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
we want dis in canada :(
I looked at these recently. They seem to be holding their value very well. Or another way of putting it - they’re still pretty expensive for a car that’s approaching 10 years old (based on a platform that’s now 12 years old). You can get a Z4 Coupe (same engine) for similar money, which is infinitely better looking and more special IMO.
Bring this to the USA PLEASE 😭
Plus, you can gain 106% of hp and 103%of torque with just software tuning
i love my 135i but if they had this in the US in a 135i id be sold
What about an e39
Saw these last fall when visiting the UK. Not available in the US but if they were, it would be a winner. Great vehicle for many reasons, and purposes.
I really don’t like the look of the BMW hatch series. The 130 Coupe is a future classic imo
My dad owns a 120D F20 M-pack chipped to 239 bhp and 484 nm, which for the need of driving long business-trips for his workplace is a amazing compromise between fuel economy and performance. Even if you drive a bit naughty, the fuel economy is consistently above 20 km/pr. liter. And it still has that hatchback/sporting feeling. It would be near perfect if it had a LSD installed though, hehe ;) And maybe, it could do with less weight as well. However, would really love to tryout the 130i -But the prices in Denmark really destroys the thought of ever owning one. DAMMIT.. 180 % taxation on cars :(
Were they sold in the us?