Updated intelligence(?) from oz 135i purchaser

[earlyMLC]

Been following these threads for a month or two - time to take part. A couple of questions have come up - feed back from my dealer:

1. SGM - Definitely dead in Australia as of September, but resale value expected to be high.
2. New Idrive - No information given to Australia dealers in their 'weekly digest' about this. Dealer felt there would be a sizable owner backlash if this was introduced so soon after 135 release,...damn right there would be
3. I was initially given a July build month after ordering in June (135i vert) with a late August delivery. This has now been pushed back to August build with October delivery. (I guess that means November right??,...) :iono:

4. There insults are already coming in. 'Nice beginner BMW' , 'wow cute car' , little do they know,...

Great to be part of this vibrant community. The early mid life crisis has officially begun.

[d3syd]

Welcome to 1addicts, and congrats on you purchase.

Re 4. I had someone (Commodore driver) say he didn't think much of the 1 series as it is the entry level BMW.... until I took him for a drive in my 135. He had eyes the size of saucers, and said he has a new found respect for the car.

[qship]

earlymlc said:
" I was initially given a July build month after ordering in June (135i vert) with a late August delivery. This has now been pushed back to August build with October delivery. (I guess that means November right??,...) :iono:"


Seems the rumour i heard was right. :wink:

[MikeVictor]

Originally Posted by earlyMLC

Been following these threads for a month or two - time to take part. A couple of questions have come up - feed back from my dealer:

1. SGM - Definitely dead in Australia as of September, but resale value expected to be high.
2. New Idrive - No information given to Australia dealers in their 'weekly digest' about this. Dealer felt there would be a sizable owner backlash if this was introduced so soon after 135 release,...damn right there would be
3. I was initially given a July build month after ordering in June (135i vert) with a late August delivery. This has now been pushed back to August build with October delivery. (I guess that means November right??,...) :iono:

4. There insults are already coming in. 'Nice beginner BMW' , 'wow cute car' , little do they know,...

Great to be part of this vibrant community. The early mid life crisis has officially begun.

G'day mate, I was quoted the same months as you were initially (we probably went through the same dealer given you're in Brisneyland too) and have been "updated" to August build with October delivery.

To give you an idea, I'm a week35 build, which is the last week in August (begins Monday the 25th). From the tracking I've seen it takes about 6 weeks to get to Brisbane, and then about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks until you physically get the keys.

So I reckon I'll not be firing up my car until the end of October at this rate, which is trying my patience a bit... I know it'll be worth it when I get it however.

Call your dealer and you should be able to get the build week. During the build week, you can get the VIN and then track it more accurately.

[amk2912]

I'm quite happy if some tosser reckons I drive an "entry level BMW." They obviously have NFI about these cars and I'm not going to educate them.

I'll let my two buddies, Twin One and Twin Two do the talking if necessary!!

[d3syd]

Hey amk2912, just noticed in your sig that you have active steering. You must be one of the few Aussie 1ers with that option. What do you think of it? How does it feel on the twisty stuff?

[M3James]

he has the works minus those few things :smile:

[AussieRacer]

Welcome auscowboy!

[M3James]

haha thank you, anyone else from adelaide on here?

[amk2912]

Originally Posted by d3syd

Hey amk2912, just noticed in your sig that you have active steering. You must be one of the few Aussie 1ers with that option. What do you think of it? How does it feel on the twisty stuff?

Hi d3syd - err..forgot to add Active Steering to the minus list! Actally I had AS on my '06 530i and I was ADAMANT that I didn't want it on the 135i. It was soooo sensitive at low speed I nearly put the 530i into the letter box when reversing. Low speed corners were a bt of an eye opener!

Great for lazy drivers...not so great if you want to "feel" your car!

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by amk2912

Hi d3syd - err..forgot to add Active Steering to the minus list! Actally I had AS on my '06 530i and I was ADAMANT that I didn't want it on the 135i. It was soooo sensitive at low speed I nearly put the 530i into the letter box when reversing. Low speed corners were a bt of an eye opener!

Great for lazy drivers...not so great if you want to "feel" your car!

1st off, congrats early MLC, as others have said, don't worry about the knockers and their comments, be comforted in the fact that they are most probably acting out of jealously

Now if I may go further off topic with the above, amk2912 I too want to know more about active vs normal steering, can you please give more of an indepth comparison/description of the 2 please :smile:

Really want to know to see if the extra expense is justified or not TIA. :smile:

[Zuzu]

Wraith, I have had both. Active and conventional steering on Bma's.

Active feels so sureal that you actually feel like you cant even feel the road IMO. This is not a bad thing, but you do lose the feeling of actually physically steering the car..If that makes sense...:iono:

I like to feel the bitumen through the steering..With active you dont get that feeling..

One good point I found was the lock to lock is so much shorter on the active steering that it comes up so quickly when I initailly got the car that i was virtually banging the steering wheel at full lock.

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by Zuzu

Wraith, I have had both. Active and conventional steering on Bma's.

Active feels so sureal that you actually feel like you cant even feel the road IMO. This is not a bad thing, but you do lose the feeling of actually physically steering the car..If that makes sense...:iono:

I like to feel the bitumen through the steering..With active you dont get that feeling..

One good point I found was the lock to lock is so much shorter on the active steering that it comes up so quickly when I initailly got the car that i was virtually banging the steering wheel at full lock.

I see, thankyou very much for that description zuzu :smile:

So therefore from comments so far, I think it's not worth the extra expense...

Would it be fair to say that it is something that would be more suited to ederly or female drivers (honestly no punt intended) as to me it sounds like it offers a more powerful - power steering feature to the car with less effort required to turn the wheel, certainly something that would be handy in tight parking conditions :iono:

[Zuzu]

Exactly..Perfect if I was an elderly retiree...lol..( didnt want to offend anyone)

I had it in a 5 series..Parking was a breeze..

[molar]

Welcome earlyMLC,

I also ordered a 135 coupe, but with an October build and a Jan delivery.

My dealer also has no idea about the new nav systems. Maybe it is the offical cone of silence. :wink: Not to upset current pre September builds. But us post September build should know what we are getting.

Remember its not an entry level BMW.

It does 0-100 in 5.3 sec. & v. max 250kmh limited and that is not entry level in anyones language!!

Enjoy your new toy

[amk2912]

Thanks for helping out with the comments, Zuzu.

I have to agree that AS is surreal and you feel like the car isn't in contact with the road. I think they developed it for the US market. I had a Honda Accord once that had very light steering and was told it was designed for the US market. Why, I don't know

[d3syd]

Originally Posted by amk2912

Thanks for helping out with the comments, Zuzu.

I have to agree that AS is surreal and you feel like the car isn't in contact with the road. I think they developed it for the US market. I had a Honda Accord once that had very light steering and was told it was designed for the US market. Why, I don't know

Thanks for your comments. I don't want to sound rude or anything, but knowing what you already knew, why did you option AS??:iono:

[harpoon]

he didn't I don't think. The signature says "the works...minus active steering etc"

[d3syd]

Originally Posted by harpoon

he didn't I don't think. The signature says "the works...minus active steering etc"

Oops sorry......

[2QIK4U]

Originally Posted by auscowboy

haha thank you, anyone else from adelaide on here?

Yep, good to see someone else from Adelaide. Has your's arrived yet? Mine arrived Tuesday on the Torrens. Await shipping to Adelaide and delivery. May be a couple more weeks yet. Can't wait.
Mike...

[amk2912]

Originally Posted by d3syd

Oops sorry......

No worries, mate!

[earlyMLC]

Thanks for all your feedback. I cannot wait to get my hands on the 135 vert. I'm gonna have to by a hat though! What sort of hat is considered good BMW form?