128i Red Leather & Driving an MT 128i

[x97Melbourne]

[QUOTE=fboutlaw;10226963]FYI. Red on black is awesome. Pics to see what you would be "upgrading" to.


Awesome car! Like it.

[sjp3003]

I went with coral red and jet black on a MN6 vert and picked it up two days ago..the contrast looks sharp. The red is bright, especially with the top down in sunlight on a vert.

If you're concerned about projecting a "take-me-to-bed-red" image, you might want to consider the Terracotta Boston leather...I think the brown-black contrast looks sharp, rich, more conservative and unique and would work great while doing business. I almost regret not going with the dark brown.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Captisock

I'm considering trading my 128i Auto for a 128i Manual but with the red leather seats. What do you guys think of the red leather (exterior is black), is it going to hurt the re-sale value? And this is my work car, would red be excessive and unprofessional, aka would it give off the wrong vibe?

Also, is the sport suspension in the sport package a bad idea? I'm worried it'll be a much rougher ride, and my 128i WITHOUT the sport suspension was pretty rough already.

Last question, how long will it take me to learn to drive manual on this car? I've never driven a manual before, it'll be my first manual car. (Is this even a good idea? Switching from automatic, that is)

Thanks!

With this type of sport coupe, I think the red ADDS value.
Everyone who's been in my 135i with the coral red, LOVES it.
Not a single negative.

The sport package is a great idea, if you like better handling.
It doesn't roughen the ride very much. It's firmer, but still rides very nicely even on modest bumps and rough roads.
You'll love it.

For an extra $1150 you get the sport pkg items, plus the M sport body kit that has a meaner front fascia with inset fog lights that we don't get on the 135i. And, you get the Msport steering wheel, and I think there are few other M goodies, like an M deal pedal and M logo door sills.

Plus, you can get the gray poplar at no additional cost, as it's an included option in the Msport pkg. Without the Msport pkg, the gray poplar is an extra $500 as a stand alone option.
If you get the Premium pkg. the gray poplar is also an included option in that package.
And you get the M sport wheels, 17" multi spokes. They look cool, but looks like they will take some extra time to keep clean.

Don't pass up the sport pkg at minimum. The seats and suspension are worth it.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by sjp3003

I went with coral red and jet black on a MN6 vert and picked it up two days ago..the contrast looks sharp. The red is bright, especially with the top down in sunlight on a vert.

If you're concerned about projecting a "take-me-to-bed-red" image, you might want to consider the Terracotta Boston leather...I think the brown-black contrast looks sharp, rich, more conservative and unique and would work great while doing business. I almost regret not going with the dark brown.

Terra is a nice color for the interior. I almost went with that.
But, with space gray, the red fit the exterior better, imo.
Coral is very much less conservative. I love it.

[fun2drv]

If you already own a 128i and are not happy with the level of performance, switching to a manual transmission is not going to take care of that. Have you test driven a 135i? Even the automatic should be a lot faster than the 128i.

Originally I was considering the 128i because the one was going to be my secondary car. After I was done configuring the car on the BMW website I was just a couple $K below a 135i. Guess what I bought...

I also have the red leather interior in with AW exterior. EVERYONE loves the red interior!!! You do have a lot of black in there, so it is not over the top.

Good luck!

[JimD]

In some circumstances the automatic may even be faster for some drivers but I had an example last night of a situation where the manual is definitely quicker. I was going home on a two lane road with a 55 mph speed limit. Two cars pulled out in front of me from a side road and never got up to 55. I was late for a dinner engagement so I wanted to keep moving. I passed the first car easily without downshifting but the second wasn't as easy, the gaps in oncoming traffic were kind of small. So I downshifted to 4th, traveled that way until I got a gap, and then blasted around quickly. Not so simple with an automatic (I know it can be done but involves multiple steps unless you normally manually shift the automatic).

I test drove several 128i automatics because that is what the dealer had. The lag from a stop was quite annoying. I wanted to squirt through a hole in traffic to get one back to the dealer and the lag was so bad I had to stop and wait for a big hole. Inconsistent with a sporty car to me. I also rode with a customer with the 128i auto and he moved along quickly. But his foot was well into it all the time. Not the way I drive.

The 128i is quick IF you keep the rpm up. The 135i is quicker and has plenty of torque from any reasonable rpm.

Jim

[ItsHectic]

Re-iterating the above point, I think manual does help a lot for getting through traffic because I believe its not about acceleration but about precise speed matching.

Today I was pulling in to a 3 lane main road at a T intersection, peak hour traffic was travelling at about 50km/30mph.

I could only get into the outside lane which was a bus lane that had a bus stopped closely up ahead, and it was just full traffic in the other 2 so I didn't have much room to merge normally. I was crawling along but in the power band of my car, quickly spotted 2 cars with a 1-car-can-safely-fit-in between gap, just quickily speed matched and squeezed in between them pretty neatly, everything back to comfortable driving conditions before the person behind me can even make anything of it in there head.

With auto this becomes difficult because you have big delay which signals the other driver to close their gap (Sydney drivers are like NY drivers I guess?) otherwise if you even do squeeze in its hard to precisely match speed because your car just up shifts and the car behind you is forced to brake which is when they get cranky, although if you were to continue accelerating you start tail gating the car infront which is dangerous.

[jetblackone]

My 128i 6MT is Jet with Terra and Walnut and it looks fantastic. Coral is very nice but presents a younger, less mature image, IMHO.

The manual is simply more fun to drive. You will learn to operate it in a week and then your hesitation will be a thing of the past...

[m_killer]

It is a very nice combo that should add resale value in my opinion

[FJUNO78]

Don't worry about the senior folks at your job. There are people at my job who make a lot more than I do, and they drive beater Camrys.

Earlier on in my career, I never discussed my car with anyone at my job unless I was very close with them.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by jetblackone

My 128i 6MT is Jet with Terra and Walnut and it looks fantastic. Coral is very nice but presents a younger, less mature image, IMHO.

The manual is simply more fun to drive. You will learn to operate it in a week and then your hesitation will be a thing of the past...

Less...mature?
I can't agree with that, especially since we're talking about a sporty 2 door coupe to begin with.

It might be a bit much in a 5 or 7 series, but not in any 2 door coupe with sporting intentions, IMHO.

[HeyMoe53]

I have BSM with a Terra interior, and I love the Terra.

However, I don't blame anyone for going with Coral. I think that it looks spectacular, and a black over red car always helps resale.

I do like my 128 MT. It is definitely a step above the auto. It suits my driving needs just fine.

The key with any interior is keeping it nice. There's where the "sellability" comes in later on.

Also, I have M-Sport. I love the black headliner, and how it fits in with the interior. With a gray headliner, the interior just dosen't mesh, IMO.

[JimD]

The Coral Interior is more daring and seems most appropriate for two groups of drivers. First I gather you would fit into. Relatively young. The other thing to think about, however, is many of us older guys stop buying only practical cars and buy something more fun. Even guys in my age bracket that do not buy a more fun car think about doing it. So I do not see where it will cause you any problems from a business standpoint. Most of the males, at least, that you deal with will be if anything a little jealous. It will give you something fun to talk about. You will probably get teased a little but it will be just for fun. They will be jealous.

Jim

[cvandenhaute]

As most europeans, I did learn to drive on a manual and had mostly manual when I was living ther, so I am not sure how hard it is to learn from scratch but I can tell this : the 128i has one of the easiest shifter and clutch I ever drove. The shifter is precise and super easy to use in all kind of driving moods and the clutch is very light and progressive. I would imagine it would be a very easy manual car to learn (the 3.0l has enough torque, I would not say the same about a Miata for instance).
One thing the manual does to the 128i : it gives it more life, the possibility to exploit completely the womderful straight six that LOVES to rev above 5500rpm, much harder to do with the AT (I drove oen and found it was a completely different car, actually boring - and I usually like automatic transmissions)

The Coral red has a classy tone for a red, I think. I've seen red interiors that were not as classy as this one (in a '08 Mustang where it looks plastic and a tad vulgar), I do not imagine this to be an issue if you have to carry customers. I liked it a lot but finally decided to go for Terracotta for my AW.

I would not be concerned about the comfort of the sport suspension, I find it very acceptable in every day condition and the sport seats are much more comfortable and supportive for long rides.

[Melodic Agony]

I have the Coral Red leather and Sapphire Black on my 135i Cab and it looks damn good! I haven't had a single negative comment about the appearance of my ride yet. My wife and I are both professionals and have driven it to work-related functions and meetings. IMHO, BMWs are conservative looking yet gorgeous cars. They can only add to your image...

[ronssito]

Special ordered mine and after a month now, I am even more pleased.

I have had only very positive comments ...