New to 1 and have a couple questions

[bbrugger]

I am new here so first, Hi my name is brad and I am an addict!

In March I picked up a 2008 E88 135i with 119k miles for $6000.00 which I thought was a good price. Since that time I have replaced brakes, rotors, ATF fluid and filter, Radiator and intercooler. I am really enjoying the car and use it for my daily driver.

I have a concern with a puff of black smoke on startup(only on startup). Is this predictable for 120k miles? Is it something to worry about?

Is there something that at 120k I should look at or watch? I have a Carly and no codes are showing at this time.

Anyway, wanted to introduce myself and ask a question. Thanks for all of the great reading that is on here!

[BimmerAg]

Welcome!

For gasoline direct-injected engines, a small puff of black smoke on start up sounds pretty normal to me. While the engine is still cold, the liquid fuel spray may not fully evaporate in the cylinder and can impinge on the cylinder walls or piston top. This liquid fuel doesn't fully burn and then gets expelled as soot. Again, sounds fairly normal to me, but I'll let someone with a little more experience with your particular engine confirm.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by BimmerAg

Welcome!

For gasoline direct-injected engines, a small puff of black smoke on start up sounds pretty normal to me. While the engine is still cold, the liquid fuel spray may not fully evaporate in the cylinder and can impinge on the cylinder walls or piston top. This liquid fuel doesn't fully burn and then gets expelled as soot. Again, sounds fairly normal to me, but I'll let someone with a little more experience with your particular engine confirm.

This is accurate but how much smoke are we talking about? A quick puff noticeable to the enthusiast is totally fine, a few seconds of thicker soot could be something else. You might consider doing a cleaning of the valves at that mileage too.

[bbrugger]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

This is accurate but how much smoke are we talking about? A quick puff noticeable to the enthusiast is totally fine, a few seconds of thicker soot could be something else. You might consider doing a cleaning of the valves at that mileage too.

Just a quick puff on a cold start, I should probably do some reseach on cleaning the valves. Thanks!

[captain slowly]

sure its black and not blueish? if its black you should try having the valves cleaned, that should help. If it is bluish, its probably the turbo seals leaking, which would be a much more expensive fix.

[Erik-AA]

Looks like a sweet car! I too am a new BMW owner, just picked up a very clean 2010 128i coupe with MT for the same $6k you paid. I'm amazed that these really nice cars are valued so low!

Maybe the clue is in Mike Miller's maintenance guide, he says (approximately) most new BMW's can be considered fully depreciated shortly after the warranty and free maintenance expire".

High mileage is my friend, I can afford such a new car.

[minirips2]

Originally Posted by Erik-AA

Looks like a sweet car! I too am a new BMW owner, just picked up a very clean 2010 128i coupe with MT for the same $6k you paid. I'm amazed that these really nice cars are valued so low!

Maybe the clue is in Mike Miller's maintenance guide, he says (approximately) most new BMW's can be considered fully depreciated shortly after the warranty and free maintenance expire".

High mileage is my friend, I can afford such a new car.

6K? You're making me feel like I got fleeced! Mine was under 45,000 miles and a clean Fla car, but I think you scored there. Nothing wrong with a high mileage 128i, as long as the maintenance has been done properly.

[Erik-AA]

Yeah, I thought it was a good deal too. But Kelly Blue Book says it was only average. They list $6500 private seller book value for 2010 128i coupe with 120k miles. But the same car with 60k miles is over $10k.

So either their computer is messed up, or the used BMW market is highly sensitive to mileage. OK with me! I'll happily take a well-maintained high miles car. Usually means freeway miles which are easy miles too.

Neglected cars are always trouble. And cars that are low miles because they have sat for a long time are even worse. You see that all the time in the motorcycle world, for instance a 1990's bike with 5000 miles is not that uncommon. Seems like a great deal but almost always turns out to need a ton of work.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by Erik-AA

Yeah, I thought it was a good deal too. But Kelly Blue Book says it was only average. They list $6500 private seller book value for 2010 128i coupe with 120k miles. But the same car with 60k miles is over $10k.

So either their computer is messed up, or the used BMW market is highly sensitive to mileage. OK with me! I'll happily take a well-maintained high miles car. Usually means freeway miles which are easy miles too.

Neglected cars are always trouble. And cars that are low miles because they have sat for a long time are even worse. You see that all the time in the motorcycle world, for instance a 1990's bike with 5000 miles is not that uncommon. Seems like a great deal but almost always turns out to need a ton of work.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Newer cars are very different than older cars. My 2011 has 10,000 miles on it, we are the original owner. The car is driven in fair weather, sits on a battery tender (the original battery was just replaced this past january by bmw), gets the oil changed annually, has had the brake fluid changed every two years, basically all maintenance due per the manual. Didn't so much as flatspot the tires (which I replaced with non runflats within the first year, which are much more prone to flat spotting). Every time I take the car to the dealer (only place to ever touch it) they inspect it, find nothing wrong, then half of the techs approach me about selling it to them personally...

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Newer cars are very different than older cars. My 2011 has 10,000 miles on it, we are the original owner. The car is driven in fair weather, sits on a battery tender (the original battery was just replaced this past january by bmw), gets the oil changed annually, has had the brake fluid changed every two years, basically all maintenance due per the manual. Didn't so much as flatspot the tires (which I replaced with non runflats within the first year, which are much more prone to flat spotting). Every time I take the car to the dealer (only place to ever touch it) they inspect it, find nothing wrong, then half of the techs approach me about selling it to them personally...

Curious... it's probably only in the warm seasons, but how often would you say you drive your 1er, and how far do you think your average drive is?

Sorry for the thread jack, OP.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Curious... it's probably only in the warm seasons, but how often would you say you drive your 1er, and how far do you think your average drive is?

Sorry for the thread jack, OP.

When the stars align and I take her out, its never less than 25-30 miles. At the end of the day, this is NYC. I have an older CRV that does all the dirty work, parking lot battles and all.

Forgot to add- I did drive my 135i from atlanta to nyc and back a few months back...2000 miles in a few weeks

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

When the stars align and I take her out, its never less than 25-30 miles. At the end of the day, this is NYC. I have an older CRV that does all the dirty work, parking lot battles and all.

Forgot to add- I did drive my 135i from atlanta to nyc and back a few months back...2000 miles in a few weeks

I kinda do the same thing with an '05 Jetta.

[Erik-AA]

OK, I will agree. Low-miles vehicles that have been maintained by meticulous owners can be good. But most of the vehicles that have "sat" to get their low miles were neglected while they sat. Hey, I have a 1970 Lotus with 38,000 miles on it, I bought it from the original owner. That's less than 1000 miles per year.... But all those miles were before 1976, the car has been parked since then. As you can imagine it needs a lot of work...