BMW M135i

It is said that all good things must come to an end. My time with the BMW came to an end when I accepted a new job in Kuwait. With the rules there prohibiting expats from importing cars, that meant the only course of action was to (very) reluctantly sell my beloved blue pocket rocket.

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It’s been a good while with the 2013 BMW M135i so let’s talk about running costs. Servicing is cheap as it comes with a 5-year service pack so the only thing I should have to cover are tyres (which I’m sure will be fearsomely expensive if I stick with the OEM Pilot Super Sports) and batteries. The car came as standard with a 3-year service pack, but the cost to extend this to 5 years was a paltry QAR 500 — a real bargain considering that this period will probably include at least one major service (Inspection II in BMW parlance).

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I was a little nervous about ordering a car I’d never seen in person especially since I had seen the meek-looking normal 1-Series at the dealership and it didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence. Any doubts I had were dispelled as soon as I laid eyes on my car at the dealership upon its arrival. With the M Sport kit, the M135i looks far more aggressive and purposeful than the vanilla 1 series. The M Sport front bumper especially adds a lot of presence (and a bit of menace) to the car. I really love the stance of the 1-Series with its long hood giving a laid back stance courtesy of the longitudinal engine,

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The BMW 1-Series has always been an acquired taste ever since it launched in 2004. Even if the looks don’t bother you, there is still the price, as it costs more than a Golf without necessarily offering that much more (at least in the basic models). That said, if you look past the basic models, the top-of-the-range 1-Series have always been interesting cars, combining arguably BMW’s best straight-6 engines with an entertaining chassis, and probably more closely evoking the spirit of BMWs from decades ago than their larger brethren in the current model lineup.

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The awkwardly-styled BMW 1-Series has always been an acquired taste ever since it launched in 2004. But I’ve always been a fan of the top-spec 1-Series which have combined arguably BMW’s best inline-6 engines with an entertaining chassis and probably most closely evoke the spirit of past BMWs than most of the other current models. Having owned (and loved) a 2007 130i M Sport back in London, as soon as I saw the M135i I knew I had to have it as it promised to be even better than the old car.

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