BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

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      02-07-2016, 01:19 AM   #1
elburbs
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EVO 8 to 135i

Hi guys,

New to the forum, from Melbourne, but i have been floating around reading for a little while now. I currently drive a JDM EVO 8, pretty much full bolt ons. Car has been reliable and I haven't really had any major issues with owning the car for the past 4 years. The car is a weekend warrior and it puts a smile on my face everytime I drive it. I am at the point where I feel like I want to move to another platform, and the 135i ticks all the boxes for that (inline6 turbo RWD).

Just wanted to know what to look for when searching for the right 135i on the used market. Is there anything in particular to look out for?
I know my EVOS and other jdm cars quite well, and am always on top of maintenance and repairs/common issues etc, but I am completely new to BMW, and anything EURO for that matter.

Seems the used market for 135i are quite limited (especially for Manual ones) in Australia, and they are almost 90% if not all stock standard. If I was to purchase a 135i what initial maintenance and repairs would needed to be done if not done already. ie. water pump, fuel pump - seem to be common issues.

The car would be used as a weekend warrior and I would eventually like to get it to FBO.

Any information or tips you think I would find useful, please let me know!

Also if there is anyone selling there 135i, please feel free to let me know (I am located in Melbourne), looking for ideally an N54 MANUAL,

Thanks in advance!
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      02-07-2016, 01:55 AM   #2
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Welcome to 1Addicts!

The N54s are a pretty reliable engine, as you've mentioned an example which has had the water and fuel pumps replaced are ideal (I've had my water pump die on me while I was cruising along on the M1.. not fun!).

Other than the pumps peripherals such as the spark plugs, injectors and coil packs tend to need replacing (especially once the car is tuned), so some sort of service history with these included is good. Another common maintenance item which people do is walnut blasting for the intake valves, and various seals on the engine tend to go bad resulting in a few oil dribbles here and there.

Overall its a very good platform for mods and is pretty reliable overall if you keep an eye on the items mentioned above. There are quite a few of us in Melbourne who probably wouldn't mind showing you our cars if you are keen
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      02-07-2016, 05:44 AM   #3
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Look for one that hasn't been modified or if it has, find someone who maintains it meticulously or has low ks.

I've bought 2 135i, both on the second hand market. Both times i've had a good experience.
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      02-07-2016, 08:30 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Simonnn View Post
Welcome to 1Addicts!

The N54s are a pretty reliable engine, as you've mentioned an example which has had the water and fuel pumps replaced are ideal (I've had my water pump die on me while I was cruising along on the M1.. not fun!).

Other than the pumps peripherals such as the spark plugs, injectors and coil packs tend to need replacing (especially once the car is tuned), so some sort of service history with these included is good. Another common maintenance item which people do is walnut blasting for the intake valves, and various seals on the engine tend to go bad resulting in a few oil dribbles here and there.

Overall its a very good platform for mods and is pretty reliable overall if you keep an eye on the items mentioned above. There are quite a few of us in Melbourne who probably wouldn't mind showing you our cars if you are keen

yeah i've browsed around, and it seems the n54 is pretty bulletproof, its just a few things around the engine that need to be taken care of or replaced.
i've been reading a lot about the walnut blasting thing recently too, is that a maintenance issue, as theres nothing like that with evos (is that because these cars are direct injection?)

i honestly didnt think there were any 135i around melb as I barely see them, and i dont really see any for sale, carsales only has a handful for sale (manual, n54).

yeah it'd be great to check some out, i was actually going to sus some out from carsales just to get a feel for the car and have a look etc. have someone checking out my car this week so we'll see how i go after that.

also do you guys rate the idrive (dash screen), is it just a gps? is it worth trying to get as a few on the market dont have it? is there any other options the 135i comes with thats a must or useful to have?

Thanks again guys!
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      02-07-2016, 03:43 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elburbs View Post
yeah i've browsed around, and it seems the n54 is pretty bulletproof, its just a few things around the engine that need to be taken care of or replaced.
i've been reading a lot about the walnut blasting thing recently too, is that a maintenance issue, as theres nothing like that with evos (is that because these cars are direct injection?)

i honestly didnt think there were any 135i around melb as I barely see them, and i dont really see any for sale, carsales only has a handful for sale (manual, n54).

yeah it'd be great to check some out, i was actually going to sus some out from carsales just to get a feel for the car and have a look etc. have someone checking out my car this week so we'll see how i go after that.

also do you guys rate the idrive (dash screen), is it just a gps? is it worth trying to get as a few on the market dont have it? is there any other options the 135i comes with thats a must or useful to have?

Thanks again guys!
Walnut blast is just maintenance due to being a direct injected car. You'll pick up a few KW after cleaning the valves.

People who don't have idrive always say its shit and not worth having.

I have idrive and would not want to buy a car without it. It is not just a nav system, it is a graphical interface for a lot of the car functions on the car. If your car is a daily driver then I think its definitely worth having. If you want idrive, get a car that already has it because retrofitting it costs an arm and a leg.

Sure the nav system sucks and I just use my phone for navigation. My gripe is mainly just inputting a destination is just a bit clunky as you enter in text one letter at a time. But it still is useful for just displaying a map while you're driving. Very handy for driving fast on mountain roads and knowing what kind of corner is coming up next.

Theres a lot of stuff you can do on the idrive like check the oil level, error warnings show up in plain text on the screen, various vehicle settings, graphical interface for the radio and phone etc.

Took me ages to find a 135i in the spec I wanted:

Alpine white
manual
Black interior
idrive

Mine even came with AP downpipes, Wagner intercooler and procede tune so I saved some money on mods I was going to buy anyway.
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      02-08-2016, 03:32 AM   #6
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cheers for the replies guys !

yeah i ideally would be after a white or grey one, but i would consider all options if it was the right car.

which tuners/workshops do most of you go to in Melb? price/quality of work? im completely new to BMW and euro workshops and really have no idea where i would start/have a look
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      02-08-2016, 06:34 PM   #7
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Southern BM should be your goto local Indy. A lot of good things about them. I'm in Sydney but I hear a lot about them.

vtl is spot on about drive! I for one can't go without it but it looks nicer and it's handy for alternative routes when you are stuck in traffic jams!
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      02-08-2016, 06:52 PM   #8
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I do all the work on my car, my car hasn't seen a workshop apart from when I had alignments done. Can't tell you how many times friends has brought their car to me and I've noticed dodgy stuff done by the 'professionals'.

Missing/stripped bolts, overtorqued wheelnuts, self tapping screws used where machine thread screws go etc.

One time I saw a guy had a stack of washers on some bolts that go onto the underbody V brace. Was puzzling but when I went to refit, it looked like they had damaged the threads of the bolts so they would only freely screw in half way. Rather than cleaning up the threads the shop just stacked a ton of washers so they didn't have to screw down the bolt to the point where it would start binding. On top of this, they must have stripped out one of the torx heads as one of the bolts was mismatched. Of course none of this was mentioned to the customer, they just kept quiet about it. This was done at one of the popular and recommended shops by fellow forumers.

Sorry for the rant lol

In my opinion you will be paying quite a bit of money for simple labour for average quality work.
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      02-08-2016, 07:24 PM   #9
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That sucks to hear.. I do my servicing myself on the evo and simple mods n have only used workshops for bigger stuff ie. My clutch etc.. But that being said there are a couple of evo workshops in Melb I know n trust who don't charge me an arm n leg n know what they're doing. I was hoping to hear something like that. My friends in the vdub community seem to have a few reputable shops too..
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      02-15-2016, 05:58 AM   #10
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another question for everyone:

being the car would mainly be used on the weekends/fun car, would you consider the idrive to be useful and would you guys suggest it being a must have item when looking for a 135i?

i have a double din in my EVO and i do enjoy looking at a LIST and larger screen for music, but as long as it connects to usb/bluetooth im not sure i would really mind? is there any other features i would b missing out on (i dont really care about the nav).

also, could you put a money value on one if you had to (ie. if i saw two identical 135i's and one had an idrive and one did not) as ones that dont seem to be a fair bit cheaper. also do you think they look a bit dated now the cars a bit older? (08/09) model ones
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      02-15-2016, 04:18 PM   #11
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The older CCC iDrive (08-09 cars) is still very handy for the music, maps and vehicle info. Be aware that they use a DVD for the maps and I believe 2014 are the last supported maps from BMW. The newer CIC systems are hard drive based and can be more easily updated.

You can retrofit in the screen and iDrive setup to non-iDrive cars too. There are posts on this forum about it. It's about $1-2k roughly.

I personally went for an iDrive based car (got lucky and found a nicely optioned one locally) for the added convenience but it isn't a deal breaker.
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      02-15-2016, 04:37 PM   #12
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I wouldn't bother trying to retrofit it, too much cost vs just buying a car that already has it. Only problem is that a lot of cars on the market don't seem to have it, which does limit your choices a bit.

idrive is very useful, I would definitely want to have it. I actually find I use it mostly on the weekends as my commute to work is quite short.
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      02-15-2016, 05:17 PM   #13
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I'd say nav is a personal preference, I don't think you'd miss it if you didn't have it. But if you have it you would probably wonder how you'd live without it :P

I've got the older CCC iDrive which looks pretty Windows 95 like (pretty crappy interface), but its still handy for scrolling through your music on the USB drive and also the occasional navigation.

My previous 1er didn't have navigation at all and it was annoying to try and navigate through the music. Its also worth noting that some of the displays on the headunits without nav suffer when it gets hot (the text disappears from the display completely and doesn't come back until its cooled down). I'm pretty sure there are threads on the forums about it. Never really saw it mentioned in the Aussie forums but mine suffered from it!
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      02-15-2016, 07:59 PM   #14
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I would love to see an Apple CarPlay retrofit for the E8x/E9x series cars. Having that modern functionality working with the steering wheel etc commands would be very handy.
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      02-15-2016, 08:05 PM   #15
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raced one



i recently raced one awd had fun they are nice. Good luck on the find..
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      02-15-2016, 08:24 PM   #16
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i brought a 135 with the CCC idrive the second generation fixed idrive in business, i upgraded to the professional CIC the difference is night and day, i would not own a 135 without idrive/nav bottom line, unless it was a track car.
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      02-16-2016, 12:20 AM   #17
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in a 2008/9 135i, would you purchase one without the idrive for say.. 2k less? or even 3k less? all else being the same.

or would you right off any car that didn't have idrive?

when i test drove one it did seem alright, although looked dated lol.also wouldnt want issues with it, as i wouldnt want to spend of fixing/maintaining it.

i know its up to me, jsut like to see the general community views.

thanks!
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      02-16-2016, 03:49 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elburbs View Post
Hi guys!

Also if there is anyone selling there 135i, please feel free to let me know (I am located in Melbourne), looking for ideally an N54 MANUAL,

Thanks in advance!
I came from an Evo background myself (6 and 9 ). Great cars.

If the budget allows it i would get a N55 with DCT - same motor / gearbox as the new M2 and fundamentally faster than a manual N54. You can use your left foot for braking
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      02-16-2016, 04:59 PM   #19
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You can get a 2010 N54 with CIC iDrive if you have the patience to wait for it
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      02-16-2016, 09:31 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by koastal View Post
I came from an Evo background myself (6 and 9 ). Great cars.

If the budget allows it i would get a N55 with DCT - same motor / gearbox as the new M2 and fundamentally faster than a manual N54. You can use your left foot for braking
how are you finding the 135i compared to the evo/s?

have you done much to the 135i's performance? were your evo's modified?

as the car is my weekender only, i would only be interested in manual.


7smurfs And i have yet to see a 2010 manual lol
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      02-16-2016, 09:40 PM   #21
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I have a late 2009 build compliance 2010 they are around just hard to find, a low k manual, fully optioned n54 are still fetching good money.
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      02-18-2016, 12:10 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elburbs View Post
how are you finding the 135i compared to the evo/s?

have you done much to the 135i's performance? were your evo's modified?

as the car is my weekender only, i would only be interested in manual.


7smurfs And i have yet to see a 2010 manual lol
Yes Evo's were both modified - Autronic / ohlins etc etc

135 is a great daily and just as good on the weekend

Torque everywhere / good fuel economy / girls like u more

N55 with DCT only requires a JB4 and downpipe to have similiar performance to FBO N54

vid below has Evo 9 couple of 1Ms and GT3 Rs also
135 has endless m20 brake pads as well as jB4 and downpipe.
GT3 had semis 135 was on Hankook rs3

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