spec model and want to upgrade parts or crash them/blow them up

[Dylanaledhall]

liner33 said:

You probably wont, those that tuned their MK8's up to that level sold them shortly afterwards, most people do modify and then sell or return to stock and then sell, same happens with the R and m140's mind

The MK7's are easy to steal as you know and like the Golf R/M140 they have a demographic who either have a lower spec model and want to upgrade parts or crash them/blow them up

That's interesting, didn't think they'd be stolen for that reason. As for the modifying that suprises me because I'd have thought people would have kept them for a while. But I kind of understand in a way because to get to Stage 3 it's big money so I'm guessing people would rather just buy a faster car out of the box possibly?

[liner33]

Dylanaledhall said:

people would rather just buy a faster car out of the box possibly?

Its always the best option really

[Dylanaledhall]

Ok guys I think this thread has gone on a bit more than I expected I think overall the M140i appeals to me the most. I'd like to thank everyone who's interacted on here and given me genuinely interesting insights and useful information regarding the topic. Might come back on here in a few months to give an update whether I've driven any more cars but it's unlikely for now given the current circumstances.

Thank you, guys. Remember to stay safe

[Bearings]

I'm in the market for an M140.

Adaptive suspension - is this a worthwhile option worth holding out for?

Looking at BabyBMW, most people seem to ditch the suspension (both adaptive and passive) and move straight over to Bilsteins. I can't quite work out if this is herd mentality convincing themselves that a mod they've done is worthwhile or not. None of the original reviews I've seen comment much on the suspension other than that Adaptive is a must have (Chris Harris / Joe Achillies for examples).

Thoughts welcome if this is a necessary option or not?

[sunnyb13]

Bearings said:

I'm in the market for an M140.

Adaptive suspension - is this a worthwhile option worth holding out for?

Looking at BabyBMW, most people seem to ditch the suspension (both adaptive and passive) and move straight over to Bilsteins. I can't quite work out if this is herd mentality convincing themselves that a mod they've done is worthwhile or not. None of the original reviews I've seen comment much on the suspension other than that Adaptive is a must have (Chris Harris / Joe Achillies for examples).

Thoughts welcome if this is a necessary option or not?

About £950 a corner when they do go wrong. Life expectancy is around 60k miles

[Scobblelotcher]

Dylanaledhall said:

liner33 said:

You probably wont, those that tuned their MK8's up to that level sold them shortly afterwards, most people do modify and then sell or return to stock and then sell, same happens with the R and m140's mind

The MK7's are easy to steal as you know and like the Golf R/M140 they have a demographic who either have a lower spec model and want to upgrade parts or crash them/blow them up

That's interesting, didn't think they'd be stolen for that reason. As for the modifying that suprises me because I'd have thought people would have kept them for a while. But I kind of understand in a way because to get to Stage 3 it's big money so I'm guessing people would rather just buy a faster car out of the box possibly?

In my experience of seeing this happen a lot, it's usually because the running costs go through the roof once you reach a certain level of tuning and problems are also found everywhere as components tolerances are exceeded. Finally, tuning past a certain point also means the usability is reduced for most when the car has things like uprated clutches (often very heavy & difficult in traffic), significantly higher servicing needs and in many cases the car will simply not drive as well as it did from the factory (think suspension changes, increased noise levels, big turbo lag etc).

I think for many the idea of a car with big power numbers is alluring until they realise the cost/pain of living with the compromises. However cars that were designed from the factory to have more power think Fiesta St vs M140i tend to be much better cars in almost every conceivable way because they have been engineered properly by world class engineers (rather than small tuning shops).

I loved my 400BHP Impreza (classic) but it was heavily compromised by all of the changes: suspension, brakes, engine, clutch etc.. For me it was a second car and a toy so I parked it up and sat in a nice comfortable diesel Golf when I wasn't in the mood for it's harshness. This is the same experience as other cars that I've owned/been in that have been highly tuned.

• Prepares to be told I'm wrong!**

Edited by Scobblelotcher on Thursday 11th February 09:51

[Bearings]

sunnyb13 said:

About £950 a corner when they do go wrong. Life expectancy is around 60k miles

That's a handy reminder on life expectancy, thanks. I was figuring around 500-600 per corner to replace however.

For what its worth - my Mk5 2005 Golf GTI is on 120k miles with OEM shocks and is starting to show signs of misting, so I may look for a slightly older car and keep 1k in the war-chest to get the suspension swapped out if I'm not happy with an OEM passive setup.

[liner33]

Fitting Bilsteins is a really worthwhile mod on these cars the stock suspension is poor and the adaptive not much better

[Deep Thought]

liner33 said:

Fitting Bilsteins is a really worthwhile mod on these cars the stock suspension is poor and the adaptive not much better

Is it a Bilstein strut and spring kit?

Or just Bilstein struts? If so, what springs would you recommend?

Not particularly interested in lowering the car.

[liner33]

Deep Thought said:

Is it a Bilstein strut and spring kit?

Or just Bilstein struts? If so, what springs would you recommend?

Not particularly interested in lowering the car.

Depends on the kit i think

I have the B14 kit which includes springs and is height adjustable. I set mine to the same height as I had it with the eibach lowering springs which is about 20mm lower than stock but you can run stock height if you wish, I have no issues with speedbumps etc

https://www.mlperformance.co.uk/products/bilstein-...

[HM-2]

Bearings said:

Adaptive suspension - is this a worthwhile option worth holding out for?

I might be in a minority, but I prefer the non-adaptive. With the adaptive I found comfort too floaty and sport too crashy.

[Wagonwheel555]

Although not the M140i, my next car choice is looking to be between an M135i (2013/2014) or a Golf R with a £15k-16k budget.

Just watched a Youtube video of them both being driven hard in Germany and performance in stock seems negligible but having 4WD on the Golf would be more beneficial considering UK weather. I also prefer the interior of the Golf, much more than the BMW.

Ive driven an M135i briefly but never a Golf R so once these restrictions ease, I will start looking. Couldn't buy one without test driving.

I like the idea of the 6 pot over the 4 pot but in reality, its not that big of a deal to me. I feel the R looks sporty where as the M135i just looks like a standard 120D with dual exhaust instead of single.

[Bearings]

Great food for thought re: suspension. If I end up with the same sort of 'Goldilocks' compliance on the 1 which I have on my Golf, I'll be happy. Not too firm, not too soft, but just right !!

Last comment from me for the moment - one thing which does irk me is lack of Android Auto which is almost a show-stopper as I use it all the time in the Golf but I can probably work around it with Pro-Nav and bluetooth audio streaming. Does anyone have any real-world experience on the plug-n-play Android MMI boxes / screens for the 1 series?

[liner33]

Bearings said:

Great food for thought re: suspension. If I end up with the same sort of 'Goldilocks' compliance on the 1 which I have on my Golf, I'll be happy. Not too firm, not too soft, but just right !!

Last comment from me for the moment - one thing which does irk me is lack of Android Auto which is almost a show-stopper as I use it all the time in the Golf but I can probably work around it with Pro-Nav and bluetooth audio streaming. Does anyone have any real-world experience on the plug-n-play Android MMI boxes / screens for the 1 series?

Yep fitted one to my 2 series , works ok I use the screen mirroring as extra gauges cost £200 but not as good as the VW system

[Mr Happy]

Bearings said:

Last comment from me for the moment - one thing which does irk me is lack of Android Auto which is almost a show-stopper as I use it all the time in the Golf but I can probably work around it with Pro-Nav and bluetooth audio streaming. Does anyone have any real-world experience on the plug-n-play Android MMI boxes / screens for the 1 series?

Yes, I do - I fitted an Andream NBT box (rev B, alas) and it worked for a single day.

Came back to the car the next day to put the trim back together (pro nav means there's not enough space to hide the box under the radio unit itself, so the glovebox has to come out to fit it). turned the car back on and IDrive worked, but the andream just displayed a black screen.

You could reset it (doing the push and hold back for 3-5s) and switch between a black screen and the idrive by holding menu, but the box itself had ceased operation.

I tried forcibly reflashing it using various methods online but it remained useless. I ended up taking it all out and put it back to how it was. Waste of £200 imo. (However there are lots of people using these ok, I probably just got a duff one)

Careful with expecting pro nav to have EBT (bluetooth audio), it might not. You need to check the VIN for the 6NS (iirc) option, if it only lists 6NH you have regular old bluetooth for calls only. It can be VO coded to the car though, but it'll be missing stuff like the 2nd mic which needs disabling by FDL coding or else it'll throw errors about missing hardware.

Edited by Mr Happy on Thursday 11th February 16:50

[nunpuncher]

liner33 said:

Fitting Bilsteins is a really worthwhile mod on these cars the stock suspension is poor and the adaptive not much better

I'd say essential rather than worthwhile. Both passive and active standard suspension is gash on the M135i/140i