New Owner: 2009 128i

[Jason G]

I'm a proud new owner of a 2009 128i. See link below for my story and initial impressions:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=426319

[amancuso]

Jason, welcome to the forum Sounds like you made a good decision!

Al.

[RaihaX]

Welcome and that was a nice read over at the miata forum

[Focusedintntions]

Congrats and welcome to the club!!

[Jason G]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Nice paint you have there, amancuso. What is the interior color?

[KinoBoom]

Welcome to the forum.

[amancuso]

Originally Posted by Jason G

Thanks for the warm welcome. Nice paint you have there, amancuso. What is the interior color?

Thanks I'm Montego Blue over Black Boston Leather.

[davidk]

Congrats on the new car. I love the 128. If you want it to shift as you expected, get a short shift kit and ditch the CDV - it will transform the way it shifts. The SSK is an easy install on this car and if you are a bit more mechanical, the CDV isn't too bad, but because the system should be bled after modifying the valve, it can be a bit more of a challenge.

[jb2178]

Enjoy - go pickup the E93 front sway bar and install it yourself one weekend - it's a great way to spend $250.

[Jason G]

As quoted from Turner Motosport:

"This is the stock front swaybar for the E93 M3 convertible, which is 28mm thick -- thicker than even the E90 & E92 M3 swaybar (26.5mm), which can be used on the E82 135i or 128i for dramatically reduced understeer and noticeably better turn in.

Using this bar on the E82 135i or 128i requires the correct sway bar / swaybar bushings, as well the corresponding aluminum bushing mounting brackets. This hardware is optional and can be added to the sway bar by selecting the option below"

Dramatically reduced understeer and noticeably better turn-in? Hyberbole or truth, jb?

[Jason G]

Originally Posted by davidk

Congrats on the new car. I love the 128. If you want it to shift as you expected, get a short shift kit and ditch the CDV - it will transform the way it shifts. The SSK is an easy install on this car and if you are a bit more mechanical, the CDV isn't too bad, but because the system should be bled after modifying the valve, it can be a bit more of a challenge.

Which one do you recommend, David?

[OrangeDeep]

¡Bienvenidos!

[Jason G]

Originally Posted by OrangeDeep

¡Bienvenidos!

Cheers Mate!

[jb2178]

Originally Posted by Jason G

Dramatically reduced understeer and noticeably better turn-in? Hyberbole or truth, jb?

My thoughts after doing the install:
I finally put mine on this weekend and it is great! After running several autocrosses with the stock suspension, I can say there is obvious improvment in the turn-in as well as the car being much quicker in trasitions from left to right (and right to left of course) cornering. Maybe the most surprising improvement I noticed is it dialed out a lot of the mid corner shutter that you get if you hit a bump when cornering hard. There's a nice corner I hit regularly and I always half-scared myself on it because midway through the surface transitions from asphalt to concrete and every time the car would twist a bit and bounce enough to give me a split second scare that I was about to lose control. Yesterday there was no scare at all... very much worth the $220... if you have 2 hours and $220, just do it.


I don't think anybody who has made this mod has anything bad to say about it... that and ditching the run flats for star specs helped eliminate most of my understeer. If/when you do get new tires I recommend going to 225/45s up front and 235/45s in the back.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...&highlight=E93

[Jayda]

Hope you enjoy your 128i as much as I enjoy mine

[meg180]

Congrats

[jimmy1990]

Welcome

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Jason G

I'm a proud new owner of a 2009 128i. See link below for my story and initial impressions:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=426319

Congrats and Welcome!

I think you'll love the 1.
Yes, the MT is not like the S2000 or Miata, but it's decent enough once you get used to it. It's not as slick as the Honda, and the clutch takes a bit to get used to, but once you do you'll find it's an accurate manual.
As I'm sure you know you can get the short shift to make it more fun.

Also, try the clutch stop mod. It's cheap and it does make a difference in overall feel as it removes the overly useless dead space in BMW clutches.

I like the NA 3.0 engine. It's a sweet piece of BMW engineering and it's the engine that has put BMW on top of many reviewers lists.
The turbo engines are quite nice and powerful, but they don't have the same high rpm silky scream of the NA 3.0 due to the sound damping of the turbo plumbing.
Plus, the throttle response of the NA engine is a good bit better than the turbo 3.0.

Too bad on the M sport. The body pieces do look sweet. But, you did get the regular sport package so you got the nice sport seats and the sport suspension.

Enjoy your new BMW!

[Jason G]

Thanks for elaborating, jb. I'll put that, along with ssk, at the top of my short upgrade list.

Interestingly, it took me a couple of hours to get used to the transmission/clutch, and initially, I was really disappointed. However, In the past week it has started to grow on me save the long throws. Jumping back in the Miata yesterday after not doing so in a week was somewhat of an adjustment. The old ACT clutch engagement is right on the floor and I have a lot of dead play at the top. It almost feels crude in comparison to the 1.

[tankus]

I have a 08 128i with sport pkg. Black on black. all i did was tint windows and throw the black kidney grills on. It turns heads every day. I LOVE my 128. Nothing else like it

[Jason G]

This is far and away the best car I have owned and just as fun and more enjoyable/comfortable on the freeway as the Miatas and S2000 I've owned over the past 11 years.

Although I really like the light blue interior, the floor mats get dirty very quickly. I wonder if going to black floor mats would be too much of a contrast?

[Jason G]

Interior Shot.