What's your best reaction from the public?

[roadburn]

After a few weeks in a 135i, I've realized that the 1 Series is a "five percenter." Only about 5% of other drivers even know what they're looking at when they see it.

But that 5%?
They get it.

Last weekend I ate lunch at a nice restaurant while my lil' BMW was parked by itself on the street side of the lot, facing a busy thoroughfare. Through the picture window, I observed the following:

1. An older guy in a Lexus was staring so hard that he almost rear-ended the SUV in front of him, killing his engine when he jammed on his brakes.

2. A Sube driver with heavily tinted windows rolled them down and literally stuck his head out of his car to get a better view. Oh, yeah: It was raining.

3. A young couple in a turbo Volvo drove past slowly, hung a U-turn at the next intersection, drove back, turned into the restaurant parking lot, crept by the 135 slowly and then finally pulled back into traffic headed in their original direction.

That's it: 3 good reactions during an hour-long lunch.

I'm curious whether anyone else is encountering the 5 percent of the motoring public smart enough to gawk....

[imported_Katera]

Hahahaha Nice

[Dave]

Best one so far was a 335i that pulled up next to me on the highway after weaving through traffic and the pasenger, a girl started pointing at my 1 then she waved and have the thumbs up and the guy have me the head nod. Looks like she wanted the 1 more....

[GT3]

Usually this :middlefin

[spicv0712]

Guy in a Honda Accord behind me pulled out his camera and took a pic.

[tijuana_joe]

I parked at a mall and when a came back my 1er had a smudged set of hands on the windows and on the ride back a got a thumbs up from a group in a Lexus also a Infinity G35 pulled up beside me on the highway a honked their horn. So many people don't really know about the car so I've gotten alot of looks.

[kbimmer135i]

i wrote about my experiences in the other thread but i was inside a restaurant waiting for my friend and when she came in, she told me that a couple is checking out my car. looking at it from head to toe. i've gotten ppl that came up to me to ask about the car... 3 times already

[sunking420]

I bought my Acura RSX-TypeS as a fill in for what at the time was going to be the M2(never happened obviously). The 135i is basically what the M2 was supposed to have been, and in my opinion, even more(although priced higher than the $27,000 the M2 was supposed to be). Anyway, the Acura is quick(not fast) and no one knew what it was. My 135i is still awaiting transport(going on three weeks, talk about missing the boat) and ordered in nondescript SGM. Drive normally, and cops will think it's just a Honda. Out of radar range, we all know better. Try to get away with that in a Lambo....Happy Motoring y'all...When is mine getting here, boohoo??????????

[bryan@mwerks]

So far I've been pretty surprised that very people get all that excited about it, even other BMW owners. I've had a few decent reactions though, including a pair of smoking hot college-age blondes in a Lexus IS250 that came flying up in traffic to see the car, gave me thumbs up, and continued to gawk at it as they moved past.

Last weekend at Home Depot a couple contractors were standing in the parking lot talking while I parked; the one finally said, "Wow, three and a half liters in that little car? It must really move!" I didn't bother to correct him on the displacement, but confirmed that it is indeed a quick little car.

[Crowley]

Coming out of a store to see a guy driving his car around my car several times .. LOL .. also coming out of a store to see a guy taking pictures of my car ... People coming up to talk about the car (that know what it is) ....

Crowley

[TunedM2C]

Yesterday there were two undercover police officers parked nose-to-nose with me in my office parking lot and they must have been there for about 10 minutes talking and viewing the car from every angle. They also took a bunch of pictures with their cell phones. Glad they didn't give me a ticket for my tinted windows!

[bimmerfile]

My best reaction so far has been that (with few exceptions) this car is mostly ignored - and after having had a Z4 for 5 years, that is a real positive.
Yah, I saw a couple of guys (in their 30's) walking around my car and checking it out for 3 -4 minutes when it was in a parking lot yesterday, but for the most part, it blends in beautifully and doesn't scream "Hey, look at me!" like the Z did......

[Oregon]

The 5% observation holds true at work, all consistently responding with:w00t:

[Jackdaws]

I agree with roadburn. Many people are clueless, but car people notice. I've gotten thumbs up from other bimmer drivers and an M3. I've had a few Porsche and Mercedes drivers pop their heads around looking. I used to get a lot more reaction when my MCS was new, but I'll keep the 1er.

[imported_moto_za]

i have had people ask me about the car..but my g35 coupe got more attention because of the way it looked.

[alivebacon]

Came out of a restaurant on Burlingame Ave this past weekend only to see four people standing around my car. One couple saw that I was about to get in it and go and walked away past me, and all i heard was "135i"

and the other couple, the man was dragging her girlfriend by the arm pulling her to the back of the car and pointing, "See! SEE! 1 3 5 i !"

and we exchanged smiles
and he asked me how it rode and in summation, i told him it was awesome.

[GT3]

On a serious note...

I have never experienced as much hostility from other drivers as I have when driving any of my BMWs. Just quietly driving along and people cut you off, won't let you in, won't allow you to merge, ride your ass etc.

Which is even more surprising considering owning a BMW in Chicago is akin to owning a Toyota Camry. They're not exactly "exclusive" cars. Everybody has one.

[TunedM2C]

Originally Posted by GT3

owning a BMW in Chicago is akin to owning a Toyota Camry. They're not exactly "exclusive" cars. Everybody has one.

So true.

[Robert]

One of those chicks with big sunglasses, all made up, in her dads Lexus. Turned around and stared at the car as they passed by. I think they were looking at me, not the car.

[mistermojorizin]

my gf just called me to tell me there were two guys litterally drooling all over the kopeyka in the parking lot. they thought it was hers and started asking her questions about it.

[larryn]

By far my best reaction was at the Boston Chapter's quarterly meeting, last Wednesday evening. We had a couple of special guests.. Will Turner, from Turner Motorsports fame, and Larry Koch, M Brand Manager for BMW. Larry Koch drove up from Woodcliff Lakes, NJ in a E93 M3 there (cabrio w/19's) that - theses things are not even orderable yet, I do not think. There were about a hundred people in attendance.

I had parked my car in a regular parking spot out in front of the dealership that the meeting was being held at, and E93 M3 was parked in the middle of the parking lot, out in front of the entrance. The hilarious part is that my car was getting damn near as much traffic as the M3, and for a while, more than the M3, until Larry Koch opened the hood and trunk of that car.

[Evolution Racewerks]

Well in SoCal, we're more materialistic so it's more than 5% that know the car. I get guys on the freeway chase me down quite a bit. I get guys at gas stations, starbucks, restaurants etc... asking me about the car. Funny thing is, I still haven't seen a 135i on the streets yet.

I think the best one by far was when I met up the Big Boss Lady Monica at a busy restaurant for dinner on a Friday night. We just so "happen" to park next to each other. Every group that walked by the cars stopped and looked. There must have been 3 or 4 different groups of guys that just walked up to the cars and were circling it, debating it for some time I guess. We were outside smoking, waiting for our table and just watching.

Picture of both 135i's together.