Hi
My name is Ian and I have been lurking on these forums for a couple of months but this is my first post. Sorry for it being so long
I started reading these forums as I decided that my next car would be a 1 series. After reading what feels like several thousand threads I started dreaming of my 135i or 140i. Unfortunately I had set myself a couple of rules when looking for a car.
60k mileage tops
£5k budget
Car had to be economical (this part sucks but I have a fairly long commute and recent house move means I needed to be sensible )
So I started looking at what options were open to me and decided that I wanted a 120d M Sport, preferably a 177bhp.
Weeks went by and there was nothing within 100 miles of me that fitted into the above criteria so I loosened the purse strings and mileage restraints a little. Over the next couple of weeks I found 3 cars that seemed to be everything I was after but they all sold before I could get there and one of them even sold as I was just starting a 140 mile round trip to look at it by someone leaving an online blind deposit
At this point I thought that I should maybe consider buying another car. Whilst I was considering my options this popped up 2 miles away from where I work
NO LAUGHING AT THE BACK
It was a near pristine 118d SE 143bhp in my price range and with only 42,000 miles on the clock.
I took it for a fairly long test drive and let my head make the decision. I purchased the car there and then but the dealer had said that they were going to do some prep work on it and it wouldn't be ready for around 10 days. Turns out they gave it a full service, changed the clutch and flywheel and fitted a new windscreen.
So I collected my car and for the next 4 days I was very happy when I noticed that the auto start stop wasn't working Then the DSC warning light came on
I gave it back to the dealer to fix under warranty and BMW main dealer fitted a new steering angle sensor and calibrated it, a new battery and then gave it a full 4 wheel alignment.
I now have my car back and suffice to say I'm very happy with it. It may not be the fastest or best handling 1er out there but everyone has to start somewhere. What my wife doesn't know is that I don't plan for it to stay this way for long
Next steps are mostly based around knowledge collected from this forum
Get a couple of very minor scratches touched up
Suspension mods (preferably coilovers but not sure yet)
Camber pin mod and maybe new arms to maximise the camber.
18" wheels (although I may leave these until early next year after the winter so the standard wheels become my winter set)
Change the head unit and upgrade the speakers. I would like to have Bluetooth but I can't decide whether to go for a aliexpress professional head unit or go for an android double din head unit.
I have even considered putting on M Sport bumpers but not sure if I can be bothered with bodywork mods as I only plan on keeping the car for a couple of years and pretending to be a M Sport doesn't sit well with me.
For anyone who has managed to get this far into this post, congratulations and sorry for the waffle. Hopefully any future posts I make won't be this long
Thanks for reading
PS: Please share any advice that you may have on the best way to improve the car and no I don't mean sell it and buy a proper 1 series
My name is Ian and I have been lurking on these forums for a couple of months but this is my first post. Sorry for it being so long
I started reading these forums as I decided that my next car would be a 1 series. After reading what feels like several thousand threads I started dreaming of my 135i or 140i. Unfortunately I had set myself a couple of rules when looking for a car.
60k mileage tops
£5k budget
Car had to be economical (this part sucks but I have a fairly long commute and recent house move means I needed to be sensible )
So I started looking at what options were open to me and decided that I wanted a 120d M Sport, preferably a 177bhp.
Weeks went by and there was nothing within 100 miles of me that fitted into the above criteria so I loosened the purse strings and mileage restraints a little. Over the next couple of weeks I found 3 cars that seemed to be everything I was after but they all sold before I could get there and one of them even sold as I was just starting a 140 mile round trip to look at it by someone leaving an online blind deposit
At this point I thought that I should maybe consider buying another car. Whilst I was considering my options this popped up 2 miles away from where I work
NO LAUGHING AT THE BACK
It was a near pristine 118d SE 143bhp in my price range and with only 42,000 miles on the clock.
I took it for a fairly long test drive and let my head make the decision. I purchased the car there and then but the dealer had said that they were going to do some prep work on it and it wouldn't be ready for around 10 days. Turns out they gave it a full service, changed the clutch and flywheel and fitted a new windscreen.
So I collected my car and for the next 4 days I was very happy when I noticed that the auto start stop wasn't working Then the DSC warning light came on
I gave it back to the dealer to fix under warranty and BMW main dealer fitted a new steering angle sensor and calibrated it, a new battery and then gave it a full 4 wheel alignment.
I now have my car back and suffice to say I'm very happy with it. It may not be the fastest or best handling 1er out there but everyone has to start somewhere. What my wife doesn't know is that I don't plan for it to stay this way for long
Next steps are mostly based around knowledge collected from this forum
Get a couple of very minor scratches touched up
Suspension mods (preferably coilovers but not sure yet)
Camber pin mod and maybe new arms to maximise the camber.
18" wheels (although I may leave these until early next year after the winter so the standard wheels become my winter set)
Change the head unit and upgrade the speakers. I would like to have Bluetooth but I can't decide whether to go for a aliexpress professional head unit or go for an android double din head unit.
I have even considered putting on M Sport bumpers but not sure if I can be bothered with bodywork mods as I only plan on keeping the car for a couple of years and pretending to be a M Sport doesn't sit well with me.
For anyone who has managed to get this far into this post, congratulations and sorry for the waffle. Hopefully any future posts I make won't be this long
Thanks for reading
PS: Please share any advice that you may have on the best way to improve the car and no I don't mean sell it and buy a proper 1 series