GhostlyT 4 Report post Posted March 17, 2020 Hi All, Live in Te Awamutu, and we recently purchased a 135i Well, officially my girlfriend has. We have owned a 05 Cooper S for the last 3 years or so, and absolutely love it. Huge fun etc... and we have kept it well maintained. It's also been surprisingly reliable, albeit the fuel pump shat itself out of the blue one night. That''s been the only major headache other than what I'd deem general maintenance on a euro car. We were discussing a few weeks back that the Mini is due for replacement, but didn't really know what to get. We we're contemplating another Golf. We've both had Golfs in the past and liked them. Mine was a mk4 GTi, the maintenance on that was horrendous! My sister has it now, and having done over 380,000 k's it's still going strong. That's a testament to good maintenance by myself and the previous owners. The Domestic Manager had a standard mk4 (most of that before I met her). No maintenance and it fell to bits. We we're leaning toward another VW, when on a trip up to Auckland doing the rounds of the vintage clothing shops we happened upon a car yard that had a few euro's. The 135 caught our eye, and gave us the "ooooh that's nice" fuzzys. A good hour drive around Auckland (most of it stuck in traffic) sorted the "can we sit in this without getting a numb bum?" question (we're getting old), along with the feeling that it was chomping at the bit to be revved left us pretty much frothing at the mouth. Had a stupid asking price, so an offer that we thought was reasonable, and that they would probably decline, was accepted and now it's in the drive way. I've read all the horror stories on these cars, and quite frankly, don't read much into all the negative press on cars. The 135 has a good idle, revs no prob, and I get the feeling that it's been maintained. The interior is mint, and I reckon you kinda get a sense on these things. Done 85k. Fully expecting to be kept busy over the odd weekend tending to it's needs, but hey, when something can be that much fun to drive and bring a seriously smile to the dial, who cares! A quick decode of the vin shows it has the M suspension and the red interior looks too cool for school. Sadly not a manual, but the auto is easy to live with and the shifts are awesome. Gave her an oil change second day we had it, the filter being in good nick, and the oil didn't smell burnt or stressed. Joined up here to chat and discuss these cars with other owners. I like to tinker, and was a panelbeater by trade so not shy to get dirty with it. Have read many things sprawled all over the net regarding tuning etc... and may look into that at a later date. My better half reckons it's fast enough and doesn't need to be tweaked. All very well saying that, but I think if you do these things, there's likely no going back...... One newbie question i have and I hope this isn't out of line, is does the group ever do bulk buys on brake pads or other consumables? I'm still involved with vehicles for work, but don't have the close ties to suppliers that I had panelbeating, and it's no secret that the Euro parts can be mind numbing expensive! Look forward to 'meeting' you all Cheers, Blair 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herbmiester 927 Report post Posted March 18, 2020 Welcome there are a number of us who have 135s and 335s and a reasonable understanding of what happens with these cars. They are prime for tuning if thats your thing and the gains are noticeable to say the least, the budget supercar. Any questions ask away. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Contrails 317 Report post Posted March 21, 2020 Welcome, and a great post too! Love hearing people’s stories on how they got their car. I have an E92 335i. Drove a 135i too. Fabulous cars. The 135i seemed more nimble and the 335i more of a Grand Tourer. We do have group buys from time to time but haven’t seen one in a while. I think we the kiwi dollar being a bit low at the moment, overseas purchases are on hold for me. But would be keen later on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IainR 55 Report post Posted March 23, 2020 Love the 135i. I actually considered a Cooper S before buying a 130i and definitely think I made the right choice (although I still wouldn't mind a Mini!). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
