Just like BMW advertises, this car is designed for the driving enthusiast. I enjoy every moment behind the wheel. It is very fast yet reasonably economical. It is an excellent compromise between a family car and a sports car.

I have an ‘09 135i AT and love the car. Test drove a N55 (2011 135i) and Porsche Cayman back to back and preferred the power delivery of the 135i, granted it was a base Cayman. Nonetheless, the Porsche was more expensive so I ended up buying a N54 135i a couple of months later. I did really enjoy the N55, but 14,800$ for a 35K mile car seemed (at the time) like a better deal. I bought the car at carmax and bought an extended warranty (which has already paid for itself and then some), had I not gotten the warranty my view of this car may be completely different bc some of the xxxxxxI’ve had by now would’ve totaled thousands of dollars. Transmission problem cost abt 2500 to fix (covered by warranty), stereo screen monitor 700$, windshield wiper fluid reservoir 400$, vanos sallinoid (sp?) 400$...Tires are 1000$ a year it . I think I’m leaving out one or two fixes that came up...thankfully the warranty covered most of the repairs. Other than that, the car is a blast to drive, steering feel is great! Power is awesome, engine sound is so smooth yet strong at the same time, handles the twisty roads effortlessly, I personally love the stout stubby , bulldog look of it. Im6.3, 240 and I fit great in the car, so it’s comfortable (the Cayman was very tight interior space wise)...for an 11 year old car the car is well built (have the slightest of rattle on the dash which is hard plastic), doesn’t always rattle but on bumpy roads I sometimes notice it and it’s annoying. All in all, I bought this as a second car for fun, and it has been fun. But had I not gotten the warranty, I think I’d be pissed! So I can understand the gripe in some of these reviews! Also, I considered modifying and may still do so, but only after the warranty has run its course. In retrospect if I had to do it over, I might have gotten a Boxster , and definitely would’ve gone manual. But this is what I have and I’m still loving it! I had also considered the M235...but couldn’t justify paying 25-30k for a toy...near $15k and I prefer the looks and steering more. The sound system kinda sucks btw

I purchased a 2009 BMW 135i in the moth of July 2018 from BMW of Gwinnett Place, at first glance the car was the total package. At only $14,000 I bought a lightweight, 300 horsepower convertible with a dual clutch transmission. The car was purchased stock and remained stock throughout ownership. I had plans for modifications like an upgraded exhaust, tune, bov/charge pipe, etc but the car kept breaking down every other month before I could get to modifying it. At first I figured a German car with 65,000 miles may have a few small kinks to be worked out, but no. This car had several major problems that resulted in $7k worth of repairs which was half of what I paid for the car. It left me stranded on 4 separate occasions and other occasions where I still had to get it towed. I ended up knowing a AAA agent on a first name basis. The coolant system once exploded ($2300) a pipe leading to the turbos broke into pieces ($1500), the belts were worn really badly ($750), the brakes never lasted long ($850), the hvac system was prone to failing ($700), the ignition coils weren’t reliable either ($900), and the list goes on. It’s obvious that German cars aren’t cheap to fix but don’t expect the repairs and maintenance to be a rare occurrence like a regular car. I learned to expect something to fail every time I started the car. When originally purchased the car was inspected and given a ‘clean bill of health’, either the car wasn’t inspected and they lied to me or the car was inspected and they lied to me. Either way I traded in this BMW for a CPO Infiniti Q50 with a 6-year unlimited mile warranty and have been very happy with it.