2013 135is owners discussion and photos thread!

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by owen2001

Car looks fantastic. Great view of the tint, too. Thanks for sharing.

I stopped in to check out the FormulaOne Pinnacle series tint today. There's only 2 shops in CO that carry it, and one of them is 3-4 hours away from me.

I decided to go with the FormulaOne Pinnacle 30% all around. Since I also want to do the windshield and sunroof, they're giving me about a 20% discount to do it all. I'm going to get the Air 80 on the windshield and the Pinnacle 15% on the sunroof. Haven't scheduled the appt. yet, but I'll post pix once it's done.

Thanks. I love that view of the car, too. Our cars are so pretty.

Wow, you're going all out on the tint. Isn't the sunroof already tinted? I actually have no idea as I've never even opened the sunshade on mine in 6 months and will probably never use it. So consider that my full limo tint (for free!).

As long as the place you're going is well-reviewed and offers a lifetime warranty I hope, you should be good. Like I said, our cars are actually really easy to tint. Windshield is a lil tougher, which is why the place I went to charged $200 just for that. =(

I think once you get the tint done, you'll see the entire character of the car change. I know Rick will back me up on that, too.

[mb135is]

Originally Posted by 3002 Tii

Every time I go on their website you can't order online or check out. Did you order over the phone?

Call Tim @ 1242 and tell him I sent you.

[owen2001]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

Wow, you're going all out on the tint. Isn't the sunroof already tinted? I actually have no idea as I've never even opened the sunshade on mine in 6 months and will probably never use it. So consider that my full limo tint (for free!).

You're correct. The sunroof does have some tint. I drive with mine open about 99% of the time during the warm weather and I'm hoping the extra tint up top will help keep a bit of the heat out.

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

long as the place you're going is well-reviewed and offers a lifetime warranty I hope, you should be good. Like I said, our cars are actually really easy to tint. Windshield is a lil tougher, which is why the place I went to charged $200 just for that.

Yep. Lifetime warranty. Been in biz for a while. They're going to do the windshield and the sunroof for only $175, so that sounds like a better deal than what you were charged. I talked over the phone to the other tint shop that offers the Huper Optik, and it was much more expensive. By the time they added it all up, it was going to be $200-$300 more. And they guy I spoke to actually told me that the Huper Optik dual-layer ceramic was pretty thick and tough to install on the back window of our cars. So that helped me make my decision to go w/ the FormulaOne all around.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by owen2001

You're correct. The sunroof does have some tint. I drive with mine open about 99% of the time during the warm weather and I'm hoping the extra tint up top will help keep a bit of the heat out.

Yep. Lifetime warranty. Been in biz for a while. They're going to do the windshield and the sunroof for only $175, so that sounds like a better deal than what you were charged. I talked over the phone to the other tint shop that offers the Huper Optik, and it was much more expensive. By the time they added it all up, it was going to be $200-$300 more. And they guy I spoke to actually told me that the Huper Optik dual-layer ceramic was pretty thick and tough to install on the back window of our cars. So that helped me make my decision to go w/ the FormulaOne all around.

I never opened my sunroof cause a) it would ruin my precious hair and b) I didn't want to lose my new leatherette odd smell.

Sounds like you're getting a good deal and I didn't price shop mine as I go to a special place that has all the specs of the car's windows loaded up on their machine that cuts all the film perfectly and they had done a great job on my S5, which was a tough one to do.

Ya, as I thought, the Huper Optik was going to be really expensive, moreso for you since you also wanted the windshield and sunroof done.

Make that appointment and can't wait to see it. You might want to try to do a couple before and after shots from the same angle if you can especially for people like Worra with black IS's on the fence about the tint. I just couldn't survive without one, and barely survive WITH one.

Now back to cleaning my car as I have hundreds of tiny drizzle water spots on my freshly detailed car. =(

[CAVU]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

Spent way too many hours of backbreaking work yesterday, washing, claying, and waxing my car. So, after clay, 2 coats of collinite 845, claying front rims, then 1 coat of collinite 845 to the rims, putting on my special IS-specific plates, and the fancy valve stem caps finally, too, here she is this morning right before it started drizzling! Sorry there are so many pics, but remember that the next time people say, less talk, more pics! =) She's very shiny and great way to celebrate her 6 month birthday. Enjoy!

Beautiful!!! It may have been a ton of work, but the results are absolutely awesome! The photos look great too! It's a real labor of love to invest that kind of time and effort to care for your investment… and it sure feels great to drive such a clean, capable machine down the road. Way to represent the MG 135is community!!!

BTW, what do you use on the exhaust tips to get rid of baked on debris?

I'm not sure what the reason is for obscuring plates in photos… I've been doing so solely because it seemed to be convention.

[Kouper]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

I never opened my sunroof cause a) it would ruin my precious hair and b) I didn't want to lose my new leatherette odd smell.

Greg, Greg, Greg -- you don't know what you are missing. I'm with owen2001. I dare you to just slide that sunshade open and let a little sun in through the glass on those cool or cloudy fall days. It is a great way to a) lighten up the inside of your car, and b) warm up the inside of your car. And then, once you accomplish that, we can move on to getting you to actually press that "OPEN" button and slide that glass sunroof open to let the fresh air in. Ahhhhhhh. It is a great way to quickly ventilate your car. We have got to get you out more often....

And, hey, are we ever going to see a pic of this precious hair that won't allow you to open a sunroof or ride in a convertible? Can't imagine, this must be some head of hair

Pics of your car look great! Wheels too. I can't say that I've ever clayed my wheels.

License plate frames: I have thin solid black frames on all of my cars. Very clean look, helps to set off the plate. BMW offers a nice black metal one that I bought for my 135is, pretty reasonably priced as I recall.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by rikMsport

Beautiful!!! It may have been a ton of work, but the results are absolutely awesome! The photos look great too! It's a real labor of love to invest that kind of time and effort to care for your investment… and it sure feels great to drive such a clean, capable machine down the road. Way to represent the MG 135is community!!!

BTW, what do you use on the exhaust tips to get rid of baked on debris?

Rick - would have felt much better about it today if it didn't drizzle in the morning on my way to work. =( So now she is about to get a whole spray down of spray wax to clean her up in a few minutes and just went and got a lil detail brush to get a lil wax buildup out of the rear parking sensors, tow hook, and one other lil crevice.

As for the exhaust tips, surprisingly I just used some meguiars quik detailer spray and almost all of it came right off quite easily with a rag. So, any detailer spray should do the trick to get like 95% of it. If I had access to a hose though, the best way is to spray some wheel cleaner, let it sit for a minute, agitate it with a brush and hose it off. I sprayed a lil turtle wax ice spray wax on the tips and a lil inside too at the end. And I swear, driving this afternoon I thought to myself, wow, the car sounds really great today, not sure if it's related to cleaning the exhaust. And for a good laugh, as I was finishing claying, I was going to clay the outside of the exhaust, my hand slipped and my hand went right INTO the tips, coating my HANDS in all that black crud which was 1,000 times harder to get off all my fingers than the tips themselves!

Originally Posted by Kouper

Greg, Greg, Greg -- you don't know what you are missing. I'm with owen2001. I dare you to just slide that sunshade open and let a little sun in through the glass on those cool or cloudy fall days. It is a great way to a) lighten up the inside of your car, and b) warm up the inside of your car. And then, once you accomplish that, we can move on to getting you to actually press that "OPEN" button and slide that glass sunroof open to let the fresh air in. Ahhhhhhh. It is a great way to quickly ventilate your car. We have got to get you out more often....

And, hey, are we ever going to see a pic of this precious hair that won't allow you to open a sunroof or ride in a convertible? Can't imagine, this must be some head of hair

Pics of your car look great! Wheels too. I can't say that I've ever clayed my wheels.

License plate frames: I have thin solid black frames on all of my cars. Very clean look, helps to set off the plate. BMW offers a nice black metal one that I bought for my 135is, pretty reasonably priced as I recall.

You know what, actually in winter, I might open it and let in some light and heat. It's been so hot down here since I got the car, my entire goal has been to keep it cool and of course protect the thick mane. =P At my age, I'm just glad I have my hair, as I seemingly have every single other medical condition known to man. My hair is all I got! Thick, lustrous, wavy...it's my comparative advantage. When I'm like 50, I can treat women like crap and they'll still go out with me cause they'll say, wow, he's a real jerk, but man, that head of hair!

Claying the wheels - I'd never done it before, but had a ton of old griot's garage clay I hated so figured, i'm spraying down the wheels with detailer spray anyways to clean them, let's see what the clay does. I only did it on the fronts though cause those seem to get about 100x dirtier than the rears and it did take off some stuff here and there and made them silky smooth.

I'll look into the plates frames, too, as I don't typically want black and haven't looked into them, but it actually may suit and fit the car well since it has a bunch of other black accents.

Picture of my hair is attached, though we may have to change the thread then to 135is owners - show us your hair!

[Worra]

Originally Posted by Kouper

Greg, Greg, Greg -- you don't know what you are missing. I'm with owen2001. I dare you to just slide that sunshade open and let a little sun in through the glass on those cool or cloudy fall days. It is a great way to a) lighten up the inside of your car, and b) warm up the inside of your car. And then, once you accomplish that, we can move on to getting you to actually press that "OPEN" button and slide that glass sunroof open to let the fresh air in. Ahhhhhhh. It is a great way to quickly ventilate your car. We have got to get you out more often....

And, hey, are we ever going to see a pic of this precious hair that won't allow you to open a sunroof or ride in a convertible? Can't imagine, this must be some head of hair

Pics of your car look great! Wheels too. I can't say that I've ever clayed my wheels.

License plate frames: I have thin solid black frames on all of my cars. Very clean look, helps to set off the plate. BMW offers a nice black metal one that I bought for my 135is, pretty reasonably priced as I recall.

I think I just need to go to the dealer and hold a few frames up to the car. I'd be fine with black as long as it goes well with my paint color

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by Worra

I think I just need to go to the dealer and hold a few frames up to the car. I'd be fine with black as long as it goes well with my paint color

You might want to consider the IND custom painted one in black sapphire for $75. They're a forum sponsor and reputable BMW custom shop.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=881484

Third one down looks like it might be black sapphire:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14794400

And only pic I've seen on a car though is this silver M3 from their website:

http://ind-distribution.com/ind/cate...se-plate-frame

[Worra]

Cold morning. All the better to start the car in!

[3002 tii]

Another morning shot to better show the very light don't pull me over but still functional tints + blacklines

Tints also give a nice bluish hue which goes well the LMB =)

[Worra]

Really wish we got the euro LCI headlamp assembly without the damn amber corners

[AGAV13]

Originally Posted by 3002 Tii

Another morning shot to better show the very light don't pull me over but still functional tints + blacklines

Tints also give a nice bluish hue which goes well the LMB =)

Loving the Mudflaps, considering getting some for my car. I looked at the DIY and have read several different levels of difficulty and time to install. Did you install yourself?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by AGAV13

Loving the Mudflaps, considering getting some for my car. I looked at the DIY and have read several different levels of difficulty and time to install. Did you install yourself?

Not difficult at all, did it on the street with no tools besides maybe a screwdriver to push some of the pins in. Just make sure the car is clean, the holes to line up will be pretty obvious. Total time spent was 15 mins for all 4.

[CAVU]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

As for the exhaust tips, surprisingly I just used some meguiars quik detailer spray and almost all of it came right off quite easily with a rag. So, any detailer spray should do the trick to get like 95% of it. If I had access to a hose though, the best way is to spray some wheel cleaner, let it sit for a minute, agitate it with a brush and hose it off. I sprayed a lil turtle wax ice spray wax on the tips and a lil inside too at the end. And I swear, driving this afternoon I thought to myself, wow, the car sounds really great today, not sure if it's related to cleaning the exhaust.

Everything about the car seems better when it is clean!

Not sure what I've got on the exhaust tips. Very small, yet definitely raised and hard enough to catch a fingernail. I've been using wheel cleaner and some Griot's detailing brushes on the outside, but I'm still leaving something behind. I'll need to look through the detailing forums and see what the progression (least to most aggressive) of safe materials that can be used on the PE tips. Yes, the inside is nasty. I am using wheel cleaner and then wiping out with paper shop cloths. Not sure how long I will keep that up.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by rikMsport

Everything about the car seems better when it is clean!

Not sure what I've got on the exhaust tips. Very small, yet definitely raised and hard enough to catch a fingernail. I've been using wheel cleaner and some Griot's detailing brushes on the outside, but I'm still leaving something behind. I'll need to look through the detailing forums and see what the progression (least to most aggressive) of safe materials that can be used on the PE tips. Yes, the inside is nasty. I am using wheel cleaner and then wiping out with paper shop cloths. Not sure how long I will keep that up.

Weird, you have stuff on the OUTSIDE you can't get off? I don't blame you for being careful though, wouldn't want to scratch up the outside. Might want to try one of those bug/tar/road grime removers and/or bug sponges which have a lil mesh to them? You could always clay the outside too, but if you have a big hard thing dried on there, that won't do much. Hmm.

I'm only cleaning out the INSIDE of the exhausts once every 3 months it seems. Doesn't really bother me too much if it's black in there as that's a battle I'll never win and twice now my hand has slipped and gone IN the exhaust, messing up my hand twice, a thing of clay once, and two applicators.

The only bad thing about having a clean car is the minute it's clean it immediately is getting dirtier by the minute.

[gregthegr8]

Actually, Rick, I was just reading some articles of a supposed stainless steel exhaust cleaning expert, which was interesting.

He recommends using a very fine grade 0000 steel wool just for the INSIDE (scares me!), but in the questions/comments people were asking about slightly stronger things to use and he recommended Stoner's Tarminator, which you can get at any pep boys or what have you as it removes bugs, tar, grime, etc. Someone was asking about black specks on it and he wrote, "If you have tar or other stuck-on debris, you could use some Tarminator to safely remove it from the exhaust." Hope this helps.

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...tip-detailing/

[IEDEI]

2600 miles and it's so nice to leave work and see this waiting for me!

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

2600 miles and it's so nice to leave work and see this waiting for me!

Looking good, though you're going to pass me in miles I think next week.

I actually caught your cold start video on youtube, too as I was looking at recently uploaded 135is videos. =P

You figure out when the beloved 313s are going into storage for winter and the black winter wheels go on? I guess mother nature will tell you when the time is right, huh?

[CAVU]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

Actually, Rick, I was just reading some articles of a supposed stainless steel exhaust cleaning expert, which was interesting.

He recommends using a very fine grade 0000 steel wool just for the INSIDE (scares me!), but in the questions/comments people were asking about slightly stronger things to use and he recommended Stoner's Tarminator, which you can get at any pep boys or what have you as it removes bugs, tar, grime, etc. Someone was asking about black specks on it and he wrote, "If you have tar or other stuck-on debris, you could use some Tarminator to safely remove it from the exhaust." Hope this helps.

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...tip-detailing/

Thanks Greg, that is very helpful. Since the tips are chrome plated, looks like bug/tar remover followed by metal polish applied by soft cloth is the way to go. The link has some great examples of finished exhaust tips that doubled my enthusiasm to keep mine as clean as possible.

Originally Posted by IEDEI

2600 miles and it's so nice to leave work and see this waiting for me!

I hear you! The sight of my 135is in the parking lot after work is definitely an instant boost!!!

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

Looking good, though you're going to pass me in miles I think next week.

You figure out when the beloved 313s are going into storage for winter and the black winter wheels go on? I guess mother nature will tell you when the time is right, huh?

I just passed 3300 miles. Will probably not drive as much once winter sets in and daylight remains short. Not sure if you noticed my post in the Wheels & Tires forum, but here's a photo of my winter wheel/tire package that arrived on Monday. Will probably wait until after Thanksgiving to install.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by rikMsport

Thanks Greg, that is very helpful. Since the tips are chrome plated, looks like bug/tar remover followed by metal polish applied by soft cloth is the way to go. The link has some great examples of finished exhaust tips that doubled my enthusiasm to keep mine as clean as possible.

I hear you! The sight of my 135is in the parking lot after work is definitely an instant boost!!!

I just passed 3300 miles. Will probably not drive as much once winter sets in and daylight remains short. Not sure if you noticed my post in the Wheels & Tires forum, but here's a photo of my winter wheel/tire package that arrived on Monday. Will probably wait until after Thanksgiving to install.

Let me know if that makes those exhaust tips perfect again. I may try the steel wool next time I clean the car to see how that works on the inside. I shall wear heavy duty falconry gloves.

And the sight of my 135is in the parking lot after work may be the only thing that gets me through the day at my job. I tell myself in traffic to/from work, it's okay, I just get to spend more quality time in my beloved car.

Those winter wheels look pretty good. It'll be interesting to see yours and IEDEI's with the winter wheels on as he has a fancy set of black wheels going on his. And come spring, all you east coasters will get to re-emerge and put the 313s back on and the world is good again.

From 82 degree Los Angeles,

#298

[mike@x-ph.com]

Cool pics guys!