Just drove "it"

[adc]

Just came back from driving a Jet Black/Coral 135i with sport, premium and automatic. Some have asked 335i owners to comment on the 135i if given a chance to drive it, so I thought I'd post my own comments on the differences.

I won't comment on looks other than to say that it definitely looks less challenging in the metal, and I would not hesitate to buy it for even 1 sec because of this.

I didn't trash the car with just 25mi on board, but you don't have to if all you want is to compare to a known quantity.

The engine
It was probably the auto tranny with a shorter final drive, but this car felt positively faster than my 335i, roughly the equal of my 335 with JBS1. There seemed to be more engine vibration transmitted to the interior than in the 335. There seemed to be less lag than in the 335, perhaps also a consequence of the automatic.

The sound
There is slightly more wind noise from the A pillars. There is more intake/engine noise coming from the front, which is a plus for me. The exhaust sounds a little deeper than the 335, but it doesn't have that exotic warble the 335 has. I'd say the 335 exhaust sounds more exotic and tenor-like, while the 135i sounds more business-like. The 1 is also a little louder too, but not as loud as an aftermarket item.

The suspension
I didn't particularly feel there was more understeer than the 335, then again this was a limited drive. There was a decreasing radius ramp to 270 in which I was able to induce some 4 wheel drift (via trail braking) followed by extremely controllable oversteer on exit (via the gas pedal). The fact that I could do this in total confidence after only 15 min with the car is absolutely remarkable.

The suspension is a little tauter than the 335 SP. You feel more of the road, in a good way. There still is a little float in high speed stuff, but far less than the 3. Brake dive is similar to the 3.

The car feels significantly more alert than the 3. It's a joy. There seems to be less roll and all movements are better controlled.

If it were me, I'd address the RFT tires and sway bars first, before deciding on anything else.

The steering
Turn-in is really good, lots better than the 3. Steering effort is reduced, but more importantly it lacks that initial stickyness of the 3 - this steering column does not seem to rotate in glue.

Steering wheel is nice to hold, but I think too thick and it removes that extra layer of feel. The rack seems a little quicker - it may just be an artifact of the lighter effort, but I thought I didn't need as much lock on the tight stuff as I did in the 3.

The brakes
A tad touchy, but so were the 335 ones in the beginning. Otherwise very strong and maybe easier to modulate - not sure about this, I'd need more time.

The body
Seems even more solid than the 3, if that's possible. Maybe because it's new? :iono:

The sound, part II
Avoid the standard radio, if you can. It sucks. I hope the Premium radio is better.

Accomodations
The seats are all but identical to the ones in the 335 SP, which is a good thing. The leather was smoother on the edges of the seat (bolsters) and rougher in the middle. Rear seating is sufficient for my 4.5 year old, adults will complain after 20min. Trunk space is good, all things considered. You loose what looks like 1-2" width, 2" depth and 1" height, compared to the 335 Coupe.
Dash/instrumentation are great - with one exception: the DTC button is so high up, it requires a stretch to push. That's not good for someone like me who prefaces most drives with the DTC-disable ritual.
The side mirror surfaces seemed smaller than the 3 series - maybe just my imagination at work.
The B pillar is closer to the front seat, making seatbelt grabbing quick and mindless - I came to hate the slow and polite seatbelt valet in the 3 series.

Overall
This is my next car, without a doubt. The required suspension tuning doesn't have to be extensive or expensive, the car is strong and just the right size for me.

And more importantly, it delivers that agile, intuitive handling-of-one-piece that previous BMW's were so good at (and the latest 3 series so completely misses out).

It will put a smile on your face on every drive, guaranteed. It's that type of car.


This is about it, if you guys have specific questions please let me know.

[Yearofthe1]

Yet another great write-up, thank you very much.

I may be reading into your summary a bit, but is your 335 a manual? If so, do you suspect the 1er may be even better than the 335 in manual tranny form?

[adc]

Originally Posted by Yearofthe1

I may be reading into your summary a bit, but is your 335 a manual? If so, do you suspect the 1er may be even better than the 335 in manual tranny form?

My 335 is manual, but it has slighter longer gears for 3-4-5-6 and a longer final drive (and so does the 135 manual).

Therefore I expect that the manual versions of both cars could feel a tad slower in some gears than their auto versions.


Also forgot to mention the gearbox: I can easily see the improvement over previous versions, but whoever says it's the same as a manual is dead wrong. At the end of the day it's still just an automatic, with slurred responses. :iono: Auto-owners, please don't be offended by this comment, to each his own.

[LazyT]

Originally Posted by adc

I won't comment on looks other than to say that it definitely looks less challenging in the metal, and I would not hesitate to buy it for even 1 sec because of this.

Please explain thyself?

[energie]

Awesome write-up. Lots of credibility coming from a 335 owner. Thanks, now I'll be thinking about the car all *!%$ day.

[AMB]

very reinforcing write up, can't wait to drive it myself.

[ARES45]

What was bad about the standard stereo? I choose to save the 900 and hope I could find someone who made speakers that are indistinguishable from factory but sound better than premium.

[Oregon]

Perceptive and effective report. Thank you very much.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by ARES45

What was bad about the standard stereo? I choose to save the 900 and hope I could find someone who made speakers that are indistinguishable from factory but sound better than premium.

Perhaps he didnt get a chance to tweak with the bass and treble settings.

[plien69]

Originally Posted by adc

The steering
...The rack seems a little quicker - it may just be an artifact of the lighter effort, but I thought I didn't need as much lock on the tight stuff as I did in the 3.

On my first couple of turns, I thought the rack was quicker as well, but then a couple of tighter turns later, I thought maybe the ratios were actually pretty close. I attribute this to the the 1's shorter wheelbase assisting initial turn-in which makes makes it feel like a quicker rack.

[E82tt6]

Good writeup. Makes me tempted to stick a 3.48 FD in there when I do the LSD.

[adc]

Originally Posted by LazyT

Please explain thyself?

Well, I own a 335 Coupe which I think looks very very good. Compared to it, the 135i Coupe doesn't look quite as good. Less integrated, with elements that seem tacked on afterwards. Less flowing, more contrived. This on the negative side.

On the positive side, I thought it looks more purposeful, more muscular than the 3 coupe.

Jut my opinion, no need to flame.


And BTW they had an Interlagos/Grey M3 Coupe on the showroom floor which looked incredible.

[PaulUK]

Good to hear that the auto box is ok! Tell us more about the auto box, how did it feel?

Thanks

Paul

[adc]

Originally Posted by ARES45

What was bad about the standard stereo? I choose to save the 900 and hope I could find someone who made speakers that are indistinguishable from factory but sound better than premium.

Too boomy, not enough clarity, insufficient dynamic range and no way to tweak it past the usual Bass/Treble controls. By comparison, the Logic 7 in the 3 series is clearer, has different sound stages and a graphic equalizer. I'm not an audiophile, but like clarity and dynamic range in a stereo system.

It was perhaps better than the HK system on the E46 cars, but that's not saying much.

I hope the Premium system at least has the EQ, if not the soundstages of the L7.


I'm pretty sure that someone like Bavarian Soundworks (BSW in short) will make some worthy replacement speakers. I'm thinking about getting them at some point, to make the Premium sound even better. But with the stock stereo, you will definitely need them. IMO.

[adc]

Originally Posted by E82TT6

Good writeup. Makes me tempted to stick a 3.48 FD in there when I do the LSD.

A worthy idea, now that you mention it...

[adc]

Originally Posted by PaulUK36

Good to hear that the auto box is ok! Tell us more about the auto box, how did it feel?

Thanks

Paul

OK, I'll give it a try...

Upshifting was IMO the most impressive feature of the tranny: extremely quick and with no meaningful interrruption of power flow.

Downshifts, even with the lauded rev-matching feature, was not as quick or smooth, especially if you are just toodling along. I also thought the engine was hanging to revs too long - and this is a programming thing. Say you're idling in neutral, stomp the gas and revs will quickly rise; then they will hang for half a second, and finally drop rapidly. The 335 doesn't have this, revs are quick to fall, and I suspect the manual 135 will behave the same way. :iono:

In ultimate terms, it up-shifted a tad faster than I can in my 335i and it downshifted slower than I can. Compared to the regular automatic in the 328xi loaner, it's significantly quicker and more positive. It does that I think by locking the torque converter sooner, and it hangs to a given gear for longer (which allows good engine braking, good in-gear pickup, etc.).

I also thought the steering wheel paddles were not too ergonomically correct: the upshifting extension on the back was falling perfectly in finger reach, but the downshifting thumb-size area inside the steering wheel was too far away for my thumbs. Could be an issue with my particular hand shape though.

Bottom line: better than previous automatics, but not good enough for me personally.

[adc]

Originally Posted by plien69

On my first couple of turns, I thought the rack was quicker as well, but then a couple of tighter turns later, I thought maybe the ratios were actually pretty close. I attribute this to the the 1's shorter wheelbase assisting initial turn-in which makes makes it feel like a quicker rack.

That sounds perfectly plausible.

[PaulUK]

Originally Posted by adc

OK, I'll give it a try...

Upshifting was IMO the most impressive feature of the tranny: extremely quick and with no meaningful interrruption of power flow.

Downshifts, even with the lauded rev-matching feature, was not as quick or smooth, especially if you are just toodling along. I also thought the engine was hanging to revs too long - and this is a programming thing. Say you're idling in neutral, stomp the gas and revs will quickly rise; then they will hang for half a second, and finally drop rapidly. The 335 doesn't have this, revs are quick to fall, and I suspect the manual 135 will behave the same way. :iono:

In ultimate terms, it up-shifted a tad faster than I can in my 335i and it downshifted slower than I can. Compared to the regular automatic in the 328xi loaner, it's significantly quicker and more positive. It does that I think by locking the torque converter sooner, and it hangs to a given gear for longer (which allows good engine braking, good in-gear pickup, etc.).

I also thought the steering wheel paddles were not too ergonomically correct: the upshifting extension on the back was falling perfectly in finger reach, but the downshifting thumb-size area inside the steering wheel was too far away for my thumbs. Could be an issue with my particular hand shape though.

Bottom line: better than previous automatics, but not good enough for me personally.

Thank you so much! I'm delighted that its ok, I'll give my full review when I pick mine up in 2 days. I've been feeling a bit low cos of all the negative things people have written about the auto (without actually driving one I must add), the fact is it will change gear incredibly quickly. Bring it on!!

Does the auto box have different modes?? e.g a sport mode, semi manual mode?? Any info appreciated!

Thank you again

Paul

[turbomg]

Originally Posted by adc

A worthy idea, now that you mention it...

It has also already been done by forum member Advevo. I believe he had to make some modifications because one was shorter than the other, but he did end up making it fit.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4348

[adc]

Originally Posted by PaulUK36

Does the auto box have different modes?? e.g a sport mode, semi manual mode?? Any info appreciated!

As far as I could tell, 3 modes: D (auto), DS (auto-sport) and M (manual).

I haven't explored D at all.

DS would be the preferred driving mode, if I were to have this tranny. It locks the converter quickly, hangs on to the gear for as long as it's reasonable (very good mind reading, at that) and yet is not too jarring for casual driving.

From DS, you get into M by flicking one of the paddles, or moving the gearlever backwards or forwards.

Hope this helps - hang in there, if you wanted an auto tranny, you will not feel shortchanged with this one. :smile:

[Robert]

Originally Posted by ARES45

What was bad about the standard stereo? I choose to save the 900 and hope I could find someone who made speakers that are indistinguishable from factory but sound better than premium.

I ordered the premium radio but I sat in the dealer demo with standard radio yesterday and it sounded fine.

[rdkind62]

One of the best reviews yet in my opinion. Thanks.