Hi everyone,
You may remember some of my earlier posts on here. I was recently considering getting a moderately-loaded MCS which would cost me about $28,000. I recently came to know that BMW is bringing its 135I model to the US in Spring 2008. As you may already know, the 135I will come with a 300-horsepower engine. The price of 135I is still not clear at this point and there has been lots of speculations about it. The word on the BMW forums is that the price would probably be around $35,000. Considering the fact that a loaded MCS costs $30,000 plus, and assuming the 135I will be priced around $35,000, I have been thinking about not getting the MCS and saving my money towards the 135I. Can anyone convince me to do otherwise? What would you do if you were in a similar situation?

 

They really aren't all that similar, to be honest. The 135i will be stupid fast, and have BMW's trademark 50/50 weight distribution (presumably). All you can really do is test drive both and find which one will work for you.

 

I cannot wait for a drive in that 135. But if the car is like most BMWs, you won't find any "lightly optioned" models on the lots. Your average $35,000 BMW seems to swell to $43,500 by the time it reaches the showroom. And judging from the attention this car has already gathered, I'd guess there will be a wait list.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

My wife is, hopefully, getting the 128 which should be no slouch either compared to the MINI. I'll be driving it as much as I can as from what I've read so far it will be a fantastic car.

My opinion. Either with very few options would be something I would like. Both good ways to keep the price and weight down.

 

I bet for the money it's going to be hard to beat the 135i if you like small, quick, nimble cars.

mb

edit - what I mean is if you can _actually_ get a 135i out the door for 35K, then it's very hard to beat. If they swell up, as stated above, to over 40, then I wouldn't even consider it.

 

the 135 is going to be amazing, if it can live up to the hype.

 

IMHO? A 135 should kill an MCS on the track - assuming, of course, that BMW solves the overheating problem with their insanely powerful and gorgeous twin-turbo mill...

Case in point - at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, TX at the last LSC BMWCCA DE, Classic BMW brought out two new 335i's to play with - they promptly overheated after 5 laps, going into limp mode because the oil temps skyrocketed. We were shocked and somewhat disappointed. Those first few laps were OH SO SATISFYING, though...

I hear tell that they have an oil cooler retrofit - word is out that it may, MAY have fixed the problem.

In the years we've been BMW fans, this is the VERY FIRST TIME that we've ever run across a BMW that wasn't track worthy right out of the box... Limp mode? BOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

Why did you have to show that to me! That is so tempting!

 

If we could wait until Spring we'd definitely consider the 135i, but not if the base price is $35K. We've been test driving a different car or two every week and last Saturday we drove a 328 and 335. Experiencing the 335 makes me think the 135 will be a true marvel. That 3 liter twin turbo is intoxicating, but compared to an MCS it's also pretty thirsty. If we could get a reasonably equipped car with that 3 liter engine for $35K we'd probably do it. At this stage of my life, I refuse to spend more than that on something that is, ultimately, a money pit. And all cars are, ultimately, money pits. I can have twice as much fun for a quarter of the money on a motorcycle.

It's been said and I have to agree: the BMW and Mini are very different cars. From what I've read, the 135 has BMW's best steering in years. It's kind of a throwback to the 2002 tii days. I have to think it'll be as quick as an M3 and almost as comfortable as a 3 series. If Automobile is right in their estimate of a $27K base price, these things will fly out of showrooms and, at $35K, you could have a nicely equipped, very fast car. If you can wait, you should drive 'em both back to back and try to figure out if the 1 series is worth however much more it winds up costing. FWIW, I don't envy anyone making this decision. Oh wait, I would envy this!

 

If you want a base car, just order it from the dealer that way. We're all waiting 3 months for out cars here.

That base price will be for the 128i, not the 135i.

txwerks: were those cars autos? All manuals were suppose to get the oil coolers on more recent builds and only the Auto's with sport packages got the oil coolers. But like you said, there still may be some cooling issues that I'm sure the aftermarket will address.

As for tuning that engine, there's software that runs from $350 to $1,400 (Vinshu) with gains from 40wHP to close to 400 HP at the crank with the Vinshu unit. It'll also make more torque that the M3.

 

I am in a similar position, I have an '05 MCS with (ahem) 70K miles on the clock. In a year or less that will be 100K and at that point I need to trade it in or face the realities of a 100K mile Mini

So, I am thinking 135i or another MCS.

However, I am not sure it is a good move to get a year-1 model.

So I will probably snag a 2008 model MCS, and then tarde it within two years on a 2009/10 MY 135i.....

 

I love the idea of a smaller BMW, the 328i feels enormous especially to a mini driver. I would consider the 1 series BMW's but I understand they are not bringing in the hatchbacks and that's a real shame. I spoke with a guy from Mexico city who drove to Edmonton, Canada in his 118i hatchback. That was a nice car, a bit bigger than the Mini, but if it had only a trunk and no hatch it would be really impractical.

There will be lots of small RWD cars coming onto the market soon, so BMW will have competition in this market. Hyundai, Toyota, and Pontiac all have small RWD cars coming onto the market... before you dismiss Hyundai et al as competition remember that the Datsun 510 pretty much killed the 2002 in the Seventies.

 

I agree, especially about Hyundai. They're making some really nice cars these days, but I can't help thinking of Hyundai as "that company with the $5000 car from twenty years ago".

Maybe it's time for Hyundai to come out with a new nameplate for the U.S. so they can move further upscale, like Honda and Nissan did with Acura/Infiniti.

 

i hate waiting so i would buy whatever is available NOW instead of waiting on speculations....just think of the folks who paid top dollars for their elises.

 

Two totally different cars: FF (MINI) vs FR (135i).

From a cost perspective, however, doing European Delivery on the 135i will save you about 7% (~$2500, assuming $35K price), which may finalize your decision if cost was seriously an issue in deciding the two.

I am salivating over the 135i and can't wait until my 328i lease is up!

 

How much does 135i weigh? It would be nice if it could do 0-60mph in less than 5 sec.

 

My second BMW was a 1974 2002tii. I loved that car. If the 135i live up to the hype, I'll probably sell the MCS, and snag a 135i.

 

An MCS will be quicker and either a 135i or 128i will be faster. Since you are leaning to a fully optioned car you're probably better off with the BMW. Options are expensive and depreciate fast. I see some guesses that the 128i will be around 27k and the 135i as low as 33k. A 30k MINI gets harder to picture at those prices!

 

I have a 335, and just ordered an MCS for our other car. The 3.0TT engine is a monster; it has massive power even off idle, and even in the 3er body it makes the car silly fast. I am convinced that in every day driving this car is faster than the E46 M3 I used to have.

The 135 is going to be nuts, but is likely to be only a couple of hundred pounds lighter than the 3er, which means that it won't really be possessed of the tossable smallness that defines an MCS. On the positive side, it won't have the torque steer, either, but it also won't have a limited slip differential. BMW is implementing an electronic fake limited slip that uses the brakes to control wheelspin, but no one knows yet how well that is going to work.

Moreover, the 135 is likely to be a pretty hot car, demand-wise, when it first comes out, but I think the market will be saturated fairly quickly. That means that early adopters will likely pay for the privilege.

Bottom line? My plan is to get an MCS and hold it for a couple of years. At that point, if the 135 is everything people hope that it will be, I might take advantage of the excellent resale value on the MCS and get a 135.

 

Ah, but we do! It's called ASC in MINI-speak

 

I say mini

 

This is pretty much our thinking as well. We can't wait until Spring for our new car so we'll continue to look for something to replace the current car that goes off lease in late November. Right now, an MCSa optioned in the 27-28K range is in first place. We still have a few candidates left to drive and then we'll drive our short list cars one more time. At that point, I'm hoping we order the Mini. Then, a few years down the line we'll see what happens. But, if the Mini is everything we think it is, we'll be very happy with it.

And within a couple of years, we may see an M-1 as well, although I just can't wrap my brain around the entry level M car being tagged M-1.

 

I'm keeping my MINI forever, so this 135i is going to have to be impressive to get me to buy it as a stable-mate. I'm thinking 5-7 years from now when they'll be used and cheaper. Plus, if you really enjoy the visceral feel of the R53 over the R56 (they're different in my opinion), then you might not be game for the 135i. But the only known quantity we have is the R56 and not the 135, so it's allllllll speculation which means zilch.

mb

 

One was a manual, one was an auto... Can't recall if either had the oil cooler retrofit, but I am going to assume they didn't - these had dealer tags!

 

I can't believe they over-heated... I thought BMW does exteme weather tests at the death valley for the hot conditions. And they must have done severe track enduro type test at the Ring or somewhere. It is disappointing to me as well.