BMW 130i

[deutsche_blonde]

So I’ve got myself another 130i. I did have a 130i LE previously, but sold it to finance a wedding/house purchase.

The car is ok spec wise, but is missing nav (not bothered) and xenons (bit bothered). Three door 130’s come up for sale so infrequently though. Even though the LE was only 1/160, apparently 3 door non-LE’s are rarer still! And after emails back and forth with the owner I put down a deposit before seeing the car.

The car has had a few mods already: Superpro arms and KW anti-roll bars. I’ve ordered the BMWP air filter and have a custom made exhaust fitted with mid-box delete. Whilst I love the sound now (nice bassy tone, few pops, no drone) I’m not too keen on the visible back box. I do have a 135i box in the shed which I might fit if the visible box does start to annoy me.

Future plans are CDV delete, change the vanos solenoids (current are dirty/worn causing slight hesitation when accelerating in 4th- 6th), Bilstein B12 and a remap. It’s NA so not expecting major gains, but most see 275-280bhp and much better throttle response. Oh, and I might put some chrome grills back on the front.

Anyhow, pics:

 

[Stefan.]

Nice buy

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

I love 130's. Wouldn't mind one at all

 

[Hixle]

Love that. Off to PH I go!

 

[imprezaworks]

Like that

 

[Tim.]

Lovely, really like that, but what's it like to live with on a day-to-day basis? I'm not talking fuel economy or servicing costs, I'm on about whether it's big enough for a 1/2 child family, holidays, lugging stuff around. To me it just doesn't look big enough to be an only car.

 

[realnumber 1]

I love 130's. Wouldn't mind one at all

Knowing him it'll probably be for sale in 6 months!

 

[Daniel]

That's very nice. Very very nice.

 

[Gally]

They break bit it looks really really cool. It's actually much prettier than an m135i.

 

[Darren61]

Lovely motor and I think the wheel and colour combo work really well. I had a 130i on my shortlist but eventually was swayed by the S3

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Smart !

What's the starting point on these ? Are they 231HP as per the E46s era or did the 3.0 get a revision at some point after 2005 ?

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Lovely, really like that, but what's it like to live with on a day-to-day basis? I'm not talking fuel economy or servicing costs, I'm on about whether it's big enough for a 1/2 child family, holidays, lugging stuff around. To me it just doesn't look big enough to be an only car.

They're not huge. I think boot capacity is the same as a mk5 Golf (not the R32 which is smaller due 4wd gubbins). We don't have kids, but used our last one for camping trips - easily enough space for 2 x mountain bikes and camping equipment. It's often said that they are really cramped in the back, but we drove back from southern Germany with a boot full and people in the back and they thought it was perfectly fine.

Knowing him it'll probably be for sale in 6 months!

Lol Denis. This one's a keeper. Maybe :neutral:

They break bit it looks really really cool. It's actually much prettier than an m135i.

I think they are very door/wheel sensitive. 5 doors on 17" wheels looks pants. I've always been a fan of the 3 door on 208s though.

Smart !

What's the starting point on these ? Are they 231HP as per the E46s era or did the 3.0 get a revision at some point after 2005 ?

They're the later N52 engine, so 261bhp.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Very nice that! Agree on the backbox though, maybe just paint the silencer black so its not quite so obvious?

 

[Ian_182]

That looks nice and fresh.

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Very nice that! Agree on the backbox though, maybe just paint the silencer black so its not quite so obvious?

Thanks. I did consider painting the box black, but the examples I've seen look cheaper still if anything. When it's polished up it doesn't look too bad, but it's whether I can be a*sed polishing it up every time I clean it. It'll be getting a service and remap in May, so I'll give it until then to decide whether the 135i box is going on.

 

[Owen]

That is a lovely looking car mate, would love one. Roughly how much would you need to pay to get into something similar? Been looking back at them recently but looks to be a big discrepancy between 5dr and 3dr prices.

 

[Jason_E]

Can I be negative? Always hated them, always will. Bloody ugly and not that nice to drive.

However, I quite enjoyed that engine in my 3 Series. And its your car, so if you're happy. ENJOY!


EDIT: I feel really mean, I don't like poo-pooing someones latest car purchase especially if they're as pleased as you are, but I really have a dislike for them.

 

[Budgie]

I love that. Looks great!

 

[deutsche_blonde]

That is a lovely looking car mate, would love one. Roughly how much would you need to pay to get into something similar? Been looking back at them recently but looks to be a big discrepancy between 5dr and 3dr prices.

Thanks dude. The 3 doors do demand a huge premium over 5 doors. There have been a couple of LE’s (that have all the kit, bar the rear roof spoiler) that have sold on Birds recently. A nine owner car with 60k+ miles and lots of BMW Perfomance additions went for £11k. Another one owner car is on there now @£14k, but it has only done 14,000 miles. There is about to be another one advertised on Birds that was previously for sale on BabyBMW. It has done 36k miles, is the exact spec of mine (but with xenons whereas I have heated seats) and was for sale on the forum for £11k. It was sold to Birds and I’d imagine they are likely to put it up around the £12.5k mark.

You have to keep your eyes peeled. Mine was up for sale on PH for a short period of time with a few more mods, but the owner then removed it whilst he returned it to original spec. I emailed him after the advert was removed and managed to get it for under £10k.

5 door cars are generally £2k+ lower for similar spec :hushed:

Can I be negative? Always hated them, always will. Bloody ugly and not that nice to drive.

However, I quite enjoyed that engine in my 3 Series. And its your car, so if you're happy. ENJOY!


EDIT: I feel really mean, I don't like poo-pooing someones latest car purchase especially if they're as pleased as you are, but I really have a dislike for them.

Haha, you can poo-poo all you like! It is the engine that makes it. Handling isn’t great as standard, the back end bounces around a bit and it’s horribly crashy on standard MSport springs. Easy to rectify though with a few simple mods. Since I sold my last one I’ve had a Z4 3.0SI, an E46 330, a Z3 3.0, MX5 and 2 x 182s. But the 130i (and maybe the Recaro’d 182) was the only one I really missed...

I love that. Looks great!

Thanks!

 

[Jason_E]

Nice car history there! Is the 3.0 they used in the run-out Z3's the same 230bhp M52 lump?

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Nice car history there! Is the 3.0 they used in the run-out Z3's the same 230bhp M52 lump?

It was, yeah. That thing felt rapid, can't imagine what the Z3M would be like. Just a shame the steering felt completely disconnected to the chassis...

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Small update. I finally had enough of the custom backbox, due to the fact it was hugely visible and obviously aftermarket, so replaced it with a 135i backbox. It’s a totally different sound. Quieter in car, but much more sonorous when ‘on it’. And it pops away like a good ‘un on the overrun, exactly the same as in this vid:

[video][video]

It will quieten down apparently, though the inner chav in me loves it :smile: And it looks totally standard.

The only prob is that whilst it was perfectly aligned after fitting, it seems to have moved across to one side now. The OCD in me will need to get that sorted.

Also took delivery of the vanos solenoids and BMWP filter. They will be going on it April at the next service. Then remap time before our European roadtrip.

 

[jesus]

That sounds exactly like my mates Z4 after he had the backbox chopped off entirely. Bloody loud!

 

[deutsche_blonde]

That sounds exactly like my mates Z4 after he had the backbox chopped off entirely. Bloody loud!

Ha, it's not that loud. Maybe a bit louder than I'd want though! The135i backbox does have the valve that opens/closes at lower revs though. I'll fit that tomorrow and see how it sounds.

 

[Daz_RT_04]

That sounds exactly like my mates Z4 after he had the backbox chopped off entirely. Bloody loud!

Reminds me of when I did the backbox chop on my old E46 330.. Jebus, it sounded loud and shite 😂😂

 

[ForceIndia]

Nice! One of the worst handling bmw's from the factory, but you're already on the way to sorting that. Really subtle looking considering the power.

 

[eo52vug]

Great cars I love my 130i , I've got the full birds b1 kit inc the LSD and M135i brakes front and rear , feels like a little M/// car now with none of the common issues they suffer with , this is my 3rd one , I went from 130i to e46 m3 then back to a 130i much prefer them as a daily drive in terms of performance there ain't a lot in it ,granted the m3 is quicker but these have a much more usable power band.

Great cars enjoy

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Nice! One of the worst handling bmw's from the factory, but you're already on the way to sorting that. Really subtle looking considering the power.

Thanks. Yeah, standard handling isn't the greatest, particularly the skittish back end when cornering on bumpy roads. I have some rear subframe inserts which I'll fit when changing the suspension. Apparently it makes quite a improvement.

Great cars I love my 130i , I've got the full birds b1 kit inc the LSD and M135i brakes front and rear , feels like a little M/// car now with none of the common issues they suffer with , this is my 3rd one , I went from 130i to e46 m3 then back to a 130i much prefer them as a daily drive in terms of performance there ain't a lot in it ,granted the m3 is quicker but these have a much more usable power band.

Great cars enjoy

Some nice upgrades you have there! I almost bought a set of 135i brakes off the Baby BMW forum the other week, but decided against with one eye on the funds for the road trip.
Have you experienced a 130 fitted with KW V1s? It'd be good hear an opinion of someone who's tried both those and the B1s. I'll hopefully get one or the other fitted later in the year.

 

[eo52vug]

I can only comment on the birds kit as I've not tried the KW's , however the KW's are supposed to be rather good, i wanted a fast rd setup rather than a track focused car and the birds kit certainly delivers in both performance and comfort i also recommend a set of ARB's 28mm e93 m3 front and 20mm whiteline rear, these change the balance of the car and get rid of the tendency to understeer but the only downside is you will be wanting a proper diff thats when the fun begins !

 

[deutsche_blonde]

New wheels on...

 

[imprezaworks]

Looking good

 

[deutsche_blonde]

12mm spacers fitted too, but I'm getting a bit of scrubbing

 

[imprezaworks]

Any pics of the new wheeks mate?

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Been fancying a set like those for my Touring. What are they...

Looking good !

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Been fancying a set like those for my Touring. What are they...

Looking good !

Thanks. They're BMW 261's.

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Just returned from a European road trip in the 130i. We totalled seven countries in all, doing in total just shy of 2500 miles, which included the San Bernardino and other mountain passes. The car was ridiculously loaded (including my mother in law on the way back who we picked up in Germany) but it performed effortlessly. There was a bit of a weird rattling noise coming from the rear brakes when they got hot tackling some of the mountain passes, but it seemed to pass when they had chance to cool. MPG averaged 28.5 for the trip, which isn’t too bad considering a lot of it was hooning it on the autobahns and mountain passes.

I also took the p*ss out of a La Ferrari when on route to Luxembourg. He just couldn’t get passed until I eased off and waved him through :wink:

Excuse the rubbish photo’s, my phone died on the first day so all taken on my wife’s aging iphone.

I’ve also recently purchased these. They do need a bit of a refresh, just need to decide whether to keep with blue or go for something else.

 

[Crybert]

A la Ferrari couldn't get past? Come on now..don't flatter yourself/car

 

[197.]

Not usually a fan of these but yours looks really good. Silver and 3 doors, you can't go wrong. Although a guy on ph had one with xenons. When one of the bulbs went it cost £1000 to set right, so you may have dodged a bullet there.

 

[bill]

A la Ferrari couldn't get past? Come on now..don't flatter yourself/car

Lmfao

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Matt W]

Beautiful car!