BMW 1-Series Forum (F20) 135i - 1Addicts.com > Second Generation 1 Series Forum > 2012 BMW 1-Series Sporthatch (F20) Discussion > My New (old) f20 118i Review.
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      11-29-2015, 10:27 PM   #1
LotusElise2003
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My New (old) f20 118i Review.

It was with great trepidation that I drove my new 118i up my favourite mountain bends up at Mt dandenong. The 118i was suppose to represent a replacement for my Lotus Elise which I intend to sell shortly. The lotus was an amazing handler with amazing road feel connection and supercar like handling. The problem with the elise was after a few years it became too uncompromising as a regular car to take to the shops. The loud engine sound emanating just behind you would make listening to your favourite tune extremely difficult. I also wanted another car I could do the kids drop off.

During my search to replace the Lotus, I drove the Megane RS265, the Toyota FT86 or FRS and a Clio RS. I read about so many glowing reviews about the Megane being the champion front wheel drive so naturally it was the first car on the list. I test drove the Megane through some fast highway on ramp and through the residential area. My impression is that Megane is fast but it still felt very much like a FWD. Steering feel was close to non existent and the drive was generally very uninvolving. I was so unimpressed that I had to go back to the dealer to drive it for a second time as my experience was not consistent with the glowing reviews. So I put the drive mode to Sport and hammered it again. Again, I was disappointed that the car did not have the fluidity and connectedness in its drive train nor the steering feel of a competent RWD car like the MX5.

The FT86 steering feel I thought was wonderfully communicative, much better than the 1 series but where it falls over is the engine. The achilles heel of the FT86 is its gutless engine which has a flat spot between 5000-6000 rpm.

When I drove the 118i, I was not expecting the handling to be so fluid and the rear end to be so deliciously playful. I wasn’t hoping for much as my experience driving a 2012 328i was akin to driving a high powered Toyota Camry so I thought BMW had gone “soft” to pander to more mass market female appeal. Okay so the steering feel is probably a 5.5 out of 10 compared to the Elise’s non power steering rack which is 9/10 for road feel. But the at limit balance of the 118i’s chassis I found quite sublime. The car changes direction and seem to flow so incredibly well even in very tight corners around the Mt Dandenong Tourist roads. Another surprise for me was the low down torque of the 118i engine….wow…welcome to the new world of twin turbo charged technology !!!! I CANNOT imagine what the 135i would feel like power wise. The 118i is more than adequate for me at this moment. Sure the Elise could do 0-100 in 5.9 seconds but it takes a bit of effort getting there. With the 118i, the smoothness of the drivetrain and the 8 speed auto is just such a joyfully seamless experience.

I have got a few mods lined up such as chip tuning and eibach lowering kit so I will keep you posted. So far, I am very happy with the inherent balance of the chassis and the smoothness of the engine drive train. It really does make me feel like I am driving a sedan version of an MX5 as the balance seem to be very similar with much greater chassis rigidity of the BMW of course.
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      01-03-2016, 08:30 AM   #2
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Stock suspension is rubbish

My first mod on my 118i was to swap out the poggo stick stock springs to Eibach pro springs. The stock shock absorber was retained. The look of the car improved and the car rolled less but the ride was still dog turd. Each time after the car went through a bump it would continue to bounce around like a pogo stick effect. This effect was very disconcerting especially when you hot a bump through a mid corner.

I told the mechanic to take back the eibach. I am not sure what people are thinking when they recommended or are pleased with the eibach kit with the stock shock absorbers.

I then got some KW version 3 installed and my goodness...it transformed the car to WRC type handling. It takes the 50:50 weight distribution of the 118i to another level of grip, poise and suppleness. The handling was so good that I was comfortable getting rid of my heavily modified Lotus Elise. My friends driving a 2015 WRX and a BRZ could not keep up with me through the tight bends of Mt Donna Buang as the KWs were that effective in keeping the tyres to the ground. I also dumped the runflat tyres for Yokohama AD08, the same as my Elise so I knew they were excellent tyres.

So if anyone tells you to try the Eibach springs on stock stock shock absorbers...just tell them that they are an idiot and it is an idiotic recommendation because you cannot polish turd (BMW stock shock absorber) into gold. You have to do it properly with matching shock absorber and springs from the same manufacturer.
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      01-03-2016, 12:53 PM   #3
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      01-03-2016, 01:28 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiwi View Post

yeah i kinda agree


PICS PLEASE
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      01-04-2016, 05:37 AM   #5
LotusElise2003
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cid:25160a74-4670-44c2-9bed-c0929d7991ed
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      01-04-2016, 05:43 AM   #6
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Guys, I am having trouble uploading the picture of my Elise and the 118i. This forum keeps returning a limit size error.
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      01-04-2016, 09:52 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusElise2003 View Post
Guys, I am having trouble uploading the picture of my Elise and the 118i. This forum keeps returning a limit size error.
Strange. The Elise is rather small! :-)
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      01-04-2016, 10:22 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusElise2003 View Post
Guys, I am having trouble uploading the picture of my Elise and the 118i. This forum keeps returning a limit size error.
There's a reference limits table below (in the attachments management form). Shrink/convert it to fit (with a graphics editor) or take it again with appropriate camera picture size/quality settings or upload elsewhere (there are plenty of free storage sites, FWIW - never used myself ) and use an external link (less recommended).
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      01-04-2016, 10:30 AM   #9
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Hey you're a local! To me that is. I'm also keen to see a lowered 118i on KW V3 and square edge AD08s!
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      01-04-2016, 04:36 PM   #10
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Thank you for the review, now lets see some pics!!
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Check out our current sale by clicking on this link!
https://x-ph.com/sale/

Phone number 702-494-9435
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      01-05-2016, 04:48 PM   #11
LotusElise2003
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You are more than welcome to drop by at mount waverley.drop me a pm.
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      01-05-2016, 04:49 PM   #12
LotusElise2003
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I will get around to posting a pic of the lotus and my 118I soon. Just swamped at work at the moment. I need to shrink the jpeg file size.
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      01-05-2016, 09:47 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusElise2003 View Post
I will get around to posting a pic of the lotus and my 118I soon. Just swamped at work at the moment. I need to shrink the jpeg file size.
Yes, you have to 'edit' and resize to around 20% if you want to upload them.
I usually right click on the picture, select 'edit' from the drop window then change the size and save it in the same folder. Just put a letter after the file name you used. You can then go to the folder and select that pic to upload.
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Last edited by AusF20/F48; 01-05-2016 at 09:53 PM..
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      01-06-2016, 05:30 AM   #14
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This is a mickey mouse website. I took another picture of my 118i in the lowest quality setting and yet the uploading facility is still saying its too big. Lacks flexibility. If you want to increase forum membership size you should make it easier for people to post photos.
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      01-06-2016, 05:43 AM   #15
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I don't think BimmerPost is lacking members lol.
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      01-06-2016, 07:53 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusElise2003 View Post
This is a mickey mouse website. I took another picture of my 118i in the lowest quality setting and yet the uploading facility is still saying its too big.
How large is the file, what are the picture dimensions (height,width) and what's the file's type (extension: .bmp, .gif, .jpg ...)?

They seem to have quite reasonable limits here:

bmp: 5.72 MB, 1300*1240
gif: 419.4 KB, 1900*1400
jpe: 449.7 KB, 1900*1400
jpeg: 937.5 KB, 1900*1334
jpg: 937.5 KB, 1900*1400
png: 5.72 MB, 1600*1334.

If your picture is really huge it will be uncomfortable to view, not fitting the screen as a whole, taking scrolling to observe.

Here's a link to most recent forum upload in another thread (people rely on external links quite hard, I see ): http://f20.1addicts.com/forums/showp...postcount=1267. The picture (right click, "Propeties") is a .jpg of 261818 bytes (256 KB) and 1136*640 pixels (graphical points ). You should be able to upload a .jpg three times as large and at least 1,5 higher resolution. Or are they just low on storage space here?

Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusElise2003 View Post
Lacks flexibility.
You mean automatic shrinkage? They respect your art. You should preview your picture before uploading to verify it's good enough, that's not missing important details you want to show. So there could be a point in fitting it yourself.
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      01-06-2016, 08:03 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WAY View Post
I don't think BimmerPost is lacking members lol.
It will be if it adopts the approach you suggest.
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      01-06-2016, 09:35 AM   #18
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we've been waiting for photos since last year......dammit

here is a pic of mine so that we dont get bored xD ,and also may god help you in your resizing mission!

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      01-21-2016, 11:56 PM   #19
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It seems like @LotusElise2003 will not get the role in the next "Mission Impossible" movie
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      01-22-2016, 03:44 AM   #20
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Defeated by paint! Lol
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      01-22-2016, 09:24 PM   #21
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LotusElise2003 might be just a helpless victim of a professional rather than phone camera and barely knowing what picture files are and how to handle them: All About Digital Photos.

F20 picture is already here. Now here's a 2003 Lotus Elise to complete for the desirous ones :
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Last edited by No one; 01-22-2016 at 09:37 PM.. Reason: Had to upload the image as the external source link did not work.
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