BMW

Date Acquired:

04 Mar 2009

Year:

2009

Cost:

Fuel consumption:

Odometer:

4,400

Servicing:

Annual Insurance:

£500

Other costs:

£570 (Performance Exhaust)

The moment of true realisation came when I went to visit my father and ended up borrowing his RS4 Avant a couple of times. And the Audi really showed me what the 135i is lacking - start the RS4 up and for a relatively stealthy dark green estate car, the V8 doesn't half erupt into life with a deeply indecent staccato chatter that wouldn't disgrace a full-on hairy-chested supercar. When you move off, the throttle response is much more instant and the pace, not least because it is accompanied by a very loud noise indeed, feels properly "gorblimey" ferocious - the sort that has passengers yelling "whoa" and lunging for the grab handles. It feels way faster than the 0.4 second advantage to 60 that it supposedly enjoys over the 135i.  

Now maybe not buying an RS4 because my father has one was cutting off my nose to spite my face. And since my next-door neighbour has bought a saloon version in a smart shade of grey, I do get a daily reminder of this. For all the Audi's supposed stealth, it does look ten times harder than the BMW when they are parked next to one another. But hey, the 135i's subtlety is all part of its appeal, so best to see what can be done to make it a little more lairy. And how to go about doing that? Well, in my view, there's nothing wrong with the ride or handling, so that can be left well alone. And, while an LSD would undoubtedly be great fun, I don't think I do the driving to merit the expense of fitting one. So that leaves oomph and noise as candidates, since spoilers, wings and carbon-fibre fripperies are not my things.

Easiest to do is the noise. I discovered BMW now do a "Performance Range" for the 1-series and 3-series, which, amid quite a lot of carbon-fibre frippery, does include a revised exhaust back box that, by all accounts, made the 135i sound heaps better. And cost considerably less than many of the aftermarket systems on offer. So I got some quotes from main dealers for fitting (eye-popping!) and eventually decided to give the car to Munich Legends (physicians-in-chief to my Z1) who quoted considerably less for sourcing and fitting said BMW Performance exhaust.

When ML rang to say the work was finished, they did comment that the car now sounded rather good. And when I got there, I discovered they weren't wrong. It sounds awesome - totally transformed. There's a fruity burble at idle, a deep purposeful sound in normal operation, a distinctly old-school pop and crackle on the overrun and a full-on "ripping calico" shriek if really provoked that wouldn't disgrace something much more exotic. And from cold, the almighty din it creates in the garage is almost embarrassing. Almost.... It has also changed the feel of the car - it feels much more urgent, which is presumably largely due to the fact that the added soundtrack makes you feel much closer to the mechanicals, and rather less clinically modern. Which is of course a good thing! I wholly recommend this BMW Performance system but only if you aren't the shy retiring type...

It would be nice to say that the exhaust replacement has been the only cause for the little BMW to undergo surgery, but it would also be untrue. With a little over 3,000 miles on the clock, the steering pump failed and dumped the steering fluid (unlike other 1-series, the 135i has a hydraulic rack rather than an electric one) all over the ground. Not desperately impressive for a 3 month old car, but Sytner had it fixed and back on the road inside two days, so it was relatively painless. Good thing I didn't need it for work though.

Apart from that, with now around 4,500 miles recorded, the car continues to be excellent. The revised iDrive system fitted to 2009-model 1-series is a vast improvement and I find it genuinely intuitive. Only the telephone system irritates - it's easy to use but the sound quality for callers is apparently terrible. I hear them just fine but it's a rare caller who can hear me well. Again, dissatisfying for something that was a £500 option. The car went in to the dealer to have the system checked but of course they could find no fault.

BOOKMARK THIS