So we got a BMW 135i convertible

So we got a BMW 135i convertible


I’ve been zipping around Dubai all morning today, getting my hair blow-dried and losing a few in the process. Because BMW home-delivered this 135i convertible today, and the weather is perfect for such a car.

The googly-eyed 1-Series isn’t an attractive car by any stretch of the imagination, but BMW tries hard to make it look mean with 18-inch alloy wheels and a subtle body kit.

The rear only sports exhaust tips on one side of the bumper, probably due to space issues. Interestingly, the shiny tips are painted almost black in colour. Notice the cheap non-retractable antenna.

Switching to hair-dryer mode seems to take a good while and you have to keep a button pressed all the way through. It makes for a good show as bystanders ogle at the dancing cloth roof.

Space is good for the front passengers, but while the rear fits medium-height adults, their knees will scrape the seatbacks, and their elbows will get scraped by the converging sides. Access is very quick and easy when the roof is down.

The cabin is almost the same as in any other modern BMW. The steering wheel sports two paddles, but both do the same thing — pull for downshifts and push for upshifts…or was it the other way round? The pop-up screen is controlled by an iDrive rotary controller, which we are starting to get the hang of, but it is a serious hazard during driving.

There is one small cup-holder in the center console, and as if an afterthought, another cup-holder sticks out near the passenger’s leg, which does not seem to be removable.

The cabin materials are almost all premium in quality, except for the hard plastic over the gauge cluster and everything below the dashboard. Still, many interesting features remain from larger BMWs, such as the seat-bottom extensions, the keyless starter and the iDrive controller.

The luggage space is small but reasonable once the roof is up and the excess junk is removed. Our car already had cargo in it, such as a first-aid kit, a tool kit and a foldable plastic wind-deflector which is so complicated to set up that the previous tester seems to have snapped it, even though the instructions were right there on that white piece of paper.

Driving impressions will be reserved for the review. Needless to say, while it looks like a chick car and we looked like fags driving around in it, the 135i hides an intensely powerful engine and purely sport-oriented suspension tuning. Since I don’t have a storage space for my own M Roadster‘s roof, I’ve never driven it with the top off. This 1-Series showed me what I am missing out on. It also reminded me of how awful BMW ownership can be — one tail lamp doesn’t work.

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Comments

  1. woow! cool babe car!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

  2. If im right the 135 has the 3.0 twin turbo unit from the bigger 335i so i bet its gonna be real fast for such a small car!! “getting my hair blow-dried and losing a few in the process” lol… 😆 is probably evidence of that engine..

  3. I’d love to drive this just to hear that 3.0 roar at the high revs… 😎
    Do you still have it?? wouldn’t mind taking some pictures of this baby at night with those angel eyes…let me know…I’ll come where ever the car is parked…. 😀

  4. i like that car man…good one mashfiq..boooo

  5. Author

    Car is with my PR dodo right now. Long story.

  6. long story…hmm…sounds like a annoying PR dodo!! 🙁

  7. btw does this come with run-flat tires or the standard ones???

  8. hahaha that fag ‘took’ the car from u? :mrgreen: hope u told him its not awd.

    next weeks video : how to rescue a bmw 135i from the middle of the desert by mash

  9. nice car. the lights are quiet large but something about them make the car look like a cute pet dog or cat. so the car looks good and much better than its hatchback variant… that cup holder looks hilarious! 😆

  10. It would be good car depending on the price. If it above 100k then forget it

  11. er, its a beemer. I’d be surprised if its price tag was below 100k AED…

  12. Last i heard was 220k for it! I wonder if it has reduced more now..

  13. The last time i checked with AGMC it was for DHS193K…Man the cheapest BMW is for DHS114K thats if you get a special discount,plus its the basic 320i with nothing from the inside.

  14. i think looks less ‘faggy’ with the roof down 😆

  15. very nice 😀 what is the purpose of the seat-extenders though?

  16. I think it can be useful if you park the car at a beach or something; slide the seat back, backrest down and strech your legs a bit more but don’t think many will find many use of it unless there’s a kid on the front seat… 🙄

  17. The drink holder on the passenger side is removable. You need to pull it fairly hard but there is a storage compartment for it in the center console

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