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M135i - Estoril Blue Loveliness



497adam

ClioSport Club Member
  clio 172 phase 2
So i had a week without the M135i :dapprove:

As per this thread: http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=59323&sid=327c6afcb0afc52a67ade91922fda865 mine had the "fan on & limp-mode" problem which has affected all the Jan/Feb/Mar '14 build cars, ie a faulty aux fan thinks the car is overheating, so turns all the fans on and drops power back to 114i levels of rubbishness.

On the flipside, i got to swan around in a 320d M Sport xDrive touring and a 520d M Sport for a few days. Both VERY nice cars, although the 5er was just on a different planet from a build quality/comfort/ergonomics perspective, it also made the derv engine almost silent, whereas the 3er sounded ver much like a transit delivery van. The ZF autobox is quite simply amazing, i almost regretted not ordering it for the M135i tbh.

Some comparison pictures (3 series, then 5 series):

3a_zpsca4fb22c.jpg

3b_zps146c9239.jpg


4a_zps9649d175.jpg

4b_zps529332cd.jpg


1a_zpsfce93f4b.jpg

1b_zps77b58a51.jpg


2a_zpsf1b3dbbe.jpg

2b_zps52016c37.jpg


Id happily have a 530d M Sport next, not sure on the 3 series, it was a little too much like the M135i on inside for my liking.

Got back in my car this morning to be reminded that 320bhp it considerably better than 185.

The 3 series looks better, but I like the idea of the extra size of the 5
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
Had to take it back to BMW again today - the new drivers seat cover is for a 5dr M135i not a 3dr. As such, its too narrow (the seatbelt fits onto the seat on the 5dr, but not the 3dr), so there's a large gap down the side of the seat. How they thought i wouldnt notice i have no idea :rolleyes:

Luckily for me, RealOEM works very well on iPhone, so i was able to show them the error of their ways in front of some other customers.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
Why can't people just do f*cking things properly?! Stuff like that proper winds me up.

Tell me about it!! Speaking to the fitter, he even mentioned to the service dept. that the part was wrong - but it fell on deaf ears apparently.

Oooh, not the best start to brand new BMW ownership Dave! At least they're responsive.

With a few more miles under your belt how are you finding the gearbox now?

Gearbox is lovely, in fact the whole car is very good, albeit rather "wallowy" from a handling perspective - a stiffen damper/spring setup would be my first change if i bought it at the end of the lease, which to be honest, isnt that likely. Re: brand new car ownership, it has put me off i think, not just BMW, but anyone, i simply dont like having to rely on muppets to solve my problems, id rather just have an older car and diagnose/fix it myself, at least then i know its been done properly.
 

RDH

ClioSport Club Member
Whenever I've dealt with BMW I've found their service/customer care very poor at best. It was only when said dealer realised my grandad was a very well known customer that I actually got anywhere.
 

Crybert

ClioSport Club Member
  Cup 172
Yeah bmw are pretty shocking in that department as well as sales, half them don't have a clue about anything. I remember going in and talking away about one. I started talking about the auto box and his reply was.

'oh it seems like you really know what you're talking about, all I know is that it has 6 gears and you can pull the levers behind the wheel to change it if you like'

then I said what sort of trim comes standard, is it brushed aluminium

then his reply was

'oh you're getting all technical on me now'

eh? What a tube
 
  DC2 TypeR / E36 328i
Yeah bmw are pretty shocking in that department as well as sales, half them don't have a clue about anything. I remember going in and talking away about one. I started talking about the auto box and his reply was.

'oh it seems like you really know what you're talking about, all I know is that it has 6 gears and you can pull the levers behind the wheel to change it if you like'

then I said what sort of trim comes standard, is it brushed aluminium

then his reply was

'oh you're getting all technical on me now'

eh? What a tube

I think they're just used to "normal" people.

If I was a car salesmen, I'd hate having enthusiasts come to look at my cars lol.
 

RDH

ClioSport Club Member
Surely it isn't too much to ask for them to have atleast a slight interest in cars? More so the brand they sell. At the end of the day they are the ones who earn the commision on the sales.
 

Rob

ClioSport Moderator
Tell me about it!! Speaking to the fitter, he even mentioned to the service dept. that the part was wrong - but it fell on deaf ears apparently.

Gearbox is lovely, in fact the whole car is very good, albeit rather "wallowy" from a handling perspective - a stiffen damper/spring setup would be my first change if i bought it at the end of the lease, which to be honest, isnt that likely. Re: brand new car ownership, it has put me off i think, not just BMW, but anyone, i simply dont like having to rely on muppets to solve my problems, id rather just have an older car and diagnose/fix it myself, at least then i know its been done properly.

Whenever I've dealt with BMW I've found their service/customer care very poor at best. It was only when said dealer realised my grandad was a very well known customer that I actually got anywhere.

Yeah bmw are pretty shocking in that department as well as sales, half them don't have a clue about anything. I remember going in and talking away about one. I started talking about the auto box and his reply was.

'oh it seems like you really know what you're talking about, all I know is that it has 6 gears and you can pull the levers behind the wheel to change it if you like'

then I said what sort of trim comes standard, is it brushed aluminium

then his reply was

'oh you're getting all technical on me now'

eh? What a tube

I've got a great one for you three, I'm still trying to help him get it sorted infact.

Someone I know off of the z4 forum has taken his Z3MC in for a brand new key, paid the mega £140 for one.

Bloke takes the new key out and tried to sync it, it doesn't work, and now his other key doesn't work either. So he no longer has central locking.

Their response:

"We can put it on the diagnostics for £99 to see what's wrong with it"

I've told him to go batshit, the service manager has said "he should have told you syncing this key would disable your old one" but still won't accept liability.

I've told him to just dump it infront of BMW this Saturday in a proper awkward place and inform all passers by/annoyed that he can't move it it because BMW have broken his key.
 

497adam

ClioSport Club Member
  clio 172 phase 2
Whenever I've dealt with BMW I've found their service/customer care very poor at best. It was only when said dealer realised my grandad was a very well known customer that I actually got anywhere.

This has been my experience on the mini side too. Until I complained to BMW uk, then all sweetness and like
 

Crybert

ClioSport Club Member
  Cup 172
I've got a great one for you three, I'm still trying to help him get it sorted infact.

Someone I know off of the z4 forum has taken his Z3MC in for a brand new key, paid the mega £140 for one.

Bloke takes the new key out and tried to sync it, it doesn't work, and now his other key doesn't work either. So he no longer has central locking.

Their response:

"We can put it on the diagnostics for £99 to see what's wrong with it"

I've told him to go bats**t, the service manager has said "he should have told you syncing this key would disable your old one" but still won't accept liability.

I've told him to just dump it infront of BMW this Saturday in a proper awkward place and inform all passers by/annoyed that he can't move it it because BMW have broken his key.

f**king hell that's shocking haha! They make great cars but apart from that they are piss poor
 
My experience with BMW so far has been exceptional. Treated like a Lord right from the beginning. After sales and servicing has also been flawless.
 
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  Snotter's
Its quite rare you will get a car sales man to be as clued up as forum geeks, think about it logically performance based vehicles make up a small proportion of the cars sold.

Most people who come in want to know MPG,emissions,does the car have iso fix etc etc.

Its very rare I get to chat to people about performance cars at work, on top of that after being around cars 60hrs a week the novelty wears off.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
Gave it a clean the other weekend:

photo_zpsc8136aa9.jpg


Then parked it next to the other hot hatch of the moment, Ollie's Fiesta ST-2, as we packed for Le Mans.

photo2_zps23b721cb.jpg


Both brilliant cars. Mine is a nicer colour though :p
 
It really is such a nice colour. I saw a black one the other day and I really don't know why anyone would do it tbh..underwhelming or what.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
So last Tuesday the fan came on again :mad:

Pulled over, switched it off, then back on again (used to clear it), but no such luck, car stayed in limp-home mode.

Unfortunately, that is where it stayed until this morning when i took it into BMW. The fan design has been updated again apparently - there is issues with the temp sensor, so it doesn't turn the fan on properly at 90oc. Instead it gets too hot, then all hells breaks lose and the fan goes into overdrive. As such, mine needs to go back in on the 23rd October for 2 days to get the new parts fitted/big software update. My concern is (& BMW didnt seem too worried by this), is that as the fan seems to have failed completely, the coolant temps are getting rather high imho!! This is shown by the "hidden menu" below:

photo5_zpseccf2ee5.jpg


On the flipside, they cleaned the car for me.
photo6_zps307ac0e0.jpg


In 7 months, ive cleaned the car once, BMW have done it four times ... considering its been back to the dealer 8 times now (7 to replace the seat base lol), my thoughts are that it'll just get it cleaned once a month by them when it has its monthly tantrum/breakdown :rolleyes:
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
BMW living up to the recent reputation then?

I think most new cars are built to a low cost tbh, certainly with BMW the quality has been reducing with each new model!

You just have to compare an e36>e46>e90>F30 - yes, the dash looks prettier, but its made of much poorer materials :(

How does a BMW so new STILL have cooling issues.

Yes, i must admit, i was amused. Still, the engine in the 135i is essentially a 330i lump with a turbo attached, so not surprising lol!!
 
I think most new cars are built to a low cost tbh, certainly with BMW the quality has been reducing with each new model!

You just have to compare an e36>e46>e90>F30 - yes, the dash looks prettier, but its made of much poorer materials :(



Yes, i must admit, i was amused. Still, the engine in the 135i is essentially a 330i lump with a turbo attached, so not surprising lol!!

From what I researched a while back, they're actually quite different. I was mainly looking at why the 130i was 30bhp on the 330i. Quite interesting to see how they got 30bhp.

But yes, essentially it's not far off.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
To be fair, most of the visits were due to dealer ineptitude (seat base), since the fan was fixed for the 2nd time its been perfect!!

Would i recommend it to anyone? Yes. Best overall car ive had by a long shot, cheap to lease/run, goes like stink & drives great. Keep looking at e92 M3's & Z4M's, but twice the running costs for not much more performance!!

Seriously tempted by a 235i, estoril with oyster leather would the modern equivalent of the M3 Evo that i never ended up buying lol ...
 

Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
Please don't get a 235. They are as awkward to look at as a Merc CLA.
 


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