BMW 125i coupe and 530d wagon
Discussion
I've had the 125 for just over 18 months and have been meaning to start a thread on it. I'm not sure if there would be much, if any, interest but it may well serve to be a bit of a diary.
I came about buying the 125 after my R55 Mini CS died from flood damage to the engine a couple of years back. Buying my first solo house after a divorce at the time I didn't want to be getting a new finance deal just before the mortgage went through so I ended up with a £300 1998 Mercedes C240 estate. A few months of winter with a blower that only worked when it wanted, got a bit boring quite quickly. And driving with snowboarding mitts on is unexpectedly difficult.
My initial plan was something new and reasonably quick and fun I wasn't fussed on size as long as it had 4 seats and ideally 3 doors. I test drove all the usual suspects, M140i, Golf R, Fiesta ST, i130N, I even came close to getting an UP GTI! But just couldn't make my mind up.
I had been looking at something cheaper but a lot nicer than the Merc to tide me by, I was speaking to a mate about options and he suggested what looked like a bargain 125 on ebay. Luck would have it that the E82 happens to be one of my favourite BMW's. Good condition a nice 3 litre engine with the only downside being the 145k miles on the clock. Turned out it was only up the road from me so I went for a look, it was in slightly worse condition than the advert suggested with a dent on the near side front wing and a hesitation that I was certain was the ignition coils on the way out. I thought f
k it and negotiated another £500 off, it was mine for just over £3k.
I left it as it was for a while, taking it on a family trip around the NC500 helped me fall more in love with the 125.
I started doing little bits and bobs, home wheel refurb, small ducktail spoiler, and a double din stereo conversion to modernise the interior.
A little while later a remap at P-Torque got the power up from 218 to 280bhp. Now it was pulling well I wanted to to handle a bit better. On went the E92 M3 lower control arms and some H&R lowering springs. I had originally planned a full suspension refresh but I just couldn't decide on what dampers to put on so left it for then. Looking at the above and below pictures it looks like it was on stilts before lowering. It actually sits a little lower than this now the suspension has settled and looks even lower thanks to Michelin making taller than average tyres.
Now with it driving better I decided to fix that dented wing and scratched front bumper. SH parts had gave the front and a nice lift with the more aggressive M Sport front bumper.
From this:
To this:
This summer bought another NC500 trip but this time my family were replaced by a mate in his Golf.
On the way back down from Scotland it ticked over this minor milestone.
Wanting a bit more induction noise and BMW performance air boxes being rare as hens teeth and chuffing expensive when the do come up for sale. I found this Mishimoto intake pipe. It is a direct replacement for the original resonated pipe and does make things sound that little bit nicer.
I was a little concerned it would stand out too much but its not too bad. Yes I know I need to clean the engine bay.
That's it upto date for now, I'm going to try to update bit by bit as I make changes and go on trips.
I came about buying the 125 after my R55 Mini CS died from flood damage to the engine a couple of years back. Buying my first solo house after a divorce at the time I didn't want to be getting a new finance deal just before the mortgage went through so I ended up with a £300 1998 Mercedes C240 estate. A few months of winter with a blower that only worked when it wanted, got a bit boring quite quickly. And driving with snowboarding mitts on is unexpectedly difficult.
My initial plan was something new and reasonably quick and fun I wasn't fussed on size as long as it had 4 seats and ideally 3 doors. I test drove all the usual suspects, M140i, Golf R, Fiesta ST, i130N, I even came close to getting an UP GTI! But just couldn't make my mind up.
I had been looking at something cheaper but a lot nicer than the Merc to tide me by, I was speaking to a mate about options and he suggested what looked like a bargain 125 on ebay. Luck would have it that the E82 happens to be one of my favourite BMW's. Good condition a nice 3 litre engine with the only downside being the 145k miles on the clock. Turned out it was only up the road from me so I went for a look, it was in slightly worse condition than the advert suggested with a dent on the near side front wing and a hesitation that I was certain was the ignition coils on the way out. I thought f
k it and negotiated another £500 off, it was mine for just over £3k.I left it as it was for a while, taking it on a family trip around the NC500 helped me fall more in love with the 125.
I started doing little bits and bobs, home wheel refurb, small ducktail spoiler, and a double din stereo conversion to modernise the interior.
A little while later a remap at P-Torque got the power up from 218 to 280bhp. Now it was pulling well I wanted to to handle a bit better. On went the E92 M3 lower control arms and some H&R lowering springs. I had originally planned a full suspension refresh but I just couldn't decide on what dampers to put on so left it for then. Looking at the above and below pictures it looks like it was on stilts before lowering. It actually sits a little lower than this now the suspension has settled and looks even lower thanks to Michelin making taller than average tyres.
Now with it driving better I decided to fix that dented wing and scratched front bumper. SH parts had gave the front and a nice lift with the more aggressive M Sport front bumper.
From this:
To this:
This summer bought another NC500 trip but this time my family were replaced by a mate in his Golf.
On the way back down from Scotland it ticked over this minor milestone.
Wanting a bit more induction noise and BMW performance air boxes being rare as hens teeth and chuffing expensive when the do come up for sale. I found this Mishimoto intake pipe. It is a direct replacement for the original resonated pipe and does make things sound that little bit nicer.
I was a little concerned it would stand out too much but its not too bad. Yes I know I need to clean the engine bay.
That's it upto date for now, I'm going to try to update bit by bit as I make changes and go on trips.
It totally changed the feel of the car. As standard they are fast enough but and now its great. Part of my reasoning for a higher mileage car was that the engine is detuned from factory meaning it's had an easier life so should keep going for a while. Its only when I start to keep up with my mates 140 it starts to feel like I need more power.
Bargain at £3k and you've nicely improved it - looks great now.
I've got the N52 in my 130i and it's a masterpiece of an engine - mine has only done 80k but no surprise to see yours ticking over 180k as it feels like it could do that mileage easily. Probably going to be moving on to an M-lite of some sort next year but I'll miss the naturally aspirated noise! On that note, if you can find a 135i backbox (rare as hen's teeth now) it's a nice noise upgrade
I've got the N52 in my 130i and it's a masterpiece of an engine - mine has only done 80k but no surprise to see yours ticking over 180k as it feels like it could do that mileage easily. Probably going to be moving on to an M-lite of some sort next year but I'll miss the naturally aspirated noise! On that note, if you can find a 135i backbox (rare as hen's teeth now) it's a nice noise upgrade
Good go. I've the same engine in standard high output tune in a 3 series touring. Mine's got 162k on it and feels good. The hesitation can be old plugs, coilpacks or the VANOS actuators. None are too drastic to sort in terms of difficulty or cost. Mine has a birds B3 suspension kit on it and is all the better for it. I'd like a 125i with the N52 as a big E46 fan.
They are great cars, I owned a 130i for a while and now have a 135i coupe. The 130i engine was a gem, really sweet and with great throttle response.
The miles on yours also speaks to how reliable they are. If that was an n54 you'd have spent a fortune on replacing pumps and injectors and the like.
I had the bmwp airbox on my 130 and to be honest it wasn't worth the money. I didn't notice any real difference in power and it didn't really sound better just a bit louder. If anything it was slightly less refined.
I've got the birds suspension on my 135 now and it makes quite a difference to the ride and handling on the road. Its simultaneously better riding and handling.
It still seems crashy to me though compared to previous bmws I've had so I might go to 17 inch wheels. I did that on my 130 and it was nicer.
The miles on yours also speaks to how reliable they are. If that was an n54 you'd have spent a fortune on replacing pumps and injectors and the like.
I had the bmwp airbox on my 130 and to be honest it wasn't worth the money. I didn't notice any real difference in power and it didn't really sound better just a bit louder. If anything it was slightly less refined.
I've got the birds suspension on my 135 now and it makes quite a difference to the ride and handling on the road. Its simultaneously better riding and handling.
It still seems crashy to me though compared to previous bmws I've had so I might go to 17 inch wheels. I did that on my 130 and it was nicer.
I have thought about the full birds kit with ARBs and LSD but the cost seems a little daft compared to the value of the car.
I'm surprised a how good mine rides with 50mm dropped front and 35mm rear, pretty sure its the nice big (for a modern car) sidewalls.
Also just realised I have put 130 brakes on the front which only just fit over the 17" wheels. Are the 135 brakes bigger than 330mm?
I'm surprised a how good mine rides with 50mm dropped front and 35mm rear, pretty sure its the nice big (for a modern car) sidewalls.
Also just realised I have put 130 brakes on the front which only just fit over the 17" wheels. Are the 135 brakes bigger than 330mm?
JakeT said:
Good go. I've the same engine in standard high output tune in a 3 series touring. Mine's got 162k on it and feels good. The hesitation can be old plugs, coilpacks or the VANOS actuators. None are too drastic to sort in terms of difficulty or cost. Mine has a birds B3 suspension kit on it and is all the better for it. I'd like a 125i with the N52 as a big E46 fan.
The coils and plugs got changed within a couple of week, bit of a ball getting to the last 2 as they are under the scuttle.there has been a VANOS code come up a few times on Carley so I popped the solenoids out and cleaned them a few weeks ago. It felt more powerful an responsive but the code has since come back. New solenoids are on order and will be fitted with an oil change.
IAche said:
I have thought about the full birds kit with ARBs and LSD but the cost seems a little daft compared to the value of the car.
I'm surprised a how good mine rides with 50mm dropped front and 35mm rear, pretty sure its the nice big (for a modern car) sidewalls.
Also just realised I have put 130 brakes on the front which only just fit over the 17" wheels. Are the 135 brakes bigger than 330mm?
I agree the birds stuff is a tad pricy. I think a lot of what they have done could be replicated.. h&r or used m3 anti roll bars, some shorter rear bump stops (from the bmwp suspension kit) and lowering springs gets you most of the way there in reality.I'm surprised a how good mine rides with 50mm dropped front and 35mm rear, pretty sure its the nice big (for a modern car) sidewalls.
Also just realised I have put 130 brakes on the front which only just fit over the 17" wheels. Are the 135 brakes bigger than 330mm?
The 135i brakes are 338mm i think but they should fit under the 17s. You can put the 17 inch style 207 m sport wheels on a 135i so should be ok.
If you're buying a used set of 135i brakes watch that the ceramic caps on the pistons haven't cracked.
Thanks for the kind words guys, I agree that the car was very good value and it holds its own against modern cars in terms of performance. Especially after the remap, and i can fully recommend P-Torque, the guy really seems to know his onions.
Rather annoyingly after posting this up my rear suspension started squeaking and its getting worse. After a bit of investigating and some googling it seems that the most likely cause of this is the lower control arm/trailing arm bush, number 3 in this pic.
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=UC32...
As everything there is most likely to be original I have decided to order all new suspension arms and bushes. I've gone for all LEMFÖRDER bits as the M3 LCA's are LEMFÖRDER and I'm pretty sure they are OEM as there is a BMW roundel sized grinding and they have part numbers in the casting. I've heard good things about LEMFÖRDER on here, I'm sure it was MWStewart on his CSL build recommending them. What makes me think that the all the components are original is that a couple of months ago one of the rear dampers started leaking and upon replacing both with some Bilstein B4's found that the dampers were both original. 175000 miles on original rear dampers! I've not heard of dampers lasting that long before.
Rather annoyingly after posting this up my rear suspension started squeaking and its getting worse. After a bit of investigating and some googling it seems that the most likely cause of this is the lower control arm/trailing arm bush, number 3 in this pic.
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=UC32...
As everything there is most likely to be original I have decided to order all new suspension arms and bushes. I've gone for all LEMFÖRDER bits as the M3 LCA's are LEMFÖRDER and I'm pretty sure they are OEM as there is a BMW roundel sized grinding and they have part numbers in the casting. I've heard good things about LEMFÖRDER on here, I'm sure it was MWStewart on his CSL build recommending them. What makes me think that the all the components are original is that a couple of months ago one of the rear dampers started leaking and upon replacing both with some Bilstein B4's found that the dampers were both original. 175000 miles on original rear dampers! I've not heard of dampers lasting that long before.
£3000? That's some deal, a mate of mine has on, albeit an M-sport one but he payed over 10 (lower miles and in Sweden)
He has been messing with a tune and he bought a different intake manifold, he was told that the 130 had a slightly larger one but on closer inspection post purchase there was no difference what so ever. He has had it tuned however and it feels pokier but my butt-dyno is unsure about the claimed 280 bhp, it feels rapid but not that rapid
Do you know in detail what's done when tuning these?`
They are cool little cars, rather rare, sounds great and are a hoot to drive. Yours look great slightly lowered.
He has been messing with a tune and he bought a different intake manifold, he was told that the 130 had a slightly larger one but on closer inspection post purchase there was no difference what so ever. He has had it tuned however and it feels pokier but my butt-dyno is unsure about the claimed 280 bhp, it feels rapid but not that rapid
Do you know in detail what's done when tuning these?`
They are cool little cars, rather rare, sounds great and are a hoot to drive. Yours look great slightly lowered.
I don't know everything about he tuning but apparently the throttle only registers around 70% max as standard which is the big one. To me they don't feel that powerful as its NA and I'm used to turbo cars with a lot more torque, the lack of torque is what makes them feel slower than they are. Compared to a turbo you are accelerating through the gears not really feeling like your going that fast and all of a sudden in 3 figures.
The golf r that I tested felt loads faster which I'm sure is down to torque, dsg and 4wd.
The golf r that I tested felt loads faster which I'm sure is down to torque, dsg and 4wd.
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