Ahhh...the M135i
You cunning lot, you!
Yes, well, ahem....when I was ordering the M6 I happened to mention to the sales guy that I was a bit bored of the Merc (you know, the other halfs car that I drive maybe once a week
) and if he could get me into a better car for less money, I'd swap it.
A better car to me meant a loaded 335d and on the day, he couldn't do anything for me. Fast forward a couple of weeks and BMW released some offers on the 335d, followed swiftly by a call from my sales guy saying they were 'blowing the doors off deals and he could not do something for me'. Cue a test drive in a 330d, which didn't feel as well built as the Merc but I thought it drove much better. It gave me a good indication of what the 335d promised and to be fair, they came up trumps with a deal and knocked £11k off a £49k car. It ended up a bit cheaper than the Merc after I cleared a bit of negative equity and it was almost guaranteed to be the much better car. At that price, with 3.9% APR I ordered one immediately for delivery mid-Sept.
Cue a couple of weeks later and bad news - there were production delays on the 335d and delivery wouldn't be until end of December
. Well, you know me chaps....I'd have gone off the idea by December and I was also having second thoughts after seeing the 4 series. But there'd be no deals on the 4 series for a few months so that was out of the question.
So, last weekend I thought I'd give one of those pesky M135i's a go to see what all the fuss is about. The dealer lent me theirs for the weekend but I didn't need more than a few minutes to be blown away by the thing. It is outrageously good
That engine. That gearbox. The whole drivetrain is outstanding and fitted in a tight, pointy chassis thats so much fun to drive. The interior is pretty decent too with a great driving position and it's much better quality that the previous 135i that we had.
The not-so-good is the bouncy motorway ride as it never settles down (I drove it 350 miles over the weekend!) so I've specified adaptive dampers that'll hopefully improve things a little. The thing looks like a munter too so I've specified eye patches to hopefully fix that too. I mean, how the heck did BMW ever sign off such a design...but hey, at least in M135i spec with lower suspension and wider wheels, it has a decent stance. I didn't think once about the looks when driving it though
So, I have to wait 6 weeks for it because I had to have electric seats which meant a factory order. And at that point normal service will have resumed....I'll have two BMW's on the drive