Just took my 135 home

[igmif]

I just picked up an 09 135, 6speed(no sport package) with 29k miles for $26k. I had never driven or even rode in a BMW until I test drove a couple of 135's. A few months ago I didn't even know 128/135's even existed. I was at a Bimmer/VW dealer picking up parts for my troublesome '06 Audi A4 when I spotted a 1'er in the front row. It was love at first sight. Now that I own one, I really do love that car. It's as good as getting my first car when I was in high school. My friends drool. Guys I work with envy. My ol' girl wasn't too happy when I brought it home, and I could care less. That car gets me excited to go to work in the morning. The back roads have never been more fun. It is the perfect car for me.
I have a few of questions for you 1 series veterans. Do I need a special tool to reset service reminders? Will I need any special tools for servicing brakes, oil... etc? Can I drive it with the traction control off indefinitely? How durable is the clutch? My car seems to take a very long time to warm up, about 20 mins while driving. Is this normal?

[fun2drv]

Some fatherly advice - if you really love the car, do not turn the traction control off... If you do you will be typing a new topic in here in the near future with pictures of your totalled car... These cars are a lot of fun to drive, but they have a wicked personality that can get you in trouble REALLY FAST.

Go check out the posts in the E46 M3 forum (I have one of those too) of how many people have totalled their M3s. The power delivery on the M3 is way more linear than in the 135i with the turbo lag. Even with traction control on, I've been taken by surprise several time in the 1...

Good luck and enjoy your new car!

[alexSU]

Congrats man, that's a really good price! May I ask where you bought it?

I'm still searching for my 135i ((

[slim_e90]

First - Congrats... You'll need to share some pics soon.

Service light - your car should still be under balance of 4yrs/50k mi factory maintenance plan that all bmws come with... So if your light is on, just take it to the dealer for service. It'll be covered. The light can be turned off using the left stalk on the steering. You can search for instructions.

Brakes/oil - same as above for the balance of 4yrs/50k. After that you can either get extended maintenance plan for it from BMW for 2yrs/100k mi or do it yourself or take it to an indie. Mine is a CPO so I plan on servicing at BMW for ever pretty much.

Good luck!

[richb811]

Originally Posted by igmif

I just picked up an 09 135, 6speed(no sport package) with 29k miles for $26k. I had never driven or even rode in a BMW until I test drove a couple of 135's. A few months ago I didn't even know 128/135's even existed. I was at a Bimmer/VW dealer picking up parts for my troublesome '06 Audi A4 when I spotted a 1'er in the front row. It was love at first sight. Now that I own one, I really do love that car. It's as good as getting my first car when I was in high school. My friends drool. Guys I work with envy. My ol' girl wasn't too happy when I brought it home, and I could care less. That car gets me excited to go to work in the morning. The back roads have never been more fun. It is the perfect car for me.
I have a few of questions for you 1 series veterans. Do I need a special tool to reset service reminders? Will I need any special tools for servicing brakes, oil... etc? Can I drive it with the traction control off indefinitely? How durable is the clutch? My car seems to take a very long time to warm up, about 20 mins while driving. Is this normal?

Welcome to the family!

You can definitely drive with the traction control off indefinitely without an issue. My personal recommendation, I leave it off when the conditions are dry, but I turn it on when its wet. If you are an experienced driver with powerful RWD cars then you should be okay with the 1. Definitely take some time to get to know her first.

The N54 can take a long time to warm up, especially in the colder months, its a normal characteristic of the car.

Changing the oil requires a large socket to loosen the oil cap, 24 or 27mm if I recall correctly. Keep lots of shop towels nearby if you want to keep your engine clean. Apart from that, nothing else special other than the correct oil filter and 6 quarts of high quality synthetic.

The clutch is durable, but one thing you may want to remove is the Clutch Delay valve which can create additional wear on the clutch by feathering the clutch engagement. Its standard on all BMW manuals, and in most board members opinions, completely unnecessary.

Oh and one more thing.



Happy driving!

[rori zahr]

don't turn it off please, even my 125 becomes possessed when traction control is turned off.
I wouldn't do that unless under perfectly controlled tracks.

[igmif]

There she be... Bone stock. Only options are the heated seats and black boston leather.
Driving the car with traction control on, it's like Novocaine for the car. I wanna drive it, completely. I've been driving RWD field cars since age 10, and I've kept it up ever since. I had the AWD Audi... nice car. What an absolute bore to drive. It made me crazy how awful easy it was to drive. Sucked. I'll leave the safety on when I have passengers, or in crappy weather just for you guys. I appreciate all of your concerns.
I picked this car up at Capital Cities BMW & VW near Albany NY. I fought and dickered with the sales folks there for a very long time before they would let it go. I think they still have 2 135i's on their lot atm.
Thanks for the info on the Clutch Delay Valve. That will be removed asap.

[amancuso]

Very nice, welcome.

[BimmerE82]

Congrats on the new car! looks nice! Welcome to the club.

[bogart]

Welcome!!... no sport package, ouch.

[MrRoboto]

I have sport suspension from an 08 135 for sale CHEAP. PM me if interested.

[spiral]

There are three levels of stability/traction control. The default is fully on when you start the car. If you press the DTC button once, it will light up "DTC" in your gauges, and this allows for a little bit more wheel spin. This mode is actually meant for driving slowly in slippery conditions where you don't want the computer to cut drive to your wheels just because you are getting a little wheel spin. But it also suffices for allowing a little more forgiveness during aggressive driving.

I almost always drive my car in this mode, and I commute over very dangerous curvy roads. In my experience, this mode still has a very big safety net, and I would even say it's a little more intrusive than I would prefer. Let me put it this way, it's more intrusive than my Porsche was with stability control fully on. Porsche has really done stability control right.

Now the third level is if you hold the DTC button down for about 5 seconds, a warning light will come on in your gauges. This deactivates the system, although I've read that some people say it will still turn on in extreme circumstances. I usually don't turn mine off all the way in the mountains. If you want to get the best launch from a stop, this mode can be useful. It allows wheel spin, but at least it won't cut engine power.

This is all in my opinion, so don't take any of it for being true and correct. Read your manual to get the full skinny, and test the limits of the car somewhere safe so you can make decisions based on your own experience.

[JuuS]

Definitely DTC is the way to go for even normal driving for me. I was making a left turn once cutting a little close with oncoming cars. When I stepped on the peddle more aggressively that usual, full traction control ABS kicked in essentially stalling me. I was in the middle of the road half way from clearing the intersection! I shat myself. From then on, it's DTC on for me once I start my car. I may spin slightly but at least I'm moving!

[bimmerboy]

car will take longer to warm up due to the oil cooler and much higher than normal operating temps.

Congrats on your car, I highly recommend swapping out the run-flat tires as a first mod... if you notice the stock ride is too "bouncy", non-runflats will cure this right away. Only thing is you will notice a little more body roll, and then the mod bug will begin

[spiral]

Originally Posted by bimmerboy

car will take longer to warm up due to the oil cooler and much higher than normal operating temps.

Congrats on your car, I highly recommend swapping out the run-flat tires as a first mod... if you notice the stock ride is too "bouncy", non-runflats will cure this right away. Only thing is you will notice a little more body roll, and then the mod bug will begin

I think the bounce is more attributed to the stock springs and shocks than to the run-flats. I think the most notable characteristic of the run-flats is a harsh ride. I would recommend a set of coilovers (ST or KW v1s) to bring the suspension up to par with the rest of the car. This will also cure most of the body roll.

[1speedbike]

Congrats on the car! I agree with what has been said above, except for the traction control part. At first you definitely want to at least keep it in DTC mode, or else you might find yourself somewhere you don't want to be. However, as long as it's sunny out, I never have my traction control on. You just have to be very careful when you punch the gas and keep control of your traction (or lack thereof). However, there have been a few 1M's and many many 135i's totalled because someone tried to floor the car with the traction control off and didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Also, since you have a 135i, you have the sport suspension. The sport package ont he 135i is mostly cosmetic, but you also get REALLY nice sport seats. I usually recommend getting that package to newcomers just for the seats.

If you don't like the ride, I have ST coilovers (made by KW, a very reputable company) on my car. The ride is only a little harsher when going over little bumps. I would actually call it less harsh when going over big bumps or dips because there is much less bounce back. The body roll is almost completely gone, and the ride is plenty firm for the street. A set of coils, or even a set of sport springs and sport shocks, will help a lot. H&R OE Sport Springs or BMW Performance springs paired with Koni FSD shocks will offer you a firmer but OEM-like ride. H&R Sport Springs or Eibach pro kit springs paired with Koni Yellow sport shocks, will give you a more aggressive ride. Coilovers tend to be adjustable, in terms of height and dampening, so they can give you a balance of both, but tend to be more expensive.

Other than that.. enjoy!

[haggishunter]

Congratulations on the new motor. Coupes look nice in black!

[CrustyNoodle]

The reason you perceive that your car takes a long time to warm up is that the temperature gauge on the dash shows oil temp not water temp like most cars. Water temp always comes up long before oil temp which is why you are used to seeing "temp" come up more quickly. In reality, I'm sure your 1er's water temp comes up at least as quick as any other car on the road as a warm engine is much better for emissions than a cold one so the sooner the water is up to temp the better.

[Pangloss]

I wondered about that as well. Thanks CrustyNoodle.