Thursday 13th July 2017

BMW 135i M Sport: Spotted

Is this stubby 135i the cut-price M2 CS we have been looking for?

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When the BMW M135i was launched in 2012 it arrived to such great fanfare that it might as well have been the first car ever to use round wheels, rather than the usual square ones. Somehow, it became the most important real-world performance car for a generation, helped by a glut of glowing reviews and evangelical owners. Plus a handful of suspiciously cheap lease deals.

But years, before that car had even been hinted at, there was another similarly badged BMW that, I reckon, was every bit as interesting. The 2007 135i received none of the hype or hysteria of the later M135i, though, and nor was there any sort of suggestion that it might have born of immaculate conception.

That original 135i M Sport Coupe, to use its full name, was forgotten the very moment the later car was launched and overshadowed entirely by the thumping 1M. In fact, even I, someone who was once pretty damn sure he'd own a 135i at some point, had forgotten the thing ever existed. It was based on the original 1 Series - the one with the slightly surprised-looking headlights - rather than the second generation 1 Series, which spawned the M135i. It was also only ever sold as a two-door coupe or cabriolet, not a three- or five-door hatch.

I was only reminded of the pugnacious little coop when reading about the forthcoming M2 CS earlier this week. That's a car to look forward to. If it does for the M2 what the CS upgrade did for the M4 - namely, give it the body control it always should have had - it'll be a truly brilliant performance car. But if it sells for anything less than £60,000 I'll be amazed.

For the vast majority of us, the M2 CS will go straight onto the 'maybe in five years' pile. But the 135i is well within reach right now, starting at less than £10,000 if you don't mind a slightly tatty one with a few miles behind it. A couple of thousand on top of that will buy a tidy, well-looked after car with around 50,000 miles.

Is the 135i a looker? Not really. It appears a little bit anaemic around the arches in photos, as though it needs a ruddy good feeding, but in the metal, it's actually more attractive. The stubby, rear-wheel drive proportions are at least quite suggestive.

It used the twin-turbo N55 straight six, the one that featured a pair of relatively small blowers to give good response at low revs. The puny M135i only had a single turbo. Rubbish. Peak power was 306hp, which always felt very punchy in what was actually a very small car. (The last few 135is actually switched to the single-turbo N55 engine).

The 135i was really good to drive, too. Nimble, darty, well controlled. A bit slidey if you wanted it to be. And then refined and reasonably practical, too. For £13,000 it seems like an awful lot of car, one that you could actually turn into a cut-price M2 CS if you took it to any number of tuning garages for a power upgrade, a limited slip differential and perhaps some decent springs and dampers.

Completely outshone by a younger sibling. Poor 135i. It's the Jamie Murray of the car world. Mind you, which racket-wielding Scot lasted longer at Wimbledon this year?

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BMW 135I M SPORT COUPE
Engine: 2,979cc, inline-six turbocharged
Transmission: six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 306@5,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 295@1,300rpm
MPG: 30.7
CO2: 221g/km
Recorded mileage: 56,000miles
Year registered: 2010
Price new: £29,745
Price now: £13,450

See the original advert here

[Zammy]

Completely missed this one, didn't know it existed either.

[shalmaneser]

I've been toying with one of these to replace an e36 M3, but stories of knackered water pumps and rattling turbo wastegates are putting me off.

I think these looking pretty smart in M sport trim with big calipers peeking out from behind the wheels. There's a rather nice looking one in metallic grey with red leather round the corner from my office.

One of these with a spanish box or an e46 M3? difficult choice. Rattling wastegates or cracked subframe mounts?

Hmmmm.

EDIT: The shifter in that car looks like it's seen more than 56k's worth of gearshifts!

Edited by shalmaneser on Thursday 13th July 12:44

[Silverbullet767]

The article says the N55 was a twin turbo, the N54 was the twin turbo with the N55 being the single turbo badged twin power I think.

N54 would be 2007.

[GTEYE]

Ironically with the standard runflats these do actually drive like the wheels are square...on normal tyres a decent steer

Edit: Xenons are an absolute must, the standard halogens are borderline dangerous!

Edited by GTEYE on Thursday 13th July 13:42

[jelluzz]

N54 was twin turbo, from 07 to the middle of 2010. Around June 2010 they went to the single twin scroll N55.

N54 was the one with all the issues, wastegate rattle etc. N55's main issue was the plastic water pump.

Although great cars, this one is poor spec (no xenons, idrive etc.)

Pick of the range for me would be N55, with the DCT gearbox (N55 only) but then i do own one...

[Leins]

Have fancied one of these as a daily for quite a while. Nice and subtle, not too big but with good power

[PistonBroker]

The soft-top came on my radar when I was doing a bit of daydreaming along the lines of 'what's got the twin-turbo 3.0 in it, has back seats I can squeeze the kids in and is a convertible?'.

Interesting left-field choice.

[Rosewood Red]

Would really like one of these at some point if my ridiculous daily commute ever becomes more reasonable.

N55, xenons, iDrive, some proper tyres. A mild remap, suspension mods and debadging it would make a nice tool to make progress in without attracting too much unwanted attention.

[Type R Tom]

Rosewood Red said:

Would really like one of these at some point if my ridiculous daily commute ever becomes more reasonable.

N55, xenons, iDrive, some proper tyres. A mild remap, suspension mods and debadging it would make a nice tool to make progress in without attracting too much unwanted attention.

I hear an LSD can help too

[DPSFleet]

Still looks like an apprentice Estate Agent's car though.

[Greza]

jelluzz said:

N54 was twin turbo, from 07 to the middle of 2010. Around June 2010 they went to the single twin scroll N55.

N54 was the one with all the issues, wastegate rattle etc. N55's main issue was the plastic water pump.

Although great cars, this one is poor spec (no xenons, idrive etc.)

Pick of the range for me would be N55, with the DCT gearbox (N55 only) but then i do own one...

Give it time, my M135i (N55) has wastegate rattle....gutted.

I'm not an expert, but seems like an inherent design fault in many turbos caused by wear.

[Mellow7]

...or for slightly lower running costs how about a 125i M Sport Coupe...I went for an auto 2008 model with just over 46k miles and £5k worth of factory extras for under £10k - looks identical to the 135i in the photo but 218bhp...just getting fed up with the rattly dashboard though...fixed the A-pillar common rattle, now the glove box et al are joining in! I think it's simply got too many pieces to it...Otherwise, very pleased 4 months on...cheapest, fastest car I've ever bought...

[MRobbins1987]

I had a 335I with the N54 twin turbocharged engine, it was brilliant and didn't miss a beat in the year or so that I owned it. If the wastegate issue worries you just pick one up with less than 60k miles and take out BMW's warranty, it's a fantastic engine and somewhat stronger power wise than what BMW quote.

Softer rear spring rates, LSD and ditching the runflats would make these near perfect.

[Rosewood Red]

Type R Tom said:

Rosewood Red said:

Would really like one of these at some point if my ridiculous daily commute ever becomes more reasonable.

N55, xenons, iDrive, some proper tyres. A mild remap, suspension mods and debadging it would make a nice tool to make progress in without attracting too much unwanted attention.

I hear an LSD can help too

Any experience of driving one with chassis mods? I'm quite intrigued to know how it'd compare to say a 986 Boxster in the twisties. It'd obviously blitz it in a straight line, but I really love B roads in the Box'.

The first gen 1er coupé is just the right size for me and is subtle enough. Wonder if it could be a do-it-all car for me...

[RobM77]

Rosewood Red said:

Type R Tom said:

Rosewood Red said:

Would really like one of these at some point if my ridiculous daily commute ever becomes more reasonable.

N55, xenons, iDrive, some proper tyres. A mild remap, suspension mods and debadging it would make a nice tool to make progress in without attracting too much unwanted attention.

I hear an LSD can help too

Any experience of driving one with chassis mods? I'm quite intrigued to know how it'd compare to say a 986 Boxster in the twisties. It'd obviously blitz it in a straight line, but I really love B roads in the Box'.

The first gen 1er coupé is just the right size for me and is subtle enough. Wonder if it could be a do-it-all car for me...

A friend of mine has the Birds suspension kit for his 135i coupé and is very impressed with it. I bought their 3 series kit for my E90 and am equally impressed. Neither of us have tried an LSD (I don't need one, he's not sure because of the cost). Personally I'd be wary of using non-RFTs with original BMW suspension which isn't designed for them (the sidewall stiffness is different), but note that the Birds kit is intended for non-RFTs.

I test drove a 135i coupé a while back. The poor throttle response and a slightly too busy ride were the only negatives; I loved everything else, in fact I think I might have bought it if that particular one hadn't done a high annual mileage, which given the asking price would have hit my wallet at resale time.

Having driven a Boxster and a couple of Caymans, I think the lighter weight makes a difference, but the overwhelming difference is the Porches' flat engines mounted on the floor in the middle of the car, giving them a lower polar moment of inertia and lower roll centre - two factors that have a huge part to play in how a performance car drives. I also much prefer the n/a Porsche flat six engine to the twin turbo BMW straight six. In terms of feedback and involvement though it's a much closer call; the Cayman and Boxster always surprised me in how smooth and refined they are. The elephant in the room for me for the Porsches though are their variable ratio steering rack and legs bent, arms out straight driving position which doesn't suit my proportions; both are non-starters for me. If those things don't bother you though, they're both fine cars and if I hypothetically could ignore those things, I'd prefer either of them to the 135i. Naturally though, the 135i offers more practicality...

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 13th July 14:30

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 13th July 14:42

[s m]

EVO mag had a project one of these .....but the updates sort of petered out....

Autocar also ran one as a long-termer. Remember they wrote that Frank Sytner was running one as well as he was quite 'taken' with it

[bodhi]

Mellow7 said:

...or for slightly lower running costs how about a 125i M Sport Coupe...I went for an auto 2008 model with just over 46k miles and £5k worth of factory extras for under £10k - looks identical to the 135i in the photo but 218bhp...just getting fed up with the rattly dashboard though...fixed the A-pillar common rattle, now the glove box et al are joining in! I think it's simply got too many pieces to it...Otherwise, very pleased 4 months on...cheapest, fastest car I've ever bought...

I was going to suggest this - I've had a manual 125i M Sport for 3 years now, and it's been hands down the best car I've had. Only reliability issues have been the aftermarket headlights the previous owner fitted, however my car guy sorted out the dodgy wiring and they've been fine. I'd rather have the OEM Xenons, but these seem an improvement on the standard halogens. Think the units are made by Sonar, no idea who made the HID kits though.

I had all the dashboard rattles you mention, but managed to fix them in one fell swoop - I swapped the runflats for Michelin PS4's, and they disappeared overnight - no joke. Whilst it doesn't exactly ride like a Citroen now, it is a far more comfortable proposition for the 20k a year I'm doing in it.

There's also a cheeky remap available to take the 125i up to 130i levels of power (same engine), so ~250/260 bhp depending on who does it.

[323ti]

I like these a lot. The N55 would be my choice even though both the 54 and 55 are open deck blocks and probably aren't as strong as they could/should be. Especially when the boost is turned up.
I remember a Fifth Gear episode where Plato and Tiff had to slide a Cayman and a 135i and neither was all that keen to oversteer. A baby 1M this bmw is not.
So you would still need to spend quite some money on dampers, anti-rollbars and LSD to make this a track/drift weapon.

[diehardbenzfan]

Bmw never really made sense in that part, the hatch had only one straight 6 which was the 130i with 265bhp and the coupe had a 125i with 215 bhp and a 135i with 306 bhp. A few years ago A 1 series hatch with the 25i engine in it would have been perfect for me as the coupe was too expensive and the 130i was too high on insurance.

Also I think the M135i was more of a big deal because it was a 300+ bhp hatchback, if they had that engine in the first gen 1 series, the one in the coupe in question, it may have been a big deal, but it was just another powerful coupe from bmw, nothing new.

[seefarr]

Rosewood Red said:

Any experience of driving one with chassis mods? I'm quite intrigued to know how it'd compare to say a 986 Boxster in the twisties. It'd obviously blitz it in a straight line, but I really love B roads in the Box'.

The first gen 1er coupé is just the right size for me and is subtle enough. Wonder if it could be a do-it-all car for me...

I've got a 335i with the Birds B3 package and love it. The only thing it needed after that was a few extra horses and the N54 can be taken to close to 400hp with just a remap. It now rides really well and will smoke both rear tyres at once.

The Birds package for the 1er:
http://www.birdsauto.com/product-information/b1-dy...