Back Story:
My E46 M3 was down for a while, and I got offered an incredible deal on a friends very well maintained 2011 135i. 58k miles, 6 speed manual, Alpine White over red interior. Absolutely mint. Tons of upgrades to include a pure stage 2 turbo, bigger intercooler, meth injection, MHD and JB4, running on E50. The car was stupid fast in straight lines. Honestly, as beautiful as that car was, I never would have bought it if it wasn't for the absolutely insane deal he gave me.
That being said, I don't want a car that is only fun in straight lines, that's boring. The suspension was completely stock, but had the "sport suspension," whatever that means to you. The car handled like crap. The body roll was noticeable compared to the E46, the steering felt slow and heavy. It was not an enjoyable car in the canyons, which steered me away from taking it to the track. On top of that, the N5x motors scare me. All I've known for the past 7 years is the S54, and believe it or not, I'm very comfortable owning and working on those despite their manufacturer flaws. Yes, my previous M3 (and current M3) had suspension setups that were dialed in for the track, and I did take that into consideration whenever I would hate on the 1er.
Some other flaws the car had:
- If the fuel tank was about half empty, around hard, right hand turns, fuel would cut and the car would die. It would quickly come back to life and go immediately into limp mode. That was incredibly irritating.
- Those cars also have oil pressure issues on track. The fix is adding an accusump and oil pan baffle.
- They also have oil cooling issues (although I never experienced any). The fix is adding a second oil cooler or buying a kit/fabricate your own.
- This car in particular, given the mods, was way too fast for the canyons. Boost hit abnormally hard for a small turbo. 2nd gear lit the tires up (40TW.....), 3rd would pull really hard to where I felt the need to brake early (6 piston fronts with hawk dtc-70 pads).
So my question to you all is, should I have given the car a chance? Swapped in some nice coilovers, meaty tires, align and corner balance and see how it felt? How many of you have driven a 135i, n54 or n55, stock or modified, and felt it was a capable car? I'm curious if I jumped ship too quick. Although, I do not regret getting back in another E46!
My E46 M3 was down for a while, and I got offered an incredible deal on a friends very well maintained 2011 135i. 58k miles, 6 speed manual, Alpine White over red interior. Absolutely mint. Tons of upgrades to include a pure stage 2 turbo, bigger intercooler, meth injection, MHD and JB4, running on E50. The car was stupid fast in straight lines. Honestly, as beautiful as that car was, I never would have bought it if it wasn't for the absolutely insane deal he gave me.
That being said, I don't want a car that is only fun in straight lines, that's boring. The suspension was completely stock, but had the "sport suspension," whatever that means to you. The car handled like crap. The body roll was noticeable compared to the E46, the steering felt slow and heavy. It was not an enjoyable car in the canyons, which steered me away from taking it to the track. On top of that, the N5x motors scare me. All I've known for the past 7 years is the S54, and believe it or not, I'm very comfortable owning and working on those despite their manufacturer flaws. Yes, my previous M3 (and current M3) had suspension setups that were dialed in for the track, and I did take that into consideration whenever I would hate on the 1er.
Some other flaws the car had:
- If the fuel tank was about half empty, around hard, right hand turns, fuel would cut and the car would die. It would quickly come back to life and go immediately into limp mode. That was incredibly irritating.
- Those cars also have oil pressure issues on track. The fix is adding an accusump and oil pan baffle.
- They also have oil cooling issues (although I never experienced any). The fix is adding a second oil cooler or buying a kit/fabricate your own.
- This car in particular, given the mods, was way too fast for the canyons. Boost hit abnormally hard for a small turbo. 2nd gear lit the tires up (40TW.....), 3rd would pull really hard to where I felt the need to brake early (6 piston fronts with hawk dtc-70 pads).
So my question to you all is, should I have given the car a chance? Swapped in some nice coilovers, meaty tires, align and corner balance and see how it felt? How many of you have driven a 135i, n54 or n55, stock or modified, and felt it was a capable car? I'm curious if I jumped ship too quick. Although, I do not regret getting back in another E46!
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