6 weeks in, 135i review......

Many of you helped me in numerous threads deciding on something to replace the BRZ. I ended up with a '13 135i (single turbo N55 engine). DCT, White over Coral red, MSport, etc, 1 owner trade in, clean, all stock, no accidents, only 26k miles (now 27.5k after the trip back from Indy to OKC and use since then).

It's such a great looking car (subjective) and I always turn around to look at it when parking in the garage, going to work, etc. 

The car makes great power everywhere. A ton of tq from idle, it's a deceptively quick car (just got my first speeding ticket in more than a decade in it). It does fall off a touch up top, but the 7 speed DCT box, you can just short shift and ride the midrange everywhere...........which is difficult since the car builds jail type speeds very quickly.

I love the seats and the amenities, the Harmon Kardon stereo sounds pretty dang good for an OEM setup. The backseat is actually useful for humans, unlike the BRZ, and the trunk (with laydown rear seats) actually let me make a Lowe's run the other day.

The steering is fantastic and there is a surprising amount of grip from the narrow 215s up front for kind of a porky car. 

Cons: I did have a rear tire go flat, must have picked something up, and the other was just worn enough it made sense to replace both. 245/35/18 Pilot Super Sport X..........that was $475 I didn't want to spend. The stock suspension is a bit underdamped and soft.

As soon as I got the car home, I took to my indy shop for a brake flush and oil change. The next day, to the dealership for the airbag recall. 

Out of curiosity, I asked the service manager the cost for an oil change. $160 at the dealership! It was about $125 at the indy shop for 7-8 qts of Amsoil and OE BMW filter and labor. $30 is worth not jacking the car up, getting dirty, etc. 

And putting a proper LSD in the car is NOT CHEAP. Think $3500-4000 to get a rebuilt pumpkin with a Wavetrac/Quiafe. 

Overall, the car is just awesome. Prices are coming down on them as well and the N55 single turbo engine is much more reliable than the twin turbo N54, although there are less tuning options for the newer engine if that's your thing. Apparently on pump gas the N55 stock turbo is good for roughly 360whp/420wtq.............and keep in mind even the stock 300/300 it's good for a mid 4 sec 0-60. The cars is quick.

I paid a premium because I wanted the specific color combo, trans, options, stereo, miles, etc. Not worth it to some, worth it to me.  

If you want a cheaper route with less maintenance, apparently the N52 engine in the 128, intake/exhaust/intake manifold change and tune................a legit 250whp I6. If I had known that, I might have skipped the turbo.

Any questions, feel free to shoot!

Love the body style, fear a turbo car ( knew a lady who had one,  LOT of work under warranty). 

If the Miata ever gets sold, a 128i w/ manual (hens teeth, apparently) is on my want list.  This makes wonder if I need fear a turbo of this vintage?

So far sounds like nothing serious going on with the car?

Congrats on the car. Yeah, I had to do the airbag recall on my BMW. Our local dealer has a full cafe inside. Fresh-baked cookies, anyone?

Post some pics, too. Love to see it. 

I thought that some of the "28's" were also turbo? Or was just that era 328 or 320 even. I remember the articles about the jalopnik special

Jaynen said:

I thought that some of the "28's" were also turbo? Or was just that era 328 or 320 even. I remember the articles about the jalopnik special

More recent '28s have the 2.0 Turbo out of the current-gen Mini S, but that never found its way into the 1 series.

Yeah I think that is what I was thinking of 

"We mentioned a while back that the best value in the modern 3 Series is the 320i with Sport Package, or ZMT order code if you want to get fancy about it. Base model 2.0-liter turbo four with 180 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque, rear-wheel drive, six-speed manual, high performance summer tires, M sport suspension, increased speed limiter, 18-inch alloys. In 2017, "

I didn't need or want the maintenance tradeoffs of the turbo engine, but other than having somewhat less power, my assessment of the 128i is quite similar to yours of the 135i. The 128i is a couple hundred pounds lighter, and my car came to me with Bilsteins and Eibachs already installed, which in combination take care of the slight mushiness of the stock suspension. The sport seats are absolutely mandatory in my book, especially with any sort of uprated suspension (my car also has the M-Sport package). It is a really capable car that's also astonishingly practical given its relatively small size (with the folding seats, the trunk is more useful than the one in my previous 525i; I routinely put a bike in the car removing only the front wheel, something I could never have done in the E39).

It has always seemed like a nice car to me.  Glad it's making you happy.  In my family, we've given up on any more in the line of newer 3 series and 4 series chassis and turned to the twosies, but used onesies were in contention right to the end.

I appreciate the review as well.  I've been giving serious consideration to getting a 1 series as a daily driver.  My heart says 135, my head says 128.  Unfortunately common sense rarely wins out on my car buying decisions.  

I'll try to get some pics, it's quite filthy at the moment. 

The extra-maintenance of the turbo does bother me a bit, or the thought of an expensive failure, but I figure the chances are realistically probably pretty low. And since I work from home a few days per week, and only live about 13 miles roundtrip from the office, the car doesn't see many miles anyway.

In the 6 weeks I've had I've put roughly 800 miles on it, and 250 of that was a trip to Tulsa and back.

z31maniac said:

In the 6 weeks I've had I've put roughly 800 miles on it, and 250 of that was a trip to Tulsa and back.

We have very different driving patterns. I bought mine late last July and I've put over 10k on it.

racerdave600 said:

I appreciate the review as well.  I've been giving serious consideration to getting a 1 series as a daily driver.  My heart says 135, my head says 128.  Unfortunately common sense rarely wins out on my car buying decisions.  

I haven't driven a 128, but I can say, the N55 is a great engine. Just mountains of torque everywhere. 

The DCT is kind of grumpy around town, it doesn't like say pulling up to a stop sign/intersection and then going again if you don't come to a complete stop. It will hesitate then, TAKE off. So around town can be a bit of PITA at times, but you quickly learn how to drive around it. 

With the engine and trans both in Sport mode and using the paddles, the transmission is brilliant and shifts amazing. And it makes that great "pfftt pfftt" sounds during shifts. 

The only thing that really bugs me about the car is the $$$$ of the DCT. Getrag refuses to sell parts for it, so it's either find a good used one OR buy a new one to the tune of about $10,000. Yes, TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for a transmission. 

Check with the M3 (E92) guys as I think some of them have found a way to get the clutch packs.  I agree it's not the worlds greatest around town transmission, but good googly moogly do I love it on the track.  I shift anywhere, any time, and the car just doesn't bobble, pitch, or hesitate in the slightest.  Six to 4 at turn in, 3 at the apex, 2 as I roll the power back on, whee . . . . Parallel parking makes me nuts -- it sort of hesitates between initial throttle tip-in and turning the wheels, so it's really hard to creep.

Yeah, you can replace the clutch packs with upgraded units to hold more power. 

But as far as the "mechatronics" unit or anything else inside, no parts are available AFAIK.