Should I buy a Convertible?

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by champignon

Thanks for your comment.

I have ordered the car to be shipped by Carmax. Other than for the transfer cost, I'm not obligated to buy it. It is a 2013 135is in black with a red interior, and less than 7000 miles

Sounds like a fantastic 2nd car. Or fourth.
Or even first out where I am!
Now I need to look into getting that PE...

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by champignon

Thanks for your comment.

I have ordered the car to be shipped by Carmax. Other than for the transfer cost, I'm not obligated to buy it. It is a 2013 135is in black with a red interior, and less than 7000 miles

6 sp manual, right? If so, that should be a fun addition. If not,

[Gray_Panther]

Welcome to the exlcusive "2 1er Owner's Club"!

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

6 sp manual, right? If so, that should be a fun addition. If not,

Bien Sûr

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by champignon

Bien Sûr

You will have a 135i and a 135is? Come on The vert man! We had a dream!

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by champignon

Thanks for your comment.

I have ordered the car to be shipped by Carmax. Other than for the transfer cost, I'm not obligated to buy it. It is a 2013 135is in black with a red interior, and less than 7000 miles

Whoa - so new they don't even have photos up yet! And super low miles. Funny how the one with 48K on it is only $4,000 less.

EDIT: Actually, I might be looking at a different car. It is a 135is with 6K miles, but it is blue with black interior and auto tranny.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by champignon

Thanks for your comment.

I have ordered the car to be shipped by Carmax. Other than for the transfer cost, I'm not obligated to buy it. It is a 2013 135is in black with a red interior, and less than 7000 miles

Nice! So dont leave us hanging. soft top or not!?

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Nice! So dont leave us hanging. soft top or not!?

Weren't they all soft top?

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Weren't they all soft top?

is cars? Nope they were both coupes and verts.

[angler]

Say yes to the vert

[champignon]

It is a convertible, black with red leather interior.

It doesn't show up on the site anymore, because it is being shipped for me and held for me, so they took it off the site. It was up until yesterday, and got loaded on a carrier in Georgia today sometime.

[allikanbe]

I bought my wife a 2009 135i convertible. It's a fun car to drive. I have a 2006 330Ci convertible and that's fun too. She had a 2006 Z4 and traded it. The 135 is much more fun, faster, and more comfortable.

[champignon]

This 135is (which only has <7K miles on it) has its original run flat tires. Those tires will get replaced, but I am not sure with what. We have around 4 months of winter driving weather where I live in Idaho, although not a lot of deep snow.

My 135i coupe has Michelin Pilot SS tires on its original rims, and I have a set of 17" Blizzaks on other rims, which will make this a year round car for me. Assuming that I buy the 135is convertible, I wouldn't intend to drive it 12 months a year, however might drive it a bit during the winter if the weather is merely cold or perhaps there was a light dusting of snow. I don't have any intention of ever driving the convertible in real winter weather or in a real snowstorm. I also don't intend to have 2 sets of tires for the car.

Looking at reviews on the Tire Rack website, the performance all season tires they sell in these sizes are limited to the Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3, and the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. Both tires have their proponents, but reading and digesting a whole lot of these reviews seems to indicate that the Pilot Sport AS/3 is a better performance tire but worse in winter or shoulder season weather, and the Continental is squishy and not very performance oriented, but is better in inclement weather than the Michelin.

Most probably I will just replace the stock RFTs with Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which I am happy with on other cars. Given the fact that a convertible isn't really in the same performance league as a coupe, would it be worthwhile to consider either of these All Season Continentals, the Michelin AS/3, or something else I have not considered as a year round tire for this car? The Nokian WRG3 is potentially another option, but I don't know if those tires are available in sizes that will fit the 135is stock rims.

Any thoughts?

[tjswarbrick]

I considered A/S 3 for my previous car ('06 W203 C230.) Went with DWS's for significantly lower cost (in that size at that time) but nearly as good reviews.
The Conti's were actually perfect for the M-B. Smooth, quiet, grippy, great in the rain.

I'm getting PSS's for the E88 135i once the rft's give it up. But we don't get snow at home and have an SUV for skiing and such.

based on:
a) it's a convertible. Very capable car, but not the last word in handling compared to others in your stable
b) It won't be a snow machine, but will likely see some foul weather
c) lots of people have them down here as only tires and don't feeling as though they're giving any thing up in the summer

if I were in your shoes, I'd get A/S 3's for the ragtop and not look back.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

I considered A/S 3 for my previous car ('06 W203 C230.) Went with DWS's for significantly lower cost (in that size at that time) but nearly as good reviews.
The Conti's were actually perfect for the M-B. Smooth, quiet, grippy, great in the rain.

I'm getting PSS's for the E88 135i once the rft's give it up. But we don't get snow at home and have an SUV for skiing and such.

based on:
a) it's a convertible. Very capable car, but not the last word in handling compared to others in your stable
b) It won't be a snow machine, but will likely see some foul weather
c) lots of people have them down here as only tires and don't feeling as though they're giving any thing up in the summer

if I were in your shoes, I'd get A/S 3's for the ragtop and not look back.

Thanks very much for your recommendation of the AS/3s, which are definitely in contention.

After reading some other threads on the Tires subforum, I made a post asking about a potential square setup using the stock wheels, which would open up a whole host of other tire options. So far, no one has responded, but I will put the link in here and perhaps someone here has something to say on the subject, about which I am entirely ignorant.

Thanks.

LinK:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1195535

[Ginger_Extract]

My 0.02, since you are building up a Bavarian specialty garage, try an E36M3 or E46M3. Equally affordable and showcase unique eras of BMW. You already have two 1'ers, maybe diversify?

My Mom leased a 2012 135i 'vert with N55 and DCT. Top down motoring made the N55 sound and feel great. The car felt very sturdy/stiff, but not explicitly in a sporty way. It felt that way because of the mass, which was very noticeable compared to my 2010 135i coupe. Her's was pretty reliable throughout it's stay, I think it was just oil changes/maint over the 3 years.

The said, the car certainly had a sense of bravado to it, and made city driving infinitely more enjoyable than other vehicles. If you're going 'vert, and want to keep it stock/stockish, do N55, since it sounds SO much better than the N54 in stock form. The exhaust bark really exemplifies a positive part of top down motoring.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Ginger_Extract

My 0.02, since you are building up a Bavarian specialty garage, try an E36M3 or E46M3. Equally affordable and showcase unique eras of BMW. You already have two 1'ers, maybe diversify?

Thanks for your comments. I do have the 135is coming to the nearest Carfax (almost 5 hours drive away from me), where I will test drive it and make a decision. Other than the $799 already expended to ship it, I'm under no obligation to buy the car, so I can just consider it a rather expensive test drive

I spent about a year looking for a great E36 M3, and even ended up buying one which turned out to be so hideous in person that I only drove it 100 feet, then had it sold on consignment. It had extremely low mileage but had extensive cosmetic mods including a purple paint job, wide body kit, etc. I thought that my mechanic could take all that shit off of it, but he took one look at it and said, "are you kidding?" This was my second vintage car buying experience, and a "teachable moment," so to speak. That experience ended up being five bills flushed down the toilet. I also negotiated for a long time over a stock E36 M3 but just could not pull the trigger as it was puke green in color.

I also have looked a lot at E46 M3s, but never found the one I wanted. The ones out there (in my opinion) are high mileage beaters, hugely modded, grossly overpriced, or some combination of the three. And then you have to worry about the rear subframe self-destructing.

I do have a 2000 Z3M Coupe, but also got horrifically screwed on a "regular" Z3 Coupe that was billed as pristine and turned out to be a rusted out hulk with a visible passenger airbag that had been duct-taped into position. I am currently suing the cretin who defrauded me on that, and whether I'll ever get anything back on that disaster is uncertain.

This is to say that I am DONE DONE DONE on long distance purchases of used vehicles that I can't personally have inspected prior to purchase. Where I live or have access to (Boise) the only M3s that ever show up are either current vintage overpriced used ones at the dealer, or beater SMGs. I just do not have the time or inclination to travel around the country looking for a needle in a haystack.

Hence, no E36 or E46 M3s for me

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by champignon

Thanks for your comments. I do have the 135is coming to the nearest Carfax (almost 5 hours drive away from me), where I will test drive it and make a decision. Other than the $799 already expended to ship it, I'm under no obligation to buy the car, so I can just consider it a rather expensive test drive

I spent about a year looking for a great E36 M3, and even ended up buying one which turned out to be so hideous in person that I only drove it 100 feet, then had it sold on consignment. It had extremely low mileage but had extensive cosmetic mods including a purple paint job, wide body kit, etc. I thought that my mechanic could take all that shit off of it, but he took one look at it and said, "are you kidding?" This was my second vintage car buying experience, and a "teachable moment," so to speak. That experience ended up being five bills flushed down the toilet. I also negotiated for a long time over a stock E36 M3 but just could not pull the trigger as it was puke green in color.

Hence, no E36 or E46 M3s for me

Sounds a lot like a (sad) story I recently read...

Ginger's right about the N55 E88 though - decent all sealed up; fabulous top-down.

[delta_waves]

1 series convertible looks too much like a girl car IMHO

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by delta_waves

1 series convertible looks too much like a girl car IMHO

A 135is vert a "girl car?" Not in my book. If I had a convertible, that'd be a fine one for me. 320 hp, 317 lb-ft, 6-sp manual, awesome sounding exhaust and a pretty mean looking profile IMO. I'd have it. Black with red interior sounds like a great color combo as well. What's not to like?

[Kouper]

You can call me a girl all day long, LOL. It won't affect the enjoyment of my 135is convertible.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by Kouper

You can call me a girl all day long, LOL. It won't affect the enjoyment of my 135is convertible.

I've heard the comments too... Then I drop a gear, put my foot down and wave bye bye. I could care less how people, especially strangers, judge it.

I love it, my wife enjoys it, my kids have fun being in it. Its a great car for guys and gals.