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[Viral_Jim]

So, had a good day out and thought I'd better report back on what I found out. I'm not writing a road test or anything, but YZ250 did want to know my thoughts.

I woke up this morning to a flurry of snow, which I think was a good thing. Its very easy to love a quick rwd car when the sun is shining and the road surface is nice and grippy. In contrast, an indicated 3 degrees C and a good covering of water should be a good test of the car's capabilities in the "cold tuesday morning in november" department.

The car I drove was a good fit for me in that it was the 135i, had the Auto box and no M-Sport suspension, which, from the articles I've read isn't worth the nearly £1k they ask for it. I was impressed that the 6'4" salesmen made it into the back of the 3dr 1 series. To say he looked comfy would be a lie, but at least he could get in, which is more than I thought he'd manage. The seats took a lot of faffing to get them adjusted, but I can't imagine you couldn't get comfortable - whoever you are. I like to sit far back, ar$e on the floor, with the steering wheel pulled right into my chest, this is one of the few cars that I've been in that would let me sit that way - liked it very much.

Out on the road and the performance is really strong, while being totally different to what I'm used to. The engine and box deliver very linear power, there's no familiar shove in the back I used to get from the Saab, but the car pulls really strongly up the the 90 leptons I managed before the salesman went pale. I'm confident the car could outrun 95%-97% of what's on the road. Giving it the berries on roundabouts set the nanny light off but in sport mode there was a pleasing amount of rear end slippage before the heavy digital hand stepped in to kill the fun - and stop the salesman turning green in the back - and SWMBO giving me evils from the passenger seat. 

Overall, as a package I couldn't fault it in any meaningful way, there was a fair amount of road noise, but given it was on bling 19" rimz, I think that might be something that improves on the standard 18's. In the end, I had little choice, I had to have one.

The deal I ended up with was £400 per month, based on 4yrs and 15k/yr. But I did hit the options list pretty hard. There is also a slight question over exactly what version of the car I'll be taking delivery of. The 140i is supposed to be out in Q3 this year and I want an October delivery. The dealership only had 1 allocation for a 135i left and that was for July. So the deal I struck was that I would have my spec, and pay the same deposit & monthly payments, but if the dealership can only get a 140i for me then they will fund the difference in list price.

Overall I'm dead chuffed and can't wait to take delivery. Although there is a helluva lot of work for me to get through before then!

[Viral_Jim]

90miles each way.. And I thought I was mad considering 75ish! Then again, how long does that take you?

M135i should be a lovely place to do it

Its about 2 1/2hrs in a morning and 1 1/2 to 2hrs at night  . WOuldn't consider it every day at all. Being out the house between 5am and 8pm everyday isn't something I'd volunteer for!

[YZ250]

.......
Overall, as a package I couldn't fault it in any meaningful way, there was a fair amount of road noise, but given it was on bling 19" rimz, I think that might be something that improves on the standard 18's. In the end, I had little choice, I had to have one.
.......

Cheers for the feedback, they are a nice place to be.    They lap up the miles with ease and as I said in the pm to you there is a lot of stuff on them that other people don't see. 
They are tight to drive in a go-kart sort of way and well balanced. They also have the get up and go when required.
Glad you enjoyed the test drive. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Enjoy....Jimmy. you only live once or as the kids say today YOLO 

I recently had a test drive in a 335i which seemed to go okay. Not spectacularly quick but pretty effortless.

£400 per month?.......Large deposit?

[aaronjb]

Good to hear you liked the 135i and got a good deal - see, BMWs aren't as bad as some folks here would have you believe I bet the indicators even worked! 

Its about 2 1/2hrs in a morning and 1 1/2 to 2hrs at night  . WOuldn't consider it every day at all. Being out the house between 5am and 8pm everyday isn't something I'd volunteer for!

That sounds like what mine will be soon .. four days a week for six months, dropping after that (either change of roles internally to one that is home based or I'll bite the bullet and go work in London for a while and use the chuff chuff to get there; 49mins to Euston from the new house). The things we do for love

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Good to hear you liked the 135i and got a good deal - see, BMWs aren't as bad as some folks here would have you believe I bet the indicators even worked! 

Its about 2 1/2hrs in a morning and 1 1/2 to 2hrs at night  . WOuldn't consider it every day at all. Being out the house between 5am and 8pm everyday isn't something I'd volunteer for!

That sounds like what mine will be soon .. four days a week for six months, dropping after that (either change of roles internally to one that is home based or I'll bite the bullet and go work in London for a while and use the chuff chuff to get there; 49mins to Euston from the new house). The things we do for love

Don't be ridiculous.

I had some smarmy bastard in a 5 series cut me up on the M69 only yesterday.

Audi drivers are worse.

[Viral_Jim]

Enjoy....Jimmy. you only live once or as the kids say today YOLO 

I recently had a test drive in a 335i which seemed to go okay. Not spectacularly quick but pretty effortless.

£400 per month?.......Large deposit?

Cheers! I'd be interested to drive them back to back. The 135i is supposed to be 1s quicker both 0-60 and 30-70. The performance on the 135i didn't blow me away but its definitely "enough" to get about  .

As for the deposit, I'm not sure whether the deposit was "large" or not in the scheme of things. I put in £4,000, really as a starter for 10 to see what the finance looked like. But I was pretty happy with the monthlies, which were £395 until I upped the mileage from 12,000 to 15,000 which took me up to £417 iirc so stuck with the initial figures, that also includes a service pack which will cover the first 2 services (circa 4yrs/40k in my case). I suspect I rather missed the "party piece" of the M135i which (imho) would be to lightly option it, if at all, bearing in mind Nav, DAB, leather etc all come as standard, then, assuming a lower mileage than mine, you could have a car with serious performance on the drive for (probably) £330-340 per month. However, I wanted a car with a broader remit than this so hit the options list pretty hard. 

I think they represent good value at the moment, BMW are no doubt looking to clear the parts shelves ahead of the M140i coming in in the autumn so there's £4500 of discount from Ze Germans and a further £2k to be had (according to broadspeed). I got to within about £750 of that at my chosen dealer and decided that was close enough as a) they'd been really flexible with me regarding the delivery and possibly having to "fund" an upgrade to 140i, b) I didn't want the additional hassle of broadspeed c) I like the idea of having a service relationship with the supplying dealer should anything go wrong.

[tunnie]

Never been in 1 series, but sure it's nice. If in the market for BMW car, I'd probably go for 530d Estate, although the old shape 6 Series around 2005 vintage ish are bloody good value on auto trader.

Thing is, £330 a month. Wow. I don't spend that per month running:

3.2 Elite
2.2 CD
BMW GS

.... And I'm including fuel, insurance and tax!!

Good for you though 

But with that kind of budget I would have got a bank loan and gone for something like Jag XJ-R in new shape. 

[TheBoy]

Not been in a 1 series since the early ones, and it felt half arsed, probably in the rush to convert it RWD. Felt like a real step down from a 3 series back then.

One of the girlies in the office has had 1 series, all diesels AFAIK, for many years as her company car, and she's always been delighted with each one over the previous one, so the development has clearly progressed


Hope it serves you well, and £400pm is not unreasonable for a new motor - I mean I bet you could spec up a Fiesta to be as much...

[Viral_Jim]

But with that kind of budget I would have got a bank loan and gone for something like Jag XJ-R in new shape. 

Don't think I wasn't tempted Tunnie, the look of them is to die for. To be fair, what put me off is that I don't know anyone personally who's had one that's been reliable  - including the last one we had (X-Type). Bearing in mind that the early X351's are already starting to "rust" - on a fracking aluminium bodied car!! Totally unforgivable imho. True you could have it sorted and it probably wouldnt cost the earth. But its the sort of thing that would take the shine off the whole experience for me. Oh and I'd probably end up in jail for throttling the first JLR employee I came across. 

In essence, the 1'er is about scratching my hot hatch itch, its something I've never done and I'm getting to the point where I'm too old for one so I figured its now or never . Whereas I've got decades to buy a jaaaag!

TB - 100% agree, when I left uni, (2009) the 1-series was the car to have if you were a bloke, the ladies all plumped for either fiat 500's or minis, stereotypical but true. Consequently I've been a cramped passenger in a number of those things and could never see what all the fuss was about - tiny inside, not overly refined vs the ford focus of the day. How they handled I don't know.

Speaking of the fiesta, a new Mountune ST was firmly at the top of my list until a week or two ago. Almost exactly 50% of the cost of the BM and I reckon 0-60 in about 6.5s is all the performance you need on the road. Finally, I could see myself driving it pretty hard, without travelling at speeds that would get me sent to prison. The problem - the oppsing seats! I got in one and I basically had to pick which buttock I wanted in the seat at any given time - dreadfully uncomfortable!

[tunnie]

But with that kind of budget I would have got a bank loan and gone for something like Jag XJ-R in new shape. 

Don't think I wasn't tempted Tunnie, the look of them is to die for. To be fair, what put me off is that I don't know anyone personally who's had one that's been reliable  - including the last one we had (X-Type). Bearing in mind that the early X351's are already starting to "rust" - on a fracking aluminium bodied car!! Totally unforgivable imho. True you could have it sorted and it probably wouldnt cost the earth. But its the sort of thing that would take the shine off the whole experience for me. Oh and I'd probably end up in jail for throttling the first JLR employee I came across. 

DBug here has latest shape XJ-R with 5.0 V8 I think, also my Dad has XF, he has been very happy with that. But guess like all big expensive saloons will be the repair bills, unlike Omega DIY won't be an option. So getting examples with 50k+ miles on, you will have to dealer service. 

As many people have always asked how I can run 2 cars and the bike, it's down to running costs being so low. I would not be able to afford to run 3 mods of transport, using dealer-only servicing. 

[Viral_Jim]

Indeed, and I am more than a little envious of Mr DBug's motor collection, the XJ especially.

The problem is also that I don't know whether the car will be a "keeper" or not past the 4-5yr mark. We may be looking at doing a stint abroad (Dubai) so the cars would have to go at that point and anything other than all Jag stamps would (I imagine) leave an XJ with 100k on the clock valued at about 87p. 

At least my costs are pretty fixed, services are paid for, I'm anticipating a set of brake pads all round and 6 new tyres should be the only additional costs of ownership. Not sure I could make the monthly payments and also contemplate an XJ sized bill (see above re: throttling a JLR employee!).

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Interesting thread.

How much is a new M135 optioned as chosen?

Do I have this right?.....4 years at £400 PCM plus £4000 deposit equals £23200.

What are you minded to do then?

[Viral_Jim]

More or less. I don't have the paperwork with me but it went something like this:

RRP £37k plus change
£4.5k BMW GMBH contribution
£1k BMW dealer contribution
£4k from me (£1k now, balance on delivery)

48 mths @ £399 pcm (12k miles/yr) or £417 (15k miles/yr)
GFV based on 12k/yr: £13k plus change. Can't remember what the GFV was @15k/yr but about £1k less I think.

In terms of options I had quite a lot, but all I considered "must-have" on a long commute:
 
Auto transmission
Comfort pack (rev sensors & Cruise) - these were the only ones I was miffed didnt come as standard
Heated Front seats with Lumbar support
Pro Nav (adds widescreen, live traffic and BMW connected services)
Harman Kardon surround sound audio
Headlight wash
Debadged all-round, but keeping the badges - may be wanted by the next owner (no cost option)
Non-runflat tyres with tin of gunk in boot (no cost option)
5yr / 50k service pack (basically its the first 2 services at a 15% discount and allows me to spread the cost)

The options I didn't take but very nearly did:
Powerfold mirrors
Heated steering wheel
Service pack plus (adds £1000 to the cost but covers brakes and tyres - would need to go through a complete set of discs, pads and tyres to make it worthwhile and I'm not sure I will given my motorway miles)

In terms of what I'll do, its a good question and contrary to what I said in the other thread, I haven't 100% decided as it depends on whether the family move to Dubai comes off. I will almost certainly raise a personal loan for the GFV and walk away with the car. Then run it for a couple more years and get shot for about £10-11k. This gives me the most options in terms of selling and just keeping the cash if we go abroad or having a sizable deposit for a family wagon if we choose to stay in the UK. If we choose to stay in the Uk and are "better off" than I predict we will be, I may upgrade directly to a family wagon. However I find this unlikely as I would want to go for something with equal pace (335d touring maybe) and the monthly payments get silly at that stage!

The other option is to retire it from daily duties when the mileage gets up to 70-80k and get another car, (lpg vectra/insignia maybe) as the child/dog wagon. A remap and fruity exhaust might then follow  .