125i vs 135i

[TimMc]

Originally Posted by brisbaneroller

Haha, i know what i need to fit in mate, but thats not really what i want to drive. I would rather enjoy a bit more comfort and handling i think! I'll be based in blackwater or moranbah.

You would go with the 125i? I think i'd steer away from the 123d, unless you could think of some reason the performance of the diesel compares?

I personally haven't driven the 123, but sounds like it's got some grunt. May see you at Moranbah one day!

[100fires]

At the risk of being booed for self promotion, check out the 125i I'm selling on carsales 125i MSports - Brisbane

It seems to fit your requirements. I'm regretfully letting go, as I need a 4 door car

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by brisbaneroller

Thanks for all the help guys,

Have a bit more information based on some questions I was asked.

I've got my open license now, and unless i've read the queensland road rules wrong, I'm definitely allowed to drive the twin turbo, its just whether i'm insurable!

My company has a choice of two lease companies, and hopefully they will be ok with a used vehicle 2/3 years old at the commencement of the lease. I'm aiming to do between 15,000 and 25,000 km/year. It shouldn't be too tough with some highway driving / a lot of highway driving in central Queensland.

I have done a defensive and advanced drivers courses (kindly paid for by work) but i'm still unsure as to how the insurance company will view it.

I do have a question about the rollover residual, with a lower residual, how do they calculate the value to be contributed to the next lease?

thanks again guys

Basically, depending on where the value of your car stands with the residual, that will be rolled in to your next lease.

So if your value is higher, the new car's price is discounted by that.
If your value is lower, then you can either pay that money back to the lease underwriter (Macquarie Leasing?) or add that on top of the new car price.

[brisbaneroller]

Originally Posted by 100fires

At the risk of being booed for self promotion, check out the 125i I'm selling on carsales 125i MSports - Brisbane

It seems to fit your requirements. I'm regretfully letting go, as I need a 4 door car

mate! haha had already eyed it off! But, won't be buying until february next year, and i'm not sure if you can lease a vehicle from a private owner! thats another good question i need answered! Lovely car mate, and the right price bracket! If you can convince yourself you could live with it for another 6 months, then maybe you'd have a buyer :P

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by brisbaneroller

mate! haha had already eyed it off! But, won't be buying until february next year, and i'm not sure if you can lease a vehicle from a private owner! thats another good question i need answered! Lovely car mate, and the right price bracket! If you can convince yourself you could live with it for another 6 months, then maybe you'd have a buyer :P

You can source any car yourself I think as long is it has a roadworthy cert you are fine. My lease company offered for me to find one if i wanted, but i went with a 'brand spanker'.

[brisbaneroller]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

You can source any car yourself I think as long is it has a roadworthy cert you are fine. My lease company offered for me to find one if i wanted, but i went with a 'brand spanker'.

That's fantastic, so the lease company pays the owner lump sum in full? And they take on responsibility for the car, with you the nominated leasee? I thought the lease company organised payments hence needing a dealership. Can they still lump all the servicing payments into your fortnightly fee?

Pending insurance quotes, i might still look at the 135i as i think by february, private sale prices will be closer to 60-65 with a few k's on the clock.

I don't really understand how the servicing works on a novated lease, if the HPFP goes, and you don't have warranty, but have a fixed price for your lease, is the cost just covered? or do you need to pay a lump sum/increase the payments to cover the ... thousands of dollars that repair could cost?

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by brisbaneroller

That's fantastic, so the lease company pays the owner lump sum in full? And they take on responsibility for the car, with you the nominated leasee? I thought the lease company organised payments hence needing a dealership. Can they still lump all the servicing payments into your fortnightly fee?

It depends on your leasing company - something you would need to discuss with them. I found a huge variance in what some companies can and couldn't do when shopping around.

Originally Posted by brisbaneroller

I don't really understand how the servicing works on a novated lease, if the HPFP goes, and you don't have warranty, but have a fixed price for your lease, is the cost just covered? or do you need to pay a lump sum/increase the payments to cover the ... thousands of dollars that repair could cost?

My servicing worked that i'd pay for the service, and submit a payment request with receipt to the lease company. They'd usually transfer the funds that day to my bank account as re-imbursement. Same with tyres, car care products. The only thing that i didn't need reimbursements for was fuel - had a fuel card.

Some leasing companies have direct relationships with retailers. I know Jax have relationships with some companies and will bill your lease company direct upon purchasing tyres.

Remember any excess amount on your account that you don't use, you can claim back on things to do with your car - details, washes, wheels, anything. When my novation was broken (due to my redundancy), i had about 1.5k on the account unused so claimed back for HEAPS of stuff (tyres, servicing)

It's good to fire them all these questions in emails (something i learned the hard way through my lease protection issue - search "lease protection" for the thread). That was you get good answers and can always revert back in case of grey areas.

[alik01]

Most lease companies operate on a 30% residual after a 5 year lease, so you need to always keep that in mind, since at 25000kms/year, you're car isn't going to be worth much at the end of it all. Also you cannot finance negative equity into next purchase if you're going to stay with a novated lease, so you pretty need to have the cash to pay for the shortfall at the end.

[MikeVictor]

I stand corrected on the licencing issue, I thought it applied to everyone under 25, not just P1 and P2 licences.

As helpful as the forum can be, on something as complicated as a lease you should get some advice on the matter to know the specifics rather than lots of general information.

One thing's for certain, I know you'll enjoy your coupe no matter which variant you go with!

[05C4R]

hi and welcome Brisbaneroller, i would get some insurance quotes first for the area you will be working/living in for both a 125i and 135i. if that hasn't scared the shit out of you i would test drive them both. and with either car you will be happy. you sound like a keen driver and these are drivers cars. its alot of money however, when i was in my 20's all you needed was a car big enough to fit either a surfboard or two people laying horizontal and you were cool. i remember guys putting their surfboard in the front seat and making their girlfirends sit in the back behind them. i reckon you'll attact quite a few country girls with a bmw. the local guys will hate ya but.

[BBK]

Also, don't compare the 125i auto with the 135 as it i nowhere near as good. Tip might also be to test drive the 125 first, 135 second. Because if the other way around, the 125 will seem slower than it really is.

[Alext]

People often overlook the fact that the 135i has superior brakes than the 125i.

I drove a 125i and found although the power was decent, the handling was very doughy especially around tight bends. The M sport suspension that comes standard on the 135i really makes a huge difference. Although with it the 135i does tend to crash over bumps more than the 125i - which has much better ride comfort.

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Alext

People often overlook the fact that the 135i has superior brakes than the 125i.

I drove a 125i and found although the power was decent, the handling was very doughy especially around tight bends. The M sport suspension that comes standard on the 135i really makes a huge difference. Although with it the 135i does tend to crash over bumps more than the 125i - which has much better ride comfort.

Fair call - while I haven't driven a 135 yet, I found (and still find) the 125 to be excellent in bends.

[brisbaneroller]

Originally Posted by beemer

hi and welcome Brisbaneroller, i would get some insurance quotes first for the area you will be working/living in for both a 125i and 135i. if that hasn't scared the shit out of you i would test drive them both. and with either car you will be happy. you sound like a keen driver and these are drivers cars.

Thanks mate, exactly what i'm thinking. Thanks heaps.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will definatley get more info on the leasing aspect as it gets closer to the date, it will always be the deceiding factor, and maybe my wage doesn't quiet get me to bmw territory yet, but it won't be far away.

Will remember your advice and drive the 125i first, as that is an excellent point. Should the cost of a 125i be as much as the 135i in terms of adding the Msport and other the given bonuses, it might be a case of 135i or something else for 3/4 years?

Fingers crossed the numbers crunch to my favour!

[sparoz]

Welcome to the forum.

I have both 125i and 135i, comparing 125i/135i - 135i is definitely the better car stock - bigger engine, bigger brakes, bigger grins. However, 125i is still a very nice car, and you really should consider 123D.

As a novated lease you might have a maximum of the LCT, so you better check that out.

I bought my first Bimmer in my early 20s and it is probably still my biggest regret - I had a car paid off and go into a loan to get the car. Yes, you can afford it, but I could have invest it elsewhere and I would be much better off. Novated lease remember can be applied to other cars too for you to have the savings. My advise to everyone these days is always only spend the money on a nice car from a passive income, but it's up to you.

I just don't like young people getting into the mistakes I made 10 years ago. .

[jksgoh]

Originally Posted by sparoz

I have both 125i and 135i, comparing 125i/135i - 135i is definitely the better car stock - bigger engine, bigger brakes, bigger grins. However, 125i is still a very nice car, and you really should consider 123D.

actually the 125i has the bigger engine ... just minus a couple of turbos

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by jksgoh

actually the 125i has the bigger engine ... just minus a couple of turbos

lol! more powerful drivetrain how's that?

[jksgoh]

Originally Posted by sparoz

lol! more powerful drivetrain how's that?

and checkmate... lol still love the 125i though!

[AussieRacer]

Originally Posted by Alext

People often overlook the fact that the 135i has superior brakes than the 125i.

I drove a 125i and found although the power was decent, the handling was very doughy especially around tight bends. The M sport suspension that comes standard on the 135i really makes a huge difference. Although with it the 135i does tend to crash over bumps more than the 125i - which has much better ride comfort.

+1
125i power is decent, but you have to rev it out - and it loves to rev so no issue there. However I had come from two previous BMWs where you had to rev them out to get them close to decent, and I simply wanted a change where the whole street you're driving on and those driving around you don't know you are thrashing your car. A 135i can do that cause of the torque.

As much as I didn't like the soul of the 123d due to the engine character not matching what I expect of a BMW, at least its performance is decent without thrashing.

My 2 cents. But ultimately you're young so if you get a 135i now, you are at risk of only heading downhill from here

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by AussieRacer

+1
My 2 cents. But ultimately you're young so if you get a 135i now, you are at risk of only heading downhill from here

..

I'd rather crash and burn all the way down that hill than get something that's second rate to my preferences.

OP have you test driven either of them yet? Best way to make your choice.

[Blader]

Originally Posted by Alext

People often overlook the fact that the 135i has superior brakes than the 125i.

I drove a 125i and found although the power was decent, the handling was very doughy especially around tight bends. The M sport suspension that comes standard on the 135i really makes a huge difference. Although with it the 135i does tend to crash over bumps more than the 125i - which has much better ride comfort.

Don't forget you can order a 125i with the M Sport kit and I think it actually steers better as it is lighter in the front end. And definitely get a manual as in this form it is a totally different car to the normal 125i auto

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by Blader

Don't forget you can order a 125i with the M Sport kit and I think it actually steers better as it is lighter in the front end. And definitely get a manual as in this form it is a totally different car to the normal 125i auto

Unfortuantely, this is the truth - the 125 do steer better and handles quite well with the M pack that I've got.