33 hours, 1525 miles later.......I now own a 2013 135i!

Left OKC Thursday at lunch with my girlfriend, we arrived in Indy approx 115am local time, at the dealer 9am Friday, everything was ready to go and the only reason we were there longer than 10 minutes was to chat with the finance guy who was great. Then made the crazy return trip (stopped at Schlafly Bottlewerks in St. Louis for a great lunch) and arrive back in OKC around 930pm.

Quick shout out to Falcone Subaru/VW in Indianapolis. These guys are great. We had everything setup over the phone last week. The car was as promised, they didn't try to pull any BS surprises or anything like that. A+ would not hesitate to do business with these guys in the future. Seriously, can't say enough good things about them.

Anyway....on to the car!

'13 135i,  27k miles (now), White, Coral Red leater, HK stereo, M Sport package (wheel, M Sport suspension), the Dual Clutch Trans, etc. Bone stock.........for now. 

1st impressions. The car EATS miles with aplomb. Quiet, composed, comfortable, QUICK. I noticed more than once we were happily cruising along at 90-95 and didn't realize how quickly we were making progress. Car has great tq from idle and a FAT midrange punch, starts to wheeze out just a touch up top, but it still makes very rapid work of swinging the speedometer to the right. 

Only been able to hit a few on-ramps and such, but even the "starting to get worn" Pilot Super Sports provided incredible lateral grip. But longitudinal the torque monster N55 has no problem getting squirly. 

CONS: The DCT is amazing when driven quickly or in anger, and I love the "pdftftpdftf" sound it makes on shifts in sport mode. But it can be a bit grumpy around town.

From a stop, it pulls away very slowly, as if you were slipping the clutch to make sure you didn't upset grandma in the passenger seat. And if you have to slow down/speed up (someone pulls out in front of you for instance, or bumper to bumper traffic, etc) it takes a second to get it back together. Small complaints for the level of performance offered.

Prologue: I'm in love with this car.

Looks awesome, love the white on red interior.

In reply to z31maniac :

I thought it was just my Fiesta's transmission that acted that way.   

Holy crap you are from OKC?

Also congrats on the ride! Really want one

We stopped at the Orland Park, IL BMW last night to look and they had a $150,000 7 series in the showroom.   White with red leather - I loved the color combo.   

Congrats.  

Z31M....great score bro!!!!!!!!....color combo is spot on.....enjoy.

Fitzauto said:

Holy crap you are from OKC?

 

Also congrats on the ride! Really want one

I'm from Tulsa, but moved down here last year for a job. Just bought a house up on the NW side of town a few months ago. 

If you want to go for a ride shoot me a message!

Also thanks everyone, love the car. 

I know it's still a bit more than most forum members want to spend, but damn is it a ton of car for the money.

Nice work!

I test drove one when they first came out. Was this || close to spending my entire salary over the next 3 years on one.

Congrats, that's a beautiful car!  I know when the SMGs came out, people said you had to sort of drive the car like a manual (ease off the gas during shifts, etc.), and that would make it smoother.  Not sure if that holds true for the DCT, as well.

Welcome to the E82 club. You'll be receiving your badge and secret decoder ring in 4-6 weeks.

I had a CLA 45 AMG for a weekend this past summer and its dual clutch transmission acted the same, coming from all manual cars I wished for a clutch pedal just to set off with and let the car do the rest once it was moving.

Great looking car you've got!

Adam 

Congrats! Neat pickup.  Did you trade in the BRZ?  Any mods planned?

There are two modes for the trans?  Mine has three.  Shifts are ridiculous in the most aggressive, very gentle in the least aggressive. I usually leave it on the middle setting unless I'm in a lot of traffic or just exhausted etc and want to be comfy.  It can definitely be clunky in parking lots or city traffic.  I think it gives it charm... Clearly not a soft torque converter box.  

Yeah, I traded the BRZ in on the 135i. Hence the drive vs just a fly and drive. I need to find a manual for the car online. There is the sport button, but then also a traction control button and moving the lever makes it "Sport" shift then touch again for full manual.

Definitely mods planned, but the '12-13 135 DMEs are LOCKED DOWN. IE, I have to pull the DME from the engine bay and ship it off to be bench flashed. Even the Dinan Stg II software/muffler is 60hp/80tq.............in already very quick car. But I'd still rather have it dyno tuned after doing an intake and full exhaust (more turbo noises!). 

Also in the cards are wider wheels and tires. It seems like with the right offsets and a slight roll you can go from the stock 215/245, up to a 245/265 on the car, which would be awesome. 

Congrats!  I'm sure it feels good to enjoy the car so much after all of the efforts made to ensure right decision.

Snrub said:

Congrats!  I'm sure it feels good to enjoy the car so much after all of the efforts made to ensure right decision.

 

 

Thanks! It really does. And thanks to all the board members that answered my many questions and provided tons of good info on all the options considered.

Congrats! How does it compare to the BRZ in terms of comfort, quietness and feel? I have been desiring the twins but  can't ignore 128i manual. Seems the 1 series will be a better dd. 

Very cool selection! I’ve owned a lot of BMWs, but never an _35i. I keep thinking about an e90 335i. Interested in sharing your journey on this one. 

I rented a 116 hatch in Germany a few years ago and really enjoyed it although it was super slow. For a modern car it's nice and simple, just enough amenities without a bunch of fluff.  Should be a fun journey!  Build thread for sure.  Flash with basic breathing mods and wider wheels/tires seems like a great way to tweak it.  That's basically my plan for the M3.  

hotchocolate said:

Congrats! How does it compare to the BRZ in terms of comfort, quietness and feel? I have been desiring the twins but  can't ignore 128i manual. Seems the 1 series will be a better dd. 

Not even close, BRZ is loud/bumpy/noisy, by comparison. 

dyintorace, yeah, all my previous BMWs were E30s (all 3 of them), so I'm really enjoying having a modern BMW. Fantastic car. Already looking at cat-backs and intercooler/charge pipe upgrades since the stock chargepipe is known to disintegrate and possibly have the engine eat plastic. 

turtl631, definitely. That's going to be the research part, want to make it more capable without ruining the good parts about it. 

I'd imagine the comfort comparison is probably:

NA Miata: BRZ

BRZ: 135

So we are both in very good moods today : )

red leather   *drool*

Blaise said:

I'd imagine the comfort comparison is probably:

NA Miata: BRZ

BRZ: 135

So we are both in very good moods today : )

The big difference is road noise/wind noise. The BRZ doesn't have near the sound deadening in that the 135i does. And even if not, the HK stereo is more than loud enough to overcome any road/wind noise north of 100mph.

boaty mcfailface said:

red leather   *drool*

I'll get some better pics once I get a chance to clean it up from the drive back down here.

Nice choice. Do you mind sharing how much you paid?