ankauf 130i, tun oder gehen

Hi Kevin,

I also owned a fast AWD car (Audi S4 chip tuned, almost 300 hps) in the mid 90s, and must admit it was the best car I have ever driven on a slippery surface. When it was snowing, I took the car out of my garage at 02:00 am in the morning and came back 3hrs later with the biggest smile on my face, you have ever seen But unfortunately we have only very little snow in the area where I am living (not too far from the Belgium border by the way).

For the last ten years I am only driving RWD cars as those meet my requirments with regards to agility and oversteering (I don't like driving understeering FWD cars). When it's raining (to save on tires ), I am still taking my 130i out of my garage at night and return it after having done quite a few powerslides. But I also need to say I had at least as much fun with my former chip tuned 330D, as due to the massive torque, good drifts were very easy to handle.

I am driving my 130i for quite a while now, and I got to say it has a superb, powerfull engine which sounds absolutely wonderful. It's definitely not a good Autobahn car, but if you prefer floring the throttle on curvy country roads, it provides lots of fun with it's strong engine, cracking short-throw gearshift, communicative steering and good brakes (surprisingly good for a BMW). But besides these clear benefits, there are some points which need to be mentioned also. While on a smooth track traction might not be a problem, but out on B-class roads, the extremly hard rear suspension of the 130i - especially with the M-version - is a bit annoying, and DSC is called in use quite often (also on uneven Autobahns at top speed) if you are driving in combat mode. The car's biggest disadvantage is the lack of an LSD. Apparently BMW's policy is to only stick a slippy diff on the rear axle if the car in question is a full-on M car. Shame because the 130's combination of pace and grace is eroded away in burning rubber every time you seriously floor the throttle. Sport auto's test verdict was also in favour of the non-M-suspension. Easier to handle, more harmonic suspension, and - which was really surprising me - they were even 0.7 sec's faster on the Hockenheim circuit in an 130i with normal sport suspension than the one with M-suspension.

But anyway, the 130i is a great car. Fast, sheer energy, excellent sound -it's fun By the way: My 130i has a normal sport supsension, but I recently had the opportunity to also drive the M-version. And pls don't expect a low fuel consumption...


Cheers,
Andreas

 

Hi Kevin,

Regarding RWD fun and - very important - fuel consumption there is no reason why you shouldn't take the 120d. But then you will miss the unbeatable sound of the straight six! But seriously, I had a chipped 330D myself and - I think also due to the conversion - they needed to change 4 broken turbo chargers within 2yrs and 100 tkms. The same happened with my Audi S4 which was also chip tuned. Therefore I am not very keen on driving chipped turbo engines at the moment, no matter whether diesel or fuel.

I don't know all differences between the 120d and the 130i, but I know for sure that the 130i has other brakes with bigger discs. That's why it comes on 17" wheels. The brakes are excellent, much better than all the other ones I had in my previous BMW's (6 in total). Suspension should be the same, but there might be slight differences with the chassis.

My car is leased, so I am not allowed to make any modifications. Otherwise I had surely asked you for the price of the LSD from the NL. If you are still not sure about the suspension, the Bilstein PSS9 suspension kit (incl. springs, absorbers, fully adjustable) is recommended by many people here in the forum (pls see further postings under "tuning" etc.). It is apparently the best solution you can get on the market.

Have fun on Saturday!


Cheers,
Andreas

 

hi kevin.

I have just got home did some drifting with my 130i it s an awesome car.
I have the m sport version bought a lsd for it awesome.

but you drove mine you even drift mine.

 

Hi Kevin,

I also experienced that it's more difficult to make the car drifting than with my old 330d. But after some practicing, it's working out very well. Drifts could certainly be done much easier with an LSD. Due to it's shortness the car is surely more difficult to handle than the other models, but I didn't make your experiences with the steering and find it pretty responsive. The main thing I'm complaining about is the car's rear end being a bit nervous in fast Autobahn bends (> 220 km/h).

I am sorry you didn't enjoy your ride. You should have driven my old 245hp 3 series diesel

Cheers,
Andreas

 

LOL

kevin this car ask s for a LSD i got it. The car should come standard with LSD but it doesn t.

Evo s are much more hardcore even more if you compare youre evo with reigers susp. to a standard 130i.

Nice thing about my 130i is i can drive everywhere in comfort have a nice engine sound en can drift anytime i want. It s my daily drive.

But the M2 will rock youre socks when it arrives. Only the wait. Don t expect this car before 2008.

 

Of course an LSD should be standard with every 130i. But unfortunately it is BMW's policy to provide a slippy diff only for "real" M-cars. I suspect they don't want to overtax the "normal" 130i owners with too much power on the rear axle, which is certainly a shame for all skilled 130i drivers

Cheers,
Andreas