AussieRacer has arrived!

[BMWDave]

Great colour choice :biggrin:

Enjoy it:thumbup:

[harpoon]

Congrats mate! Be interested to hear what break-in method you are going for Aussieracer?

I'm at 1000kms now and pretty much driving it how I want once warmed up, though still staying off redline. It feels like redlining it is kind of pointless anyway...

[AussieRacer]

harpoon, I'm keeping it below 4,500rpm and haven't given it any WOT. Easy to do in D, but requires well timed throttle lifting in DS to avoid going past 4,500. I'm only at 170km, but I might start stretching its legs more post 500km.

[AussieRacer]

Okay I thought I'd post some pics.

Friday night I put the car up on stands/jacks and removed the wheels. Gave them a clean and then an all over wax to hopefully help make cleaning them easier. They are building up dust just a fraction quicker than my old car.




This morning I was off to the dealer to get a small dent in the driver right tweeter grill fixed. I had admiring car park next to me.....


I then spent the afternoon giving the paintwork some polish and wax. Before the sun set I went took it to the boulevard for the happy snaps.





Since I've also only seen one other car on this site with the skibag option, I thought I'd share some pics too. I don't ski....just wanted the flexibility of having rear seat passengers whilst carrying a long skinny load...no idea why....




Hope you like.

[Timbo]

You're a classic aussie... you're right though, who knows when you might just need to carry that long skinny load with four people in the car?

[AussieRacer]

Okay so after my GP Thunder install, tonight I decided to swap the mirror caps to the Carbon Fibre ones I ordered from Dan.

Install went okay on the driver's right once I worked out the clips had a "double" grip so to speak. CF one clipped on and fitted perfectly. Driver's left one was easy except, I slightly scratched (it will buff out) the shadow line on the door trim when placing the CF cap on....be careful! I then discovered the clips aren't giving the tightest fit, meaning the cap moves around slightly. I've tried adjusting, but short of super gluing the tabs in place it can move around slightly. No biggie, just not a snug fit.

I'm actually not 100% sold on the look yet compared to the standard Le Mans Blue caps. They kind of look out of place. I'll wait till I see my car in the wild to place my full judgement.

One side done for comparison....does orig look better????

Both done....looks better, but not convinced

[Alext]

To be honest if you have no other CF parts then it looks out of place (as your gut feeling said). This my honest opinion.

[ExMX5]

I like em

[DTNJNQ]

When I first put mine on I was also not too sure about the look however once it was outside in the sunlight the CF looked great. I have to say that the lighting in the garage is not the best light to show off the CF. The CF will look a lot better outside in the sunlight.

[smarm]

You got a CF wing to throw on mate?

[AussieRacer]

Thanks guys. At the very least I'll also be adding the CF spoiler I also have sitting around. Just trying to decide if it will be a fun project to do myself or if I should outsource???

I had a fun lunchtime drive today when I played with the auto transmission some more.....damn it is good! Definitely a generation or two ahead of the 120i's auto. Absolutely love the blips on downshifts that make them super smooth. The best part is in DS mode when you shift manually. It had my passenger 100% convinced that is was some DSG style gearbox, as it shifts super super quick, and absolutely seamless with no pause. Click the paddle and bang straight into the next gear up or down. And of course you can keep it in D and it is silky smooth with your passengers barely aware of the car's potential.

I am thinking the exhaust could have a little more punch though when giving it a bit....can't believe I'd hear myself say that.

[SimonB]

AussieRacer, at a quick look, via the photos, I prefer the native look. Real life and in daylight may look different.

[123D-M]

Originally Posted by SimonB

AussieRacer, at a quick look, via the photos, I prefer the native look. Real life and in daylight may look different.

^^ +1

[AussieRacer]

OKay the CF mirror caps are growing on me. They don't look as "elegant" as the Le Mans painted caps, but they give the car a more pumped up look that I'm happy with. Once the CF spoiler goes on, I think they will fit in even better.

[harpoon]

I think the cf looks good on the blue.

[xa-coupe]

Congrats Aussieracer. Every time I see another blue 1er I get tempted. he day I do finally order one I have no idea what colour I will get !
I think it's getting time for another coffee meet and greet and to take more pics of the greater number of cars !

[Kris]

I like the CF too, i have the mirror caps and nothing else and love the look..

[Breville]

Originally Posted by AussieRacer

Okay so after my GP Thunder install, tonight I decided to swap the mirror caps to the Carbon Fibre ones I ordered from Dan.

Install went okay on the driver's right once I worked out the clips had a "double" grip so to speak. CF one clipped on and fitted perfectly. Driver's left one was easy except, I slightly scratched (it will buff out) the shadow line on the door trim when placing the CF cap on....be careful! I then discovered the clips aren't giving the tightest fit, meaning the cap moves around slightly. I've tried adjusting, but short of super gluing the tabs in place it can move around slightly. No biggie, just not a snug fit.

I'm actually not 100% sold on the look yet compared to the standard Le Mans Blue caps. They kind of look out of place. I'll wait till I see my car in the wild to place my full judgement.

One side done for comparison....does orig look better????

I like the contrast with the blue.

[AussieRacer]

Originally Posted by xa-coupe

Congrats Aussieracer. Every time I see another blue 1er I get tempted. he day I do finally order one I have no idea what colour I will get !
I think it's getting time for another coffee meet and greet and to take more pics of the greater number of cars !

The Le Mans blue is certainly an "in your face" kind of colour and very "boy racer", so I definitely like it! Unfortunately it does attract a bit more attention from the performance sticker upgrade crowd.

[AussieRacer]

I thought I'd give an update and review on my impressions with the car after 17 days and 1400km.

Engine
Engine is definitely starting to loosen up a bit more. A few good red-line blasts seems to have really helped with that. I've definitely noticed when the engine is cold or just started (within first couple of mins), the engine power just doesn't seem to be quite there. Almost as if the ECU reduces power.

Still drinking a bit of fuel, but in line with expectations. Just wish it had a bigger tank!

Gearbox - Auto
DS mode really changes the whole character of the car. :smile: Nice quick changes. Seems to hold the car between 2000-2500rpm at most speeds which keeps the car grumbling along. Although around town DS mode can be a bit jerky off the line. Seems like the car wants to give all or nothing, whereas in D the car is quite smooth. In fact in D the car is a total sleeper, and any acceleration is achieved by using the engine torque, rather than revs, and hence you can feel a ever so slight turbo lag.

One weird thing I'm experiencing is it almost feels like the car moves into neutral sometimes, as it has rolled back on me a few times on hills.....very weird.

Brakes
At first I really didn't appreciate the brakes, and around town you really don't notice either, apart from being even more "grabby" when coming to a final halt. However big stops show the great stopping power and nice feel you get through the pedal. Hitting the brakes gives instant deceleration power, not unlike a race car really.

However combined with either the auto shifting into neutral, or the hill-assist assisting when it shouldn't, I sometimes find the brakes hold when moving it around slowly. Sort like there is a 1 sec delay between releasing the pedal, and the brakes actually releasing. However it doesn't happen consistently....

Suspension
The front is a fair bit lower than the 120i, so I'm finding I have to be super careful not to scrap it. In fact I've got VicRoads coming out in a few weeks to alter my driveway exit as I currently have to crawl out not to scrap.....I learnt the hard way!

Under power she squats a fair bit. Helps put the power down, but if mixed in with any angle of cornering, it makes the back float around more than it should. So I haven't experienced any understeering dramas yet, but rather had the back floating wider than expected (with DSC & DTC on). All nicely controllable but it feels like it needs stiffer springs, or more bump on the shockers.

Steering
Doing a back-to-back with my old 120i, the 135i's steering is considerably lighter, and seems to lack a little feel. It is sort like I prefer the extra feel from the 120i, but prefer the weighting of the 135i. Also whilst the thick rim looks great and makes every other steering wheel feel thin, it is probably a tad too fat.

Exterior
Those wheels are just getting dirty too god damn quickly!!! One drive and they are dirty. After 3 days they look like I haven't cleaned them in three months.

Getting a lot more swirls in the paint than any beemer before. Especially that shadowline trim....absolute magnet for swirls!

Not really liking the exterior mirror coverage. Don't know if it is the convex curve, but I just don't feel as comfortable or confident with these mirrors as the dimming mirrors I had in the 120i - which is crazy as the dimming mirrors have a big border that actually makes them smaller.... So far it is the one option I most regret not getting.

Interior
The big surprise has been the interior cup holder. Whilst I keep just a small Qantas water bottle in there, I can easily get it in and out with raising the armrest. So it is not quite as useless as I was expecting. Everything else seems like my old 120i, so is nice and familiar.

I do however have two interior rattles. One is coming from the ashtray region and must be originating below the surface as no amount of pressure on interior surfaces solves the vibrating noise. The other has started since yesterday and is from the left passenger door. Almost sounds like a loose nut. I'm tolerant at present and will wait for the 3k service to get fixed. Drivers right window tint has vertical scratches too that I'll get addressed at the same time.

iDrive - Bus Nav
Like it. Some menus are a little poorly designed, but overall I'm very happy. Nav seems to work great. Hasn't taken me on any stupid routes, just wish EastLink worked with it properly. Oh, and what is the point of climate having its own section....I'd much prefer if the on-board/computer info was separated from the Nav section so I could more easily flick between the two. Especially as I haven't worked out how the save the on-board info section as a favourite button. I'm currently assuming it is not possible.

Sound system - Hi-Fi (10 speaker)
This is option number two that I regret not upgrading to Hi-Fi Pro. Although I still don't think it is worth the extra $$s. My main concerns are that at lower volumes the sound is totally dominated by the upper frequencies, and spoken audio needs the volume set fairly high to hear clearly, yet music is too loud at the same volume. I think the Hi-Fi Pro surround modes helped better manage spoken audio. At upper volume levels they don't sound that different, which again validates Pro isn't worth the $$s IMO.

Another quirk I've found is that with my 120i the positive and negative volume controls on the steering did different things. Positive seemed to add about 3 levels (compared to dial volume changes) and negative reduced by about 8 levels. It was a feature I really liked as generally when you lower the volume you want it done more quickly. On the 135i both positive and negative seem to make the same amount of level changes. Don't know whether the Pro effects that??


I think that covers most functional areas. If I've left anything off, someone can let me know.

Overall I absolutely love this car, especially once it is warmed up. Truly great BMW product!

[amk2912]

Glad you enjoy the auto - I do!

Just whack a chip in there to enhance your pleasure! :biggrinSounds like a condom ad)

[2bob]

Originally Posted by amk2912

Glad you enjoy the auto - I do!

Just whack a chip in there to enhance your pleasure! :biggrinSounds like a condom ad)

I also have an auto--which chip do you have ?