Discussion
Hi folks,
Thought I'd start a thread to share my recent purchase. After owning two Lupo GTIs which I loved, I decided it was time to get something a bit more grown up. My main rule of thumb for buying cars is that they have to be slightly left-field, rare, a dying breed, etc, so my search led me to the 130i. Since owning mine I'm yet to see another one on the road, so that box has been ticked
A family member owned a 125i Coupe a few years back which set me off with the idea. It was a lovely car, but the engine was detuned and it was an auto, so always felt like it was almost there, but not quite the full package. The 135i was out of my price range and has a lot of known issues, and I wanted a hatchback for practicality reasons.
Criteria was to find a car with a manual gearbox, sub-60k miles, leather, bluetooth and cruise. After about two months of trawling through every car sales website known to man, I spotted a white 3dr with 46k on the clock, with all the options I wanted plus front and rear PDC. A 450-mile round trip to Fareham later, it was mine! Here's a crap pic just after I collected it:
[url]
The car was in good condition, but hadn't been enthusiast-owned so was in need of a bit of TLC. Being white, dirt had built up in every crevice which was very noticeable if you looked closely. The alloys also needed a refurb, passenger door was dinted in three places and there was a tacky aftermarket radio which needed to come out. The previous owner had also had speakers installed in the parcel shelf, which looked horrendous as all the wiring was exposed in the boot.
A thorough clean and a machine polish brought the paint up a treat - I couldn't find anywhere that looks like it's been resprayed.
I bought a BMW professional head unit which slots straight in without coding, and also gives you an increase in sound quality even though the speakers are the same. This lifted the interior, which is the best part of the car - the only sign of age is wear on the driver's bolster which is very common on these cars. A quick trip to the scrappers got me a new un-butchered parcel shelf and order was restored inside.
Some pictures since the clean-up:
[url]
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/OER3ceUx[/url]
The car drives brilliantly - it seems to have had an easy life with the previous owner only doing around 3k miles a year. The N52 3.0 engine is widely regarded as the best non-M engine BMW has ever made, and it's easy to see why. It's smoothness puts many a modern engine to shame, it sounds wonderful while also being refined when you want it to be, and fuel economy is excellent for a 3.0 - I'm averaging 27mpg from a mixture of town and B-road driving, and managed 34mpg on the run back up north. They also seem to have very few common issues, aside from the electric water pump, which seems to fail on most cars around 80k miles - a while off for me yet but I'll have it done as preventative maintenance before then.
The only thing it's missing is an LSD so I may decide to have one fitted further down the line. I'm also looking at a performance exhaust - the engine sounds great lower down with the standard exhaust but over 4k I'd like a bit more noise
My brother has a YouTube channel and he asked me to take him out in the car a couple of weeks ago, so if you want to hear me blathering on even more, head to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2u9K54GSDk
Thanks for looking
Thought I'd start a thread to share my recent purchase. After owning two Lupo GTIs which I loved, I decided it was time to get something a bit more grown up. My main rule of thumb for buying cars is that they have to be slightly left-field, rare, a dying breed, etc, so my search led me to the 130i. Since owning mine I'm yet to see another one on the road, so that box has been ticked
A family member owned a 125i Coupe a few years back which set me off with the idea. It was a lovely car, but the engine was detuned and it was an auto, so always felt like it was almost there, but not quite the full package. The 135i was out of my price range and has a lot of known issues, and I wanted a hatchback for practicality reasons.
Criteria was to find a car with a manual gearbox, sub-60k miles, leather, bluetooth and cruise. After about two months of trawling through every car sales website known to man, I spotted a white 3dr with 46k on the clock, with all the options I wanted plus front and rear PDC. A 450-mile round trip to Fareham later, it was mine! Here's a crap pic just after I collected it:
[url]
The car was in good condition, but hadn't been enthusiast-owned so was in need of a bit of TLC. Being white, dirt had built up in every crevice which was very noticeable if you looked closely. The alloys also needed a refurb, passenger door was dinted in three places and there was a tacky aftermarket radio which needed to come out. The previous owner had also had speakers installed in the parcel shelf, which looked horrendous as all the wiring was exposed in the boot.
A thorough clean and a machine polish brought the paint up a treat - I couldn't find anywhere that looks like it's been resprayed.
I bought a BMW professional head unit which slots straight in without coding, and also gives you an increase in sound quality even though the speakers are the same. This lifted the interior, which is the best part of the car - the only sign of age is wear on the driver's bolster which is very common on these cars. A quick trip to the scrappers got me a new un-butchered parcel shelf and order was restored inside.
Some pictures since the clean-up:
[url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/OER3ceUx[/url]The car drives brilliantly - it seems to have had an easy life with the previous owner only doing around 3k miles a year. The N52 3.0 engine is widely regarded as the best non-M engine BMW has ever made, and it's easy to see why. It's smoothness puts many a modern engine to shame, it sounds wonderful while also being refined when you want it to be, and fuel economy is excellent for a 3.0 - I'm averaging 27mpg from a mixture of town and B-road driving, and managed 34mpg on the run back up north. They also seem to have very few common issues, aside from the electric water pump, which seems to fail on most cars around 80k miles - a while off for me yet but I'll have it done as preventative maintenance before then.
The only thing it's missing is an LSD so I may decide to have one fitted further down the line. I'm also looking at a performance exhaust - the engine sounds great lower down with the standard exhaust but over 4k I'd like a bit more noise
My brother has a YouTube channel and he asked me to take him out in the car a couple of weeks ago, so if you want to hear me blathering on even more, head to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2u9K54GSDk
Thanks for looking
Lovely job. Look forward to more as you get familiar with her.
BMW do a nice speaker and amp upgrade kit via Alpine (the amp sits in the dash behind your pro head unit) if you’re stuck with the business set up.
I can also vouch for the BMW Performance exhaust and intake if you’re a bit more burble and top end.
BMW do a nice speaker and amp upgrade kit via Alpine (the amp sits in the dash behind your pro head unit) if you’re stuck with the business set up.
I can also vouch for the BMW Performance exhaust and intake if you’re a bit more burble and top end.
Edited by DoubleSix on Saturday 21st April 08:13
swanny71 said:
Congrats, great cars and that one looks very nice.
Get over to babybmw.net if you haven't already - superb resource for these cars and generally a friendly helpful bunch.
I was looking on there every day at cars that came for sale! As you say, great website - managed to get a cheap professional head unit thanks to advice on there. I think someone from babybmw would've beat me to mine if it had xenons and iDrive - would've liked xenons as they finish the front end off but couldn't turn this one down.Get over to babybmw.net if you haven't already - superb resource for these cars and generally a friendly helpful bunch.
Looks very tidy. I've had mine for over 4 years now and it still puts a smile on my face - I don't think I could ever bring myself to sell it. Bit of advice on the diff though - I've got a Quaife in mine and while it does improve it, pound for pound the biggest improvement on mine was a decent set of dampers - I think you get more of a benefit more of the time.
Anyway, enjoy your new toy!
Anyway, enjoy your new toy!
sixpistons said:
Looks very tidy. I've had mine for over 4 years now and it still puts a smile on my face - I don't think I could ever bring myself to sell it. Bit of advice on the diff though - I've got a Quaife in mine and while it does improve it, pound for pound the biggest improvement on mine was a decent set of dampers - I think you get more of a benefit more of the time.
Anyway, enjoy your new toy!
Tell us more about the damper upgrade then! Anyway, enjoy your new toy!
Birds B1?
Lovely car OP!
I had a 325ti Sport Compact for 3 years and just missed out on a Japan Red 130i with grey leather that was only 6 miles away earlier this year.
Still I bought an E91 325i instead for added practicality, but as it's an 06 plate mine still has the N52 engine (albeit a bit smaller).
But then I've still got my Z4 Coupe if I'm in a hurry!
I really like the N52 engine - well until the water pump dies.
Water pump death happened in my first Z4C at 60K miles and 9 years - these days it's probably best to look for one that has had a new pump, as they aren't cheap!
Good luck with your car.
I had a 325ti Sport Compact for 3 years and just missed out on a Japan Red 130i with grey leather that was only 6 miles away earlier this year.
Still I bought an E91 325i instead for added practicality, but as it's an 06 plate mine still has the N52 engine (albeit a bit smaller).
But then I've still got my Z4 Coupe if I'm in a hurry!
I really like the N52 engine - well until the water pump dies.
Water pump death happened in my first Z4C at 60K miles and 9 years - these days it's probably best to look for one that has had a new pump, as they aren't cheap!
Good luck with your car.
DoubleSix said:
Tell us more about the damper upgrade then!
Birds B1?
Yup, Birds B1. Not cheap, but a vast improvement over standard in terms of composure when pressing on, as well as comfort although the damping is still quite firm. It’s best when paired with stiffer anti roll bars. Cheaper options from Bilstein and Koni also get good reports.Birds B1?
I’ll echo the water pump comments - mine died a few weeks ago and left me stranded.
chriscoates said:
I was looking on there every day at cars that came for sale! As you say, great website - managed to get a cheap professional head unit thanks to advice on there. I think someone from babybmw would've beat me to mine if it had xenons and iDrive - would've liked xenons as they finish the front end off but couldn't turn this one down.
You can always retrofit the xenon lights, self levelling and washers aren't needed but can also be added for extra effort and cost.boombap said:
You can always retrofit the xenon lights, self levelling and washers aren't needed but can also be added for extra effort and cost.
Self levelling and washers are required by UK law, and the MOT this year is changing to make them pretty hot on checking it! It's worth doing the whole thing though - so much better!I have a 130i too and there a great little car! When you think about it what else can you get that ticks all the same boxes for the money and it rwd? Mine has the bmw performance air filter which sounds very nice, a bit like an old e30 325i which is a bit compliment in my book, also got bilstien shocks and eibach springs, the car handles very well with this setup imo, way way better than my previous m135i.
Probably going to be selling soon as i saw a very cheap e90 m3 I couldn’t resist.
Probably going to be selling soon as i saw a very cheap e90 m3 I couldn’t resist.
ndg said:
boombap said:
You can always retrofit the xenon lights, self levelling and washers aren't needed but can also be added for extra effort and cost.
Self levelling and washers are required by UK law, and the MOT this year is changing to make them pretty hot on checking it! It's worth doing the whole thing though - so much better!
Nice 130i, I love these. I had an N52 330i for quite a few years. Cruising, autobahn, track days, it could do it all!
Any idea what springs it's on? It looks a little lower than stock.
How much steering feel do you loose with the EPAS on later models? I'm really not keen on the F series EPAS, or the E85 system.
Any idea what springs it's on? It looks a little lower than stock.
How much steering feel do you loose with the EPAS on later models? I'm really not keen on the F series EPAS, or the E85 system.
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