Out with the new and in with the old; my 130i LE

[Court_S]

cerb4.5lee said:

Great pics.

Really pleased that you are enjoying it bud.

Thanks Lee. It certainly impressed tonight when I drive it a bit harder. For me there I something I really like about the last of the E series cars, so perhaps it’ll be that E92 M3 next instead of an M2.

WhisperingWasp said:

That alloy looks mint!

Happy that you are troubleshooting the Apple CarPlay for us. Once you have it perfected you'll have to charge us for installs!

They look better in pictures than in real life; there’s a few scratches and chips. They’ll get a refurb later in the year.

The CarPlay worked well today and it was nice to have up to date maps!



In actual use, you seen get over the quality of the screen.

[MDifficult]

Excellent pictures - looks like a great excuse for a drive too!

That shot of the alloy by the water is a belter though

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

Excellent pictures - looks like a great excuse for a drive too!

That shot of the alloy by the water is a belter though

Thanks. Hope the water pictures aren’t too Tom Hartley on a budget!

It was a great excuse to get out and the car really surprised me. Maybe I had low expectations being old and relatively cheap, but I’m really not missing the 140 (well other than the modern tech and decent screen).

[Ben Lowden]

Killswitch Engage – that takes me back! Thanks for the detail on here as always, I've a hankering for an E91 3 Series at some point and looks like they've got a CarPlay solution for that too (probably the same box).

Car is looking fantastic. Missing the M140i at all?

[Court_S]

Ben Lowden said:

Killswitch Engage – that takes me back! Thanks for the detail on here as always, I've a hankering for an E91 3 Series at some point and looks like they've got a CarPlay solution for that too (probably the same box).

Car is looking fantastic. Missing the M140i at all?

Thanks Ben.

I’d have liked an E91 as well but in May they were all expensive and poorly spec’d examples. Sod’s law there have been a few lovely 335’s linked on the bearding thread.

To be honest I’m not missing the 140. I miss the tech, but I genuinely have more fun in this. I might end up missing the auto when I start commuting again!

[Ben Lowden]

Court_S said:

Thanks Ben.

I’d have liked an E91 as well but in May they were all expensive and poorly spec’d examples. Sod’s law there have been a few lovely 335’s linked on the bearding thread.

To be honest I’m not missing the 140. I miss the tech, but I genuinely have more fun in this. I might end up missing the auto when I start commuting again!

Very interesting indeed! I was a bit surprised that someone walked away from buying my 130i as they didn't like the auto box but if I bought another I think I'd be looking for a manual, so I'd say you made the right choice.

I'm not in the market right now (do we need to be to keep checking the classifieds everyday?! ) but I've been looking out for an E91 330i LCI Touring for a long time and I've not seen one come up for sale. I don't know how many were made, but must be very rare.

[Court_S]

Ben Lowden said:

Very interesting indeed! I was a bit surprised that someone walked away from buying my 130i as they didn't like the auto box but if I bought another I think I'd be looking for a manual, so I'd say you made the right choice.

I'm not in the market right now (do we need to be to keep checking the classifieds everyday?! ) but I've been looking out for an E91 330i LCI Touring for a long time and I've not seen one come up for sale. I don't know how many were made, but must be very rare.

Personally I think the N52 suits the manual gearbox more than the old ZF6 but there are others who feel the other way. I ended up with an auto 330 because it seemed that most who ordered then new ticked them auto box. It was fine, in fact I was happy with it until I drove a car with the ZF8.

Tourings are like rocking horse poo. It’s even harder to find one with a decent spec.

[Court_S]

So having had lots of fun in my car the other night and generally being very happy with it, the car decided to stick two fingers up at me on Wednesday and say fk you when it stalled / cut it on me and started running like a bag of poo. The revs when dipping the clutch or idling were bouncing around. Balls. Plugged Carly in to read the codes and the valvetronic code was back along with one for fuel mixture control. Once again, no warning lights etc on the dash.

I wanted to get it checked by my local indy to take advantage of the warranty but they’re absolutely rammed and with a holiday coming up I couldn’t get the car to them until the first week of August. More balls.

Having done some research a dying valvetronic motor gasket can cause exactly those symptoms. I’ve been suspicious of the gasket after I had a nose under the engine cover last time. I popped to Sytner this morning to pick this up:



A replacement valvetronic motor gasket. I’ll get it fitted this weekend as it looks easy enough. The part itself was £19 so for that and an hour or two of my time I figured that I’d try and sort it before we head to Devon next week in the car.

Oddly enough, since it’s little episode on Wednesday it’s been running fine although I need to check the codes again to see if they’re back.

[josh-cg608]

Court_S said:

Having been taken out for a surveyors lunch by a friend, I didn’t need dinner tonight so was a bit bored / at a loose end. Having not really had chance to really get to know the car since buying it I decide that tonight would be a good night to go for a spin around Matlock and Ashbourne. Stopped for a few obligatory pictures…

















The car really impressed me if I’m honest. Despite being a chunk slower than my previous M140i, across a decent B road the little 130i certainly gets a lick on if you keep it above 4,000rpm and makes a lovely noise when you do so. The Birds B1 suspension is bloody brilliant and seems to get better and better as the speeds pick up. It’s firm but we’ll damped and copes with imperfections. The N52 is a cracking engine. It was equally good at the boring bits too and even better now it’s got cruise control.

I’ve really enjoyed driving a manual car again. The extra interaction is fun; blipping the throttle on downshifts trying to get the perfect rev match as you shift down before a corner etc. The shift action feels loads better with the new bush and it gets better as the car gets warm too.

Edited by Court_S on Tuesday 13th July 23:16

Looks really nice mate. Around april time i did and afternoons run out around the peak district and really enjoyed it. Cant wait to take my 130 around them. Enjoy devon. Really
Looking forward to my week away in wales at the start of august.

[Court_S]

josh-cg608 said:

Looks really nice mate. Around april time i did and afternoons run out around the peak district and really enjoyed it. Cant wait to take my 130 around them. Enjoy devon. Really
Looking forward to my week away in wales at the start of august.

Thanks mate.

Needs a bit of work get the cosmetic bits a bit more sorted (especially after a had an incident with a concrete bollard last night taking the little ‘un to his swimming lesson). Looks like the rear bumper repaint has just moved up the list of jobs to be done.

[Tom4398cc]

I can imagine it’s a difficult choice Sam, but I thought the six cylinder convertible would be getting the nod for Devon duties?

[Court_S]

Tom4398cc said:

I can imagine it’s a difficult choice Sam, but I thought the six cylinder convertible would be getting the nod for Devon duties?

We thought about it, but I’m not sure we’ll get all of our detritus in it; it’s not the most useful of cars.

[Mr Tidy]

Court_S said:

Ben Lowden said:

Very interesting indeed! I was a bit surprised that someone walked away from buying my 130i as they didn't like the auto box but if I bought another I think I'd be looking for a manual, so I'd say you made the right choice.

I'm not in the market right now (do we need to be to keep checking the classifieds everyday?! ) but I've been looking out for an E91 330i LCI Touring for a long time and I've not seen one come up for sale. I don't know how many were made, but must be very rare.

Personally I think the N52 suits the manual gearbox more than the old ZF6 but there are others who feel the other way. I ended up with an auto 330 because it seemed that most who ordered then new ticked them auto box. It was fine, in fact I was happy with it until I drove a car with the ZF8.

Tourings are like rocking horse poo. It’s even harder to find one with a decent spec.

I had the same problem in 2018 when I was looking for an E91 330i, so I ended up buying a 325i for about half the price.

But it just felt a bit "meh" so in 2019 I replaced it with an E90 330i. While I would have loved a 130i prices of those had started to go up so that was no longer an option.

I wouldn't want a facelift 330i as they have the N53 engine with the HPFP, injector and coking up inlet manifold issues that come with that, but the N52 definitely works well with a manual gearbox as I knew from owning 2 E86 Z4 Coupes.

If I wanted/could afford a facelift I'd go for a 335i!

[cerb4.5lee]

Mr Tidy said:

If I wanted/could afford a facelift I'd go for a 335i!

You do realise that the 335i is turbocharged don't you Mr Tidy?! You think that cars with turbos are the work of the devil don't you?

[Court_S]

Mr Tidy said:

I had the same problem in 2018 when I was looking for an E91 330i, so I ended up buying a 325i for about half the price.

But it just felt a bit "meh" so in 2019 I replaced it with an E90 330i. While I would have loved a 130i prices of those had started to go up so that was no longer an option.

I wouldn't want a facelift 330i as they have the N53 engine with the HPFP, injector and coking up inlet manifold issues that come with that, but the N52 definitely works well with a manual gearbox as I knew from owning 2 E86 Z4 Coupes.

If I wanted/could afford a facelift I'd go for a 335i!

I have been surprised at how flat the detuned 12i engine is compared to the 30i, hence a remap very much being in the cards for the 125i at sone point.

Annoyingly a couple of cracking 335 tourings have popped up although I guess there is an argument that they’d be too similar to the 140i.

[Mr Tidy]

Court_S said:

I have been surprised at how flat the detuned 12i engine is compared to the 30i, hence a remap very much being in the cards for the 125i at sone point.

Annoyingly a couple of cracking 335 tourings have popped up although I guess there is an argument that they’d be too similar to the 140i.

I never understood why BMW did that - I think the 125i had similar power to the E91 325i and mine just felt a bit limp to me. I'm pretty sure a remap can get it up to around 130i power, so that seems essential!

Tough call on the 335i, as it probably would be similar to your 140i - well with a map anyway!

So long as you like what you have it doesn't really matter what it is.

[Court_S]

Mr Tidy said:

I never understood why BMW did that - I think the 125i had similar power to the E91 325i and mine just felt a bit limp to me. I'm pretty sure a remap can get it up to around 130i power, so that seems essential!

Tough call on the 335i, as it probably would be similar to your 140i - well with a map anyway!

So long as you like what you have it doesn't really matter what it is.

Yeah her 125i is only a remap away from the same power as mine so it’ll get done. I’ve already increased the size of the front brakes to 130/123d size in preparation. At least they just restricted it with a map rather than changing manifolds like they did in the 325i.

I’d probably have jumped at one of the tourings that cropped up; a grey manual with a decent spec is a proper unicorn. Would have made out trip to Devon with the dog easier!

I’ve possibly found a 135i backbox for it. Just need to work out logistics etc.

[Ben Lowden]

Mr Tidy said:

I wouldn't want a facelift 330i as they have the N53 engine with the HPFP, injector and coking up inlet manifold issues that come with that, but the N52 definitely works well with a manual gearbox as I knew from owning 2 E86 Z4 Coupes.

If I wanted/could afford a facelift I'd go for a 335i!

Good to know thanks! Maybe I'll just end up with a 320d after all then... I thought the 335i engine was supposed to be a bit troublesome too?

[Court_S]

Ben Lowden said:

Good to know thanks! Maybe I'll just end up with a 320d after all then... I thought the 335i engine was supposed to be a bit troublesome too?

The later N55 seems to have less issues. The N54 is more tuneable if that’s your bag, but can be a bit more of a headache.

To be honest, by now most N53’s should have had the usual issues dealt with.

[Court_S]

I decided to brave the heat this weekend and change the valvetronic motor gasket. I’m pretty sure that it was leaking and it was that which was causing the slightly rough idle and chucking up the error code every now and then.

First step was removing the scuttle and cabin filter



Then it was off with the engine cover. The motor was pretty grotty.



I then had to remove the coils from either side of the motor to gain access to the bolts.



The bottom bolt was a little sod to get at.



You have to put the motor into a service mode before you can remove it which is done with a 4mm allen piece. After that iks time to remove the two E torx bolts hold it in and then use the 4mm allen piece to wind it out. Free at last



Whilst it was removed I gave it a good clean to remove the crud that had built up on the side. The gasket was held in with two torx bolts. Once the motor was out, the gasket didn’t look too good.





New gasket and a cleaned motor all refitted.



Engine started fine and there were no error codes when I plugged Carly in, so fingers crossed this has sorted the issue. I checked the valvetronic sensor plug whilst I had access to it and couldn’t see any oil in the electrical connector. There is some around the sensor gasket but it looks like a fair amount of oil has been spilled whilst filling over the years. I’ll take it for a brief drive today and see what happens….

Oh, and the aftermath of my altercation with a bollard Friday evening.