Auto 135i regrets not getting manuel :(

[M3_wannabe]

I love my car don't get me wrong, but wow if anyone is in the market for a 135i i would always say get a Manual. This car is a beast it deserves a manual tranny plain and simple, through every gear it feels like it wants to be pushed and that Manual mode just doesn't cut it personally but then again my jb4 and dci hasn't came in yet..

Mainly made this thread for those about to be owners of a 135i to make the decision easier. Auto guys put in your input about how you feel about this topic, i just feel this auto isnt enough maybe I'm crazy?

[M3_wannabe]

Another big point i want to make is that ive owned many manual stings, one 04 cobra and a 500 fwhp srt4 big turbo. After those cars i said forget manual im going to buy auto, so i bought a 06 330i, then sold that got an 08 528i also auto and then sold that and bought this 08 135i and wow this car just makes me want to go to manual

[Harlequin]

Isn't Manuel the butler an Faulty Towers?

[M3_wannabe]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Isn't Manuel the butler an Faulty Towers?

Fixed just for you lol

[uberschnell]

I really like the auto on the 135. It's significantly better than the auto's on the 2 cars you mentioned.

[M3_wannabe]

^^^ which mode do you drive in most the time?

[slim_e90]

Most my previous cars have been manual but current 135 is auto. I badly want a manual.... Even though this ZF auto is arguably the best, most responsive auto (until the new 8spd came around)... At the end of the day even in sport mode, its just not engaging enough for me.

[M3_wannabe]

Originally Posted by slim_e90

Most my previous cars have been manual but current 135 is auto. I badly want a manual.... Even though this ZF auto is arguably the best, most responsive auto (until the new 8spd came around)... At the end of the day even in sport mode, its just not engaging enough for me.

Exactly how i feel!! I havent tried yet since i bought the car 4 days ago but if i put it in first gear manual mode with traction control of will the car burnout? Like a manual car would in first gear?

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by M3_wannabe

Fixed just for you lol

[the1andonly]

I test drove a 135 auto while my manual 128 was getting serviced and it left me bored in comparison...

on the other hand, the manual 135 i test drive last year.....WOW!

[M3_wannabe]

yea i can only imagine, while i was shopping for my 135i i saw a montego blue manual with m sport and all for $1k less and with 9k miles less -__- and i passed it up but i do love my alpine white dont get me wrong

[slim_e90]

Yes. With traction ctrl off and in manual mode, 1st gear (I have Cobb), I can burn out like nobody's business - LOL.

[-c-]

Well since I have the DCT that prolly counts as an auto, not sure ... Yea it's an auto .... Anyway all my cars have been manual cars, until recently as i had a z4 that I had bought for my wife and though I loved to look at it I secretly missed the actions of choosing gears and all that fun in between. So I really started to look for a manual again and ended up buying the 1 but getting the DCT ! Love it ! So fast, funny but when I test drove the 1 series manual it engaged to high for me .... I like low engagement.

But being in Chicago with lots of stop and go you tend to curse the manual lol

Not regretting the DCT but its my first DCT and hopefully the high doesn't wear off. I still have my MINI race car with a manual trans so when I wanna shift around I can drive that as its just as quick as the 1 but handles better but harsh as hell.

[froop]

I bought a 2009 E88 135i in auto (didn't know how to drive manual at the time) and regretted it for 3.5 years. The ZF auto is a great box but it's just not the same as a manual. I now own a 2008 E82 135i with a short shift kit and it's the best thing ever. The girlfriend now drives the E88 so I still get to cruise top down from time to time which is great.

[Fifty3bags]

I feel the same way you do M3_wannabe. All the cars I've owned before this were manual and I bought this car in auto because of the paddle shifters, and I travel to Atlanta frequently and driving in that traffic with a manual gets frustrating at times. But now that I've had the car for a few months I wish I would've stuck with a manual. I test drove a manual 'vert and loved it. I find myself a few times a week looking at autotrader to see what deals on manuals are out there...

[kits135i]

I am done with manual. I owned manual my whole life (over 20 cars) till the last two vehicles. My Aston Martin and the 135. I will take the auto any day now. They are getting the auto to be so good why bother with anything else? Yes some fun is taken out, but I will keep my autos now.

[Billup]

Every car I've owned has been manual, up until the 128. I've gotten to a point where I would rather sit back and relax and just cruise. The last car was on a stage 3 clutch/PP/aluminum flywheel with a 24mm piston master cylinder, so daily driving (put 110,000 miles in 6 years) made my left thigh look like Hulk Hogans. I wish the 128i came with paddles at least, but manual sport mode still does the job well enough.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Isn't Manuel the butler an Faulty Towers?

I thought I was the only one whose seen this.

[135Pats]

Yes. But only because its easier to protect MT with an upgraded clutch and SMFW. Im growing concerned about 6ATs ability to handle over 450wtq post shift. Meh well see.

[JB007]

It's now been two months since I got my 2013 BMW 135i MSport Edition (Canada), 6 speed manual, and I can't stop finding reasons to go out to get more time behind the wheel.

That manual gearbox is fantastic, the power delivery is awesome.
Pedals are perfectly placed for heal/toe shifting.
The 6 speed just make the daily driving so engaging.
Can't imagine driving this car with an Auto transmission.

[MZWIE]

I had always been a staunch MT guy. I drove a 135 AT with paddles and also one with MT.

Frankly I was so impressed with the AT and how fast it shifts - faster than I could in the MT - that I was convinced to go AT.

I gues it depends in the driving you are doing. I use my 135 as dd in a lot of traffic. I supose Just got tired of getting cramos in my left led when fighting rush hour traffic.

BTW..I had a buddy in Hgh School names manuel.

[SAM135iAM]

DCT is godly amazing!!!! I can't comment on pre-2011 auto transmission 1'ers though. However, if I didn't have the DCT option I would have went manual with my 1'er. The only other car I had with an auto transmission was my first car, a 02 Trans AM. All my vehicles after that were manual, because I had wished that TA was manual the entire time I had it. I love banging a car into gear and really feeling a connection to every aspect of the car, and a manual gear box does just that for me. With that said though, DCT is just plain awesome! It is the only gear box I would ever have over a manual. Never again will I get a car with a plain-jane auto transmission if I have the option. No step-tronic BS or anything like that. I just recently drove my buddies 2011 CTS-V, it's super smooth and fast, but that auto step-tronic transmission is a joke! It does not do that car justice.