What do you NOT like about the 1 series?

[Esteban]

Interior materials are not the best quality, but to me it kind of goes with the simple design of the cockpit, which I like. Don't want a bunch of junk in there that I don't need. My first 1er's interior was a bit noisy, but this one feels solid and is fairly quiet inside. I think the trunk is decent for the size of the car. Love the way the 1 series looks from all angles. Always turn around to get one more look as I walk away.

Would prefer to make a list of pros for my 135i:

• Great looks

• Small size

• Powerful engine

• Big brakes

• Hydraulic steering

• Handles well enough for my use

• Rear wheel drive

[Jsargevt]

I admit that I hate how flipping squeaky the brakes are on my 135.

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Jsargevt

I admit that I hate how flipping squeaky the brakes are on my 135.

AND HOW DUSTY THE OEM PADS ARE

[LuisBoston]

1. Squeaky arm rest
2. Arm rest that squeaks
3. Squeak from center console where i rest my arm
4. Plastic squeak from the middle of the car
5. Dusty front driver's side oem brake pad

[snub-nose 28]

Had my SGM 6mt 1-er now for 4 months so have a comment or two...

I have not read any posts in this thread, just my initial observations FWIW:

* I ditched the rear head-rests - you should not do likewise; mine is not a multi-person conveyance;

* I ditched the run-flats after two-three months, fronts were new! just before my purchase-this I do recommend you do, sooner the better too;

* Arm-rest was removed after one month. Would be better to have ditched it after one week...Why? 1-series interior volume does not allow for this pointless obstructive luxury. Put both hands on the wheel...where they belong. Armrest? it belongs in the basement/attic/wherever;

* I removed the visor WARNING!, WARNING! I could mention common acetone would accomplish that, BUT... Warning, don't you attempt this. It's irresponsible to as-yet-unborn, the future generations, dontcha know, plus that is an industrial chemical!

* I didn't like the B-pillar being Alaska Grey contrasted with the black 'belt there too. Bomb-canned ever-so-carefully it to flat black. This too, is not recommended, as it's scarcely reversible. I KNEW I'd like it. But I'm odd in this regard; I don't like lowering the front suspension below sport spec setting...you probably do;

* Allow 3x as much time as you would think, to work on it, compared to, say, a garden variety 356 coupe, heck an E-Type is easier to work on...this is about like a V-12 E-Type in terms of ease of service.

That's it for now. By the way, I LOVE this car!!!!! Hope you do too!

IMHO: IF Aston Martin was making rational vehicles, I've stated many times, THIS would be the entry-level AM





*

[proxpoppy]

My 128i could be a bit more sporty looking if I'm honest. The stock halogen lights just look kinda wrong on a BMW. And without the m technic bumper covers as come factory on the 135i it's just a bit watered down. Driving experience is spot on. Soft enough for a comfy daily drive but planted with a slight amount of controllable over steer with the dtc off when you're on the back roads. Only other beef I have with it is all those stupid beeps it makes when ever you so much as move a finger (exaggeration). Seriously though. I realize I just opened the door you don't have to tell me.

[JimD]

I like my sports seats and I don't get sweaty because of them. My interior is vinyl. My only options are walnut trim and the sports package. I wanted to keep it simple. I've carried my 6'3" son and 5'9" daughter with me in my e88 but, after the newness wore off, they wanted to go in the SUV instead. It's nice to be able to take 4 adults but I agree it's tight. I don't want a 3 series, however, I'd rather live with a smallish rear seat.

I hate a speedometer that lies to me and can't be fixed. I use the digital speedometer which can have the "correction" removed. Or I use my Garmin GPS.

I don't like dusty brakes. I don't like the little streams of wax coming out of the door on a 7 year old car. I think the gas mileage could be better, 5th and 6th are too close together. 6th should be taller so rpm would go down and gas mileage up. The squeaky arm rest is annoying some times too. The shortage of cup holders is also not a good thing. The lack of a dipstick was decided by a dipstick of an engineer.

But it drives great. The motor has plenty of get up and go for me. The wipers work well. It feels classy, quick, and sporty at the same time. The pedals are well positioned for heel and toe. The brakes and clutch are holding up well. It is very comfortable - I've gone as much as 800 miles in a day. Brakes are confidence inspiring.

[psamtik]

Applies mostly to N54 135i. Some of these issues apply to the N55 as well...

Wheel wells are too small - can't fit big rubber under car without buying APEX wheels (expensive).

Brake pistons crack under track heat.

Turbo wastegate rattle.

Clutch replacement is a PITA.

Valve cover gasket can leak and is a PITA.

HPFP is prone to failing.

Water pump dies at 60-80k miles, guaranteed.

Injectors need replacing at 60-80k miles.

Intake cleaning costs $$$.

Interior quality of earlier (pre 2010) ones is not up to par with the 3 series. Techs have observed less padding and less felt tape in common areas in the 1.

Front brake pads are hella expensive - more than the 3 series - because of the limited production run and custom design for the 1.

Lack of an LSD.

[Motohip]

Oh, no temp gauge on 128

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Motohip

Oh, no temp gauge on 128

I've been eyeing up the 1M gauge cluster for this very reason.. also it looks great. But like $800 + coding can't be justified.

[JimD]

You can see the temp if you load up Torq but you may not like what it shows you. I've done it. BMW deliberately lets the car get pretty hot when you are cruising. It helps gas mileage. If you get on it, the temperature goes down. I think they slow down or turn off the water pump to help drive the temperature up. I don't think they want people complaining so they deleted the gauge.

[bagekko]

After my 1st week here are my initial complaints most likely mentioned already.

Trunk lighting is crap, one light on R side and if anything is close to it then pretty much no light anywhere.

Yeah the cupholder under the armrest is useless, wont even fit the small 12oz gatorade because its too high, just a traditional can of soda fits, guess its gonna be coin/etc holder. So 1 usable cup holder for Front and none for rear, dang those Germans.

With DCT, if your in full manual mode, you cant get back to S mode with out moving the shifter L then back to R.

Visibility on the rear corners or blind spots isnt great, overall rear visibility is poorer than any BMW I have owned, even my Z3 was much better.

Can not default Sport mode to be on when car starts, yeah sure I could code via my bluetooth thingy but should be in iDrive.

[xQx]

First, I love my 1er. (2009 E88 N54 6AT Vert) It just feels like a go-cart on the road, has excellent visibility, predictable handling and enough power that I’m rarely driving in full-boost or full WOT.
But gripes, oh, I have a few. Previously, I had a 2006 X5 4.8is. I wrote it off because every car I’ve driven has been smaller than an X5, and I had a habit (did it three times, the third time caused the car to spin into a retaining wall and do $25,000 of damage to the front end) of hitting the passenger side wheel against the curb. And that’s why I got the 1er. But the X5, was a true delight to drive – the exhaust note was addictive, no-matter what gear you were in when you pressed the throttle you were instantly catapulted forward, the x-drive 4wd system meant that you could take a right-hand corner at WOT and let the computer determine which wheel needed which power and generally out-handle a WRX. The air-suspension was planted, but soft and comfortable on country roads. If I could get a 4.8is engine with x-drive in a E88 body, that’d be my perfect car. So onto the gripes about my car:
Engine & Exhaust: Stock standard the car was just like a stock standard WRX – if you weren’t on boost, it felt anaemic. The exhaust was so quiet you couldn’t hear when to change gears. Both these gripes were fixed by going FBO, but doing that has given the car a ..difficult.. power curve. It’s a decent performer up to 2,500 RPM, then it takes off like a 2-stroke motorbike between 2,500RPM to 6500RPM, then (in first and second) you’ve got to hit the paddle at the exact right moment to get into the next gear without hitting redline. Very much like driving a FBO WRX, but thankfully the 6AT gear ratios (1st redline just above 60km/h, 2nd redline just above 100km/h, 3rd redline just above 160km/h (100mi)) are very well placed (they are terrible in a WRX), so you know you’re at the speed limit in traffic based on which gear you’re redlining. This isn’t a huge ongoing gripe for me, it just means you need a lot of practice to drive the car well, and you always have to drive in Manual mode and watch the gears/revs to avoid a 2 second delay between WOT and ‘sprint-forward’ motion. (Very different from the X5 V8, when you just pointed the steering wheel and jabbed the throttle for instant sprint-forward motion).
DCT: Oh, the DCT in the E88 is all kinds of bad. The only way I can drive is with it fully turned off. In normal mode you’ve got all the power available to you as in a Toyota Yaris. Try to use any more than that and you’ll get your fuel cut. In DCS disabled mode it’s drivable, but if a wheel spins slightly, you get a nasty feul-cut that leaves you a sitting-duck in oncoming traffic. With everything turned off, it’s a pleasure to drive (non-runflat tires of course), but you can’t supress that [!] warning on the dashboard – meaning you won’t know if there’s anything else the car is trying to warn you about. Compare this to x-drive, where you can full-lock and full-throttle a 2.5tonne SUV and it would drive your outside wheels to make the car go exactly where you’re pointing it. I never experienced feul-cut in that car, even on wet roads at high throttle.
Interior & Controls: First and foremost, I can’t believe nobody has brought it up - but whoever designed the cruise control stick should be shot. Stick right below the lights stick must be pulled forward or pushed backward to engage cruise control. .. So if you accidentally get the lever directly above the cruise lever, and if you pull that forward or push that backwards, you flash your high-beam lights. So if you’re not paying attention, instead of setting cruise control, you flash your lights at the car in front. Well done guys. Why do you insist on changing the cruise control with every different model of car. Second, what is with the drivers seat? I’m 5’7” and I find it cramped. Why have you limited the travel back and recline of the seat so it feels like a Ryanair economy seating position? Third: (I know I can get a $300 module to fix this) Why do I have to sit there like an idiot and hold the convertible open / convertible close button? Could you not have matched the seat memory and window up/down buttons so as long as the car is stationary a single push of the button will fully open/close the roof?
That’s pretty much the extent of it, and all that said – I love the car – I’d love to compare it with a new M3 vert, but they’re so much bigger (and more expensive) – for all it’s faults, I prefer the 1er.
Tl;dr:
• DCT is useless, and you can’t surpress the warning [!] on the instrument panel.
• Cruise Control lever position means you’re always looking like an arsehole when you accidentally flash your high-beams at other drivers
• Driver’s seat doesn’t recline enough.
• Open/close convertible roof should be a momentary button when stationary (I know this can be fixed after-market)
• A FBO 3L twin turbo six still doesn’t drive like a 5L V8 (well duh..)

[tock172]

Cheap interior, deliberately down-tuned suspension (to allow for the 1M). Those are my main complaints. Otherwise it's an excellent car, but it doesn't quite stack up to my previous BMW's in terms of quality and driving experience. Still a ton of fun though, and the N55 engine is incredible. I know the 7 speed DCT is great as well.

[desertman123]

No one pays attention to the 128i! Everyone flocks to the M3s and such, while the lowly E82 is left in the dust. Although I admit I'm the first to hover around an E92 M3 when it shows up


Also the 135i guys asking, "why'd you buy a 128 if you're going to mod?"

boi.

you think I can afford buying, THEN modding, THEN maintaining a modded N54/N55?


Also the AC/heat system could be better.

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by mr.fabulous

* wish I had no headlight washers (just more to break)

* don't like the adaptive headlights (just more to break)

There are quick fixes for these two items.

Using Carly, you can select the frequency with which your headlight washers are activated. 'Never' is one of the frequencies.

You can keep your adaptive headlights from activating by avoiding the use of the 'Automatic' (turned to the left) setting on your headlight switch.

Peace

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by xQx

First, I love my 1er. (2009 E88 N54 6AT Vert) It just feels like a go-cart on the road, has excellent visibility, predictable handling and enough power that I’m rarely driving in full-boost or full WOT.
But gripes, oh, I have a few. Previously, I had a 2006 X5 4.8is. I wrote it off because every car I’ve driven has been smaller than an X5, and I had a habit (did it three times, the third time caused the car to spin into a retaining wall and do $25,000 of damage to the front end) of hitting the passenger side wheel against the curb. And that’s why I got the 1er. But the X5, was a true delight to drive – the exhaust note was addictive, no-matter what gear you were in when you pressed the throttle you were instantly catapulted forward, the x-drive 4wd system meant that you could take a right-hand corner at WOT and let the computer determine which wheel needed which power and generally out-handle a WRX. The air-suspension was planted, but soft and comfortable on country roads. If I could get a 4.8is engine with x-drive in a E88 body, that’d be my perfect car. So onto the gripes about my car:
Engine & Exhaust: Stock standard the car was just like a stock standard WRX – if you weren’t on boost, it felt anaemic. The exhaust was so quiet you couldn’t hear when to change gears. Both these gripes were fixed by going FBO, but doing that has given the car a ..difficult.. power curve. It’s a decent performer up to 2,500 RPM, then it takes off like a 2-stroke motorbike between 2,500RPM to 6500RPM, then (in first and second) you’ve got to hit the paddle at the exact right moment to get into the next gear without hitting redline. Very much like driving a FBO WRX, but thankfully the 6AT gear ratios (1st redline just above 60km/h, 2nd redline just above 100km/h, 3rd redline just above 160km/h (100mi)) are very well placed (they are terrible in a WRX), so you know you’re at the speed limit in traffic based on which gear you’re redlining. This isn’t a huge ongoing gripe for me, it just means you need a lot of practice to drive the car well, and you always have to drive in Manual mode and watch the gears/revs to avoid a 2 second delay between WOT and ‘sprint-forward’ motion. (Very different from the X5 V8, when you just pointed the steering wheel and jabbed the throttle for instant sprint-forward motion).
DCT: Oh, the DCT in the E88 is all kinds of bad. The only way I can drive is with it fully turned off. In normal mode you’ve got all the power available to you as in a Toyota Yaris. Try to use any more than that and you’ll get your fuel cut. In DCS disabled mode it’s drivable, but if a wheel spins slightly, you get a nasty feul-cut that leaves you a sitting-duck in oncoming traffic. With everything turned off, it’s a pleasure to drive (non-runflat tires of course), but you can’t supress that [!] warning on the dashboard – meaning you won’t know if there’s anything else the car is trying to warn you about. Compare this to x-drive, where you can full-lock and full-throttle a 2.5tonne SUV and it would drive your outside wheels to make the car go exactly where you’re pointing it. I never experienced feul-cut in that car, even on wet roads at high throttle.
Interior & Controls: First and foremost, I can’t believe nobody has brought it up - but whoever designed the cruise control stick should be shot. Stick right below the lights stick must be pulled forward or pushed backward to engage cruise control. .. So if you accidentally get the lever directly above the cruise lever, and if you pull that forward or push that backwards, you flash your high-beam lights. So if you’re not paying attention, instead of setting cruise control, you flash your lights at the car in front. Well done guys. Why do you insist on changing the cruise control with every different model of car. Second, what is with the drivers seat? I’m 5’7” and I find it cramped. Why have you limited the travel back and recline of the seat so it feels like a Ryanair economy seating position? Third: (I know I can get a $300 module to fix this) Why do I have to sit there like an idiot and hold the convertible open / convertible close button? Could you not have matched the seat memory and window up/down buttons so as long as the car is stationary a single push of the button will fully open/close the roof?
That’s pretty much the extent of it, and all that said – I love the car – I’d love to compare it with a new M3 vert, but they’re so much bigger (and more expensive) – for all it’s faults, I prefer the 1er.
Tl;dr:
• DCT is useless, and you can’t surpress the warning [!] on the instrument panel.
• Cruise Control lever position means you’re always looking like an arsehole when you accidentally flash your high-beams at other drivers
• Driver’s seat doesn’t recline enough.
• Open/close convertible roof should be a momentary button when stationary (I know this can be fixed after-market)
• A FBO 3L twin turbo six still doesn’t drive like a 5L V8 (well duh..)

Have to admit, I did not read your entire post. It is simply too long. However, the number of words you used gives me the impression you hate your car. Too bad. Good luck.

Peace

[Dat Aus]

Originally Posted by mackeroni

Have to admit, I did not read your entire post. It is simply too long. However, the number of words you used gives me the impression you hate your car. Too bad. Good luck.

Peace

He spent 80% of his post comparing his 1 series to an X5...

[ASAP]

1) car designed on runflats... this nearly ruins the 1 series
2) see above, as a result car comes with straight trash suspension
3) short, twitchy body... although thats the nature of the car, so cant really complain
4) open diff is trash
5) horrible key fob range
6) squeaky stock brakes

The 1M fixes both 1 and 2 and 4 concerns... 3 retains, if thats what u want then great, if not get a different car.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by swagon

Ok, here we go again.

1. Stock suspension.
2. Interior build quality.
3. Seating position with memory seats.
3. Rain sensor.
4. Weak key fob signal.
5. Lack of LSD.

yes to everything above... i forgot about that fking key fob... its almost pointless to have keyless entry in this car

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by mackeroni

There are quick fixes for these two items.

Using Carly, you can select the frequency with which your headlight washers are activated. 'Never' is one of the frequencies.

You can keep your adaptive headlights from activating by avoiding the use of the 'Automatic' (turned to the left) setting on your headlight switch.

Peace

or u know, u could just pull both the fuses for it

[mr.fabulous]

A little too much negative energy here. The car is not perfect. Love you guys, very glad you all are here (I would not be driving a Bee Em Double Ewe were it not for the community it comes with).