Topic: Bullet Blue's BMW 128i

[Allen]

BB, very nice looking unit, congrats and enjoy

[dave]

Congrats and welcome to the club!

Jet black is a great colour.  I prefer it over the metallic black.

Enjoy the ride! 

p.s. PM'd you re: winters

[Bullet Blue]

Congrats and welcome to the club!

Jet black is a great colour.  I prefer it over the metallic black.

Enjoy the ride! 

p.s. PM'd you re: winters

Re: the colour, I agree. There was a Z4 in the showroom with Metallic Black. Didn't look bad or anything, but the regular jet black seems to suit BMW's better.

Thanks for the PM as well. I also signed up at 1addicts 

[Mitlov]

I want your car.

[Oz]

Congrats, may the blue propellor bring you many more toothy grins. 

Driving will never be the same. 

[Bullet Blue]

Since Flinter decided to buy his excellent choice of a 128i, I decided I should give a bit of an update on ownership experience so far since I haven't been around the boards too much.

Ownership experience coming up on two years now has been 100% problem free. The only notable problems were:

1) Getting not one, but TWO nails on seperate occasions in my tire. Not a reliability problem, the runflats seemed to handle them fine. Got them patched no problem.

2) Tail lights were recalled, had them replaced. Had no issues with the original ones, but they replaced them for me anyways while the car was in service. Again, I don't consider this a reliability problem.

3) Bridgestone Potenza's are excellent gripping tires, but man do they ever wear down quickly. For the money they cost, they should be able to last a lot longer than they did. Again, this is not a reliability issue either though.

Halifax BMW has been a pleasure to do business with. This car has not cost me anything maintenance wise and if it's in for service or nails stuck in tires they always provide me with a loaner vehicle to minimize disruption to my day.

In not so good news, about two weeks ago I was hit from behind by.... another 128i! What are the chances! Same colour and everything. He claimed he was fiddling with the radio and that's why he didn't notice that I had stopped to let pedestrians cross at a crosswalk, but that's what the steering wheel mounted controls are for! He got out with a cell phone in hand so I believe he was actually talking or texting.

Anyway, about $1200 worth of damage done. The rebar was damaged so that got fixed as well as the bumper cover. There was about $600 worth of damage to his car. All in all, a $2000 mistake on his part. Hope he learned his lesson. My 128i is good as new though now. Only suffered minor whiplash.

In other news, my car starred in a friend's photo project called "mafia animals". Looked great! Check it out:

http://www.nickrudnicki.com/mafiaanimals/scene5.html

Loving the 128i so far. When the time comes to replace it, a 135i is definitely top of the list 

[safristi]

..Nice to hear from Ya again BLUE................can I ask how U went with the 128i when ya already had a Volvo C30.......similar (within reason) types of wheels...........

[Bullet Blue]

Saf the C30 is primarily used by the GF and the 128i is mostly mine. I would say they're both completely different vehicles in how they look, drive, feel etc... the only similarity between the two is that they're both 4 seaters.

I should also note that the C30 has been trouble free as well.

[safristi]

..i notice no comments on tha GF..... .............cant say i agree with yer TOTAL differentiation of the two vehicles.......care to expand............

[Bullet Blue]

Differences:

RWD vs FWD
Coupe vs. Hatchback
230 hp vs 168 hp
6 cylinder vs 5 cylinder
6 speed manual vs. 5 speed manual
18 inch wheels vs 16 inch wheels
Sport suspension vs regular suspension

I could probably go on....

Similarities:

Both manual transmissions
Both 4 seaters
Umm....both black? Both European? That's about it.

[safristi]

..Oh ya wanna split spec hairs eh!!! ......go on yer way......yer blowing 0.05...... ..........well ya coulda bought a Cruze OR a VOLT and really put the feathered set in a kafuffle................

[Julie]

Bullet, love your car.  The sport pkg wheels look good.  Is it Sapphire Black?

[Flinter]

Since Flinter decided to buy his excellent choice of a 128i, I decided I should give a bit of an update on ownership experience so far since I haven't been around the boards too much.

I'm pleased to hear that your 128 has been trouble free for two years now. I think the NA powertrain should prove to be more reliable in general.

Bummer about the tire punctures and recently getting rear ended... and by another 128 of all cars . You should have got a pic of that...a 128 with another 128 stuck on rear end. Caption "Conjoined twins".

Must say, I can understand the guys radio excuse even if he was really talking/texting. One of my beefs is with the stereo display, especially with polarized sun glasses. That said, I do agree that the steering wheel controls are great for most operations.

I'm planning on ditching the RFT when they are done. I'm hoping non-RFT will take edge off the marginal ride harshness with certain road surfaces. Have you replaced the original Bridgestone RTF yet?

I haven't experienced the 135 yet. Couldn't afford it when I was shopping so decided not to tempt myself. Ignorance is bliss.

[5 Wheel Drive]

Since Flinter decided to buy his excellent choice of a 128i, I decided I should give a bit of an update on ownership experience so far since I haven't been around the boards too much.

Ownership experience coming up on two years now has been 100% problem free. The only notable problems were:

1) Getting not one, but TWO nails on seperate occasions in my tire. Not a reliability problem, the runflats seemed to handle them fine. Got them patched no problem.

2) Tail lights were recalled, had them replaced. Had no issues with the original ones, but they replaced them for me anyways while the car was in service. Again, I don't consider this a reliability problem.

3) Bridgestone Potenza's are excellent gripping tires, but man do they ever wear down quickly. For the money they cost, they should be able to last a lot longer than they did. Again, this is not a reliability issue either though.

Halifax BMW has been a pleasure to do business with. This car has not cost me anything maintenance wise and if it's in for service or nails stuck in tires they always provide me with a loaner vehicle to minimize disruption to my day.

In not so good news, about two weeks ago I was hit from behind by.... another 128i! What are the chances! Same colour and everything. He claimed he was fiddling with the radio and that's why he didn't notice that I had stopped to let pedestrians cross at a crosswalk, but that's what the steering wheel mounted controls are for! He got out with a cell phone in hand so I believe he was actually talking or texting.

Anyway, about $1200 worth of damage done. The rebar was damaged so that got fixed as well as the bumper cover. There was about $600 worth of damage to his car. All in all, a $2000 mistake on his part. Hope he learned his lesson. My 128i is good as new though now. Only suffered minor whiplash.

In other news, my car starred in a friend's photo project called "mafia animals". Looked great! Check it out:

http://www.nickrudnicki.com/mafiaanimals/scene5.html

Loving the 128i so far. When the time comes to replace it, a 135i is definitely top of the list 

Your car looks GREAT in that scene!!!  Hopefully they put something under the metal briefcase that's sitting on the hood...

[Bullet Blue]

Bullet, love your car.  The sport pkg wheels look good.  Is it Sapphire Black?

No it's actually Jet Black. Oddly enough I think I prefer it to Sapphire Black.

Since Flinter decided to buy his excellent choice of a 128i, I decided I should give a bit of an update on ownership experience so far since I haven't been around the boards too much.

I'm planning on ditching the RFT when they are done. I'm hoping non-RFT will take edge off the marginal ride harshness with certain road surfaces. Have you replaced the original Bridgestone RTF yet?

They're toast, but I haven't replaced them yet since I put the winters on. I'll be buying some new rubber in the spring. That's another thing with the Potenza RFT's- very harsh ride, and I don't even mind a harsh ride. I'll probably do non- RFT's in the spring.

Since Flinter decided to buy his excellent choice of a 128i, I decided I should give a bit of an update on ownership experience so far since I haven't been around the boards too much.

Ownership experience coming up on two years now has been 100% problem free. The only notable problems were:

1) Getting not one, but TWO nails on seperate occasions in my tire. Not a reliability problem, the runflats seemed to handle them fine. Got them patched no problem.

2) Tail lights were recalled, had them replaced. Had no issues with the original ones, but they replaced them for me anyways while the car was in service. Again, I don't consider this a reliability problem.

3) Bridgestone Potenza's are excellent gripping tires, but man do they ever wear down quickly. For the money they cost, they should be able to last a lot longer than they did. Again, this is not a reliability issue either though.

Halifax BMW has been a pleasure to do business with. This car has not cost me anything maintenance wise and if it's in for service or nails stuck in tires they always provide me with a loaner vehicle to minimize disruption to my day.

In not so good news, about two weeks ago I was hit from behind by.... another 128i! What are the chances! Same colour and everything. He claimed he was fiddling with the radio and that's why he didn't notice that I had stopped to let pedestrians cross at a crosswalk, but that's what the steering wheel mounted controls are for! He got out with a cell phone in hand so I believe he was actually talking or texting.

Anyway, about $1200 worth of damage done. The rebar was damaged so that got fixed as well as the bumper cover. There was about $600 worth of damage to his car. All in all, a $2000 mistake on his part. Hope he learned his lesson. My 128i is good as new though now. Only suffered minor whiplash.

In other news, my car starred in a friend's photo project called "mafia animals". Looked great! Check it out:

http://www.nickrudnicki.com/mafiaanimals/scene5.html

Loving the 128i so far. When the time comes to replace it, a 135i is definitely top of the list 

Your car looks GREAT in that scene!!!  Hopefully they put something under the metal briefcase that's sitting on the hood...

Oh yes, by the magic of photo editing, you can't see it though 

[Julie]

Bullet, love your car.  The sport pkg wheels look good.  Is it Sapphire Black?

No it's actually Jet Black. Oddly enough I think I prefer it to Sapphire Black.

No, that's not odd.    Jet Black is actually my favorite of all the BMW blacks (I initially ordered my car in Jet Black), but I thought it had a bit of a grey tinge in that photo, and Sapphire Blacks seem to be more popular on forums and in dealer inventory...

[ovr50]

Part of the reason for than may be that Jet Black is an enamal paint (ie glossy) whereas Sapphire Black is a metallic. In terms of keeping a black car clean, the metallic paint may be a bit easier to live with. A glossy paint shows every swirl mark. Nothing prettier than a Jet Black car for the first 5 mins after it has been washed, after that, well, it's all downhill.

[rrocket]

Part of the reason for than may be that Jet Black is an enamal paint (ie glossy) whereas Sapphire Black is a metallic. In terms of keeping a black car clean, the metallic paint may be a bit easier to live with. A glossy paint shows every swirl mark. Nothing prettier than a Jet Black car for the first 5 mins after it has been washed, after that, well, it's all downhill.

It's a matter of keeping a good wax AND a good sealer on the car.  Prevents swirls and makes it so much easier to keep clean.