The only upgrade that made sense

[qube 3570]

I have finally found the last car that I will have for a while.

I have been searching all kinds of models to decide what to go for from E92 335i , E82 135i, E46 M3, E92 M3, M235i and also a renault megane RS265 but I have finally settled on what I think is the best car for me at this point which is the F20 M135i with N55 and 8 Speed ZF auto.

Coming from a long list of previous BMW's as most of you know, it had to be a substantially newish car for it to be worth while upgrading. When I saw this come up for sale I jumped on it instantly, test drove and paid and collected within an hour of listing. Anyway, it ticks every single box on my requirements list - newness, powerful, practical, mod-able, and of course still BMW.

(I still have my E46 which I absolutely love and would love to keep but I just dont see myself driving it as much now I have this thing which works great as a daily and a weekend car)

I was lucky to find one with a sunroof which was my biggest requirement and this also came with a M performance exhaust already fitted which makes a great sound.

Anyway, if you come long to the coffee meet no doubt you will see it but here are a couple of quick photos!

 

[CSET 592]

Awesome, look forward to seeing this in person! Love that shape - we had a 125i for a little while, it really grew on me. That car felt pretty responsive, can only imagine what the 135i is like..! 

[Breaker 980]

Fantastic Kyu , looking forward to seeing it. Looks brilliant in white.

Looks an awesome package.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Breaker

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

$10 says it's for sale within 2 months.

 

JK. Nice car! These engines feel like a torquey v8 rather than a six. 0 lag.

[Olaf 3341]

yep, it's a lovely looking car.

Indeed, I'll be expecting a quiet sale within two years!    Kyu, settling down?!  Nahhhh.

 

 

[qube 3570]

I really cant think of anything else that could top this unless I win the lotto so I'm sure it will be staying for a bit longer than 2 months! 

The trouble now is to decide which car to drive everytime I need to go out... first world problems smh

[oldtimer 14]

This doesn't have the usual M135i badge on the tailgate ?

[qube 3570]

Previous owner has taken it off and replaced with a blacked out 135 badge. I will probably remove it altogether soon

[GorGasm 563]

Nice car, I test drove one before I bought my M5.  Great all round package.

[M3_Power 636]

Very nice - congrats!!!

Now all you need is do a top speed run to see if it’ll do this : )

full review

 

[m325i 711]

^ Having taken one of these for a hoon, I can see how that is possible. Loose car, big fan!

[qube 3570]

[qube 3570]

A bit of a review on this car now that I've been driving it for a month.

 

The good:

1. This is a stupidly fast car. The 8 speed auto is amazingly quick and responsive, the engine is powerful and doesnt even need to be in sport or manual trans mode, just comfort mode is enough to get it going quick, really quick.

2. It is much more comfortable than the previous 1 series E87 130i or E82 135i chassis. I owned a 130i hatch and driven a few 135i and these ride quite harsh and stiff. This new 1 series is much better and comfortable (in comfort mode). In sport mode the chassis feels a bit stiffer and this is also a nice feature.

3. Definitely feels like a new/modern car. The keyless start/stop, door lock/unlock on the handles, the whole dashboard and display, iDrive features etc makes it really feel like a new car. The late E chassis cars feel dated in comparison. Also the sports seats are comfortable and provide heaps of support with adjustable side bolsters and back support.

4. Depending on your circumstances/needs, this could potentially be the perfect all rounder car providing that you are either single/couple, looking for a great car to do daily duties as well as weekend cruises as well as long holiday trips. It is not a huge car but it is definitely not small. Especially for the front two seats, plenty of space and comfortable. Boot space is also excellent and convenient being a hatchback.

The bad or at least not so good:

1. Is it too fast?! With the weather being a bit rainy the past few days, I have noticed that giving it just a tiny bit of extra gas is enough to make the rear slide out in corners or wheel spin going 100km/h on the motorway. Not quite fair because I am using 235 tyres on the rear as a temporary measure while I get my wheels sorted (then I should be going for some 255 wide tyres in the rear) but nevertheless, the car is very very quick and could potentially be quite dangerous if you are careless.. could end up carless. (sorry)

2. The handling is not as great as the previous models. I still really enjoy driving my E46 and miss the handling on the E87 130i because it provided really good feedback from the road and inspired a lot of confidence. This one, even if you put it in sports mode which tightens it up A LOT, it still feels very disconnected and video-game like.

3. Rear seats are really not great. If you have a young kid or a baby seat then its fine but for grown kids or adults, you dont want to put them back there for more than an hour at most.

4. Can be quite a thirsty car if you are heavy footed (and its hard not to be!). Fuel consumption for me is currently about 9.5km/L which is actually really good but I have been mostly driving it weekends only and not too much start stop traffic. 

5. Really annoying thing about 1 series in general is wheel fitment. These require around 40-50 offset depending on width of wheels. Mine came originally fitted with a mere 7.5" front and 8" rear and I want to go at least 8" front 8.5" rear so I can run 235/255 tyres. Very difficult to find wheels that fit well.

 

Anyway, thats a bit of a short summary of my initial thoughts on the car incase anyone is looking at these as their next car.

By the way, I have also driven 116i 118i and 120i of the F20 chassis in stock and sports models and these are suprisingly good cars if you dont need/want something super powerful. They are a lot of car for the money, safe, relatively reliable, looks better than a golf or audi (subjectively) and is still a RWD BMW at the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

[qube 3570]

Thoughts part 2.

I have put on just over 3000kms on this now over 2 months.

A lot of driving this weekend, went up to omaha, did the little sprint to stillwater and a night drive to piha beach and back.

No doubt this is a fantastic little car. So much power, and super comfortable, the ride, seats, suspension, everything about it is comfortable and still sporty at the same time. It really is great.

In my previous post I mentioned that the 8 speed gearbox is awesome. A little amendment to this.

It is still bloody quick and awesome but I feel like there is a slight limitation with it which is that in the twisty mountain roads, often I find myself fiddling with the gear more than actually focusing on driving. Im not sure which gear to be in half the time. Also because the car is so torque-y even at low revs, I struggle to rev the car out and really hear the engine but I suppose thats what you get with the turbo set up over NA.

I realised how much easier and simpler it was when I used to do this same drive back in the days in my old E46 328ci and 330i/ci in which Im usually in 3rd or 4th and sometimes 2nd and can really rev the car out and keep it in the 4000-6000rpm range most of the time. With the 135 I found it easier to just leave it in drive and control the throttle but didnt feel as good because I couldnt keep the car in the high rev range (some part of this was because the roads were slightly wet also and if I gave it too much throttle in 3rd or 4th gear in the 135 I would lose the tail end in an instant).

Anyway, its still early days and I am figuring out the car. The car performed remarkably well on the soft bends around matakana on the long straights. It was a real pleasure to drive and less "busy" compared to driving in the mountains.

 

Anyway will keep posting my thoughts on here as I go along.

 

Also should be a little update in the looks department in the next week or so so stay tuned!

[qube 3570]

Another update.

What was supposed to be a small upgrade in the looks department - removal of kerbed wheels and putting on some better fitting wheels off a F32 4 series - turned out to make a huge improvement. 

The reason for that is because of new, wider tyres for the rear and more importantly a much needed wheel alignment (haha)

After this was done went for a day trip to Rotorua and it was great. Perfect on the open road. Fuel consumption slightly better reading 10.1km/L instead of 9.8 after the trip.

One thing I miss is the sound of the straight six engine.. I really enjoyed the sound of my previous E46 330ci, E39 530i and the E87 130i which was a blast to drive, very similar to this. This is of course much more powerful, way quicker and actually makes great exhaust sounds thanks to the MP exhaust but it doesnt have the engine sound. does make the turbo whistle though which is cool

 

Specs now:

18x8 ET34 - 225 40 18

18x8.5 ET47 - 255 35 18

Previously:

18x7.5 ET45 - 225 40 18

18x8 ET52 - 245 35 18 then 235 40 18 

the slightly lower offset fills the guards much better than before but still tucked inside, no stance here sorry.

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2019 by qube

[qube 3570]

Have done 8000kms in 3 months!

And I think its time for some new shoes soon 

 

[qube 3570]

after being off the road due to a very expensive valvetronic motor and eccentric shaft replacement job, the waterpump died after just 40kms of driving..

[Matth5 471]

Ouch ?

[str8_6 275]

Are these common faults?

4 hours ago, qube said:

after being off the road due to a very expensive valvetronic motor and eccentric shaft replacement job, the waterpump died after just 40kms of driving..

 

[Eagle 1679]

Every time i hear the word Valvetronic all i can think of is all the tribulations it brings. Surely you have a warranty though given modern BMW love to sh*t to bed?  

[qube 3570]

2 hours ago, str8_6 said:

Are these common faults?

 

the waterpump is a very common and well known issue.

The valvetronic shaft issue is known, not hugely common but not rare either. the shaft most likely caused the failure of the valvetronic motor. If it was just a valvetronic motor fault then you can run the car without it with just normal on/off throttle basically.

1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Every time i hear the word Valvetronic all i can think of is all the tribulations it brings. Surely you have a warranty though given modern BMW love to sh*t to bed?  

unfortunately I dont because I change cars often and i like to do my own servicing usually but I didnt consider mechanical warranty due to personal habit and pros/cons etc. o well.

[qube 3570]

Just ticked over 106000kms and car is running perfect.

Will do another oil change soon before taking it away on the xmas trip around the BoP!

 

Just want to say if anyone is considering one of these cars, its a ridiculously good all round package and if you lifestyle suits a medium sized hatchback that drives like a coupe but has the convenience of 4 doors and 5 seats + fold down boot with plenty of space, this is really one of the best options out there.

 

[GorGasm 563]

Sometimes I regret getting my M5 instead of the one of these I test drove.

[qube 3570]

1 hour ago, GorGasm said:

Sometimes I regret getting my M5 instead of the one of these I test drove.

Its a completely different car! funny to think how similar they are in terms of price though..

[qube 3570]

just ticked over 109,000 after the new years road trip and did an oil change.

exactly 8500kms since the last one. man the oil was filty and the engine sounds like brand new now..