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.
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).
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,
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.