Best 130i or 120i on Trademe now

[Mark D 6]

Been looking around for a car for a while now, and looking for inspiration!

Background - before kids and back in the UK had Lotus Elise x 3, Lotus Exige which accidentally got turned into a race car, 996 GT3 Mk2 Clubsport, and then babies came along so bought an older (at the time) Audi S8 Ronin style.

Since then it's been practical cars but now child one has pretty much left home and we are on the lookout for something fun.  We picked up a CLA45 AMG but the wife isn't really enjoying driving it but can't really describe what she does want.  That's fine as it's the car that I will be driving most.  For her, we've test driven a few different cars and the one that really stood out was a 130i M Sport.  We don't want anything big, needs to be a little bit practical, and not a money pit, and looking for a petrol engine.  I suspect she enjoyed  the power delivery of a NA car rather than turbo, but then we hadn't really been looking for something nearly 20 years old.  So the question is, would anything newer and probably smaller engine with a turbo be as engaging to drive as the 130i?  Budget is around $12.5k, maybe a bit more for the right car, M Sport spec preferred and no boy racer mods.  And of the two models in the title, does anything on Trademe stand out at the moment, or anything on FB marketplace?  Everything seems to be in Auckland which is a pain as I don't want to keep forking out for pre purchase inspections for sales that don't happen.  Is there anything else I should be looking at in that kind of budget?  

Cheers

Edited Friday at 12:05 AM by Mark D
Added some criteria

[turboray82 47]

I'm aware its not a BMW. But I drove a Fiat 500 Abarth once and left laughing. What a angry, angry little car. Being from the UK im sure you're well aware of them. 

[Jacko 2342]

120's have horrid little engines (that includes any of the 4 pot BMWs F series as well), cross them off the list, they are actual garbage all of the usual and more BMW problems but with none of the fun. If its an petrol E87, 130s are the only ones worth owning. 123d's are good little cars as well, if a diesel fits the use case. 

$12.5k will get you an stunning auto 130, if one exists, or use the remainder of the budget to make a mint one from one with a few issues. Unfortunately you may have to travel to get one, that just means a fun road trip home though. 

[mmario 68]

Define moneypit ? 

[rogan 18]

120i is a N13 engine? Good engine but has issues with oil and timing chain guides. Probably better going for the 130i

[VADER 8]

Did cars like the Driftit and M3AN 130s not appeal at all ?

Both recently For Sale here, both looked awesome to me.

[Mark D 6]

4 hours ago, turboray82 said:

I'm aware its not a BMW. But I drove a Fiat 500 Abarth once and left laughing. What a angry, angry little car. Being from the UK im sure you're well aware of them. 

Yes - it has been under consideration but might be just a bit too small!  Maybe we'll find one to test drive!  There is one around here that sounds very angry 😎

Edited Friday at 04:18 AM by Mark D

[Mark D 6]

3 hours ago, mmario said:

Define moneypit ? 

Haha, yes, it's all relative!

[Mark D 6]

2 hours ago, VADER said:

Did cars like the Driftit and M3AN 130s not appeal at all ?

Both recently For Sale here, both looked awesome to me.

Both sold it seems, damnit

Edited Friday at 04:38 AM by Mark D
Found the ads

[M3AN 4184]

Those two are both sold I'm afraid, they were both posted in the for sale section here, so worth keeping your eyes on that.

There are a couple of members here with a selection of 130's, some of which they're sure to want to move on - a few of us (myself included) have even purchased 130's to actually bring the maintenance up to spec and then shift them on for little or no profit because a) they're often worth saving and b) they're quite a good little car to tool on. If you can find one of those you're on to a winner. Check some of the work going on in the projects section.

[Driftit 2241]

I sold two of my 3. One was near identical to the one you posted earlier. It went for $6200.

I have seen F20 135i's down around your budget. 

[Mark D 6]

Any knowledge or thoughts on this one?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/5462827524

[Jacko 2342]

40 minutes ago, Mark D said:

Any knowledge or thoughts on this one?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/5462827524

Its been listed many times from that same dealer (it was 16k or something which was just dreaming), looks like an OK car from the pics and manuals are worth a premium, but its probably too high a price for the market unless they find just the right buyer.

If you or the wife haven't driven a manual 130, go drive one first, very different and much more engaging to drive... just not nice to sit in traffic with! 

[M3AN 4184]

At $14k you'd think they'd clean it before they took the photos, and perhaps included some useful ones of the engine bay, wheels, etc? Minor sure, but sometimes more than minimum effort is appreciated, especially if you're applying a premium price tag.

 

[Driftit 2241]

2 hours ago, Mark D said:

Any knowledge or thoughts on this one?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/5462827524

Big nope.  Been listed for over a year.  Have a close look at the photos.  Crud and wear everywhere.  For a car with just over 100K that is bad.
That is a $9K car if they wanted it to move today.  And you would be paying a premium for a car you will still need to spend thousands on.  That kind of wear and neglect tells me it likely has had minimal maintenance.  Not a good thing on an N52 motor.

I think if you are not going to work on it yourself you really need to find one that already has all the big stuff done recently and has no current oil leaks.
 

[Jacko 2342]

This one looks OK, https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/596906706810032 looks clean and obviously looked after/unthrashed from pics, and ZF trans. Has an averagely done aliexpress steering wheel cover on it and the DME tune numbers are just nonsense  

Might be a members?

https://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=013BMW

 

Edited Saturday at 02:16 AM by Jacko

[Toast 120]

younger brother has a 130i 2? 3? door with all the major servicing done (including a full trans rebuild 5k km ago with receipts). Give me a PM and i'll put you in touch

 

[Olaf 3426]

On 8/9/2025 at 11:24 AM, M3AN said:

At $14k you'd think they'd clean it before they took the photos, and perhaps included some useful ones of the engine bay, wheels, etc? Minor sure, but sometimes more than minimum effort is appreciated, especially if you're applying a premium price tag.

 

Most punters are too lazy or just don't think about what it takes to sell a car - refer to pretty much 95% of listings on FB marketplace.  They don't think about the market, they don't put themselves in the buyer's shoes.  "what would I want to know/see if I was looking at your listing?"

Worked example.

I cleaned up the exterior and then interior of my elderly neighbour's car a couple of weeks back.  Took it out and made some great sales pictures, wrote him a great advert.  I know it was a great advert as he worked in advertising back in the day - he said so!  Then he asked if I'd mind selling it for him - he's not confident online having been scammed.  We discussed appropriate pricing - he wanted it gone.  

I listed at 6pm, got a call just before 9pm, they wanted to see it now and were bringing cash in hand.  TLDR: Sale & Purchase Agreement signed by 10pm after a test drive, and agreed price in folded $50's in my hand.  Happy neighbour.

Olaf's handy hints for selling your car.

• Clean it up real good.  Inside and out.
• Excellent sales photos - and plenty of them. 
• Write an excellent advert - be descriptive.
• Pick your price - don't be greedy.  Remember, the first offer you get might be a little lower than you thought.  In the absence of three or four more buyers coming to look, turning down that first offer could see you waiting weeks or months for another.  
• Be available and responsive, be easy to do business with.  That includes having your paperwork sorted.

It's not hard, it just takes a bit of time and thought to do.  Easier to spend the time up front.

[Eagle 1784]

The same category of people that use the 'DM me for more details' after posting next to no information. At least tardme is generally better than FB besides the price gouging.   

[turboray82 47]

19 hours ago, Olaf said:

Most punters are too lazy or just don't think about what it takes to sell a car - refer to pretty much 95% of listings on FB marketplace.  They don't think about the market, they don't put themselves in the buyer's shoes.  "what would I want to know/see if I was looking at your listing?"

Worked example.

I cleaned up the exterior and then interior of my elderly neighbour's car a couple of weeks back.  Took it out and made some great sales pictures, wrote him a great advert.  I know it was a great advert as he worked in advertising back in the day - he said so!  Then he asked if I'd mind selling it for him - he's not confident online having been scammed.  We discussed appropriate pricing - he wanted it gone.  

I listed at 6pm, got a call just before 9pm, they wanted to see it now and were bringing cash in hand.  TLDR: Sale & Purchase Agreement signed by 10pm after a test drive, and agreed price in folded $50's in my hand.  Happy neighbour.

Olaf's handy hints for selling your car.

• Clean it up real good.  Inside and out.
• Excellent sales photos - and plenty of them. 
• Write an excellent advert - be descriptive.
• Pick your price - don't be greedy.  Remember, the first offer you get might be a little lower than you thought.  In the absence of three or four more buyers coming to look, turning down that first offer could see you waiting weeks or months for another.  
• Be available and responsive, be easy to do business with.  That includes having your paperwork sorted.

It's not hard, it just takes a bit of time and thought to do.  Easier to spend the time up front.

Ive done that myself for friends of the family. Check maintainence, new tyres, battery what it needs. Groom, good photos. I also list myself and deal with the kickers. Get them $1000-$2000 more than they would have gotten. Make some myself. I did 3 cars at the start of 2024 then had to turn people down, word got out quickly.

[Jacko 2342]

So not like this then? Great condition, great first car... its neither of those thing

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/5466999213

[elias 454]

31 minutes ago, Jacko said:

So not like this then? Great condition, great first car... its neither of those thing

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/5466999213

That is anything but great conditon 🤣