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      11-12-2012, 12:20 AM   #1
1NS0MN1A
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Is it stupid for me to buy a 2011 135i without premium?

Hey,

I am faced with a tough call. Should I pull the trigger on a 2011 135i vert without premium? Aside from the few goodies such as bluetooth, homelink, compass, and stuff, will I be missing out on much?

It has:
M sport
Harmon speakers
6mt
cold weather
9k miles.

I am coming from a fully loaded e90 sedan, so I currently have premium with navigation, and the new 135 would not have those two items. Am i crazy?
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      11-12-2012, 01:26 AM   #2
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I would suggest that you first research what the premium package includes. You can then write down on a piece of paper the pros and cons of the option package. For example, if you get bothered by bright headlights reflecting through the rear view mirrors then it might be a good idea to have the auto dimming mirrors. If you have a garage door then, wow, the premium package has little buttons that you can press that makes the door on your garage go up and down.

Last edited by loesch; 11-12-2012 at 01:33 AM..
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      11-12-2012, 01:41 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loesch View Post
I would suggest that you first research what the premium package includes. You can then write down on a piece of paper the pros and cons of the option package. For example, if you get bothered by bright headlights reflecting through the rear view mirrors then it might be a good idea to have the auto dimming mirrors. If you have a garage door then, wow, the premium package has little buttons that you can press that makes the door on your garage go up and down.
I know about these features, if you can read my first post. I have done the research, and asking this question is part of my research. I want to hear from owners that do, and do not have this package. Not from someone who provides absolutely no insight whatsoever. I am talking about the little things such as ambient lighting, electric seats, etc.
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      11-12-2012, 01:53 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1NS0MN1A View Post
I know about these features, if you can read my first post. I have done the research, and asking this question is part of my research. I want to hear from owners that do, and do not have this package. Not from someone who provides absolutely no insight whatsoever. I am talking about the little things such as ambient lighting, electric seats, etc.

The only people who would be able to give you the full insight you are looking for are those people who have owned both cars with and without the Premium package.

However, if you would like insight from someone who has loved his car even though it doesn't have the premium package, well then I can help. I wanted the premium package when I ordered my car, along with the M-Sport, but I couldn't afford both. I saw the M-Sport package as more important, as it included more options that I wanted. Different wheels, the headliner, and the increased top speed from 135 to 155mph. I lived in Germany at the time, so I could put the higher top speed to use.

As for not having Premium, sure its a downer, but I've managed without it. I've viewed my car as a sports car more than a luxury car. So, it all depends on which type of car you would rather have. More of a sports car, or more of a luxury car.
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      11-12-2012, 05:31 AM   #5
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I always get the sport, premium, and cold weather packages on my BMW’s. The reason I get the premium package is my wife drives the car too and having the seat, mirrors and other stuff adjust to your setting when your key opens the door makes it worthwhile for me. And if I can’t get what I want I have the car built. No way am I going to make a major purchase and not have exactly what I want.
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      11-12-2012, 07:35 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1NS0MN1A View Post
I know about these features, if you can read my first post. I have done the research, and asking this question is part of my research. I want to hear from owners that do, and do not have this package. Not from someone who provides absolutely no insight whatsoever. I am talking about the little things such as ambient lighting, electric seats, etc.

nice - maybe you should look into a Lexus. They make comfortable cars.
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      11-12-2012, 08:10 AM   #7
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Since you already have these features on your current car, you will definitely miss them when they're gone.

The Premium Package is not a stupid cosmetic-only option that just adds visual enhancements.

You'll use Comfort Access, the auto dim mirrors, and the universal garage door opener everyday. Personally, I could take it or leave it when it comes to leather. The ambiance lighting is cool-looking at night and functional by letting you see what you're about to step into in the dark when exiting the car. Satellite radio is another ho-hum option.

Overall, it's a pricey option whose functionality helps justify the cost.
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      11-12-2012, 08:45 AM   #8
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I don't have the Premium package, navigation or the center display thing. When I drive loaners that have that stuff, I think some of it is annoying, and the rest builds in things I already have like garage opener and navigation, or automates things that take one second, like selecting seat position 1 or 2 or dimming the rear-view mirror.

The bluetooth might be useful. I have a bluetooth earpiece that I use in the car, but since it's in my pocket and my car is 6MT, I usually don't answer if the phone rings while I'm driving.

...adding: Premium Audio, or whatever they call it now, is really important, also Cold Weather Package if it gets cold where you live.
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      11-12-2012, 09:57 AM   #9
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2011's had free leather. There might be a slight difference in the seats vs what comes with sport or M-sport. I had comfort access on my last car and don't miss it because I have to take my keys out of my pocket to lock and unlock the door to my house. That accounts for about half of my trips. Every time I went in the garage (it is attached to the house and used as an exit more than any other door) the car would turn on and the fuel pump would run.
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      11-12-2012, 10:34 AM   #10
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Not sure what the differences are between 2011 & 2012 premium package. 2012 135 had electric seats standard, and premium added leather, auto-dim mirrors, ambiance, and bluetooth.

The auto-dim and leather are pretty important features for me. If electric seats/memory are premium for 2011, then it might be important if you are going to share driving.

The rest of the stuff, I could take or leave. Well, except for the garage door opener, that is pretty handy.
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      11-12-2012, 10:50 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylon View Post
...I've viewed my car as a sports car more than a luxury car. So, it all depends on which type of car you would rather have. More of a sports car, or more of a luxury car.
+1.


I too just wanted more of a basic sporty car. The only options I got were; metalic paint, full M Sport(seats, steering wheel, alloys, headliner), heated seats and 6FL/USB port and leather seats.

IF to reorder my car today... I would definitely add PDC (park-tronic) and HK audio upgrade. My car doesn't have iDrive and I do not miss it at all.


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      12-10-2012, 08:07 PM   #12
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I still am debating on pulling the trigger. I guess I don't want to turn this into a 335i vs 135i thread, but I am having a hard time deciding based on looks alone.
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      12-10-2012, 08:45 PM   #13
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It's about the car, not options...I have a stripper 1 series (has heated seats and Bluetooth) and its absolutely perfect...options are forgettable, the drive of a 1 series isn't...

You either like the car or not...otherwise get a civic loaded to the gills... My toys are the engine and smooth as butter manual
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      12-11-2012, 08:51 AM   #14
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When I bought my 2012 vert I kept the options to a minimum; cold weather package, sat radio and whatever package it was that included the leather seats (I think it was the premium package but I could be wrong). As I recall the leather seats were $1500 and that package was like $1750, so the extra $250 was a no-brainer.

Like others I viewed this car as a sports car and didn't feel I needed or wanted to pay for nav (a $129 Garmin will suffice) or comfort access or BMW assist (my iPhone works fine). I have the Lexus RX that has all the bells as whistles but in that car they make sense.

I do kind of wish I had the HK system though. The basic radio blows.

And by keeping the options down I kept the price to around $50k, which is where I wanted to be.
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      12-11-2012, 09:21 AM   #15
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I do not have the premium or convenience package on my vert, I only added walnut trim and the sport package. I am very happy with my choice. I added navigation and blue tooth phone by adding a Garmin 885t GPS. It can be controlled by voice or touch. There at least used to be a Garmin Portable Pro system for about $1000 installed that is better integrated but the same idea. I also put in a remote microphone (garmin). For the garage door opener, I put in flash2pass. A double flash of your headlights opens the garage door.

If there are key things out of the package you would like, you may want to investigate other ways to have that functionality (like I did). Flash2pass was less than $100 and my Garmin setup was about $300. Total was a LOT less than the package.

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      12-11-2012, 09:31 AM   #16
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I came from a loaded Acura TL-S and have to admit that I do miss the Blutooth, NAV, and Sat Radio. Instead, I now use a visor BT unit, Nav on my iPhone and an aftermarket Sat unit. While I now technically have all of the things I gave up, It's nice to just have everything integrated.
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      12-11-2012, 09:39 AM   #17
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Integration is indeed an issue with 3rd party "fixes". The flash2pass is well integrated, you attach a transmitter to the headlight circuit and it resides under the hood. My GPS now sits on a bracket I made (on the left of the gauges) but initially was on a bracket sold by BMW (on the right). Wires are in the dash and come out under the hood over the gauges. It is far from as integrated as the iDrive but not nearly as clumsy as a unit stuck on the windshield with a wire coming from the cigarette lighter socket. I am giving up some appearance for cost but I am not giving up functionality. The Garmin is more capable than the iDrive from what I read and I have lifetime maps on it (for about $75 one time for 3-4 updates a year). Feedback from callers on the bluetooth is mainly positive. I also play MP3s from it on trips. I have a aux cord coming from the GPS through the dash and console to the aux port in the console.

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      12-11-2012, 02:46 PM   #18
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Lightbulb Loesch had a good idea...

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1NS0MN1A View Post
I know about these features, if you can read my first post. I have done the research, and asking this question is part of my research. I want to hear from owners that do, and do not have this package. Not from someone who provides absolutely no insight whatsoever. I am talking about the little things such as ambient lighting, electric seats, etc.
Insomnia:

I don't know mate, I think you might owe Loesch a bit of an apology. I think he/she has the best suggestion here - write a list, rate each feature from 1 to 10, and then that will tell you how much you might miss each feature, and maybe want to fill it in aftermarket, as some have suggested. We can't tell you how much you'll miss something.

Berating Loesch for trying to answer your question is sort of not the spirit of this forum...

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      12-11-2012, 03:28 PM   #19
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I don't have the premium package and here's how I see it:

Power seats- Don't need them the manuals are just fine

Memory- I'm the only driver of the car no need as well

Dimming mirror- I had my rear window tinted the darkest allowed by law and it decreases glare at night just fine.

Bluetooth- I don't talk on the phone alot so no need

Universal opener- not needed my car sleeps in garage

Lumbar-this is one i debated that i wanted but skipped on it

sat radio-i wanted this but i thought it i could add it later for a reasonable amount, unfortunately i found out it's like $1200. I think i can live without it for now.

So all in all just depends what you're used to and if you really need it, I came from a base GTI so even a base BMW was an upgrade. I bought my 1er for sheer driving pleasure and told myself i would skip the extra toys to stay in my price range. If i had to do it again i would probably do it the same way i really don't need most of the stuff on the PP.
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      12-11-2012, 03:33 PM   #20
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My car is a striper with performance package only and nothing else and no regret with my decision. My 08 drive out price sales tax included is only 35K$. Since then, I put in around 2K$ in performance parts and do the install myself to save $. My one is almost as good as a 1M.
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      12-11-2012, 04:21 PM   #21
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When I bought my car I didn't really care what options it had, I just knew I wanted a 1M. I ended up finding one with all options except HK, and assumed I would not use much of the tech type stuff. I was very wrong. If this car is to be your daily then I would try to find one with the most options that your budget will allow. If it is a second car, then maybe you don't need all the creature comforts.

I love bluetooth, don't think I will ever own a car without it. Being able to play music through my iphone without plugging it in is a huge perk for me. Also being able to easily navigate my contacts for a call while looking at the iDrive screen is really a nice perk. My previous car was built in '05 and while it had everything I need/needed it really lacked a lot of cool features that I am so glad to have. I rarely use navigation, but all the other perks of iDrive make it worth it to me.

It really depends on your preference though. Coming from a loaded e90 I think you might regret not springing the extra money for a car with similar features. Just my take on it.
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