car and driver first drive vid

[mprhead5]

hope this isn't a repost.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...rios-more.html

click on the vid link for 135i


This isn't the review I was hoping for

"pushes like a nightmare when you really go for it"

thats a 2k fix on top of the price of the car. Tuning suspension thats not well sorted can be really annoying

well at least power mods are cheap. but a 400hp car with no limmited slip is worthless so there is anouther 1500.00

so your going to spend 4k just to fix the inherent problems it has from the factory before you even get into making any sort of power.

not to say I won't buy one I just like to take stock of my fiscal foolishnes beforehand. All this so I can have a back seat seams foolish as well

[steinkek]

Repost sorry.......................and what car out there for this price will be better????? Dont think any can compare to the handling, even when the thing is stock. Then when these things are fixed no one will touch this car

[mprhead5]

true once this car is sorted out its gona be one hell of a ride. I do wish they would have included a real limmited slip though.

I'm still trying to fight off the udge to ge a used Z06 though and added costs are making that extra seat seem not as worth it

[josh]

Not what I was hoping to hear - another cushmobile. :mad: The more reviews I read, the harder it is to understand why tire sizes are staggered so agressively. Having smaller rears wouldn't "trash ride quality", would it, and it might just rein in the plowing.
So why don't they sell the car with 235's all around? Is there a detriment to streetability by doing that? :iono:

I think it's time to look into details of the "bars and springs (and a limited-slip)" that are needed to bring this to what (in my view) the car should have been in the first place. So, does anyone have details on excatly what is needed, what it costs, and how to go about the conversion.
Can this upgrade be done for $5k? How soon will it all become available? Thanks in advance.

it looks like the price of an enthusiast 135 just went up by $5k (or whatever it takes to do the above), plus we don't get a chance to test drive the car in the final configuration.

[atr_hugo]

Originally Posted by josh

Not what I was hoping to hear - another cushmobile. :mad: The more reviews I read, the harder it is to understand why tire sizes are staggered so agressively. Having smaller rears wouldn't "trash ride quality", would it, and it might just rein in the plowing.
So why don't they sell the car with 235's all around? Is there a detriment to streetability by doing that? :iono:

I think it's time to look into details of the "bars and springs (and a limited-slip)" that are needed to bring this to what (in my view) the car should have been in the first place. So, does anyone have details on excatly what is needed, what it costs, and how to go about the conversion.
Can this upgrade be done for $5k? How soon will it all become available? Thanks in advance.

Read this post:
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...7&postcount=24

[josh]

FWIW, that's where the "bars and springs (and a limited slip)" quote came from.

[imported_sbw]

I wonder if BMW is a bit concerned about some of the negatives things being said in reviews about the 135i. It most definitely doesn't want a repeat of the 318ti hatchback bomb of 10 years ago!

[mprhead5]

so you drop 2500.00 on coilovers and sways and 1500.00+ 500.00 for install on the rear diff and you should be plenty sorted out in the handling department. If you payed for all the install work you would be under 5k still.

not too bad but thats also before any sort of power adders.

Downpipe 1135.00
procede 1300.00
intake 375.00
I/C 1200.00
exauhst 700.00
power total 4710.00

so once again it seem like 10k is what the car is going to take to put it up to full potental.

I'll have 10k saved by then but I was kinda hoping to put a few k down on the car. Sucks being blue collor with high end taste.

on the other had I could get a low mile 2002-2004 Z06 corvette and put a supercharger on it for a good bit less and have the same performance but be missing 2 seats.

[audisp0rta4]

Originally Posted by mprhead5

so you drop 2500.00 on coilovers and sways and 1500.00+ 500.00 for install on the rear diff and you should be plenty sorted out in the handling department. If you payed for all the install work you would be under 5k still.

not too bad but thats also before any sort of power adders.

Downpipe 1135.00
procede 1300.00
intake 375.00
I/C 1200.00
exauhst 700.00
power total 4710.00

so once again it seem like 10k is what the car is going to take to put it up to full potental.

I'll have 10k saved by then but I was kinda hoping to put a few k down on the car. Sucks being blue collor with high end taste.

on the other had I could get a low mile 2002-2004 Z06 corvette and put a supercharger on it for a good bit less and have the same performance but be missing 2 seats.

Performance for dollar wise, I've been having the same brain battles that you have. I've also been debating a used Z06 with a supercharger and coilovers and rims etc. A stock Z06 will burn a stock 135i and a supercharged Z06 will put 538 to the wheels!! For the approx. 40k (car + blower) investment, theres not much that can touch that value! Not to mention the bullet proof reliability and simplicity of the LS V8.

BUT.......something keeps bringing me back to the 135i! Somehow I feel like its the perfect bimmer for me. It's short comings would be overcome very easily with parts that I would put on it anyway. Not to mention, its new and exciting. Not another been there, done that toy like a blown Z06 or blown E46 M3, which can both be built for around the same price or slightly higher than a standard 135i.

Lets just hope my feelings are right!!

[mprhead5]

I'm getting the feeling that the 135i is going to start at 35k. That means that most on the lot wil be like 37k at least. I'm not sure I can throw down that much for a car that isn't near perfect out of the box.

My forward looking train of thought says buy a 4 seater but my heart is saying c6 z51 for 30-32k

and if you think getting a 1 series is going to grant you exclusivity you have got to be joking. Within 3 years these things are going to be as common as honda civics. not to mention that the 128 will probebly be the new spoiled rich kid car to replace the lexus IS.

I wouldn't consider any blown z06 or M3 as a been there done that ride. Maybe your just jaded

[Sephiroth]

It sounds like the 135 is going to be a good mix of sportiness and comfort, which IMO is exactly what it should be. The price might be a little high for me in which case ill wait for a slightly used one.

[mlevere1988]

To me, it seems like a lot of people want a 335 for less money. Same engine, handling, but in a smaller package for less $$. but you have to realize that if you are going to pay less money, the car isn't going to perform, handling wise, the same as a car that is $10K more. And most of you are wanting to tune the car so it handles like the 335 and are willing to spend that $10K to do it. Why not just buy a 335 and still have the warrenty to go along with it?

[cracka]

Originally Posted by mlevere92

To me, it seems like a lot of people want a 335 for less money. Same engine, handling, but in a smaller package for less $$. but you have to realize that if you are going to pay less money, the car isn't going to perform, handling wise, the same as a car that is $10K more. And most of you are wanting to tune the car so it handles like the 335 and are willing to spend that $10K to do it. Why not just buy a 335 and still have the warrenty to go along with it?

All financial considerations aside, the reviewers' consensus so far is that the 135i is a better driver's car than the 335i. Yes, more understeer from the factory, but we already have an excellent explanation for that... and a number of potential strategies (not all of them expen$ive) for addressing it for those who wish to.

Couple that with the fact that it will cost less both to acquire and to operate? Pure icing.

[BMWERKEN]

I really hear that the 135 has severe understeer, I guess a nice set of beefy rear sways is in store.

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by cracka

All financial considerations aside, the reviewers' consensus so far is that the 135i is a better driver's car than the 335i. Yes, more understeer from the factory, but we already have an excellent explanation for that... and a number of potential strategies (not all of them expen$ive) for addressing it for those who wish to.

Couple that with the fact that it will cost less both to acquire and to operate? Pure icing.

Thanks for that link .. very good read ..

Crowley

[Tiisomeday]

That makes a lot more sense, I had been thinking BMW had lost their touch...Now it turns out marketing (and the American market) is responsible for our watered down cars.

[dsm9]

That was an excellent read and had a lot of very useful info

thanks for posting that Cracka