My other half’s new daily; E88 BMW 125i cabriolet

[Sofa]

Sad to see the 125i go as the owner of a Space Grey Coupe myself, but sounds like it makes sense considering your circumstances and the fact it rarely gets driven with the roof down. I’m a single bloke and I still sometimes find myself wishing I’d gone for an E91 so I could easily chuck mates and stuff in when going on trips, rather than having to endure being a passenger on lovely Welsh roads.

Makes me feel more content sticking with the N52 for the time being and not trying to get into say an M140i when so many people such as yourself seem to have tried those but keep coming back to the N52!

[MDifficult]

Sad to see it go, but you know I love a touring, so I’m 100% up for what comes next.

[Court_S]

CB 987 said:

I wish you’d bought it too haha! It actually popped up for sale again recently too…. The chap put nearly 17k on it in a year and other than the waste gates I don’t think it needed much else. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned that! The 330i will be great, I still miss mine which JakeT now owns.

:haha: I’ve come to realise that life with an N54 is neither cheap nor easy all of the time! Hey ho.

I think the touring will fit the bill nicely. This will be missed though; gave it a quick wash tonight and it scrubs up well. Heading up to Ignition Cars and Coffee tomorrow afternoon in it.

[Court_S]

Sofa said:

Sad to see the 125i go as the owner of a Space Grey Coupe myself, but sounds like it makes sense considering your circumstances and the fact it rarely gets driven with the roof down. I’m a single bloke and I still sometimes find myself wishing I’d gone for an E91 so I could easily chuck mates and stuff in when going on trips, rather than having to endure being a passenger on lovely Welsh roads.

Makes me feel more content sticking with the N52 for the time being and not trying to get into say an M140i when so many people such as yourself seem to have tried those but keep coming back to the N52!

The N52 is an absolute peach of an engine. I live the fact that BMW shoved such a good engine into stuff like a 3 series touring. Any replacement was going to need at least six cylinders.

Stuff like the M140i works for many people but I just expected a bit more unfortunately.

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

Sad to see it go, but you know I love a touring, so I’m 100% up for what comes next.

You and me both, but the touring should be a cool car especially once it’s had some titivation! My AUTODOC wish list is growing at a steady rate!

[Tom4398cc]

A Touring sounds like a good move Sam. Can’t believe you’ve persuaded Mrs C to give up the cabriolet. I’ll call you later re the inflatable kayak.

[d_a_n1979]

Court_S said:

MDifficult said:

Sad to see it go, but you know I love a touring, so I’m 100% up for what comes next.

You and me both, but the touring should be a cool car especially once it’s had some titivation! My AUTODOC wish list is growing at a steady rate!

Haha; isn't everyones

[Court_S]

Tom4398cc said:

A Touring sounds like a good move Sam. Can’t believe you’ve persuaded Mrs C to give up the cabriolet. I’ll call you later re the inflatable kayak.

She’s not that fussed really; she’s always liked the touring too so it’s been an easy conversation to have.

[d_a_n1979]

Fancy another 335i pal; albeit a Japanese import touring

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301123...

Cracks me up that this is still for sale too... This was up for sale when I sold my E39 touring pal back in Sept 2021...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205055...

Wonder when they'll realise it's massively overpriced?!

[Court_S]

d_a_n1979 said:

Fancy another 335i pal; albeit a Japanese import touring

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301123...

Cracks me up that this is still for sale too... This was up for sale when I sold my E39 touring pal back in Sept 2021...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205055...

Wonder when they'll realise it's massively overpriced?!

Not sure I can stomach two N54’s!

[mooseracer]

Court_S said:

I love driving with the rod down whereas she seems less fussed!

Yeah, they’re my favourite E9x shape. I do often wish that I’d bought the LMB 335i touring that I was offered by a PH member instead of the coupe.

I’m also thinking that the E91 would allow me to seriously look at a Cayman / Boxster next year.

Excuse me? You are supposed to be getting an e92 M3, looking after it for a little while (whilst doing your usual sterling work on it) and then selling to me for a very reasonable price!

[cerb4.5lee]

mooseracer said:

Court_S said:

I love driving with the rod down whereas she seems less fussed!

Yeah, they’re my favourite E9x shape. I do often wish that I’d bought the LMB 335i touring that I was offered by a PH member instead of the coupe.

I’m also thinking that the E91 would allow me to seriously look at a Cayman / Boxster next year.

Excuse me? You are supposed to be getting an e92 M3, looking after it for a little while (whilst doing your usual sterling work on it) and then selling to me for a very reasonable price!

[Court_S]

mooseracer said:

Excuse me? You are supposed to be getting an e92 M3, looking after it for a little while (whilst doing your usual sterling work on it) and then selling to me for a very reasonable price!

I still desperately want one, but I’m not sure they’re a realistic proposition given their thirst and the number of miles I get through. A Cayman / Boxster appear to offer a good sports car experience for less chance of resentment. We’ll see though,

[Court_S]

We headed up to Ignition Cars and Coffee for lunch today in the 125i. I had hoped for a nice cross country drive with the roof down but it rained. Again. Just for a change.

Had a great lunch up there; it was even approved by the child.

We called into the Knockerdown Inn n the way home to see what is going on. An then, actually on the way home, there was a slightly sunken drain. It didn’t look bad, so I thought little of it until the car made a big old bang. st. There was then a very horrible knocking noise from the nearside rear. Double st. Got sone grief from the passenger seat too. Joy.

Got home, waited for a break in the rain and jacked the car up. Looks like I’ve joined the club of failing metal cups and the shock has made a bid for freedom via the boot.





Luckily a friend has the parts I need, so I’ll scoot over to his place tomorrow morning and grab them. The boot had been stripped so I can get access.

[Court_S]

Sorted the car out today.

Popped over to my mates house to grab the parts that he bought and didn’t use. It was a KYB kit that was a bit different to the OE set up. I decided to shoot over to GSF in Burton to grab sone better upper and lower top mounts. Ended up with Drivetec parts which wouldn’t have been my first choice but they were all that was available today.

Got the car up in the air and started swearing…. Access to the top mount in the cab is horrible but after many naughty words, the shock was out.



This is what is left of the metal cup….



Old versus new



This is what is left of the lower part of the top mount



Got it all back together with more swearing because access to the top mount is horrible. Popped it all together, took it for a spin and it’s all good again.

Also managed to find time to give it a quick wash (again) since it was filthy after it’s trip out to Ignition Cars and Coffee.

[Craikeybaby]

Great work.

[Court_S]

Definitely the end of the road for the 125i as it was collected yesterday by its new owner who travelled up from Kent for it.

Much like my 130i, I was very sad to see it be driven off by someone else. I think the chap was ok PH because he knew / recognised the cat from my thread.

Hopefully he’ll enjoy it as much as we did and it treats him well, like it did to us.