I love BMW's. Recently coming from a 135i, and with most everyone I know still in a BMW, I'm very familiar with them. Here are my impressions of owning a 135. I tried to be frank and honest about the good and bad, to help you with your decision. I might catch some flack from fanbois or those that are really not intimately familiar with BMWs but this information comes from my experience and from folks I know personally who are die-hard BMW fans.
Pros:
Great warranty service, good service techs, and the 4 years free maintenance on new BMWs and those that are less than 4 years old is nice.
My 135i, was very good in the snow. The 50/50 weight distribution helped I'm sure. Although we had a weak winter last year, the two snowfalls we did have were handled great with appropriate winter tires on.
Brembo-sourced six piston brakes are fantastic!
Nice steering wheel and generally very good Ergos
Excellent Premium Hi-Fi Stereo system (I had a 2008 model with iDrive and the HK Logic 7)
Understated looks, unlike domestic and Asian cars, which all look like they were designed by recent graduates from automotive design schools, lol. BMW's just ooze class. Read on however regarding the 1-Series.
135's and 335's respond very well to engine mods. With an investment of around $2K, you can have close to 400 WHP and somewhere around 420 WTQ. The older twin turbo engine, the N54 is considered to be a better platform than the newer N55 single turbo that is in all '35s made since mid-late 2010. There is more aftermarket out there for N54s and they are rumored to have forged internals (at least the rods and crank). At the time I got out in early August of this year, there were no N54 or N55 engines that blew up from modding, leading me to believe that they are in act very stout. BUT, there is a catch to all the turbo cars- despite the motors apparent ability to handle whatever you throw at it, there are limitations that no one has been able to completely overcome in the DME and the DI system that is limiting how much power you can extract out of this motor. I won't bore you with the details, but if modding is in your future, read up on it over at the BMW forums. Development really plateaued on this platform and there is very little going on anymore. All the major tuners have essentially given up on it. If you are into modding, this will be especially disappointing. There are guys getting right around 600 WHP out of the N54 engine, but that is with upgraded turbos, Meth, NOS and a piggyback controller on top of Cobb Accessport, with full bolt-ons as well. That's a lot of money to spend and you are driving a ticking time bomb, esp. when dealing with meth. Good luck getting warranty service as well. Of course, if you don't car about modding, all of that is moot
Fit and finish were top notch (read below)
Cons:
Fit and finish, LOL. Ok, it was leagues above other cars that I have owned, but in comparison to the 'Runner, well it didn't compare. Even though the dash and interior materials were generally of better quality than what Toyota used, the 'Runner feels like driving a piece of granite compared to the BMW. The way the doors feel when they open and close, the solid feel from the drive train and suspension on the 'yota, the zero squeaks and rattles from the interior just made it feel like a better car. It is also just as quiet as the BMW. If I had one thing I would take from the BMW and apply to the 4Runner it would be the steering wheel (and maybe the power, but I was Stage 2, so it's unfair to compare the two). The steering wheel was almost perfect, almost as good as the one in my .:R32. By comparison, the BMW dashboard rattled, a well-known problem, my air conditioning system WREAKED of some burning plastic smell that never went away. BMW odors are apparently very common it seems. The third brake light cracked for no reason, leading to a warranty repair. The air conditioning vents sun faded. The passenger window was scratching itself on something inside the door when you rolled it down. The hood would start to lift up at the edges around 125 MPH (not an issue if you don't plan on going that fast, but something to consider). The headlights were made of plastic, unlike my other German cars and my old second gen Camry which used glass. I bought the 'Runner while I owned the 135 for a year and simply stopped driving the 135 and eventually sold it. I know that sounds strange, but the A/B comparison between the two was surprising to me.
The 1-Series commands NO respect from anyone, even other BMW owners. EVERYONE just looks down upon it as a lesser car, even though it technically isn't when compared to a 3-Series. In fact, most people have never even heard of it. This became frustrating for me as an owner and when I tried to explain what it was, most people logically concluded that it was sorta like those battery operated ATV's you buy for kids before they step up to the real deal. In other words, it was a "starter" car for people who can't afford a "real" BMW. This was certainly not reality, especially if you understand the concept behind the development of the 1-Series, nevertheless, expect copious amounts of ridicule and mockery from people, perhaps even your own family. It doesn't matter that a properly modded 135 can take a lot of cars (if street-racing is your thing)- no one cares. Other drivers would rather drive a slower car that looks better (and handles better, read on), than one that looks like crap but is really fast in a straight line.
The "scared cat" look on the front of the 1-Series, along with the soft side profile that makes it look like a potbelly pig WILL tire you. I thought it would grow on me, but it never did. If you spend time on the 1-Series boards, you will see member after member getting out of them, more than any other car on any other forum. I can only assume that the ridicule of driving a car that looks so soft is what is prompting them.
Don't expect the same level of engineering and craftsmanship in the 1-Series that you will find in the 5 or 7 series. It's just not there. Materials used on the dash and such will be nicer feeling than what's in your 'Runner, but it's not even close to the better offerings from BMW. Even a base model 3-Series feels pretty cheap.
There is a bit of a BMW "tax" on aftermarket parts when compared to other car platforms, but the prices are actually similar to those for the 4Runner. So if you are OK with the costs to mod a truck, you will be OK with the cost to mod your BMW. Just something to keep in mind.
On suspension modding- the 1-Series platform is horrible in so many ways (this is not subjective). Where do I begin? If you are the least bit concerned about handling, or if you plan on tracking the car, the stock suspension is totally inadequate. It rides like hell, and the rear bounces around from even the slightest imperfection in the road surface. Take an exit ramp at normal speeds and when you go over an expansion joint, the rear will hop over a foot! This is fact and not opinion, so please research this. The suspension on this car was designed as an afterthought and leaves NO provisions for improvement. Even the Brembo derived brakes, which work so well on the streets, will need to be replaced prior to tracking the car. There is also ZERO adjust-ability for camber; I mean C'mon man! Luckily, you can replace everything with M3 parts, but that gets very expensive and still puts you no where near what an M car will do. Simply putting coil overs in does NOTHING except lower the car and make it ride even worse than before as you have not addressed the other design flaws with the geometry of the suspension. Wheels and tires WILL need to be upgraded as well, particularly if you bump the power up on the turbo cars. They are very torquey and overcome the stock tires with ease. On the 1-Series, there is very little clearance for wider wheels and the offset is non-traditional, leaving you very few options in the aftermarket world. You have two options- wheels that look good, but limit how wide you can go with rears, or you can have wheels that will accept big meats, but will look like crap. On a 3-Series, the clearances are MUCH greater and the offset on the rear is a true RWD car offset, unlike the 1-Series which is more like a FWD car, so your options are limitless with wheels, so you can have performance and looks.
A stock X5M is faster around a track than a 1M! A 335 or 135 will be even slower than a 1M. All that power you have when you mash the skinny pedal to the floor is moot when an SUV or "lesser" cars like a 370Z will run circles around you on a racetrack. Of course, I spend a lot of time at the track, so this is important to me, but may be of no concern to you
The N54 and N55 motors in the 1-Series sound like crap, even modded with full exhaust and downpipes. It's pretty embarrassing actually. They don't sound like the inline sixes that the E36 and E46 M3's came with.
Tips:
Definitely opt for higher option packages. The interior material quality is not that great on base model cars, particularly in the 1 and 3 series. It will also help with resale value. Without question, get the Sport package as the standard seats provide no support.
Go with a '35 model, and skip the '28 with it's normally aspirated six. EVERYONE near me drives a 328. It was actually a nice feeling to know that my car was faster than the one that every lawyer in the area drove
The N52 is not a bad engine for a daily, but I had a 328XI for a few days while BMW replaced the turbos on my 135i under warranty and I got real tired, real fast of the loaner. It had a great zero to 40 mph, like my 4Runner, but after that it fell flat on it's face.
Myths:
It costs more to repair and maintain a German car than domestic or Asian. Although this depends on the specific car we are referring to (a 7-Series WILL be more expensive to maintain than a Camry for instance), in an apples to apples comparison, myself and everyone I know who owns a Bimmer found that parts were no more expensive than other cars. Of course, we are DIY-ers and get our parts from other forum members or directly from German Auto Parts, which is local here, so most repairs we fix on the cheap. Once you move into the realm of electronics failure, then you are talking a lot of money, however this is rare in modern BMWs.
They require more frequent maintenance, more than other cars- FALSE! My 135i still had the free maintenance on it when I bought it as a CPO vehicle. It didn't need to go in for maintenance any more than other cars I've owned. BMW does one free oil change per year, or every 12K miles, whichever came first. Everything else is Condition-Based Service (CBS) which means that just like the oil, you had to meet certain mileage or age requirements for them to replace it.
BMW's break more than other cars- FALSE! OK, my turbo wastegates wore out, but that was a known problem on my car. This was BMW's first turbo car (at least in the modern age), and they got a lot of things wrong. But, my car started and ran great all the time and didn't spend any inordinate amount of time in the shop when compared to other cars I've owned.
Here is my final analysis of owning a BMW- They are nice cars and I would definitely do it again, but I would most likely go with an M car, or maybe an X5 diesel, or any higher-end model. When you drive a "cheap" BMW (if there truly is such a thing), it feels just like that- a cheap BMW. You might have to simply own one yourself to find out what I'm talking about, but I'm just trying to provide my impression of ownership to you. The slight performance edge and moderate exclusivity that the propeller on your hood will give you over domestic or import counterparts is simply not great enough to justify the extra cost.
Edit- I would highly recommend the E90/E92 M3. The last N/A M car, with a high revving V8 developed using technology from BMW's former F1 division. It sounds fantastic, looks great, and it likely destined to be classic being the only V8 M3 and the last of it's kind.
