Discussion
Hi all,
I'll soon be starting an automotive blog and I thought I'd share my first bit of material with you for critique. I hope you enjoy it.
A very fast 1 series…BMW’s M135i driven
As a current owner of BMW’s previous generation hyper hatch, the 130i, I monitored the release of the M135i with great anticipation, hoping that I could use the positive reviews and 330bhp as some sort of overwhelming factor in a ‘man maths’* equation that I wouldn’t fully understand and eventually fix in an attempt to justify spending an extra £24,000 to get myself one. Unfortunately, due to unrelenting work commitments and a relocation, I have only recently had the opportunity to actually go and drive one and that opportunity came last weekend.
A call to my local BMW dealer confirmed that they did indeed have a demonstrator in stock and yes of course I could drive it - BMW seem to be the only manufacturer to have fully grasped the fact that test drives do indeed sell cars to people (read car fanatics) like me. The car in question was a black 3 door equipped with the highly praised ZF 8 speed automatic box, red leather and every option that one can possibly find on the configurator website. I imagined that these options had very quickly turned a £30,000 car in to a near £40,000 one. Undeterred, I prodded the familiar starter button and the engine started with a pleasant throaty roar, whether this was genuine mechanical noise or ‘fake’ noise pumped into the cabin by BMW’s engine noise ‘synthesiser’ I couldn’t tell you but it certainly sounded purposeful, just as a car with well over 300 bhp should.
The first part of the assigned test route was a relatively clear dual carriageway and as I pulled out from the dealership entrance and accelerated the M135i’s torquey engine was immediately striking – this is a car that uses its engine’s fat mid-range and short gearing to build speed effortlessly and in an entirely undramatic fashion. Despite the 8 forward gears I didn’t notice a tendency for the gearbox to hunt for the right ratio but the changes, especially at low revs are so smooth that you’d probably have to be watching the rev counter to tell what it was actually up to. The ride in normal suspension mode was actually refreshingly smooth but when you’re used to the bone snapping combination of msport suspension and run flat tyres from the first generation 1 series, comfort improvements might genuinely include riding a wild stallion bareback or facing moderate turbulence on a Ryan Air flight to Benidorm.
The chance to get off the dual carriageway and onto some country lanes soon came, and I welcomed opportunity to floor the throttle in 3rd when approaching a NSL sign. The M135i is undoubtedly a very quick car but 4 up (my father and girlfriend had come on the drive with me) it didn’t feel night and day quicker in the higher echelons of the RPM range than my current 130i. Don’t get me wrong between 1500 and 5000rpm the M135i would leave my car for dead and that’s despite the significant extra weight the car was carrying during my drive. The power delivery is incredibly smooth and the BMW engineers are to be credited for making a turbo power plant feel naturally aspirated. However, it is this creamy delivery that makes it feel similar in nature to the engine in the 130i, although the M135i engine just has a bit more of everything, everywhere. It’s certainly an alluring powerplant that’s character far exceeds the flat sounding, high boosted four cylinder engines in competitor hot hatches from the likes of Renault, Volkswagen and Vauxhall. Throttle response in sport mode was beautifully sharp and gave the feeling that the car was ready and willing to respond to the minor inputs you might wish to make whilst negotiating a corner.
In all honesty I wasn’t able to push the car hard enough on the open road to give a great deal of insight on handling. I did take a series of s bends at a reasonable speed and the car just soaked them up with utter contempt – there’s a clearly a very composed and balanced chassis under there that would ultimately take some serious speed to upset. The electric steering was fluid but seemed to compensate for a lack of actual feel by adding steering weight. This seems to be an emerging pattern with all manufacturers utilising an electronic rack. I guess you could argue that the handling competence of modern performance cars negates the need for true steering feel but it’s an element that an enthusiast will always crave.
I finished the drive feeling impressed but not overawed by the driving experience. Put simply, the M135i felt too competent to be truly engaging at road speeds. My 130i is certainly a more physical car to drive and there is something very appealing in that quality because you don’t need to be travelling as quickly to get your driving thrills. To take the M135i to the edge you would have to be driving incredibly quickly and in doing so on the road you would have misjudged your surroundings. Therefore, unless another tempting lease deal comes around I felt that I would be better placed sticking with my 130i for a couple more years until more used cars come onto the market and the price to change is not quite so high.
I'll soon be starting an automotive blog and I thought I'd share my first bit of material with you for critique. I hope you enjoy it.
A very fast 1 series…BMW’s M135i driven
As a current owner of BMW’s previous generation hyper hatch, the 130i, I monitored the release of the M135i with great anticipation, hoping that I could use the positive reviews and 330bhp as some sort of overwhelming factor in a ‘man maths’* equation that I wouldn’t fully understand and eventually fix in an attempt to justify spending an extra £24,000 to get myself one. Unfortunately, due to unrelenting work commitments and a relocation, I have only recently had the opportunity to actually go and drive one and that opportunity came last weekend.
A call to my local BMW dealer confirmed that they did indeed have a demonstrator in stock and yes of course I could drive it - BMW seem to be the only manufacturer to have fully grasped the fact that test drives do indeed sell cars to people (read car fanatics) like me. The car in question was a black 3 door equipped with the highly praised ZF 8 speed automatic box, red leather and every option that one can possibly find on the configurator website. I imagined that these options had very quickly turned a £30,000 car in to a near £40,000 one. Undeterred, I prodded the familiar starter button and the engine started with a pleasant throaty roar, whether this was genuine mechanical noise or ‘fake’ noise pumped into the cabin by BMW’s engine noise ‘synthesiser’ I couldn’t tell you but it certainly sounded purposeful, just as a car with well over 300 bhp should.
The first part of the assigned test route was a relatively clear dual carriageway and as I pulled out from the dealership entrance and accelerated the M135i’s torquey engine was immediately striking – this is a car that uses its engine’s fat mid-range and short gearing to build speed effortlessly and in an entirely undramatic fashion. Despite the 8 forward gears I didn’t notice a tendency for the gearbox to hunt for the right ratio but the changes, especially at low revs are so smooth that you’d probably have to be watching the rev counter to tell what it was actually up to. The ride in normal suspension mode was actually refreshingly smooth but when you’re used to the bone snapping combination of msport suspension and run flat tyres from the first generation 1 series, comfort improvements might genuinely include riding a wild stallion bareback or facing moderate turbulence on a Ryan Air flight to Benidorm.
The chance to get off the dual carriageway and onto some country lanes soon came, and I welcomed opportunity to floor the throttle in 3rd when approaching a NSL sign. The M135i is undoubtedly a very quick car but 4 up (my father and girlfriend had come on the drive with me) it didn’t feel night and day quicker in the higher echelons of the RPM range than my current 130i. Don’t get me wrong between 1500 and 5000rpm the M135i would leave my car for dead and that’s despite the significant extra weight the car was carrying during my drive. The power delivery is incredibly smooth and the BMW engineers are to be credited for making a turbo power plant feel naturally aspirated. However, it is this creamy delivery that makes it feel similar in nature to the engine in the 130i, although the M135i engine just has a bit more of everything, everywhere. It’s certainly an alluring powerplant that’s character far exceeds the flat sounding, high boosted four cylinder engines in competitor hot hatches from the likes of Renault, Volkswagen and Vauxhall. Throttle response in sport mode was beautifully sharp and gave the feeling that the car was ready and willing to respond to the minor inputs you might wish to make whilst negotiating a corner.
In all honesty I wasn’t able to push the car hard enough on the open road to give a great deal of insight on handling. I did take a series of s bends at a reasonable speed and the car just soaked them up with utter contempt – there’s a clearly a very composed and balanced chassis under there that would ultimately take some serious speed to upset. The electric steering was fluid but seemed to compensate for a lack of actual feel by adding steering weight. This seems to be an emerging pattern with all manufacturers utilising an electronic rack. I guess you could argue that the handling competence of modern performance cars negates the need for true steering feel but it’s an element that an enthusiast will always crave.
I finished the drive feeling impressed but not overawed by the driving experience. Put simply, the M135i felt too competent to be truly engaging at road speeds. My 130i is certainly a more physical car to drive and there is something very appealing in that quality because you don’t need to be travelling as quickly to get your driving thrills. To take the M135i to the edge you would have to be driving incredibly quickly and in doing so on the road you would have misjudged your surroundings. Therefore, unless another tempting lease deal comes around I felt that I would be better placed sticking with my 130i for a couple more years until more used cars come onto the market and the price to change is not quite so high.
Remember old TopGear? (if not, Youtube it) It reminded me of that. Sort of like a local news reporter wrote about cars.
Just explaining a cars tech specifications doesn't really capture the imagination. The good journalists, basically anyone who writes for Car, seem to tell a sort of story.
IMHO.
Just explaining a cars tech specifications doesn't really capture the imagination. The good journalists, basically anyone who writes for Car, seem to tell a sort of story.
IMHO.
The Vambo said:
Remember old TopGear? (if not, Youtube it) It reminded me of that. Sort of like a local news reporter wrote about cars.
Just explaining a cars tech specifications doesn't really capture the imagination. The good journalists, basically anyone who writes for Car, seem to tell a sort of story.
IMHO.
Yep, fair enough. Unfortunately the drive was too short and limited to do that this time around.Just explaining a cars tech specifications doesn't really capture the imagination. The good journalists, basically anyone who writes for Car, seem to tell a sort of story.
IMHO.
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