[Vervain]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

I have to say that the braking performance is what I am most impressed about in the 116i as well. I did finally manage to fade them after the front pads are getting close to worn out (23K km and many track weekends), but the stopping power is awesome. Not only in a straight line, but you can brake very hard into corners as well, clawing back lost ground against more powerful cars.

Very reassuring to hear. You can give some credit to the car's light weight for that too..

Just curious, have you done any official 0-100 km/h times or quarter miles or anything measuring some sort of performance in your car?

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by Anodite10

Just curious, have you done any official 0-100 km/h times or quarter miles or anything measuring some sort of performance in your car?

Yes, I hooked up my mobile phone to the OBD2 plug by bluetooth to log vehicle speed, and did a 0-100 run. The result was 8.4 seconds, a tenth faster than indicated by BMW.

[VernM135]

Go with the 118i

I know 5 people that have one and my previous bmw was also F20 118i
Much better than 116...dont care what stats say..in the real world 118 whips it solidly!

More power, good fuel consumption

If you gonna buy a 116 you could just as well buy a VW Golf lol

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by VernM135

Go with the 118i

I know 5 people that have one and my previous bmw was also F20 118i
Much better than 116...dont care what stats say..in the real world 118 whips it solidly!

According to that logic, he should buy a 125i instead of a 118i, since the 125i whips it solidly in the real world.

Originally Posted by VernM135

If you gonna buy a 116 you could just as well buy a VW Golf lol

How did you come to that conclusion?

[dape90]

This comes down to personal choice right!

Had I of had the money at the time I would have gone for a 1M, simple as that. However the mortgage came first. So I went with the 118i which has in my view more appeal than the 116i.
While I know the 118i is never going to set the world on fire with 170BHP, it did feel a lot stronger than the 116i and for me that helped me choose.

My only advice here is try not to ask to many people what they think. Just drive both cars and if the affordability works for either then you can make your mind up base on drivers appeal.

I hope that helps

D

[Callthecops]

Couldn't decide between the 116i with a lot of options or the 118i with only 4 options. (sport seats, PDC, sport steering wheel and metallic paint).
When I heard that the N13B16 ECU is 'chiptune' protected and piggyback style devices are not my cup of tea, I decided to go for the 118i.

Less options = less weight = faster =

[VernM135]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

According to that logic, he should buy a 125i instead of a 118i, since the 125i whips it solidly in the real world.

in the real world my hartge m135 whips both std m135 and 125i...just saying

Originally Posted by ovekvam

How did you come to that conclusion?

my opinion is bmw is expensive and if you are going to buy an entry level model..
there are a lot of other cars with more power or better fuel consumption or more space or that even look beter surely

The body of the 1 series is bit heavy for the std 1.6 engine. just like the F30 316i. for myself, i dont think its worth it spending that money just to nail your car to get somewhere

The 118i is on par with the R56 cooper S 135kw...not much difference.
Having owned both 118i and cooper S i dont think theres much to choose between them performance wise. i drove the crap out of both

I think the 118i is an awesome car, the enjoyment factor is there alot more than with a 116i im affraid..and it has the most value for the price tag..thats all

remember the wise words ... 'if you're not first you're last!'

[VernM135]

oh i see you have a 116i M sport..

if you have the sport package that changes everything

Then i do like your car

but not one without it

[ovekvam]

In my opinion, what sets BMW apart from most other car brands, is that the fahrfreude (joy of driving?) is built into the entire range, even the base model. You don't need a very powerful engine to have fun, unlike some other cars.

I do drive on tracks now and then, and sometimes pass cars which are supposed to be a lot quicker. I can assure you that it is a lot more fun to outdrive a Porsche or a Ferrari with that 116i badge on the rear hatch, than with some ///M badge.

And in Norway, the 116i has significantly better value for money than the 118i, otherwise I would perhaps also have chosen the 118i.

[Callthecops]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

...You don't need a very powerful engine to have fun, unlike some other cars...

On almost every car forum people are screaming that the Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ
need more power or that they need to add a turbo or supercharge it.
I disagree because its the chassis, the 50/50 weight distribution
and the overall handling of the car that makes it so fun to drive, not the power.
The 1 series is in the same boat (just like the brand new Caterham Seven 160)

[ipp]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

In my opinion, what sets BMW apart from most other car brands, is that the fahrfreude (joy of driving?) is built into the entire range, even the base model. You don't need a very powerful engine to have fun, unlike some other cars.

Very very true. My first car was a E46 316ti and it was really fun to drive. After that I realized that it was more "important" for to have a entry level BMW than a more equipped and more powerful VAG, Volvo and so on...

[Phantom3D]

This is the same reason why people loved the Old mini's. Low power but agile and nimble.

But power is also fun, specially on trackdays! I think a BMW should have some power to make it playfull on the edge!

[logiclee]

I wonder how many have driven both back to back?

Both cars feel exactly the same below 4000rpm, there's too little torque difference to feel any difference. 116i 240nm on over boost, 118i 250nm.
It's only at higher rpm that you feel any difference when the map and slightly larger exhaust allow the higher power.

Depends how many times you drive pushing for the red line and whether that is worth the extra money. Both cars feel exactly the same driving at low and mid-range rpm.

Cheers
Lee

[rpagianotto]

bmw numbers don't correspond to reality. My car's peak torque read around 290nm at the wheels, which could be roughly translated to around 330nm at the flywheel. The 0-100 times from the 116i and the 118i are over a second apart. Comparatively speaking, the 118i is as close (if not a little bit closer) to the 125i as it is to the 116i.

While the performance figures from one and the other aren't from different worlds, they should be noticeable. But as I said before, this difference doesn't matter to a lot of people. And about every 116i owner that I've heard would say that the car has sufficient power already.

[ovekvam]

I think the most noticeable difference is the character of the engine. While the 116i runs a bit out of breath at high RPM, the 118i pulls strongly all the way to the redline. For normal everyday driving, they feel rather similar, but the 118i pulls away when pushed.

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

Yes, I hooked up my mobile phone to the OBD2 plug by bluetooth to log vehicle speed, and did a 0-100 run. The result was 8.4 seconds, a tenth faster than indicated by BMW.

Oh nice! That's pretty damn fast

Originally Posted by VernM135

Go with the 118i

I know 5 people that have one and my previous bmw was also F20 118i
Much better than 116...dont care what stats say..in the real world 118 whips it solidly!

More power, good fuel consumption

If you gonna buy a 116 you could just as well buy a VW Golf lol

Thanks, I'm leaning toward the 116i now. I don't need that much of power, especially if most of my driving is in the city.

And I'll take the 116i over the golf any day!

Originally Posted by dape90

This comes down to personal choice right!

Had I of had the money at the time I would have gone for a 1M, simple as that. However the mortgage came first. So I went with the 118i which has in my view more appeal than the 116i.
While I know the 118i is never going to set the world on fire with 170BHP, it did feel a lot stronger than the 116i and for me that helped me choose.

My only advice here is try not to ask to many people what they think. Just drive both cars and if the affordability works for either then you can make your mind up base on drivers appeal.

I hope that helps

D

Thanks. I really do need to drive both, but I'm leaning toward the 116i. In an ideal world, I'd have the 1M too

Originally Posted by Callthecops

Couldn't decide between the 116i with a lot of options or the 118i with only 4 options. (sport seats, PDC, sport steering wheel and metallic paint).
When I heard that the N13B16 ECU is 'chiptune' protected and piggyback style devices are not my cup of tea, I decided to go for the 118i.

Less options = less weight = faster =

Yeah but I'm not going to mod my car in any way. The 116i is going to be stock, so even less weight on an already light car is going to be fun

Originally Posted by logiclee

I wonder how many have driven both back to back?

Both cars feel exactly the same below 4000rpm, there's too little torque difference to feel any difference. 116i 240nm on over boost, 118i 250nm.
It's only at higher rpm that you feel any difference when the map and slightly larger exhaust allow the higher power.

Depends how many times you drive pushing for the red line and whether that is worth the extra money. Both cars feel exactly the same driving at low and mid-range rpm.

Cheers
Lee

You're right. I haven't test driven back-to-back, let alone at all, ha!! I really do need to, but the 116i is shaping up to be my choice hey. thanks

Originally Posted by rpagianotto

bmw numbers don't correspond to reality. My car's peak torque read around 290nm at the wheels, which could be roughly translated to around 330nm at the flywheel. The 0-100 times from the 116i and the 118i are over a second apart. Comparatively speaking, the 118i is as close (if not a little bit closer) to the 125i as it is to the 116i.

While the performance figures from one and the other aren't from different worlds, they should be noticeable. But as I said before, this difference doesn't matter to a lot of people. And about every 116i owner that I've heard would say that the car has sufficient power already.

I'm assuming that your car is tuned to give that power at the wheels? I agree with the 118i being close to the 125i..

Originally Posted by ovekvam

I think the most noticeable difference is the character of the engine. While the 116i runs a bit out of breath at high RPM, the 118i pulls strongly all the way to the redline. For normal everyday driving, they feel rather similar, but the 118i pulls away when pushed.

That's okay, I don't rev it much

[rpagianotto]

Originally Posted by Anodite10

I'm assuming that your car is tuned to give that power at the wheels? I agree with the 118i being close to the 125i..

As a matter of fact, when I got those figures the car was factory default (177whp and 290wnm)!

I did buy a piggyback afterwards, but it didn't work, the car actually lost power so I sent it back and now they're checking if the unit they sold me was defective! (0-100km/h took 1 extra second, but I never ran the car on a dyno to see the actual power figures with the piggyback on)

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by rpagianotto

As a matter of fact, when I got those figures the car was factory default (177whp and 290wnm)!

I did buy a piggyback afterwards, but it didn't work, the car actually lost power so I sent it back and now they're checking if the unit they sold me was defective! (0-100km/h took 1 extra second, but I never ran the car on a dyno to see the actual power figures with the piggyback on)

Impressive!

I've never heard of a piggyback doing that. It's not like your car needs it anyway

[tonita]

The 118i is 1.6 seconds faster than the 116i (7.5 seconds vs 9.1 seconds), yet surprisingly their combined cycle fuel consumption is identical at 5.8 litres/100km (116i manual: 5.7 litres/100km, 118i manual: 5.9 litres/100km).

[ipp]

Originally Posted by tonita

The 118i is 1.6 seconds faster than the 116i (7.5 seconds vs 9.1 seconds), yet surprisingly their combined cycle fuel consumption is identical at 5.8 litres/100km (116i manual: 5.7 litres/100km, 118i manual: 5.9 litres/100km).

Except for the fact that BMW's official 0-100 figures for the 116i are 8,5 s.

[Panoz]

Originally Posted by VernM135

oh i see you have a 116i M sport..

if you have the sport package that changes everything

Then i do like your car

but not one without it

Sorry but I feel that you made some ,pretty much, silly statements above. The fact that u happen to own a relevantly quick car , doesnt mean that all the rest are garbage.

I can say that being also an owner of a 400++hp 335i , I find my baby-116 (M package) to be very very satisfying in terms of power , responsiveness and general driver's feeling.

To answer to OP i must say that the difference between 118 & 116 is quite noticable. If you dont mind the little extra , go for 118.

If u decide for the 116i though u'd certainly not disappointed.
Selecting m/sport package makes quite a change on handling and feeling.

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by Panoz

Sorry but I feel that you made some ,pretty much, silly statements above. The fact that u happen to own a relevantly quick car , doesnt mean that all the rest are garbage.

I can say that being also an owner of a 400++hp 335i , I find my baby-116 (M package) to be very very satisfying in terms of power , responsiveness and general driver's feeling.

To answer to OP i must say that the difference between 118 & 116 is quite noticable. If you dont mind the little extra , go for 118.

If u decide for the 116i though u'd certainly not disappointed.
Selecting m/sport package makes quite a change on handling and feeling.

Nice to know that the 116i feels good even when you have a monster 335i. Whichever one I choose, they're both going to be stock unless I find a nice demo. So my choice is completely based on the engine itself. It seems like the 116i is making a good case for itself. But I really need to test drive both of these.
Thanks