Danch

Hi all, I'm having an issue with weak AC blower. If I increase the fan speed, it's still very weak. Almost feels like the fan speed control is not doing anything. I tried replacing the blower resistor with a second hand unit but no luck. I've lubricated the blower and it doesn't feel that stiff but still the same. The previous owner did say that the blower stopped working but he cleaned and fixed it. I didn't check if the blower is working in full speed when I bought the car :/ The only other thing that I can think of is that the battery was changed from 70AH to something else 3 years ago but never registered. I think it's 63AH model. I checked Bimmercode but the only options closer to 63AH are 70AH or 60AH AGM. It's currently showing 70AH 49% charge on Bimmerlink. My next step would be to get a second hand blower and see if it does the trick. Did anyone have similar issues before? Thanks in advance for any help! Danny

My AMI Insurance premium was going from 55 a month to 85 a month for my old Golf. I moved to ANZ (Vero) for my 130i

Have you tried BM World?

I see. The labour cost may be including the cleaning..

The quote doesn't include rocker cover gasket. The vanos seals are what's in front of the engine under the rocket cover? Yeah the labour is 440 excl. Gst so I guess it just takes more time compared to Z4.

How much does it cost to replace oil filter housing seals and vanos seals? I got a quote for $820 incl. Gst and it seems a bit more expensive than doing a similar job on E85 Z4 (rocket cover, valvetronic, oil filter housing change for $670 incl. Gst) Is this because vanos seals are hard to replace? Or E87 is takes more time to work on compared to E85?

It's now going for 5.5k. The owner seems pretty keen to get rid of it. No service history and no proof of engine rebuild but the price reflects that I suppose.

Hi all, I finally bought my first-ever BMW: 2008 130i. I've been wanting to get a manual BMW for years and I'm stoked to finally own one. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of tech help posts in near future Dan

I'm still looking for a manual 130i but haven't found what I'm after. I'm leaning towards auto now since there are so many and comparably cheaper. Is auto gearbox somewhat reliable? I come from DSG box which I was afraid of costing me $$ eventually.

With more modern cars depreciating, I wonder if 130i price will go up again. Wouldn't cars like M135i come down to something like 12k eventually? Anyhow, I'm hoping to pick up a manual 130i for 9-10k but it looks like auto is my only option at this stage..

Are there any manual 130i owners in Auckland looking to sell theirs?

This is on my watchlist now. I'd say it'll finish at $15500

Just like what Gaz said, I got a quote from a used car dealership (guessing Autosure): ~$1100/1 year, $1400/2 years, $1700/3 years, $1900 for top cover.

@qube How much do you think I should budget for fixing the water pump?

Thanks guys for your comments. I see quite a few 130i on TM with around 100k mileage. Most of them didn't have the water pump/thermostat replaced which puts me off.. If I take a car to a BMW workshop, would they be able to tell if the water pump is going to go?

@Jacko I should've bought that one. Took too long to look at others - it's been sold now Hopefully I find a nice one soon!

Thanks for all your comments! Now I'm just waiting to find the right one

Yes, pre-LCIs are in the price range I want but not the LCIs in Auckland. I don't mind high kms as long as it's been well maintained.

Apparently, BMW changed the steering to electric with E87 LCI. This took out the need for running the hydraulic pump for steering, hence a slight fuel saving effect.

Hi all, I'm looking for a LCI 130i manual - I'm also interested in E82 125i as well. Please send me a PM if you're selling one Thanks

Hi guys, I'm new to both this forum and BMW. I'm thinking of buying a 130i (manual) for my daily. I think this topic has been covered and I've done some searches but I wish to hear more from current/past owners of 130i in NZ. I drive 60km a day in traffic (back and forth from North Shore to East Tamaki) and I occasionally go out for spirited driving in the weekends. The reason why I want to get 130i is because I want so get something that's more fun to drive but reasonably reliable and safe to replace my current daily (Honda CR-Z with CVT transmission). Originally 130i wasn't on my list but after a test drive, the engine sound just got me! How's 130i as a daily? Is fuel consumption as bad as some say (12+)? I see from https://www.spritmonitor.de/en/search.html and fuelly.com that it'll be around 9~11L/100km. My current car is doing 6L/100km so I do expect to pay some(much) more for petrol. Should I also consider E90 330i? Thanks in advance for your comments