BMW 130i Buying Guide
Discussion
Well my decision on which car to replace my deer crashed Mini is pretty much made. Its going to be a 1er and im leaning towards the 130 rather than the 120d (obviously-this is pistonheads). Before I go and buy the car can anyone offer advice firstly regarding which car out of these two. And secondly provide some advice as part of a buying guide when purchasing?
Before anyone says 'use the search facility' I know there are a number of 130i threads, however very few if none of them contain advice for things to look for when buying. I will be looking at 2005/6 models with sub 40k if that bares any relevance...
Fire away chaps.
Before anyone says 'use the search facility' I know there are a number of 130i threads, however very few if none of them contain advice for things to look for when buying. I will be looking at 2005/6 models with sub 40k if that bares any relevance...
Fire away chaps.
I've just started this thread on the 130's and it produced some interesting detail.
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
The wife and I bought a 130i a couple of years ago. It has been absolutely faultless. Easily the best car I've ever owned.
There are a couple of things to keep an eye / ear out for I believe (some cars suffer from a slight ticking sound for a few seconds if not used for a while and I think some owners have reported a slightly reluctant change from 1st to 2nd - see babybmw as previously suggested). However, there is no car out there that it absolutely without fault, although the 130i is pretty bloody close IMO.
The main thing I would say is totally ignore the idiots who just spit out Clarkson b
ks about this car, particularly regarding practicality. If you are a family of 5 with 3 teenage children then no, its probably not the ideal choice. Also, 2 tall adults sitting one behind the other is best for shorter distances, rather than cross continental blasts. However, for a couple or a smaller family with younger / less children, the car is fine. The boot, in particular, is of a good size. Maybe I'm used to smallish cars, but I just don't understand the grief the car gets for its boot. Takes 2 suitcases which is perfectly acceptable to me.
IMO, there are probably 3 reasons the 130i is quite cheap.
Fuel Consumption - Most people just assume a 3ltr petrol engine will be a gas guzzler but this isn't really true. Mine has achieved 31mpg in over 10k miles. I know many people with sub 2ltr engines, used in similar conditions, with worse mpg.
Practicality - It is smaller / less practical than, say, a Golf. Most people don't really care about cars / driving / RWD layout etc, therefore a Golf's better, right?!
Diesel 1 series - These are excellent. You must really want that 3ltr straight six in front of you to overlook the diesels. Personally, the gorgeous sound and the silky spread of power over a large rev range easily wins the day for me. I don't like diesels and can afford petrol at 31mpg. From a driving viewpoint, there really is no contest.
Hope this helps a little.
There are a couple of things to keep an eye / ear out for I believe (some cars suffer from a slight ticking sound for a few seconds if not used for a while and I think some owners have reported a slightly reluctant change from 1st to 2nd - see babybmw as previously suggested). However, there is no car out there that it absolutely without fault, although the 130i is pretty bloody close IMO.
The main thing I would say is totally ignore the idiots who just spit out Clarkson b
ks about this car, particularly regarding practicality. If you are a family of 5 with 3 teenage children then no, its probably not the ideal choice. Also, 2 tall adults sitting one behind the other is best for shorter distances, rather than cross continental blasts. However, for a couple or a smaller family with younger / less children, the car is fine. The boot, in particular, is of a good size. Maybe I'm used to smallish cars, but I just don't understand the grief the car gets for its boot. Takes 2 suitcases which is perfectly acceptable to me. IMO, there are probably 3 reasons the 130i is quite cheap.
Fuel Consumption - Most people just assume a 3ltr petrol engine will be a gas guzzler but this isn't really true. Mine has achieved 31mpg in over 10k miles. I know many people with sub 2ltr engines, used in similar conditions, with worse mpg.
Practicality - It is smaller / less practical than, say, a Golf. Most people don't really care about cars / driving / RWD layout etc, therefore a Golf's better, right?!
Diesel 1 series - These are excellent. You must really want that 3ltr straight six in front of you to overlook the diesels. Personally, the gorgeous sound and the silky spread of power over a large rev range easily wins the day for me. I don't like diesels and can afford petrol at 31mpg. From a driving viewpoint, there really is no contest.
Hope this helps a little.
Heathwood, Thank you very much for that, some great info there. Agreed about 130 vs diesel, although the diesel will save me money in the short and medium term I just want something more special for my 10k. I'm also almost certain that the 130 will have far better residuals and perhaps even become a bit of a cult classic! If anything i think they are undervalued at the moment especially when you look at the likes of the R32.
Heathwood said:
The wife and I bought a 130i a couple of years ago. It has been absolutely faultless. Easily the best car I've ever owned.
There are a couple of things to keep an eye / ear out for I believe (some cars suffer from a slight ticking sound for a few seconds if not used for a while and I think some owners have reported a slightly reluctant change from 1st to 2nd - see babybmw as previously suggested). However, there is no car out there that it absolutely without fault, although the 130i is pretty bloody close IMO.
The main thing I would say is totally ignore the idiots who just spit out Clarkson bks about this car, particularly regarding practicality. If you are a family of 5 with 3 teenage children then no, its probably not the ideal choice. Also, 2 tall adults sitting one behind the other is best for shorter distances, rather than cross continental blasts. However, for a couple or a smaller family with younger / less children, the car is fine. The boot, in particular, is of a good size. Maybe I'm used to smallish cars, but I just don't understand the grief the car gets for its boot. Takes 2 suitcases which is perfectly acceptable to me.
IMO, there are probably 3 reasons the 130i is quite cheap.
Fuel Consumption - Most people just assume a 3ltr petrol engine will be a gas guzzler but this isn't really true. Mine has achieved 31mpg in over 10k miles. I know many people with sub 2ltr engines, used in similar conditions, with worse mpg.
Practicality - It is smaller / less practical than, say, a Golf. Most people don't really care about cars / driving / RWD layout etc, therefore a Golf's better, right?!
Diesel 1 series - These are excellent. You must really want that 3ltr straight six in front of you to overlook the diesels. Personally, the gorgeous sound and the silky spread of power over a large rev range easily wins the day for me. I don't like diesels and can afford petrol at 31mpg. From a driving viewpoint, there really is no contest.
Hope this helps a little.
i'd pretty much +1 whatever he said. (mines averaging 29mpg btw)There are a couple of things to keep an eye / ear out for I believe (some cars suffer from a slight ticking sound for a few seconds if not used for a while and I think some owners have reported a slightly reluctant change from 1st to 2nd - see babybmw as previously suggested). However, there is no car out there that it absolutely without fault, although the 130i is pretty bloody close IMO.
The main thing I would say is totally ignore the idiots who just spit out Clarkson b
ks about this car, particularly regarding practicality. If you are a family of 5 with 3 teenage children then no, its probably not the ideal choice. Also, 2 tall adults sitting one behind the other is best for shorter distances, rather than cross continental blasts. However, for a couple or a smaller family with younger / less children, the car is fine. The boot, in particular, is of a good size. Maybe I'm used to smallish cars, but I just don't understand the grief the car gets for its boot. Takes 2 suitcases which is perfectly acceptable to me. IMO, there are probably 3 reasons the 130i is quite cheap.
Fuel Consumption - Most people just assume a 3ltr petrol engine will be a gas guzzler but this isn't really true. Mine has achieved 31mpg in over 10k miles. I know many people with sub 2ltr engines, used in similar conditions, with worse mpg.
Practicality - It is smaller / less practical than, say, a Golf. Most people don't really care about cars / driving / RWD layout etc, therefore a Golf's better, right?!
Diesel 1 series - These are excellent. You must really want that 3ltr straight six in front of you to overlook the diesels. Personally, the gorgeous sound and the silky spread of power over a large rev range easily wins the day for me. I don't like diesels and can afford petrol at 31mpg. From a driving viewpoint, there really is no contest.
Hope this helps a little.
FYI if i was looking now, there is a black 130 in the AUC system with good spec and 44k for £10,750. That'll come with usual BMW goodness. I've had my 130 coming up 8 weeks now and can honestly say its the best allrounder ive ever had.
Its happy to bumble up the M'way but fun enough down the b roads.
Things to consider are A: loosing the Runflats and B: the Birds LSD. - Both are on my list as i personally am finding it hard to have fun with the car out of shape. Its fab with all the aids on etc but if you turn them off to try and have more fun, it doesnt really like it.
maccars said:
BMW 3 Series is BMW's technology uses the most mature and proud of inline 4-cylinder engine, either 2.0 liters or 2.5-liter engine power is in the middle of the performance of peer models is very prominent, and this strong technical strength there will always be the most competitive weight weight. In addition to the engine, BMW's chassis design is also leading 
.
I hope your first language isn't English. .Chrisw666 said:
No useful advice on the 130 but there is lots on here generally. If you did consider the diesel route the 123d is dropping close to £10k though they do bring a much more complex engine to the party.
A good reason to go for the petrol straight six if ever there was. The fragility of modern turbo diesels makes me shudder.maccars said:
BMW 3 Series is BMW's technology uses the most mature and proud of inline 4-cylinder engine, either 2.0 liters or 2.5-liter engine power is in the middle of the performance of peer models is very prominent, and this strong technical strength there will always be the most competitive weight weight. In addition to the engine, BMW's chassis design is also leading .
Wonderful. Shame the 130i uses a 6-cylinder. And the thread is about a 1er, not a 3er..Worst post ever, TBH.
Brilliant car.
Have had mine for over 2 years and 30k miles or so and it's been, touchwood, faultless.
They are popping up in more and more what car threads as their values are tumbling, due to the ignorance of people thinking they are expensive to run. To compare it up the R32, perhaps it's main rival, it gets better mpg and is less to tax. The 130i is quicker and isjust as well built.
It is perfectly practical, although more geared to a younger family perhaps - space in the back compared to rivals isn't great but I've had adult passengers in there without complaint. Don't believe the increasingly detached-from-reality clarkson on that one.
Mine does like to have the oil level kept an eye on, but nothing seriously bad. The service intervals are generous and not expensive from an Indy. I had big service and MOT for under £300 recently. Economy is resolute at 31mpg and on motorways will do 40 easily.
It's refined and has a good stereo and the seats are fab - infinite adjustment is
available. The handling and steering are great. Does it need an LSD? No. Would it benefit from one? I guess. I'd have no fear of it being able to hold it's own, as standard, against more expensive cars on the road though.
It's fast. Yes, it is. I rarely extend mine to the red line these days as I commute all week in rushour but it always gives a 'hell yes' when I do. At 7k rpm it sounds great and shifts. Would you want more power in a roadcar? Erm, yes. Is what the 130i has enough to stay just the right side of legal? No, but it's flexibility in gear let's you make progress, whilst reserving the red line for special occasions
To try and compare the 130i to the 120d is missing the point. Both are good. Both are swift. Both are well built. But, only the 130i has the sense of occasion that youget from a big, sonorous engine in a small car which the diesel 1'ers can't match.
I have a friend who had a 120d m sport coupe. A great car and a consummate alrounder. I gave him the keys to mine out on a hoon one day. He came back, smiling. ''so much better than mine'' he said. ''and it sounds amazing''
Spanking cars.
Get one.
Have had mine for over 2 years and 30k miles or so and it's been, touchwood, faultless.
They are popping up in more and more what car threads as their values are tumbling, due to the ignorance of people thinking they are expensive to run. To compare it up the R32, perhaps it's main rival, it gets better mpg and is less to tax. The 130i is quicker and isjust as well built.
It is perfectly practical, although more geared to a younger family perhaps - space in the back compared to rivals isn't great but I've had adult passengers in there without complaint. Don't believe the increasingly detached-from-reality clarkson on that one.
Mine does like to have the oil level kept an eye on, but nothing seriously bad. The service intervals are generous and not expensive from an Indy. I had big service and MOT for under £300 recently. Economy is resolute at 31mpg and on motorways will do 40 easily.
It's refined and has a good stereo and the seats are fab - infinite adjustment is
available. The handling and steering are great. Does it need an LSD? No. Would it benefit from one? I guess. I'd have no fear of it being able to hold it's own, as standard, against more expensive cars on the road though.
It's fast. Yes, it is. I rarely extend mine to the red line these days as I commute all week in rushour but it always gives a 'hell yes' when I do. At 7k rpm it sounds great and shifts. Would you want more power in a roadcar? Erm, yes. Is what the 130i has enough to stay just the right side of legal? No, but it's flexibility in gear let's you make progress, whilst reserving the red line for special occasions
To try and compare the 130i to the 120d is missing the point. Both are good. Both are swift. Both are well built. But, only the 130i has the sense of occasion that youget from a big, sonorous engine in a small car which the diesel 1'ers can't match.
I have a friend who had a 120d m sport coupe. A great car and a consummate alrounder. I gave him the keys to mine out on a hoon one day. He came back, smiling. ''so much better than mine'' he said. ''and it sounds amazing''
Spanking cars.
Get one.
HellDiver said:
maccars said:
BMW 3 Series is BMW's technology uses the most mature and proud of inline 4-cylinder engine, either 2.0 liters or 2.5-liter engine power is in the middle of the performance of peer models is very prominent, and this strong technical strength there will always be the most competitive weight weight. In addition to the engine, BMW's chassis design is also leading .
Wonderful. Shame the 130i uses a 6-cylinder. And the thread is about a 1er, not a 3er..Worst post ever, TBH.
It was probably a bot of some sort posting random auto-construct sentences.
That broken link at the end was probably a link to some spamsite, but it's been stopped by a firewall or the bots broken.
HenryRoyce said:
A good reason to go for the petrol straight six if ever there was. The fragility of modern turbo diesels makes me shudder.
Though to be fair over 200bhp and a shed load of torque from a out of the box 2.0 is impressive when 15 years ago diesels were only for farmers, taxis, and wagons. The 130 is possibly one of the last cars of its type, a bigger than is needed NA lump in a fairly compact hatchback that is available (in SE spec) in very subtle trim and body style. Sure there are faster more lairy cars out there, but even the subtle R32 doesn't look as discreet as the 1er does.
I've got one. Its got lots of annoyances by design, but I can overlook them because the engine is so freaking awesome.
For example... the engine has no dipstick. It has an electronic gauge to tell you how much oil is in the car, which I don't really like. It doesn't show you the colour of the oil for example, although BMW might argue that their automatic service widget does that for you. Similarly it doesn't have a coolant or oil temperature gauge, so you have to be careful about when you can thrash it. In the end I bought a ODBII connector widget for my iPhone that, along with an app called REV allows me to view various engine management stats including engine coolant temperature. Having spoken to the BMW dealer about why BMW don't give you a coolant temperature gauge, he told me that the coolant temperature would vary too much (due to the electric water pump cutting in and out) and it would confuse BMW customers. This is nonsense. Once warm it stays at a solid 98, 99 degrees when being used or when in traffic, and sometimes drops to about 80 when cruising at about 40mph. Not confusing at all. Its not like its varying wildly between 50 and 120 degrees on a minute by minute basis!
The run flat tyres are literally a pain in the backside on poorly surfaced roads.
You need to spend a lot of money if you buy one without USB connectivity if you want iPod connectivity. The volume provided by the aux connector in the centre console is pretty poor.
Apart from that, its a great car. I've only ever got over 30mpg on long runs, and I can't honestly see how anyone can drive it with a light enough foot to get 30mpg in town. I regularly see 22mpg on the little gauge on mine, but thats because I often can't resist the lure of the upper end of the rev range. There is a noticeable step in power about 3,300rpm and that is the point at which your fuel consumption drops dramatically. Below that the engine is grunty but nothing special, and if you stay below that threshold you can almost convince yourself you're in a 120d. When you get above that threshold you're pushed back in the seat and the car growls all the way to the 7000rpm redline. Being that the new M cars are all forced induction, I'd say this is probably the last of the great NA straight sixes from BMW. Its muscular, smooth and it sounds awesome.
The car's handling is good, only let down slightly by the run flats which skip over bumps, although as I understand it the M sport suspension is quite hard for the road anyway. I'd quite like a limited slip diff, and also Birds Autos do a kit to comprehensively overhaul the suspension, ARB's and fit a limited slip dif, which makes the car handle supremely well. Problem is, the kit is £3500 fitted. I'm still tempted by it though...
Birds reckon that the ARBs are too puny and the springs have been beefed up to prevent body roll. I can believe it as the ride is so hard. It handles amazingly well for a heavy car on smooth roads, but I can imagine that the Bird's kit keeps the ace handling alongside a significant improvement in ride quality.
First thing I'm going to try is to replace my runflats with normal tyres though, and then perhaps see if its worth spending the money on the Birds kit.
Oh yeah, and it has a clutch delay valve because Americans don't know how to drive stick. It takes a bit of practice to pull away smoothly in the car, and I think one of these days I'm going to fit a modified valve that lets the driver decide what do do rather than the valve. Its no biggie though, it just means you need to be on the ball a bit when changing gear and pulling away. It basically prevents you from dumping the clutch but because us Euro types are used to manual transmissions, we tend to overrev a bit as the delay valve is still sorting you out. I guess we know how to drive, and don't need a silly little valve to help us along the way.
I expect this post sounds pretty negative, but it isn't. The 130i is a great car, and it shows how good the handling is in the 1er chassis. It also shows that BMW can make a great NA engine, and I'd even go as far as to say that the 265bhp N52B30 is one of the all time great engines ever made. The engine makes the car, as I found out when I was given a 118d courtesy car earlier in the year. The 118d has the same sweet handling and a nicer ride, but its just so dull. The handling is so secure that you know you're never ever going to provoke it in any way with the diesel ditchpump they fitted to it. With the 130 you know you can have some fun, and you also know if you turn off the traction control it has the potential to bite. It doesn't want to bite, but if you act like a pratt it can do. And I love that. It makes even driving to work an event for me, which my previous Subaru Impreza did not. All of my previous cars I've felt needed more power. Not so in the 130. I reckon 265bhp is a good amount for the road, especially when fed through the rear wheels of a sweet chassis.
For example... the engine has no dipstick. It has an electronic gauge to tell you how much oil is in the car, which I don't really like. It doesn't show you the colour of the oil for example, although BMW might argue that their automatic service widget does that for you. Similarly it doesn't have a coolant or oil temperature gauge, so you have to be careful about when you can thrash it. In the end I bought a ODBII connector widget for my iPhone that, along with an app called REV allows me to view various engine management stats including engine coolant temperature. Having spoken to the BMW dealer about why BMW don't give you a coolant temperature gauge, he told me that the coolant temperature would vary too much (due to the electric water pump cutting in and out) and it would confuse BMW customers. This is nonsense. Once warm it stays at a solid 98, 99 degrees when being used or when in traffic, and sometimes drops to about 80 when cruising at about 40mph. Not confusing at all. Its not like its varying wildly between 50 and 120 degrees on a minute by minute basis!
The run flat tyres are literally a pain in the backside on poorly surfaced roads.
You need to spend a lot of money if you buy one without USB connectivity if you want iPod connectivity. The volume provided by the aux connector in the centre console is pretty poor.
Apart from that, its a great car. I've only ever got over 30mpg on long runs, and I can't honestly see how anyone can drive it with a light enough foot to get 30mpg in town. I regularly see 22mpg on the little gauge on mine, but thats because I often can't resist the lure of the upper end of the rev range. There is a noticeable step in power about 3,300rpm and that is the point at which your fuel consumption drops dramatically. Below that the engine is grunty but nothing special, and if you stay below that threshold you can almost convince yourself you're in a 120d. When you get above that threshold you're pushed back in the seat and the car growls all the way to the 7000rpm redline. Being that the new M cars are all forced induction, I'd say this is probably the last of the great NA straight sixes from BMW. Its muscular, smooth and it sounds awesome.
The car's handling is good, only let down slightly by the run flats which skip over bumps, although as I understand it the M sport suspension is quite hard for the road anyway. I'd quite like a limited slip diff, and also Birds Autos do a kit to comprehensively overhaul the suspension, ARB's and fit a limited slip dif, which makes the car handle supremely well. Problem is, the kit is £3500 fitted. I'm still tempted by it though...
Birds reckon that the ARBs are too puny and the springs have been beefed up to prevent body roll. I can believe it as the ride is so hard. It handles amazingly well for a heavy car on smooth roads, but I can imagine that the Bird's kit keeps the ace handling alongside a significant improvement in ride quality.
First thing I'm going to try is to replace my runflats with normal tyres though, and then perhaps see if its worth spending the money on the Birds kit.
Oh yeah, and it has a clutch delay valve because Americans don't know how to drive stick. It takes a bit of practice to pull away smoothly in the car, and I think one of these days I'm going to fit a modified valve that lets the driver decide what do do rather than the valve. Its no biggie though, it just means you need to be on the ball a bit when changing gear and pulling away. It basically prevents you from dumping the clutch but because us Euro types are used to manual transmissions, we tend to overrev a bit as the delay valve is still sorting you out. I guess we know how to drive, and don't need a silly little valve to help us along the way.
I expect this post sounds pretty negative, but it isn't. The 130i is a great car, and it shows how good the handling is in the 1er chassis. It also shows that BMW can make a great NA engine, and I'd even go as far as to say that the 265bhp N52B30 is one of the all time great engines ever made. The engine makes the car, as I found out when I was given a 118d courtesy car earlier in the year. The 118d has the same sweet handling and a nicer ride, but its just so dull. The handling is so secure that you know you're never ever going to provoke it in any way with the diesel ditchpump they fitted to it. With the 130 you know you can have some fun, and you also know if you turn off the traction control it has the potential to bite. It doesn't want to bite, but if you act like a pratt it can do. And I love that. It makes even driving to work an event for me, which my previous Subaru Impreza did not. All of my previous cars I've felt needed more power. Not so in the 130. I reckon 265bhp is a good amount for the road, especially when fed through the rear wheels of a sweet chassis.
MarJay said:
In the end I bought a ODBII connector widget for my iPhone that, along with an app called REV allows me to view various engine management stats including engine coolant temperature.
Can i have details please Mr. that sounds like a great thing to have on track etc when you want to keep an eye on such things!Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff