Bad things/drawbacks for the 1 Series?

[crzy4135i]

Originally Posted by BrownBoy

We've all been focusing on the good things about this car but I'm just curious as to the things you don't like about the 1 series. Current owner's input would be excellent! So far I've come up with:

• Rear seats headroom/footroom
• Turn signal -needing to hold it down
• RFTs and having no spare tire
• High interest rates for financing and leasing

Anything else you guys can think of?

I don't like:

1) The fact that Dinan hasn't cracked the encryption!

2) The side mirrors are too small. I need to buy euro wide view glass.

3) Brake dust is terrible. I just realized the dealer sprayed something on the tires but it also got on the wheels. Whatever it is turns brake dust on the wheels into a greasy mess. I need to clean the wheels and apply wheel wax. I washed them once but that tire stuff on the wheels must be silicone, or something similar.

4) People are not allowed in my back seat.

[psyshack]

Ive got to test drive two 135's at dealers. Lets you get a feel for the car.

A buddy of mine bought one in Tenn. He then took a road trip and stopped by to let me drive it with 1k miles on it. We headed to western Ar. and eastern Ok. Twisty two lanes we went. The car is fully loaded 6MT.

There were a lot of things I didn't like about it.

The RFT suck. He has already bought the donut spare and jack kit. Good tires will be on it soon.

The leather sucks. He and I both prefer cloth.

The sun roof sucks. Neither one of us could wear a helmet and drive the car. I think this was a planned safety feature. Both of us like to brake after seeing the Jesus brake marker. With the seat all the way down with some rock and recline. I looked at the door sill and felt like I was in a Chrysler 300 and there should be spinners on the spindles. Thank God it was a short lived nightmare.

IDrive was a joke. Honda makes a far better navi system.

eLSD, Nanny brakes. May be good for a daily driver. Worthless on a Sport Coupe.

The valve mod is a must for the clutch.

The Pro's

Engine and transmission are great!

Suspension and brakes are wonderful!

Sport seat minus the leather excellent!

Peddles Great! fancy foot work is a breeze. Minus clutch valve.

We drove this car very hard indeed. Cut it no slack what so ever on roads we have both driven for years.

My over all problem with the car in even minimalist trim is its to darn luxy. If I want luxury. I can go get a Lexus. My problem,,, I understand.

The 135 would not be a daily driver for me. I plan on getting a Honda CR-Z for my daily grind driving. So my needs in the 1er are purely weekend and fun driving. As for interstate cursing I would be happy as a clam in my wifes Accord if it didn't look like a shit box from her driving habits.

This has left me drooling and thinking about a Atom. I could kill me need for bike speed and fulfill my need for four wheel fun.

My gut tells me the 1er is almost to darn Americanized. Anybody else feel this way?

psy

[dmboone25]

The fucking chime! Or gong--whatever you want to call it!!!! Loud as hell if you play your radio loudly.....

I am also annoyed with the weight sensor in the passenger seat--causes the seatbelt notification to gong in my ear when I have something as light as a computer bag in the seat!

That's all for now. :biggrin:

[JB135i]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

"Brake dusting" - same as every other BMW

Understood, but still doesn't make it right.

"Radio display blackout with polarized sunglasses" Happy I opted for iDrive as the adjustable display is very clear; even wearing polarized glasses with the top down.

Glad you enjoy your iDrive, it's not something I wanted. And I have commented enough on the radio display, I don't want this thread to get locked too!

"Seems a bit suseptable to crosswinds, suprising for a smallish car" - I find mine to be quite stable in 20~30 mph crosswinds. Have you fiddled with the tire pressures yet?

I have not, good call, I will check them before todays drive, no high winds today though to test. It just seemed my STi was more "locked in" in crosswinds, maybe it was that fuggin ugly wing actually doing something? No active steering either FYI.

"RFT's" - On all non-M BMWs below the 5 series. Like all tires, there are good and bad RFTs. I found the OEM Potenza 050As on my Z4 provided excellent handling and lasted 30,000 miles. As R&T recorded a .91g skidpad figure for both the Z4 and 135i on these tires, what, exactly is the problem with them - other than price?

Price is not the issue. They have what I can describe as a "woodlike" thump when going over bumps. They don't seem to grip as well as the Falkens I am coming from either. And they are overly LOUD on concrete pavement, OK on blacktop though.

"Clutch engagement point is just a hair too high, CDV may solve this" - While the clutch feels very similar to my E46, I may be used to a higher engagement position. Either way, I'd be surprised if removing the CDV affects this, but let us know if it does.

I would be suprised if that fixes the issue too, kinda just grasping at ideas really. Different cars always feel different, I am sure I will get used to this.

"Headlights come on when I pull into my garage when in the auto position only to go off 5 seconds later when I turn the car off" Isn't that what they are supposed to do when "Automatic Control is engaged"?

It is what they are supposed to do, just seems like a 10-20 second delay may be in order. Of course that may delay them too long when going into tunnels/parking garages and such.

"Window controls a bit far back for me" - Agreed; they were so much more convenient on the center console on the older models - It also saved the expense of separate front passenger switches.

I'd add two gripes - the lack of any temperature guage on the 128i and that the manual is less than clear in many instances.
Tom

I now have close to 700 mile on her and found another issue. This one I find to be a more significant issue. I drove it for the first time at night for an extended period.

The headlights vibrate when hitting road imperfections. I assume this is due to the pivot mechanism for the adaptive headlights. The adaptive headlights are cool, but if this is the tradeoff, I would have passed on that option (if I could have). It's less noticable with highbeams on, due to the illuminated area being much farther out, but with lowbeams on it looks like a motorcycle headlight.

[Jumpman]

The head lights turning on as you enter the garage - that's a feature for sure in my book. I do this manually now so I can judge my parking distance better.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by JB135i

I now have close to 700 mile on her and found another issue. This one I find to be a more significant issue. I drove it for the first time at night for an extended period.

The headlights vibrate when hitting road imperfections. I assume this is due to the pivot mechanism for the adaptive headlights. The adaptive headlights are cool, but if this is the tradeoff, I would have passed on that option (if I could have). It's less noticable with highbeams on, due to the illuminated area being much farther out, but with lowbeams on it looks like a motorcycle headlight.

I've noticed that as well. It reminds me of driving my old TransAm with pop up headlights.

[Z4-Archon]

Originally Posted by Chop79

:bs:

The '08 EPA estimate for the Vets' 6.2L est. is 15 in the city and 25 on the hwy. And I'm assuming that you have the 7.0L from '07.

Sure the Vet has more HP and still in the same MPG ball park as the 135. But the vet has a much smaller drag coefficient It has nothing to do with "German Engineering". Just look at the cars and use your nugget. The 135i isn't a dedicated sports car. Try taking a couple buddies golfing in your Vet.

And how did you manage to add 200LBS to your car? That's the heaviest '07 Vet I've ever heard of. I'd like to see what you've done to it.

Hi,
I have been lurking here for a bit and I sold my '07 Vette a few months ago and have a 135i on order. I had a convertible with the 6.2L and could get 24 mpg mixed driving around town and often get 32MPG on the highway at 70mph or higher. Gas mileage would drop if you traveled below that and ran 5th gear instead of 6th. The aerodynamics and weight of the Vette really helped its gas mileage.

All that being said, there were several times that I got 16 MPG I really had to sell it after getting 2 tickets in 2 weeks and still drove around 90-120.

As for run-flats, on both of my Vettes I replaced them with normal tires as soon as I wore them out. There was a huge change in the run-flats from my first (a 2000 C5) and my 2nd (the 2007 C6). The first generation run-flats were very hard and could only corner up to about .9G (seat of the pants.) The C7 had 3rd generation run-flats and the car was equipped with a g-meter (fun!), it would do .98G at the same corner...which is amazing. They were much softer and quieter, although they had also reduced the zero air pressure range from 200m to 100m (maybe 100m to 50m, can't remember). So, there is a wide variety of run-flats available.

I am still waiting on my 135i, and I am eagerly awaiting its shipment!!! From my test drive and looking at the cars my complaints are as follows:

No heads-up display - Honestly, I think it should be a standard item on every car made. Not having to look down at your dashboard is a huge safety feature....although, with most people on the phone I don't think they look at much of anything.

Pot-belly - I really didn't like the look of this in the pictures that I saw, but when I went to the dealer to look at a Z4 Coupe I was really much more taken with the 135i in person.

Aerodynamics - They could be better and it could help the car a lot, but this is the shape the picked...and the shape I picked I guess

Ron.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by Archon

Hi,
I have been lurking here for a bit and I sold my '07 Vette a few months ago and have a 135i on order. I had a convertible with the 6.2L and could get 24 mpg mixed driving around town and often get 32MPG on the highway at 70mph or higher. Gas mileage would drop if you traveled below that and ran 5th gear instead of 6th. The aerodynamics and weight of the Vette really helped its gas mileage.

All that being said, there were several times that I got 16 MPG I really had to sell it after getting 2 tickets in 2 weeks and still drove around 90-120.

As for run-flats, on both of my Vettes I replaced them with normal tires as soon as I wore them out. There was a huge change in the run-flats from my first (a 2000 C5) and my 2nd (the 2007 C6). The first generation run-flats were very hard and could only corner up to about .9G (seat of the pants.) The C7 had 3rd generation run-flats and the car was equipped with a g-meter (fun!), it would do .98G at the same corner...which is amazing. They were much softer and quieter, although they had also reduced the zero air pressure range from 200m to 100m (maybe 100m to 50m, can't remember). So, there is a wide variety of run-flats available.

I am still waiting on my 135i, and I am eagerly awaiting its shipment!!! From my test drive and looking at the cars my complaints are as follows:

No heads-up display - Honestly, I think it should be a standard item on every car made. Not having to look down at your dashboard is a huge safety feature....although, with most people on the phone I don't think they look at much of anything.

Pot-belly - I really didn't like the look of this in the pictures that I saw, but when I went to the dealer to look at a Z4 Coupe I was really much more taken with the 135i in person.

Aerodynamics - They could be better and it could help the car a lot, but this is the shape the picked...and the shape I picked I guess

Ron.

I've never liked the heads-up display. Glad to see the analog tach in the BMW hasn't been changed. Always thought the heads-up was a bit jakey. Just my opinion.

[Jack in Jax]

The biggest disincentive for me in considering a One is BMW's overall product quality. BMWs are priced high and built with a good deal of complexity - and that marriage would seem to mandate a highly reliable product in order to be successful in the marketplace. Yet part of BMW's reputation - some feel due to their Germanic culture - is that once they've designed something, it is by definition unnecessary to improve it.

A read through the more extensive wiki's at bimmerfest.com makes this very clear, with many examples. The same observations surface month after month in BMW CCA's Roundel, both in the Editors' letters and Tech Talk. And as another example, here's the first subjective comment by the E46 wiki author (and long-time BMW fan):

"Speaking of the Japanese, lets get one thing out in the open: The E46 is not as reliable as a Toyota or Honda. You will have problems with your E46. Now that I've got that out in the open... it is one of the best overall handling luxury sports sedans/coupes in the world."

There's nothing mutually incompatible in building a car that drives well and is also reliable, with known defects removed over time. For me, that's both the surprise and the disappointment that comes with learning more about these cars, despite their obvious appeal.

Jack

[sciamop]

s that once they've designed something, it is by definition unnecessary to improve it

IIRC, BMW is pretty good about revising poorly designed parts (except shock towers and VANOS solenoids).

Pet Peeves (really minor stuff, folks):
-- Short sun visor
-- Drivers pull hits leg (retraining myself to use dead pedal)
-- Chime volume rises with stereo volume (scary when iPod volume is down and head unit is cranked)
-- Engine is a little loud/shaky at idle (love it at WOT)
-- Can feel windshield wiper movement through clutch/brake pedal (feels very cheap)
-- Drive-by-wire can be a bit laggy/inconsistent
-- Reflective metal piece inside of defog vent on dash reflects onto windshield under certain conditions
-- Easy to confuse cruise control accel with headlight high beams
-- Trunk is hard to open (maybe due to newness)

[blackbubblebum]

Anyone mention clock? without idrive.....

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by jzhang1013

Anyone mention clock? without idrive.....

What about the clock?

[Robert]

1)The AC is weak. If I set it to 70F it should feel like 70. I shouldn't need to turn it to 60F to get some cold air. If I set the temp in my house to 70F I would be freezing.

2) Maybe I am use to fwd but during hard turn in at high speed, the front wheels feel light and I am not getting as much feel of the road. Should I brake harder to get the load to front wheel before turn in?

3) No active steering. The wheel is a bit light at hwy speed.

4) Premium stereo no HD. The subwoofer doesn't replicate anything under 50hz I bet. Instead of a bass hit I get a empty booming noise instead. The high and med speakers are decent.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by robert

1)The AC is weak. If I set it to 70F it should feel like 70. I shouldn't need to turn it to 60F to get some cold air. If I set the temp in my house to 70F I would be freezing.

I think this is being misdiagnosed on here. If you put the A/C on max, it's not weak at all. The issue is with the control, not the A/C itself. I think that temp display is showing the air temp exiting the vents, rather than actual target vehicle temperature. If you treat it like the temperature control in a regular vehicle (meaning turn it left when you want to be cool and right when you want to be hot) it makes more sense than looking at it as a thermostat as in a house. I'm not saying it's a good design, just offering a differant way to approach it.

Originally Posted by robert

4) Premium stereo no HD. The subwoofer doesn't replicate anything under 50hz I bet. Instead of a bass hit I get a empty booming noise instead. The high and med speakers are decent.

Have you messed around with the EQ settings? They're a couple of menus in under the audio adjustments. I tweaked them a little for some additional low end response and get a nice tight bass response from them. Obviously it's not like having a set of 10s in the trunk or anything, but not bad IMO.

:thumbup:

[Robert]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

I think this is being misdiagnosed on here. If you put the A/C on max, it's not weak at all. The issue is with the control, not the A/C itself. I think that temp display is showing the air temp exiting the vents, rather than actual target vehicle temperature. If you treat it like the temperature control in a regular vehicle (meaning turn it left when you want to be cool and right when you want to be hot) it makes more sense than looking at it as a thermostat as in a house. I'm not saying it's a good design, just offering a differant way to approach it.

Ok, maybe I assumed wrong. I thought it was a feedback system to cool the cabin to a XX degree. I don't understand the point of automatic climate system if it only adjust the temperature out of the vent. That would be the same as the mixer dial on my civic. I set the right mixture of hot and cold air and the temperature would remain constant. What, I really need to do is tint my windows. Not as hot as Arizona but Socal use to be a desert as well.

Have you messed around with the EQ settings? They're a couple of menus in under the audio adjustments. I tweaked them a little for some additional low end response and get a nice tight bass response from them. Obviously it's not like having a set of 10s in the trunk or anything, but not bad IMO.

:thumbup:

I tried all that. Turning up the low frequency just gives me more boom instead of deep sounding bass. My klipsch 4.2 stereo at home has dual 6s. They have much better low end than Harmon in BMW, but I came from cars with 12s in the back.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by robert

Ok, maybe I assumed wrong. I thought it was a feedback system to cool the cabin to a XX degree. I don't understand the point of automatic climate system if it only adjust the temperature out of the vent. That would be the same

That would make sense, and that's what I thought as well, but it doesn't seem to operate very well like that. I've found that once the car has cooled down it does a pretty good job of regulating, but when it's hot out it has to be turned down well below what I would normally consider comfortable.

[Jewpac]

My biggest complaint is that there is no hook to hang my dry cleaning on in the back seat. Trivial, I know, but it irritates me to no end.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by Jewpac

My biggest complaint is that there is no hook to hang my dry cleaning on in the back seat. Trivial, I know, but it irritates me to no end.

Are you sure? I thought there was one, just on the inside of the pillar?

[plien69]

Yes, there is, but it sucks. It's oriented so that the hanger is perpendicular to the window, and there just isn't enough room, so it falls off the hook at the slightest provocation.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by JB135i

I have not, good call, I will check them before todays drive, no high winds today though to test. It just seemed my STi was more "locked in" in crosswinds, maybe it was that fuggin ugly wing actually doing something? No active steering either FYI.

The headlights vibrate when hitting road imperfections. I assume this is due to the pivot mechanism for the adaptive headlights. The adaptive headlights are cool, but if this is the tradeoff, I would have passed on that option (if I could have). It's less noticable with highbeams on, due to the illuminated area being much farther out, but with lowbeams on it looks like a motorcycle headlight.

Re crosswinds, what was the weight distribution of your STi? I ask as the worst car I ever had for windy conditions was a '65 Corvair Convertible with about a 35/65 F/R distribution. The recommended stock tire pressures of 15F/30R provided some stability - but terrible handling. So I would up the fronts to about 22, except during March when they went back down to 15 - otherwise I'd get blown off the road. I guess I've gotten used to the near neutral BMW distribution along with more wind issues than the typical 60/40 FWD car. And I find it interesting that BMW still recommends at least 3 lbs. more pressure in the rear tires to compensate.

Since I won't be driving my 128i that much at night, I didn't order the xenons, but have noted your vibration issue. I was planning to order them on my next BMW daily driver a few years down the road - hopefully they will have it sorted out by then.

Although no one has mentioned it, this is the first time that I can recall not having to go back to the dealer for some adjustment or warranty work on a new car. Says something about both build quality and prep.
Tom

[nautilus]

I've found a couple more to chip in with:

- if you don't put your seatbelt on before releasing the handbrake, the plug gets stuck under the handbrake so it wont go down all the way

- the material surrounding the side mirrors (drivers mainly) is shiny and reflects the white road markings from the road, distracting at times as my peripheral vision is pretty good.

- the damn gong is also a PIA but it's not the end of the world

[Jewpac]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Are you sure? I thought there was one, just on the inside of the pillar?

Its completely ineffective.