The 130i Is One Of The Best Used BMWs You Can Buy Right Now
Whenever I have an idle moment, I head over to the classifieds and have a jolly good browse. But recently, there’s been one car I look for first almost without fail: the E87 BMW 130i. I’ve been tempted by one of these for ages, because they tick a hell of a lot of boxes. Great engine? Check. Good chassis? Check. Great looks? Well, this one will divide opinion, but I reckon it’s a handsome devil.
The big draw, of course, is the 265bhp, ‘N52’ 3.0-litre straight-six. It’s the most powerful non-M N/A straight-six BMW ever built, and it’ll get you from 0-62mph in an impressive 5.5 seconds, and on to an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph.
It’s one of the few rear-wheel drive hot hatches in existence, although there are a few handling upgrades I’d consider, namely a limited-slip differentially and perhaps new dampers.
The best part is they’re not all that expensive. The cheapest are currently hovering around £5000, and we found this tidy looking 2006 example for £7695. Sure, that’s E36 M3 money, but as we discovered recently, buying a car like that does have its pitfalls.. The 130i is a much less complex car, but is still bloody quick, so for this kind of money, we reckon it’s the used BMW to have.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
My dad got one, really nice car, good power and enjoyable to drive. I recommend !
I have one and I absolutely love it! Plus I’ve owned it for 17 months now and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it. Brilliant cars!
6 in a row, rev and Go! Nice Car
#AlexLikesRust
What great engine?
The N52 is a horrible engine.
Why do you think that?
Why
sorry, but you’re talking Bullshit. The N52 is very very good. No problems at all. I know many people with over 250000km on it and never had any problems. Its one of the best engines BMW ever made. Very reliable. The 4 Cylinder N43 and what else was available are much more unreliable in the 1 series. Also the diesels have problems. But its not more problematic than at any other car brand. The N52 is also way more reliable and better than the later N53 that came in the E9x models with direct injection. Sorry but i see you’re a mercedes fan boy and don’t know what you are talking about. read at 1erforum.de. There are no major problems with the timing chain at the n52. For example my N47 Diesel has big problems with the timing thain, but even with that i really never had a problem 120000km long (with racing use etc.) and then got it changed for FREE in a 6 year old car, even without BMW Maintanance.
I’ve been basically been saying that for the past year and none of my friends listened 😂
I liked it so much I got one. Had to sell it due to work reasons, returned. And bought another. Supppp!
Get the manual though. The auto is much less enjoyable I heard..
Z4 3,0si.
If your legs are off centre from the rest of your body then you’ll be onto a winner.
Just spray it completely black and you have a poor man’s ‘squad’ mobile. You’ll be saying ‘eyy fam’ like a legend in no time!
The reason why Matt featured this BMW: He wants to keep his job