135i lacks mongrel?

[dh58]

To the poster.. you are right. It is FAST but not enough ferociousness.

Add a tune and that makes all the difference. Putting your foot down, back sliding out, the thunder from all those ponies being unleashed.

The tune makes the car SO eager!

[CrustyNoodle]

Well Gent's, thank you all for your very informative comments.

From all the comments (and mods), I think I can conclude that you also find the 135i a little staid in standard trim.

Just to clear up a few of the questions:

• The car I test drove was a manual - I wouldn't contemplate anything else for a car like this. And as for outright speed, that is a given.
• The Audi TTS is too "pretty" for my liking. As it is I've had to defend my desire of a 135i a couple of times already - once from a mate claiming that the 1 Series is a bit of a girls car and most embarrassingly from my 4 year old son who came home from school (ok - kinder) and told me that he had seen the car that I wanted to buy and there was a girl driving it - I asked what he was getting at but it was quite obvious what he was saying!
• Question: What else is there with this performance for similar coin?
  Answer: Not much that doesn't look like a feral machine that attracts all the wrong kind of attention - though a 993 or 996 Porker would come close in my mind.

So it looks like I'll need to budget for some mods to get the car just right for me. A bit of exhaust note will be required and some sharpening of the tiller might be nice (springs, shocks and stabilizers).

[MikeVictor]

OP given where you live you should go and visit SouthernBM.

[dh58]

evo mr.. you can add a ton of mods and its half the price. However I don't think you are looking for that type of car. You are looking for a euro correct?

Seriously, for the price of a tune + intake you'll have a pretty fast car.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

I agree that the 1er is a bit girly... my mum said that as well. It put me off buying the car for nearly a year but the looks have grown on me and I'm quite content these days... PLUS I've seen some nice looking ones on the forums so with the right set of wheels and a few go fast bits, you can certainly add a bit of toughness to it!

Oh and +1 on all the "get a tune" comments, it'll definitely make the car a LOT more eager. I've never had a passenger describe the car's power without using expletives since I got it tuned and it's still relatively tame right now.

My girlfriend has an Evo8 (GSR) and it's a great car, awesome handling but these days it feels a little slow and I miss the torque of my 135i whenever driving the Evo. But bang for your buck wise Evo 8/135 these have got to be near the top of the tree.

[BBK]

Aren't evo's around $60k? A brand new 135 manual with no options can be had for what, low 70's? How is that half the price?

[dh58]

Originally Posted by BBK

Aren't evo's around $60k? A brand new 135 manual with no options can be had for what, low 70's? How is that half the price?

second hand, not new. 40-45?

[BBK]

But you can also pick up a second hand 135i in the low 50's....

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Originally Posted by BBK

Aren't evo's around $60k? A brand new 135 manual with no options can be had for what, low 70's? How is that half the price?

I think he was referring to the older Evo 7/8/9 shape... that ranges from 19-40k

Second hand Evo X's are slipping into the sub 50k bracket as well.

[JB4-335]

Originally Posted by BBK

Aren't evo's around $60k? A brand new 135 manual with no options can be had for what, low 70's? How is that half the price?

A Mitsubishi & a BMW is no comparison. It's almost like saying Kia & Mercedes.
I've had a 06 STI before and it was alot of fun just not a Bavarian.

[BMW86]

Originally Posted by mcmn

for most? I've bought a JB4,ar dp's, er charge pipe+bov and i dont even have a 135i yet. I must be broken.

Lol keen much! I think that's the smart way to go about it. I was a member on the forum for months before I took delivery but it took me a lot longer to learn about the mods. Also, a huge amount of progress has been made since then. In a couple of years I hope there are plenty of turbo upgrades available

Originally Posted by CrustyNoodle

Well Gent's, thank you all for your very informative comments.

From all the comments (and mods), I think I can conclude that you also find the 135i a little staid in standard trim.

Just to clear up a few of the questions:

• The car I test drove was a manual - I wouldn't contemplate anything else for a car like this. And as for outright speed, that is a given.
• The Audi TTS is too "pretty" for my liking. As it is I've had to defend my desire of a 135i a couple of times already - once from a mate claiming that the 1 Series is a bit of a girls car and most embarrassingly from my 4 year old son who came home from school (ok - kinder) and told me that he had seen the car that I wanted to buy and there was a girl driving it - I asked what he was getting at but it was quite obvious what he was saying!
• Question: What else is there with this performance for similar coin?
  Answer: Not much that doesn't look like a feral machine that attracts all the wrong kind of attention - though a 993 or 996 Porker would come close in my mind.

So it looks like I'll need to budget for some mods to get the car just right for me. A bit of exhaust note will be required and some sharpening of the tiller might be nice (springs, shocks and stabilizers).

I myself went down the cosmetic route first. I added a few nice touches like the black kidney grills, CF spoiler, CSL wheels etc. I agree, the 1er can look a bit girly to some people in stock form. Then I did the muffler-delete and did some handling mods because I felt like this was holding the car back. I've moved onto the performance aspect now.

Originally Posted by JB4135

A Mitsubishi & a BMW is no comparison. It's almost like saying Kia & Mercedes.
I've had a 06 STI before and it was alot of fun just not a Bavarian.

I agree having the Bavarian badge does give you the best of both worlds. It offers a complete driving experience for a DD.