A happy new 1 owner

[Gnip Gnop]

Hey all! Excited to be here...I have been around this forum for a while before I got my 135. This is by far the best 1 series forum I could find, loads of great information.
Anyways, my name is Dan and I just purchased the last 2011 135i my local dealer, BMW of Minnetonka, had in stock. So it was still "brand new" and was my first new car purchase. I have had it for almost a month now, put 1500 miles on it and they were the most enjoyable 1500 miles I have driven yet. The car now has around 2700 miles, it had some test drive miles, mostly from me due to the fact that I test drove the car 4 times
A little about my previous cars...I have owned 2 Jeep Grand Cherokees, an Audi a4 Avant 1.8t, 1994 325i and a 1999 Z3 M Coupe. The 135i is by far my favorie yet, such a great car.
About the car:
-Titanium Silver / Savanna beige
-Sport/premium/value packages
-7 speed (I drove the manual too, had more fun with 7 speed)
-Performance grilles
-Just ordered BMW PPK and scheduled appt. for window tint
All I have so far is a few cell phone pictures but here they are...





Thanks for looking!

[meg180]

Congrats on the new ride! Looks great

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by meg180

Congrats on the new ride! Looks great

thanks

[Pangloss]

Grats -- looks great! (And welcome to Club DCT.)

This is slightly odd... you seem to have the M package, but not the M// logo door sill. Must have been a change from 2011 to 2012. I'd prefer the one you have, really -- I don't mind the one on the wheel, but people see the door sills every time I open the door, so I feel like it gives people the wrong idea. (I don't care enough to spend money on it, though.)

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by Pangloss

Grats -- looks great! (And welcome to Club DCT.)

This is slightly odd... you seem to have the M package, but not the M// logo door sill. Must have been a change from 2011 to 2012. I'd prefer the one you have, really -- I don't mind the one on the wheel, but people see the door sills every time I open the door, so I feel like it gives people the wrong idea. (I don't care enough to spend money on it, though.)

Thank you! I love the DCT.

There is the sport package (which I have) and then there is the M sport package. The only differences I am aware of is the headliner, wheels, and like you mentioned, the door sills.

[Pangloss]

Oh... so they give you the "M" wheel, I didn't realize that. That's cool.

[Xtian]

Can I stop by and use your sand blast rig?

Nice car. Tell me more about the manual vs. the DCT, please.

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by Xtian

Can I stop by and use your sand blast rig?

Nice car. Tell me more about the manual vs. the DCT, please.

Haha anytime! Its a nice machine.

Manual vs dct...
At first, I hated the idea of owning another automatic. I test drove the manual first, I liked it, and had a lot of fun...but it was a vert and I wanted to drive a coupe. The only coupe the dealer had was a DCT so I drove it with a closed mind thinking I would hate it. But I loved it...more than the manual. I'm sure there are numerous debates on this forum but I think its a better trans for this car.
It is my daily driver and I have a long commute to work, it shifts instantly, quicker than one can with manual, it rev matches flawlessly on down shifts, sounds great, feels great, launch control, you can drive agressive one second and then switch it to D and relax, etc.
I'm sure its not for some people, but I love it.

[alvitdk]

Originally Posted by Xtian

Can I stop by and use your sand blast rig?

Nice car. Tell me more about the manual vs. the DCT, please.

A bit far for you, I have the same and it's much closer

[alvitdk]

Originally Posted by Gnip Gnop

Haha anytime! Its a nice machine.

Manual vs dct...
At first, I hated the idea of owning another automatic. I test drove the manual first, I liked it, and had a lot of fun...but it was a vert and I wanted to drive a coupe. The only coupe the dealer had was a DCT so I drove it with a closed mind thinking I would hate it. But I loved it...more than the manual. I'm sure there are numerous debates on this forum but I think its a better trans for this car.
It is my daily driver and I have a long commute to work, it shifts instantly, quicker than one can with manual, it rev matches flawlessly on down shifts, sounds great, feels great, launch control, you can drive agressive one second and then switch it to D and relax, etc.
I'm sure its not for some people, but I love it.

+1 on a DCT, my wife's Golf TDI has one and it's a blast to drive, it's basically a manual dual gear box with an automatic clutch, drives just like stick, congrats on the car

[Clovef]

Congrats on the purchase, I also recently picked up a 2011 135i with the dct and love it. I had the same feeling as you that I was a manual guy but drove a dct and was blown away. It creates smooth uninterrupted power always and smooth relaxed driving when you want it. My new game I play with people is guess what gear were in. Pretty easy just accelerat up to a cursing speed and have your passenger try to pay attention to feeling the gear changes so they can tell you the gear. I useuly end up in seventh and have then guess forth before admitting they only felt one or two maybe. Ha ha ha. Then floor it.

[doublevanosrc]

Gorgeous interior on a gorgeous car!!!

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by doublevanosrc

Gorgeous interior on a gorgeous car!!!

Thanks! If I ordedred one I would have ordered your color combo, but then this came up and I can't turn down a great deal

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by Clovef

Congrats on the purchase, I also recently picked up a 2011 135i with the dct and love it. I had the same feeling as you that I was a manual guy but drove a dct and was blown away. It creates smooth uninterrupted power always and smooth relaxed driving when you want it. My new game I play with people is guess what gear were in. Pretty easy just accelerat up to a cursing speed and have your passenger try to pay attention to feeling the gear changes so they can tell you the gear. I useuly end up in seventh and have then guess forth before admitting they only felt one or two maybe. Ha ha ha. Then floor it.

Haha thanks. Sounds entertaining!

[DARK PHX]

Congratulations on the car!! Looks great! I also only have the M steering wheel. I'm happy with it.

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by DARK PHX

Congratulations on the car!! Looks great! I also only have the M steering wheel. I'm happy with it.

Thank you! Yeah I don't mind just hav ing sport package and not m sport

[audimotion]

Hi neighbor...(i'm from Rochester)

Nice and rare color combo! I had my PPK installed at Minnetonka BMW about a month or so ago. It is well worth it...makes the car quite a bit more responsive and eliminates the little lag it has from the factory.

Do you plan on driving the 1er this winter? Mine is in hibernation (unfortunetly)...

[2012_135i]

Welcome, Dan, I'm pretty new here as well. Very nice ride you got there. I wouldn't have thought of that color combo. Looks real classy and the pics came out nice. I ordered a 2012 135i in Alpine White with Boston Black leather. I was tempted by the silver but had an '01 silver Prelude and wanted something different. Interesting you had more fun with the 7 speed. That is indeed one slick tranny and it's what I test drove too. But I'm just one of those died in the wool stick guys I guess. Always have been. For me, no matter how good an auto or auto stick is it's still guessing what it is you want the car to do. The BMW DCT does a pretty good job of that though I'll admit. I actually did consider it. I'm scheduling window tint for mine as well even though I haven't even gotten it yet. Probably do an exterior MaxxGuard treatment or something similar as well. By the way, what are "performance grilles"? I'm thinking of putting the black kidneys on mine which should go well with the AW and shadowline trim.

[P1]

Looks fantastic. My wife just picked hers up not too long ago, and it's an amazing little car to drive.

I see that you have front number plates. Even though I would have probably risked it, the wife wanted me to put on the front plates. Used to it now (a little, just put it on on Saturday) but am thinking about something personalized.

I was actually thinking this (I call the car Polar Bear):

[Canyon Carver]

Looks fantastic! I just got mine as well about a week ago...love it.

[Gnip Gnop]

Originally Posted by audimotion

Hi neighbor...(i'm from Rochester)

Nice and rare color combo! I had my PPK installed at Minnetonka BMW about a month or so ago. It is well worth it...makes the car quite a bit more responsive and eliminates the little lag it has from the factory.

Do you plan on driving the 1er this winter? Mine is in hibernation (unfortunetly)...

thanks! I cant wait until I get the PPK installed. Hopefully they will be calling me within a few days.
And yes, this is my year-round daily driver. I actually have winter snow tires on the factory wheels right now. Does pretty well in the snow for a RWD car.

Originally Posted by 2012_135i

Welcome, Dan, I'm pretty new here as well. Very nice ride you got there. I wouldn't have thought of that color combo. Looks real classy and the pics came out nice. I ordered a 2012 135i in Alpine White with Boston Black leather. I was tempted by the silver but had an '01 silver Prelude and wanted something different. Interesting you had more fun with the 7 speed. That is indeed one slick tranny and it's what I test drove too. But I'm just one of those died in the wool stick guys I guess. Always have been. For me, no matter how good an auto or auto stick is it's still guessing what it is you want the car to do. The BMW DCT does a pretty good job of that though I'll admit. I actually did consider it. I'm scheduling window tint for mine as well even though I haven't even gotten it yet. Probably do an exterior MaxxGuard treatment or something similar as well. By the way, what are "performance grilles"? I'm thinking of putting the black kidneys on mine which should go well with the AW and shadowline trim.

Thanks! The color combo really caught my eye the first time I saw it...it wasnt my first choice, but i am glad i ended up with it!
the "BMW Performance" grilles are just the black kidneys. Matches the shadowline trim.

Originally Posted by P1et

Looks fantastic. My wife just picked hers up not too long ago, and it's an amazing little car to drive.

I see that you have front number plates. Even though I would have probably risked it, the wife wanted me to put on the front plates. Used to it now (a little, just put it on on Saturday) but am thinking about something personalized.

I was actually thinking this (I call the car Polar Bear):

I am still surprised at how fun the car is to drive! Since the car was on the lot, the dealer drilled holes for the front plate...but i think I am going to get them patched up and get one of those tow-hook plate mounts so I can take it off whenever I want.

[datbimmerdoe]

congrats & welcome!