Spent some time this afternoon checking out the 1 Series that just arrived a few days ago. Sticker was 42K. The hard top demo they have is Black Sapphire Metallic with Coral Red Boston Leather. Up close and personal it looks like a pitbull. It has double halo headlights. And yes, it's the 135i Turbo. It's an auto with pedals on the steering wheel, tiptronic on the shifter, or if you just put it to the floor the car will shift for you. I prefer manual, of course...although the response time in the 335i auto was like flicking on a light switch, sort of F1 style. Brett informed the 3 series has HALF the response time as the 1. 18" rims with 6 piston calipers in the front and run flats with no spare. The battery sits in the back; I'd guess it was approximately 15 " long. It also had the wood trim, which I loathe. No navigation either. The sideview mirrors have a switch that turns them inward. I wish my current car had that feature. My friend Nick The Cat and I were waiting for Brett to let us take it for a spin (he was with bitchy time consuming clients) when two girls took it for a spin with another dealer. Great exhaust note when she took off down the Boulevard.
So I'm standing there, when a car carrier pulls in with three soft top Ones....the very first ones to come in. It was like they knew I was there. Unfortunately not one of them were the 135; they were the 128's...and all autos . So the guy operating the carrier went to back one of them over the ruts (look like speed bumps) that hold the cars in place; all of a sudden the back tires started spinning and the car shifted sideways and came within millimeters of hitting the side of the carrier. You should have seen the look on the operator's face. I said to him,"I can't bare to look". He said,"I'm getting stressed out".
With that, I compelled myself to turn around and walk away. The dealership was busy, so we decided to check out the RS4 at Audi Lynnhaven. They had it sitting out back with pollen and shit all over it. The dealer said they just got it in and hadn't had the opportunity to clean it up, and invited us to come back in a couple of days to take it for a spin. That car looks like it's on steroids. V8 madness. Silver with black interior. Outstanding fit and finish. It was sitiing next to a brand new Jaguar XF, and the Audi made the Jag look like a piece of dog shit (which Jags are anyways, IMO).
To conclude my afternoon, I was extremely pleased that the 135i was everything I hoped it would be in person. There's an obvious loss in luggage space as opposed to the 335i, but the styling FAR exceeds the 335i. I will return in a couple of days to take it for a spin, and from driving the 335i I have somewhat of an idea of what to expect. I am thoroughly convinced that if you sum up all the qualities of a car; price, power, styiling, handling, reliability, resale value, etcetera and so on....

The 1 Series takes the cake.

All of this is my humble opinion, of course.












I'm Bill Lewis, and I approve this message.

 

I'm gonna go see it tomorrow after school.. I need to get coolant anyways. I would really really like a 135i for a getting out of college car.

I can wish, can't I?

 

So Celeste is going bye bye?

 

Nice writeup. Bet that carrier guy had to change his pants!

 

Way to go with your $42k 'entry level' performance car, BMW.

 

You DID say $42,000 MSRP right?. You are aware that for a mere $2,000-$3,000 more you can get a 335i Coupe right? Am I the only one that thinks that BMW has priced this thing out of its target market? If you could get a loaded 6-Speed with Boston Leather, Cold Weather Package, Logic7, Nav etc. for $35,000 I'd be tempted... There are plenty of other cars, new and used that I would rather have for $42,000. It's a nice car, just not $40K+ nice.

 

No.

 

42K.... ummm no

I thought it was supposed to be cheap.

 

.

 

When it landed did it hit so hard those stupid stupid doorsills straghtened out?