130i, will I be waiting forever?
Discussion
Mr Whippy said:
The E46 was the last nice BMW Coupe for me... ooor right forward to the F30 (don’t know the correct ‘codes’ nor do I care, bmw are dicks for making so many, mini rant over 
)
So hatches or saloons are the ones for me
I've got to a similar point! Any "E" model is fine for me, but after that I couldn't give a sh*t - it's all forced induction and flappy paddles for the PlayStation generation. )So hatches or saloons are the ones for me
I quite like some of the newer car’s looks, but from testing a few, the older cars certainly are more ultimate driving machines.
My wife keeps saying the 140i we drove was nice, I keep reminding her they’re expensive and bland to properly drive, unlike the Z4 which she says was ‘hard work’ but fun (ie, rewarding)
My wife keeps saying the 140i we drove was nice, I keep reminding her they’re expensive and bland to properly drive, unlike the Z4 which she says was ‘hard work’ but fun (ie, rewarding)
Mr Whippy said:
It’s a shame you had to go from fbmwsh to bmw + diy, and then one owner from new then one new owner for just one year, to then be selling it.
Good luck with it though
Yeah well the plan was to keep it long term as it's ace, but hey hoGood luck with it though
If someone was that fussed they could get it done at a BMW dealer or independent. It's only done 3k miles since i serviced it.
I have a workshop with a lift, so it's not like it was bodged
PTF said:
Mr Tidy said:
Just a thought, but posting a link may help with your sale! 
linkI need to put some better pics up
Going to stick it on ebay classifieds later.
Quite surprised how many 130i are on there at the minute, and with quite a range of prices from £3k for 150k+ miles, all the way to £8k for low-ish mile M-Sports. They seem quite hard to value!
PTF said:
PTF said:
Mr Tidy said:
Just a thought, but posting a link may help with your sale!
linkI need to put some better pics up
Going to stick it on ebay classifieds later.
Quite surprised how many 130i are on there at the minute, and with quite a range of prices from £3k for 150k+ miles, all the way to £8k for low-ish mile M-Sports. They seem quite hard to value!
Shame it is an SE though - I really couldn't consider one with the SE seats, and I'd want at least half-leather on them!
GLWTS.
Mr Tidy said:
Low miles, but more than 2 photos of the car would definitely help!
Shame it is an SE though - I really couldn't consider one with the SE seats, and I'd want at least half-leather on them!
GLWTS.
Ta. I'll take some more pics this weekend.Shame it is an SE though - I really couldn't consider one with the SE seats, and I'd want at least half-leather on them!
GLWTS.
My plan was to fit leather sports seats off ebay (£400 ish) and replace the business audio with a professional head unit and fit tweeters in the a-pillars (the grilles are there already) to lift the spec a bit.
But doing 300-500 miles a week at 32mpg.
Well I went for an LE in the end.
Only real downside is 3dr. But spec is good, and the lemon leather lifts the interior nicely.
The leather isn’t great in these 1ers, but the lemon just makes it feel a notch up in quality vs black.
The wife was saying 3dr is daft but it’s only occasional toddler use, and he can go in front, wifey in back, if we use it 3up.
I went for a higher miler too, 100k miles.
It’s an honest car that needs work, but I got it at an ok price.
£500 on new tyres at some stage.
£750 on a decent full service and a bunch of other detail jobs asap.
£250 on new discs/pads.
£500 on suspension.
£500 on paint.
Maybe £250 on interior.
And it should be good for years.
You might say an £8,000 example would have been better, but all the ones I saw had freshly recon wheels (in shoddy powder), so waste of time. And RFT tyres or other new but not the ones I want, so more waste of time.
And they’ll all still need money spending on details now any way.
I only saw one properly pampered car but at 40k miles it’s probably got £££ to come on age related stuff, and at £10,500 just too much... getting into V8 M3 money.
Plus it’s nice to give a car some TLC vs letting older high miles ones slowly go to crap.
So thanks to all offering advice. I’m glad I’ve got one... deffo up there with the E46 M3 imo.
R32 is set to go now. It’s been fun ish.
Only real downside is 3dr. But spec is good, and the lemon leather lifts the interior nicely.
The leather isn’t great in these 1ers, but the lemon just makes it feel a notch up in quality vs black.
The wife was saying 3dr is daft but it’s only occasional toddler use, and he can go in front, wifey in back, if we use it 3up.
I went for a higher miler too, 100k miles.
It’s an honest car that needs work, but I got it at an ok price.
£500 on new tyres at some stage.
£750 on a decent full service and a bunch of other detail jobs asap.
£250 on new discs/pads.
£500 on suspension.
£500 on paint.
Maybe £250 on interior.
And it should be good for years.
You might say an £8,000 example would have been better, but all the ones I saw had freshly recon wheels (in shoddy powder), so waste of time. And RFT tyres or other new but not the ones I want, so more waste of time.
And they’ll all still need money spending on details now any way.
I only saw one properly pampered car but at 40k miles it’s probably got £££ to come on age related stuff, and at £10,500 just too much... getting into V8 M3 money.
Plus it’s nice to give a car some TLC vs letting older high miles ones slowly go to crap.
So thanks to all offering advice. I’m glad I’ve got one... deffo up there with the E46 M3 imo.
R32 is set to go now. It’s been fun ish.
Mr Whippy said:
Well I went for an LE in the end.
Nice. Glad you got sorted.I moved things around a bit and my 130i is now tucked up in the garage. Leaving the ad live on PH for now seeing as it's free.
Bought an E91 325d to use instead. It was cheap but leggy. Needs some work but it's proving to be a nice daily. I miss the N52 engine though!
Yep they're special cars. The last of the E series and these NASP 6 potters too. A pinnacle really. Although a touch of silliness already present with things like missing dipsticks on the engine... and going to weird keys.
I remember driving an E85 Z4 with the 2.5Si (3.0) back when I was looking at Z4. I went for a cheaper higher spec 3.0i instead... but I still recollect the way the engine in the 2.5Si went... a really amazing engine.
In a way it feels like my 130i isn't quite as screamer at the top end... possibly all just noise and exhaust related.
I'm a bit busy with work right now but I plan to get under the bonnet and tinker with that sound generator. If it's anything like the M54B30 sound generator on the Z4, it'll have foam in it to dampen down the tunes.
I'm guessing I can get a bit more induction noise fired at the bulkhead if I tinker around with it!
Cheers
Dave
I remember driving an E85 Z4 with the 2.5Si (3.0) back when I was looking at Z4. I went for a cheaper higher spec 3.0i instead... but I still recollect the way the engine in the 2.5Si went... a really amazing engine.
In a way it feels like my 130i isn't quite as screamer at the top end... possibly all just noise and exhaust related.
I'm a bit busy with work right now but I plan to get under the bonnet and tinker with that sound generator. If it's anything like the M54B30 sound generator on the Z4, it'll have foam in it to dampen down the tunes.
I'm guessing I can get a bit more induction noise fired at the bulkhead if I tinker around with it!
Cheers
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
Yep they're special cars. The last of the E series and these NASP 6 potters too. A pinnacle really. Although a touch of silliness already present with things like missing dipsticks on the engine... and going to weird keys.
Dave
I know what you mean about the last of the last of the NASP 6 potters - but I'm also not a fan of the missing dipstick or the electronic water pump (they're stupidly expensive). Dave
It's amazing how refined my E91 325i is, compared to my Z4 Coupe - although my Z4C does have a custom cat-back exhaust.
And it has a proper key! As well as a temperature gauge, unlike my E91 - what is that about? Mr Tidy said:
Mr Whippy said:
Yep they're special cars. The last of the E series and these NASP 6 potters too. A pinnacle really. Although a touch of silliness already present with things like missing dipsticks on the engine... and going to weird keys.
Dave
I know what you mean about the last of the last of the NASP 6 potters - but I'm also not a fan of the missing dipstick or the electronic water pump (they're stupidly expensive). Dave
It's amazing how refined my E91 325i is, compared to my Z4 Coupe - although my Z4C does have a custom cat-back exhaust.
And it has a proper key! As well as a temperature gauge, unlike my E91 - what is that about? IIRC the idea behind the electronic pump is that it can reduce pumping speed when you’re at cruising speed, safely raising the coolant temp and therefore delivering better fuel economy. When you’re pushing the engine it goes to full speed for maximum cooling. Clever but expensive.
On my Z4 and 335i there’s an oil temp gauge instead - under repeated full load the oil temp goes up significantly on the 335
survivalist said:
Not sure if this is true, but I was told by a BMW mechanic that they got rid of the water temp gauge as the electic water pump deliberately varies the water temp for efficiency/performance reasons and so a water gauge isn’t particularly helpful for identifying when there is an issue.
IIRC the idea behind the electronic pump is that it can reduce pumping speed when you’re at cruising speed, safely raising the coolant temp and therefore delivering better fuel economy. When you’re pushing the engine it goes to full speed for maximum cooling. Clever but expensive.
On my Z4 and 335i there’s an oil temp gauge instead - under repeated full load the oil temp goes up significantly on the 335
I heard both points too. Also with an electric pump it can be almost "off" when the engine is cold to aid getting up to temp quicker. I don't mind the electric pump given the benefits tbh.IIRC the idea behind the electronic pump is that it can reduce pumping speed when you’re at cruising speed, safely raising the coolant temp and therefore delivering better fuel economy. When you’re pushing the engine it goes to full speed for maximum cooling. Clever but expensive.
On my Z4 and 335i there’s an oil temp gauge instead - under repeated full load the oil temp goes up significantly on the 335
No dipstick though - criminal !
Yeah the omitted dipstick is an oddity.
And gauges are useful generally. I must admit getting an LCI for the oil temp gauge was a nice thing. I was surprised how long it took to get to full operating temperature.
I'm all for electric pumps and steering etc, if they're done well, and give you more potential efficiencies.
You only have to drive this car for 30 minutes to realise the engine is a masterpiece. It's like alien technology compared to the stuff other similar class cars had at the time, and even against exotic engines it's pretty impressive imo.
No one else did valvetronic or equivalent afaik, and it really is an amazingly innvoative and effective system... performance benefits and efficiency benefits together... and clearly pretty robust!
I'm getting the car booked in at Autohaus at York for a good look over, full service, and check a cam cover leak. I'm guessing I'll be £350 lighter on service items, then another £400 on discs/pads/handbrake sorting, maybe £450 on cam cover gasket (assuming that's what it is) and other preventative stuff under there. Oh and maybe a new AGM battery.
Given there are only 140 odd of these registered/sorn left (apparently) it seems nice to take an example with higher miles and make it as good as it can be... and clearly underneath, and at 100k, these cars are still pretty damn solid.
You either pay depreciation on a newer car, or maintenance on an old one. In the past I'd have said get the newer car... but BMW have just lost me now... put an M140i in front of me, or a 130i, and I'd have the 130i any day of the week.
They're good cars, but not properly good.
And gauges are useful generally. I must admit getting an LCI for the oil temp gauge was a nice thing. I was surprised how long it took to get to full operating temperature.
I'm all for electric pumps and steering etc, if they're done well, and give you more potential efficiencies.
You only have to drive this car for 30 minutes to realise the engine is a masterpiece. It's like alien technology compared to the stuff other similar class cars had at the time, and even against exotic engines it's pretty impressive imo.
No one else did valvetronic or equivalent afaik, and it really is an amazingly innvoative and effective system... performance benefits and efficiency benefits together... and clearly pretty robust!
I'm getting the car booked in at Autohaus at York for a good look over, full service, and check a cam cover leak. I'm guessing I'll be £350 lighter on service items, then another £400 on discs/pads/handbrake sorting, maybe £450 on cam cover gasket (assuming that's what it is) and other preventative stuff under there. Oh and maybe a new AGM battery.
Given there are only 140 odd of these registered/sorn left (apparently) it seems nice to take an example with higher miles and make it as good as it can be... and clearly underneath, and at 100k, these cars are still pretty damn solid.
You either pay depreciation on a newer car, or maintenance on an old one. In the past I'd have said get the newer car... but BMW have just lost me now... put an M140i in front of me, or a 130i, and I'd have the 130i any day of the week.
They're good cars, but not properly good.
Edited by Mr Whippy on Thursday 8th November 00:04
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