Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

What generation is your 130i? There's a 2006 e87 that has popped up for sale near me. Manual, 140,000 kilometres and in a really nice metallic blue. Decent interior apart from a worn steering wheel. Looks to have the hydraulic power steering too. Very tempting.

I’ve a 2005 manual in Le Mans blue 122k - brilliant car, especially the engine!
My steering wheel was worn and swapped it for one of eBay - £60ish

Nice! I believe that is the colour of the one I'm looking at. How's the handling and general driving? Is it one of those cars that is just fun to drive, fast or slow? The reason I ask is that I can't take it for a test drive until at least October 11 when our restrictions lift.

Mine sounds exactly the same as that one. Same year, 130k miles so that’s quite a bit more, hydro steering.

Issues I’ve had are a failed starter motor, a flooded parking sensor module and that’s about all in the 25k I’ve owned it. Go and drive it if you’re serious, if it’s healthy you can’t fail to fall in love with that glorious engine in a practical little hatch that looks no different to a 116i. The throttle response, the noise, and the sense that it will throw you backwards into a ditch if you take the piss make it an absolute hoot. I’ve never felt like I want anything more, I’m planning on keeping it forever, it’s already booked in to tackle the bit of rust that’s starting to form despite it probably only being worth about £3k.

Edit: Mine’s the SE rather than M-Sport version with 17” wheels, taller sidewalls and softer springs which is perfect for the shitted up B-roads round me which is where it really puts a smile on your face.

Excellent info. Thanks. Sounds like it's a solid platform then. Would be a big change from my 306! At least I'm used to cars that like to spit you into the hedges if you drive like badly. The one I'm looking at is probably the m-sport as I think that's the only spec they sold down here and the last owner has put 19's on. They look great but imagine it drives fairly harshly. Would be changing that.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2006-bmw-1-series-130i-sport-e87-manual/OAG-AD-19714035

Link only takes me to the front page, not sure I found the right car but most are M-Sport spec. They definitely look better and probably handle better if the roads are nice near you.

Ah weird. No worries. Thanks for the input so far. I'll give the dealer a call today. The roads here are a mix of smooth and absolutely shite... Sooo, yeah need a bit of sidewall.

Well, that was a fun drive home from London's famous London. 4 sets of roadworks on the M11, including 2 sections down to one lane, the A11 was closed completely and I had to do the whole journey at 50mph to eke out the vapour in the tank due to fuckwits panic buying petrol throughout the South East and East Anglia. FML but this country is a mess.

Mines the m sport version and I bought it from a dealer without a test drive. Handling is great, previous cars have been 205 gti, Mx5’s, Impreza, etc. I’ve removed the run flats.

Some friends were messaging us at 9.45pm last night while stuck in a queue to get petrol. Last message was just past 11om and they were still in it.

Idk if they got any petrol in the end. Assuming they made it back home in the end.

Edit: just to be clear it was a couple with the passenger doing the texting.

Has anyone got a recommendation for a decent garage in south east London? I've come to the conclusion that the guy I was using before is absolutely useless.

We got petrol last night, some research on Google maps to see which ones were "busier than normal" and had petrol, and which ones were "quieter than normal" and had sold out. Then waited 2 hours for the traffic to die down and for straight in at one. Wallet now £65 lighter. I've never had the tank that low before!

(Also csb)

Totally anecdotal but I passed a few petrol stations yesterday and the queues seemed a lot shorter than earlier in the week. The Esso on New Kent Road had a pretty short queue both times I passed it if that's any use to anyone! That could have changed today of course.

Cheers.

Is there a way to see the traffic without a destination?

As we're in the burbs outside London the problem I have is there being so many stations to search through.

If you look at an Esso station on Google maps it usually tells you if it's busy or not. I just then waiting till after 9pm so there was less traffic

ooohhh i would trade in my DS for that - any link?

Here, I found you a better one... Just a little buffing needed
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/1282200879?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=ios_VIP&utm_medium=social&utm_source=sms

Coccodrillo.

Day sketch. 😎

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thanks ! ha :)
that's only 10,567 miles from me - i wonder if he'll hold it until i can pop over and take a look..

I can't imagine it's going anywhere 🤣

Thanks for that

I think I want a Rivian R1T...

you need to think again x

££££££ also, they're not coming to the UK ever but probably not AUS either. To much money to convert to RHD for only handful of markets.

Nice though.

Some friends were messaging us at 9.45pm last night while stuck in a queue to get petrol. Last message was just past 11om and they were still in it.

Birchanger services was the only petrol station of the 20+ I visited with any fuel. It also had a queue so long that I doubt I would've made it home if they'd run out before I refilled. In fact, I'm not sure I had enough fuel to survive the queue.

I'm just going to Not Drive until this whole shitstorm is over. The Audi's saying it's got 5 miles' worth of fuel left, and that doesn't leave a lot spare for queueing with all the other fuckwits. Happily Sunday's CX race is only 15 miles away, so I can ride there and back. Hopefully.