2013 135is owners discussion and photos thread!

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

And glad to finally see her Bama! Looks great. What do you think so far of the Carbon Black? It's such an intriguing and dynamic color. You can hardly even see the blue in it except in your last pic or two. At times it'll look jet black, and then at the right angle in the sun, it really shows off the blue in it.

Carbon is black when it's cloudy, a very dark blue when it's sunny - almost like they mixed Sapphire and Deep Sea together. My fear is that like all dark colors, it'll show dirt and swirls, but I'll do my best to keep her clean. My cell phone camera pics don't do it justice.

After 750 miles in the past two days, I can say "this is a great car"! This car is what I missed while driving the F30 - small car, great steering and stiff(er) suspension. Sharp turn in, no endless bouncing over bumps. I like the driving feel better than either of my E90 335. It's a well behaved freeway cruiser as well, comfortable for long stretches even though the 14 gal tank limits just how long you can go.

That said, it's not perfect, and will get some suspension help for the long term - those on this board who said the rear suspension is "kinda squishy" were right, you can feel it in the twisties especially if you are hot rodding and the road undulates.

Thanks to Dackel, I have a list of components to start gathering for a future upgrade, likely next year. Before I take it to the track, I'll get a set of square tires to help with the understeer.

I do foresee one possible problem with this car, and it involves the speed chime - I set it at 80, and it was always going off, then 85, now 90.....seems like just one small right foot movement, and she's blinking "LIMIT"!!

[Worra]

Originally Posted by Bama335

Carbon is black when it's cloudy, a very dark blue when it's sunny - almost like they mixed Sapphire and Deep Sea together. My fear is that like all dark colors, it'll show dirt and swirls, but I'll do my best to keep her clean. My cell phone camera pics don't do it justice.

After 750 miles in the past two days, I can say "this is a great car"! This car is what I missed while driving the F30 - small car, great steering and stiff(er) suspension. Sharp turn in, no endless bouncing over bumps. I like the driving feel better than either of my E90 335. It's a well behaved freeway cruiser as well, comfortable for long stretches even though the 14 gal tank limits just how long you can go.

That said, it's not perfect, and will get some suspension help for the long term - those on this board who said the rear suspension is "kinda squishy" were right, you can feel it in the twisties especially if you are hot rodding and the road undulates.

Thanks to Dackel, I have a list of components to start gathering for a future upgrade, likely next year. Before I take it to the track, I'll get a set of square tires to help with the understeer.

I do foresee one possible problem with this car, and it involves the speed chime - I set it at 80, and it was always going off, then 85, now 90.....seems like just one small right foot movement, and she's blinking "LIMIT"!!

Did your car come with the speed chime set to 80 by default?

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by Worra

Did your car come with the speed chime set to 80 by default?

No, it was set default to OFF from the factory. I always set them as a reminder that there's a guy wearing a smokey bear hat looking for me - it's usually set at 85.

I figured that 80 would be a good break-in period reminder, but as most of the drive was in states with 70 limits where you can do 77 without getting too much attn from the man, every time I went to pass, she was reminding me in a hurry - even set at 85 and 90.

This little car is quick, even in top gear

[IEDEI]

Bama: what do you think about the runflats? you gonna replace them?

i don't know what to do with my tires when i get my car....have read so many bad things about runflats...AND i live in NYC where the quality of roads is SO bad that i'm sure they are going to rattle my teeth....but at the same time i don't know if i want lug around a spare everywhere i go in the trunk *sigh*

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by Bama335

No, it was set default to OFF from the factory. I always set them as a reminder that there's a guy wearing a smokey bear hat looking for me - it's usually set at 85.

I figured that 80 would be a good break-in period reminder, but as most of the drive was in states with 70 limits where you can do 77 without getting too much attn from the man, every time I went to pass, she was reminding me in a hurry - even set at 85 and 90.

This little car is quick, even in top gear

For some reason I think mine was set to 6mph, though it wasn't on. Just put it at 130 and call it a day. O=)

I used to call my old 135 "Eva the Misbehava" cause I swear, the car just wants to go as fast as humanly possible and makes you do bad things. We are just innocent bystanders.

[yaymitch]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

Bama: what do you think about the runflats? you gonna replace them?

i don't know what to do with my tires when i get my car....have read so many bad things about runflats...AND i live in NYC where the quality of roads is SO bad that i'm sure they are going to rattle my teeth....but at the same time i don't know if i want lug around a spare everywhere i go in the trunk *sigh*

Get rid of Runflats and get this kit (ContiComfortKit) or one like it...

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=38

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

I used to call my old 135 "Eva the Misbehava" cause I swear, the car just wants to go as fast as humanly possible and makes you do bad things. We are just innocent bystanders.

this is right on the money - I was thinking the exact same thing while driving it home.....this car makes me want to do bad things. I think it's the PE sound that goes to your head

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by Bama335

this is right on the money - I was thinking the exact same thing while driving it home.....this car makes me want to do bad things. I think it's the PE sound that goes to your head

My last one didn't have the PE, but I was driving from LA to San Diego, there was heavy traffic, and that carpool lane was wide open, calling my name to my left. She FORCED me to not only go in the carpool lane (alone), but then made me go 90 most the way. I gotta say, it was soooo wrong, but felt soooo good. O=) That's when she got her name. These darn things corrupt you. The engines just want to go.

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

Bama: what do you think about the runflats? you gonna replace them?

i don't know what to do with my tires when i get my car....have read so many bad things about runflats...AND i live in NYC where the quality of roads is SO bad that i'm sure they are going to rattle my teeth....but at the same time i don't know if i want lug around a spare everywhere i go in the trunk *sigh*

I haven't had bad experiences with the RFT tires, so I'll keep them on for now. They are 140 treadwear, so they wont likely last too long, the E88 rears are at 5/32" after 7500 miles.

They do drive a bit harsh compared to non-rft, and our roads are probably a tad better than yours in the NE, so I couldn't blame you for ditching them.

When I was tracking the 335, I would buy used 050A RFT as track tires, they were reasonable price and the car suspension was set up to run them anyways. I wasn't ready for R-comps or coil overs at the time.

[mb135is]

Signed up for the DelVal CCA Chapter HPDE weekend @ NJMP Lightning this weekend! I'll try not to warp my rotors or get pad transfer on them, but I tend to do that. I'm prepared for plenty of understeer.

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by mb135is

Signed up for the DelVal CCA Chapter HPDE weekend @ NJMP Lightning this weekend! I'll try not to warp my rotors or get pad transfer on them, but I tend to do that. I'm prepared for plenty of understeer.

Sounds like a great time, be sure to post up some pics

Are you running stock pads and rotors for this event? Your mini was set up pretty nicely, what do you have planned for the "is"?

[mb135is]

Originally Posted by Bama335

Sounds like a great time, be sure to post up some pics

Are you running stock pads and rotors for this event? Your mini was set up pretty nicely, what do you have planned for the "is"?

I plan to drive it there, take all of the crap out of the trunk, then bomb it around the track completely stock. The second I start introducing myself to aftermarket stuff and the process of changing the car, it is completely downhill for me. I've learned that this is my personality, so I will not engage the habit! hehehee

I'm going to try to pick up an extra set of stock fronts in case it gets really crazy out there and I blow through them.

If I do anything to the car down the road, it'd be the performance suspension and some of the M bits for underneath, possibly an LSD. If this weekend shows me the car has potential for how I like to drive on track, then I'll start that stuff next season. If not, then it'll remain a fun all-street car that goes to the track occasionally.

Edit - this was part of my purchase decision, too, months ago. Had I been interested in actual track work, I'd have bought an E46 M which is, out of the box, an infinitely more fun track toy.

[meg180]

[QUOTE=mb135is;14518958]Signed up for the DelVal CCA Chapter HPDE weekend @ NJMP Lightning this weekend! I'll try not to warp my rotors or get pad transfer on them, but I tend to do that. I'm prepared for plenty of understeer.]

You're gonna have a blast but the track is hell on the left front tire! Post pics! These two pics are from my trip to Lightning.

[mb135is]

Thanks! Maybe I'll swap the fronts side by side after Saturday so long as rain isn't n the forecast.

[m981addicts]

Very late. Bumping 3300 miles now. Bought 0w-40 on Sat. and will do it very soon.

So most here did it @1200 miles?

[mb135is]

Yes, for those of us who did the break in oil change, it was around 1200ish.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by m981addicts

Very late. Bumping 3300 miles now. Bought 0w-40 on Sat. and will do it very soon.

So most here did it @1200 miles?

I did mine at 1484. I don't know what makes 1200 the "magical" number compared to say 1,000 or 2,000 other than that's what BMW uses for their break in period and corresponding oil change interval on m-cars.

My sense is most people don't do a post break-in oil change at all on their 135i, maybe it's a higher percentage do it on their 135is, but I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. Doing it at 3300 is better than doing it at 5 or 6,000, so I think you'll be fine and it'll still be good for the car.

You going to change the oil filter as well?

[m981addicts]

just oil until I get to my son's house in Nov. all my tools are there.

[gregthegr8]

If it's not too far out of the way and you are able to get a decent coupon, I might suggest just taking it in to a dealer for the service then. Cost me $79.95 to have it all done at the dealer which wasn't much more than the bmw oil change kit being sold online by one of the forum sponsors, but a heck of a lot easier (for me at least). Did it on a saturday morning and I was out of there in an hour and fifteen minutes, no courtesy wash of course.

[Elwood74]

I'll be at DelVal instructing/crewing. I'll be there with the 1er as the e30 is currently transmissionless. Not sure I'll be banging it around the track tho. And yeah Lightning is very hard on front lefts. I typically rotate the front left to permanent rear duty after a day (E30).

As for suspension on the 1er, the rubber band rear was so noticeable I was contemplating a subframe mount upgrade. But before going nuts, I installed the rear M guide links. After living with it for a while now, I can say it's good enough for street driving. No further upgrade plans.

[IEDEI]

TOO MUCH TALKING.....not enough photos!!!! LOL

[Bama335]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

TOO MUCH TALKING.....not enough photos!!!! LOL

Better?