In the Market again, couldn't get enough.

CoinHugger · 10-15-2023, 07:02 AM

Hello everyone!

Have become in the market for a 130i after recently getting rear ended in my 120i writing it off, love the look of the car, the feel of it just always wanted a bit more power of course!

Unfortunately down under in AUS manuals are quite rear with good kms/condition.
A steptronic 130i has become available in my city that looks the goods with 130k on it, M sport body kit and very clean.. but with paddles.
My heart wanted a manual but will be a DD so would love some input into what people think about paddles, can you still have as much fun?

Also seems our 130's come with the GM trans so finding tunes seems to be quite harder, how sluggish is the shifting?

Hopefully chat to some of you guys around the threads!

mototo · 10-30-2023, 12:45 AM

ive got both.
have driven and worked on both the zf 6hp19 in my own 130i, e60 530i, e87/e90 120i/320i and the GM6L45 on a e90 lci 323i

the difference is barely noticeable on a normal daily drive on a stock car so I am unable to comment on spirited drives (i did not drive the 323i hard, and is my only reference point for a GM mated to a n52)
the paddles kinda throw me off because i have the prefl with the up and down on both the left and right paddle. I remember there is a thread on how to convert the left paddle to be downshift only. if you are looking at a FL 130i this is not a problem as they are in the more conventional setup (left downshift right upshift)

but yeah manual vs auto 130i... (both ZF boxes) is night and day. Guess that goes without saying

Wife daily's the 130i. my manual 130i is for weekend drives and trackdays. Still has full trim and all the modcons albeit bilstein coilovers.

Fuel economy is definitely not a strong point as a daily driver. This engine likes to rev, and with Sydney bumper traffic + mobile speed camera's + every HWP is a radar... there is not much room to let it scream.
With my driving, i can get about 350 to a tank of fuel
with my wife's driving.... we'd be lucky to get 320 to a tank of fuel.
every so often it cops a good hiding around the backstreets late at night to blow out the cobwebs.

10-15-2023, 07:02 AM	#1
CoinHugger Registered 0 Rep 1 Posts Drives: BMW 120i Join Date: Oct 2023 Location: Australia iTrader: (0)	In the Market again, couldn't get enough. Hello everyone! Have become in the market for a 130i after recently getting rear ended in my 120i writing it off, love the look of the car, the feel of it just always wanted a bit more power of course! Unfortunately down under in AUS manuals are quite rear with good kms/condition. A steptronic 130i has become available in my city that looks the goods with 130k on it, M sport body kit and very clean.. but with paddles. My heart wanted a manual but will be a DD so would love some input into what people think about paddles, can you still have as much fun? Also seems our 130's come with the GM trans so finding tunes seems to be quite harder, how sluggish is the shifting? Hopefully chat to some of you guys around the threads!
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10-30-2023, 12:45 AM	#2
mototo New Member 0 Rep 6 Posts Drives: E87 130i pre-LCI Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: NSW, Australia iTrader: (0)	ive got both. have driven and worked on both the zf 6hp19 in my own 130i, e60 530i, e87/e90 120i/320i and the GM6L45 on a e90 lci 323i the difference is barely noticeable on a normal daily drive on a stock car so I am unable to comment on spirited drives (i did not drive the 323i hard, and is my only reference point for a GM mated to a n52) the paddles kinda throw me off because i have the prefl with the up and down on both the left and right paddle. I remember there is a thread on how to convert the left paddle to be downshift only. if you are looking at a FL 130i this is not a problem as they are in the more conventional setup (left downshift right upshift) but yeah manual vs auto 130i... (both ZF boxes) is night and day. Guess that goes without saying Wife daily's the 130i. my manual 130i is for weekend drives and trackdays. Still has full trim and all the modcons albeit bilstein coilovers. Fuel economy is definitely not a strong point as a daily driver. This engine likes to rev, and with Sydney bumper traffic + mobile speed camera's + every HWP is a radar... there is not much room to let it scream. With my driving, i can get about 350 to a tank of fuel with my wife's driving.... we'd be lucky to get 320 to a tank of fuel. every so often it cops a good hiding around the backstreets late at night to blow out the cobwebs.
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