New 128i Owner

[spidertri]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself to the community. Little background on my bmw adventures:

My first BMW was a 318ti that I bought in 2008. I still have that car, but it has gone from a totally stock commuter to an engine swapped track car. It's a ton of fun at the track and at autox but not a great daily driver anymore.

I've been lurking on this forum for years, I almost bought a 128i back in 2013 but ended up with a Z3 Coupe instead. That was a fun car but I sold it a couple years ago and have been wanting a daily BMW ever since.

So when rowsdower listed his 128i back in July, I went for it. He was an awesome seller and provided a ton of info and pictures of the car. My wife and I flew down to Dallas and drove the car 1400mi back home to NC. No issues at all and we had a set of wheels in the rear seat and the trunk full of OE parts.

2011 128i N51 6MT
Space gray over Black Leather
No sunroof
Koni Yellows with Eibach prokit springs
Whiteline RSFBs
AA headers
BPC tune
M3 front control and tension arms
Dinan camber plates
and more

I've been reading all kinds of threads trying to learn as much about the E82 platform as possible. This is a fantastic forum with so much great info so I've been kept busy.

My plans with the car are to eventually build it towards STX spec and try not to take it too much further. However, it's such a great car to drive I want to be careful and make sure I don't compromise too much away from being a good street car. My ti went down that path so I'm acutely aware of going too far, haha.

328ti:


Z3:


128i (photo borrowed from Bill):

[swunder]

Nice 1er but why would you sell that z3 coupe?!

Welcome!

[spidertri]

The Z3, in my opinion, was absolutely a case of never meet your heroes. Fantastic looking car and engine, but the car felt very cobbled together and I really wasn't impressed with the build quality.

Every time I drove the Z3 I would just think about how much better my 318ti was to drive, with a tighter chassis and less squeaks, rattles, drivetrain noise, etc. I got very tired of dealing with that car, and I did a lot of work to try to make it better. Pulled interior panels and put felt at fastener and rub spot locations, new bushings throughout, and more.

The 128 feels like a huge step up from the ti, as it should. Very happy with it so far.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by spidertri

The Z3, in my opinion, was absolutely a case of never meet your heroes. Fantastic looking car and engine, but the car felt very cobbled together and I really wasn't impressed with the build quality.

Every time I drove the Z3 I would just think about how much better my 318ti was to drive, with a tighter chassis and less squeaks, rattles, drivetrain noise, etc. I got very tired of dealing with that car, and I did a lot of work to try to make it better. Pulled interior panels and put felt at fastener and rub spot locations, new bushings throughout, and more.

The 128 feels like a huge step up from the ti, as it should. Very happy with it so far.

Welcome! Got yourself a nice looking car there...and rowsdower seems like a very cool guy that really took care of it from the posts of his I have read.

[Gweeper64]

Congrats! The 128i is a great daily.

[spidertri]

Thanks guys!

He did take great care of it, the car is in shape and his maintenance records were very thorough.

[WeryPert1]

2011 128i N51 6MT
Space gray over Black Leather
No sunroof
Koni Yellows with Eibach prokit springs
Whiteline RSFBs
AA headers
BPC tune
M3 front control and tension arms
Dinan camber plates
and more

128i (photo borrowed from Bill):

Gorgeous car - congrats! What wheels are those?

[PopsnBurbles]

6mt and no sunroof?

That's super awesome!

[sixburgh]

Awesome choice. Welcome to the club.

[spidertri]

Originally Posted by WeryPert1

Gorgeous car - congrats! What wheels are those?

Thanks! They are Advanti DST Storm S1 17x9 et45 with 245/40-17 RS4s.

Originally Posted by PopsnBurbles

6mt and no sunroof?

That's super awesome!

Yeah, I had a list of must haves for this car and those were two of them.

Originally Posted by sixburgh

Awesome choice. Welcome to the club.

Thanks! Nice cars you have there.

[carscatscoffee15]

Originally Posted by spidertri

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself to the community. Little background on my bmw adventures:

My first BMW was a 318ti that I bought in 2008. I still have that car, but it has gone from a totally stock commuter to an engine swapped track car. It's a ton of fun at the track and at autox but not a great daily driver anymore.

I've been lurking on this forum for years, I almost bought a 128i back in 2013 but ended up with a Z3 Coupe instead. That was a fun car but I sold it a couple years ago and have been wanting a daily BMW ever since.

So when rowsdower listed his 128i back in July, I went for it. He was an awesome seller and provided a ton of info and pictures of the car. My wife and I flew down to Dallas and drove the car 1400mi back home to NC. No issues at all and we had a set of wheels in the rear seat and the trunk full of OE parts.

2011 128i N51 6MT
Space gray over Black Leather
No sunroof
Koni Yellows with Eibach prokit springs
Whiteline RSFBs
AA headers
BPC tune
M3 front control and tension arms
Dinan camber plates
and more

I've been reading all kinds of threads trying to learn as much about the E82 platform as possible. This is a fantastic forum with so much great info so I've been kept busy.

My plans with the car are to eventually build it towards STX spec and try not to take it too much further. However, it's such a great car to drive I want to be careful and make sure I don't compromise too much away from being a good street car. My ti went down that path so I'm acutely aware of going too far, haha.

328ti:


Z3:


128i (photo borrowed from Bill):

welcome to our small family! you are a man of good tastes!