30th Aug 2006, 19:09

Man am I glad I found this site. I was on the brink of buying a new 130i auto. I was really attracted to the power and the pricing. I am now seriously contemplating an Audi a3 3.2 S line. They're very rare at the moment, but come in around 7k cheaper than the 130i and in my opinion allot easier in the eye.

David.

6th Sep 2006, 11:20

Best regards from Mexico.

I purchased a 120i a couple of months ago. It's the "Dynamic" version; sports suspension, wider tyres, sports seats, etc.. etc... Everything is so good so far except for... the doors RATTLE so much. Like there's a plastic thing loose inside the doors. It sounds so cheap it makes me want to rip the door apart to see what's inside. And I am afraid of having the dealer disassemble the doors and later have the rattles multiply because of a bad re-assembling. Any ideas? Anyone?

8th Sep 2006, 09:36

Hi Ben.

If you read my review yes the windows do rattle it is a common design fault of all BMW 1 series. Its not plastic loose its actually caused by the dirt on the rubber seal. When the rubber seal gets dirty it scrape against the metal as a result it makes a creaking sound, sounds like the window is loose or plastic got loose. Trust me the door is solid strong like a tank. Its the rubber seal a very tiny thing. Take your car back to your dealer they will replace the seal for you (won't disassemble the door) its only a rubber!!

Make sure you keep the rubber seal clean your dealer will advice you on that.

I am in Australia, in australia we use special lubricant which we apply on the rubber seal. It will sound like new again no creaking no cheap plastic sound.

Very small problem. Enjoy your car. PS: Make sure you check your tire pressure.

BMW 130 owner

Tim

Australia.

13th Nov 2006, 23:34

The squeaking doors. I have had this problem with two 3 series models. Basically after investigating I found the problem is caused by the slight movement between the door frame and the body of the car - not the glass and the door frame. You can use a rubber lubricant to cure this. Spray the lubricant onto a cloth and rub into the contact points on both on the car frame and the door frame - as if you were cleaning the rubber/plastic. Alternatively applying regular car wax letting it dry and wiping it off provided a longer term solution. The squeaking can be caused by the rubber becoming slightly dry, but more often it is caused by a build up of detergent from car washes or the initial protective coating that is on the car at delivery and not properly removed. It is a minor problem, but a highly irritating one that sounds much worse than it is!! Hope this helps!

17th Jan 2007, 14:02

I've had my 130i since January 2006. This is the first 'prestige' car I have bought and I am a little disappointed. Yes the car looks and sounds great and has bags of grunt. However... since owning the car I have had the transformer for one of the headlights replaced, have spent $250 so that the dealership could take the seat out and remove a coin that had fallen in to a vent, spent $350 on BMW mats which now curl up and get caught on the pedals after only 12 months of use, had a creaking clutch spring above the clutch pedal for about 2 months (in which time I have had a new clutch pedal assembly fitted, but didn't cure the problem), I then took the car back in to have a new spring fitted. Very happy that the first service after 25,000kms only cost $300 but this morning I can hear that another coin has fallen in to the vent. Only little things, but putting me off BMW more and more each time there are problems.

26th Feb 2007, 08:16

Hi This is Tim.

I am the original reviewer.

I want to sum up my experience with 130. Its the worse car I ever had. A big dissapointment in terms of quality and dealership service.

I don't think I will purchase another BMW or Mercedes again. They don't have the magic anymore and they feel just like the cheaper Japanese cars.

The one series is cramp inside. The quality is shocking. The power is bad. The windows rattles. Lights goes out as you see in the other review. Hard to tint as you also see in the other review. Check the guy in New zealand he had heaps of problems.

I have seen many BMW 130 in my city people are selling before reaching the first 10,000km.

BMW and Mercedes cannot make good quality small cars because its their new field.

My fathers 2006 7 series is nothing, but problem, got the same problems with the window seals.

In short.

BMW is expensive the price doesn't match the built quality. A toyota's quality is more consistent.

BMW service is terrible, the dealer knows their car is problematic and is not able to fix it beside for patching

"it" up.

The window rubber screaks because they chose to use cheap rubber instead of a better quality ones.

You can check with online forum people with these problem.

The 1 series doesn't handle that great either. Yes its rear wheel drive, but I think people lose their logic when they see the BMW badge.

Seriously for anyone out there looking for a 1 series for god sake think over it carefully.

I test drove the VW R32 lately.. never own one, but it felt better built than the 130.

Sorry if this review offended BMW lovers.. but I am talking facts here.

THanks

Tim.

26th Feb 2007, 11:10

Okay, Tim, you need to keep some things in perspective. BMW has never made a reliable large sedan (7 series) so the fact your father had problems was no surprise. Also, the 1 series apparently is another stillborn effort even though it was brilliant in concept.

But the reality is a lot of BMWs are very reliable, especially the 3 series. I've owned numerous BMWs and never had the trouble you describe. My 2000 5 series was the most reliable car I had ever owned, and my ownership experience included cars from Asia, Europe, and America.

I'm not saying BMWs are most reliable cars out there, but it (unfortunately) really depends on what model you're buying. The 1, 7, X3, X5 series are simply awful as far as repair records, but the 3 and 5 series are pretty good.

As with all auto manufacturers, one key is to buy a model that's been out for a few years so that "all the bugs have been worked out".