View Full Version : Thank god for MINI TLC and a temping idea
Matblack
21-11-2008, 15:57
Took Minnie in to have her brake fluid changed today and get some new wiper blades, three wipers £28, meh, could have got generic replacements but the screen is very curved and they don't always work by all accounts. Cost of new brake fluid and labour £0, thank god for the TLC package which costs £150 when you buy the car and gives you 5 years or 30,000 servicing, bargain!
However I get talking to the BMW sales chappy and have a look at the cars and theres nothing I really fancy, to get anything with decent legroom behind me I need a 5 series and thes too big for my liking. We have a chat about my needs and he points at this car in the corner which I thought was a 3 series. Its actually a 1 series with a boot, I've never noticed one on the road and when he tells me about it I can understand why they must be passing me bloody fast. Its a 135i a 3l Twin turbo in a chassis smaller then a 3 series! this thing is FAST 0-60 in 5.3s FAST and the figures really are impressive, the emissons are lower than my 1.6 MINI and the fuel economy about the same, alright it's quite small but with the seat forward a touch someone could sit behind me for a medium journey and the boot is MASSIVE.
I can honestly say I'd be tempted, the running costs actually seem sane and the car really should be an M car with the performance it has, most impressive. Cost wise its about £28k bare and £32k with some options like leather, it could be speced up to £40 but doesn't have too be to be a stroming car wilst also being almost practical. Hmmmmmmmm maybe next year :D
MB
leowyatt
21-11-2008, 16:07
I love the 1 series coupes!! Great little cars, see a couple round here with the BM garage round the corner.
What about the tax?
£32K on a 1 series is barmey and my money would be spent elsewhere. The one with a boot is also bloody ugly :D
leowyatt
21-11-2008, 16:20
Heathen Jamie they look wonderful!!!
But 135 road tax would be up to £550 :shocked: where as the 123d would be £90 ;D
The 1 series I like, but with a boot stuck on they just look wrong.
leowyatt
21-11-2008, 16:31
personally I think the coup looks better than the hatchback
Personally I'd rather sh1t and fall back in it than have either, but each to their own :)
The x35 series are a nice drive though, one of the girls at work has a 335 and 535 in the family and they both go like stink.
Matblack
21-11-2008, 17:09
Heathen Jamie they look wonderful!!!
But 135 road tax would be up to £550 :shocked: where as the 123d would be £90 ;D
Actually the tax is £210 this year £300 in 2009 and £310 in 2010
The £550 you got is the firstt years tax including the new car penalty which comes in on new cars in 2010.
MB
Matblack
21-11-2008, 17:11
What I'm amazed by is the performance of these twin turbo engines with the relative fuel economy and how cheap they are likely to be next year. I wouldn't look twice at a 535 because they are too bloody big for my taste, a 335 offers the same room as the 135 apart from maybe a tiny amount more width so I can't see the point.
Too me it seems like a cracking little car.
MB
It certainly is impressive what the BMW bods have managed to do with those engines. With them being turbo'd I would expect you coudl get some nice power gains with a simple remap.
It's all personal preference at the end of the day, but I'd have the 335i over the 135i. Infact I've seen some people struggling to choose between the V8 M3 and a 335i!
TinkerBell
21-11-2008, 17:36
I really don't like them! They are plain ugly. To be honest with the amount of money you would pay for one of them, you could have something alot better in my opinion. But hey, if everyone liked the same thing then the world be a very boring place.
Matblack
21-11-2008, 17:47
The chances of me buying one are about 0% we can't really afford it (well we can but not with trying to get the mortgage paid off) and the MINI will last me at least another 3 years or upto 50,000 with free servicing on TLC and then £350 gets us another 30,000 or 3 years with TLC XL, so I have no reason to change at the moment, as and when the car becomes too small I'll have to think again. Bythen there will be new options to consider but I wouldn't be suprised if an 1/3 series or an A/S4 were in the mix.
MB
Blimey, the TLC package is a real bargain.
The new S4 sounds interesting, a supercharged 3 litre V6 chucking out 328bhp. Yummy.
To add something else to this, I got mine MOT'd at my local BMW garage and they reeled off a list of stuff that needed doing. Dreading the worst I agreed to it all being carried out. When I got there I found I had a 10% discount on all parts, and labour was charged at 50% 'because of the age of the car'. Presumably they need more experienced mechanics on the newer technololgy and put juniors on the 5+ years old cars?
I also needed a new height adjustment lever for my seat as the previous owner had snapped it clean off. I turned up in my lunch hour, drank coffee, ate biscuits and read the paper. Within the hour I got the car back, fixed, and cleaned inside and out... for £17. When you think about how much you'd spend on a car wash and a Flavia at a petrol station, I may start trying to find small things wrong with it every month!
leowyatt
23-11-2008, 17:55
£17 :shocked:
To add something else to this, I got mine MOT'd at my local BMW garage and they reeled off a list of stuff that needed doing. Dreading the worst I agreed to it all being carried out. When I got there I found I had a 10% discount on all parts, and labour was charged at 50% 'because of the age of the car'. Presumably they need more experienced mechanics on the newer technololgy and put juniors on the 5+ years old cars?
I also needed a new height adjustment lever for my seat as the previous owner had snapped it clean off. I turned up in my lunch hour, drank coffee, ate biscuits and read the paper. Within the hour I got the car back, fixed, and cleaned inside and out... for £17. When you think about how much you'd spend on a car wash and a Flavia at a petrol station, I may start trying to find small things wrong with it every month!
Its a scheme to keep people going back to BMW rather than to independents when their cars get past a certain age. Forgot the name of it now though but it might simply be "BMW 7+" or something similar.
Matt, drive a 5 series and a 3 series back to back and you'll find the extra dimensions just vanish as you get used to it :)
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