Greetings from the Brickyard State

[1 M Mike]

As my handle indicates I have what I consider the ultimate driver's car, and one that the good Lord willing will be the last BMW I'll ever buy.

I did at one time also own what I consider the best ultimate non-M vehicle in the form of an '04 Imola red with Natural brown ZHP that a current member here now owns, and who turned me on to this site.

I still have a couple dozen pictures of it that I refer to when I pine for it.

But it's good to know I can come here on occasion and see more current pictures of her, since Brett seems to be keeping her looking sharp as she rightly deserves.

My vehicle rap sheet over the years includes the following:

'84 Porsche 944
'91 BMW 318is
'92 BMW 325i
'01 BMW 330Cic
'03 BMW 325iT
'09 BMW 135i with PPK

Daily driver is a MKV R32 and the little woman has an '11 328iT.

While the 135i itself is a wild and raw banshee, the 1 M is simply a hellion. I'll admit to being a bit more than biased, but all that's been written about it holds up when you hit the twisty bits. If you don't come away with a silly wide grin, then chances are you didn't chuck it hard enough in the S's.

I'm actually the 3rd owner of this Voluptuous Orange beauty, and I'm still just touching the surface of its abilities.

Which leads me to believe I'm truly done sowing my wild auto oats, and chasing side skirts in pursuit of that magic bullet.

Anyway, looking forward to partaking of the ZHP Family Affair you good folks seem to be enjoying on here.

Shalom for now!

[danewilson77]

Damn Mike. Welcome.

Last pictured made my pants wet. :shifty

[1 M Mike]

Danke. I wish I could have kept the 135 as well. I shed several Le Mans blue tears when I had to part with it. I am enamored of Imola, but I've always pined for LMB since I'm a blue freak by nature even more so when NA turned down my request for it on an '06 E46 M3.

If the 1 M had been offered in it I would have been the original owner of one. But Valencia has grown on me since I picked it up, and it's such an unusual color that you don't see very often that's now actually supplanted both Imola and Le Mans as the pinnacle palette color for me.

[danewilson77]

Yeah....that 1M would have been insane in blue (not that it isn't insane now).

Me and my ZHP will now leave this thread, with our collective tails between our legs :)

[Mtnman]

Welcome. E82 membership is growing. Especially the zhp to e82 guys and gals. Glad to have you.

[328ioc]

Damn beautiful.

What part of they state do you live in? I've got family in Indy.

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[328ioc]

Welcome. E82 membership is growing. Especially the zhp to e82 guys and gals. Glad to have you.

Its of the few new BMWs I would buy so this is understandable.

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[Johnmadd]

Welcome.

[echo46]

Wow, incredible.

[danewilson77]

Wow, incredible.

Yeah...I get giddy like a school girl when we get a member with one of these.

[midlandtech]

last pic is amazing, welcome.

[nike001]

Oh my god that 1M.

I can only hope that once I graduate and find a good job that I may acquire one. I think finding one for a decent price will be more of a feat though...

Welcome, Mike!

[kayger12]

I love everything about this thread.

Welcome to the Family.

Sent from my kick-A Galaxy S3

[MiniD]

Wow!! Beautiful.

[1 M Mike]

Welcome. E82 membership is growing. Especially the zhp to e82 guys and gals. Glad to have you.


Damn beautiful.

What part of they state do you live in? I've got family in Indy.

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Welcome.
Appreciate the warm welcome folks. Brett was absolutely spot on in that you are a right hospitable lot!

Mtnman I noticed you are located in Asheville. I coincidentally rented a house there for a week with my wife that was primarily used for picking up the 135 at Performance Center in Greer. We've made 4 or 5 vacation trips to the Asheville area since we've been here in Indiana, and it's on the short list of possible place to retire to when that time comes. There are some great drivers roads there that are playing its siren song, luring me to make it my next home.

The 135 is the natural progression for someone going from a ZHP, looking for something a bit newer. The F30 simply has grown too big and soft. For my personal needs it's safe to say I will never own a new 3 series again. It's outgrown the things that first drew me to it. At least I can say I left the 3 series at the top in the ZHP. To own an F30 or even an E90 would only cloud that image, so I'd rather say my auf wiedersehen's with happy memories and a clear conscience.

328ioc, we live on the east side of Indy in a rural area just on the outskirts of the metro area that only about a 20 minute drive to downtown. Indy is really just a great big little city. We're actually both native Californian's having grown up in military families on the Monterey Peninsula, when Ft. Ord when still in it's hhay day before closing in the mid 90's. When it closed our jobs transferred to Indy, and have been here ever since enjoying the family friendly atmosphere.

I do miss the temperate Central Coast weather, especially in winter, but the upside is the cost of living is so much more reasonable in the Midwest. Which affords me to be able to pursue my compulsive car buying hobby, even though it drives my loving wife crazy at times. But she also says at least she knows I can always be found in the garage most times, instead of in bars or poker parlors.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Welcome.

[cakM3]

OMG Mike!!! I was lucky enough to get a good look at a 1M at the dealer's showroom once... really love what Motorsport division did to this car :drool

[Johnmadd]

You know Bretski?

[M3TA5IN]

You know Bretski?

I'm sorry....


I keed I keed. I have a soft spot for bretski too.


Welcome man, your M makes me happy inside.


Sent from my fancy city machine.

[JupiterBMW]

Great looking cars, all of them... Welcome to the Mafia

[Dave_B]

:Lust:

Welcome to the Family.

[Mike V]

I love the ///1M. Welcome!

[fredo]

Welcome. Great pics !

[Avetiso]

Welcome!

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[johnrando]

Welcome. Great set of cars.

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[Ryans323i]

Welcome, Mike. I'm with Keith, I love everything about this thread. Beautiful BMWs, past and present.

And, yes, Asheville is the place to be! I'm trying to convince quite a few friends to move/retire here.

[johnrando]

Or Ryan, they (and u n ur fam) can come to Socal! :)

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[Don Adolfo]

Benvenuta a la famiglia Mike. Nice ride.

[Don Adolfo]

Have you joined the M Registry? http://www.bmwmregistry.com/

[Ryans323i]

Or Ryan, they (and u n ur fam) can come to Socal! :)

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Pfft...Why? ;)

[DublDee]

I have to ask what year is that car, and what is a normal price for a well looked after used one? I have my 330CI, but I also have a 2012 Ford Mustang GT that has quite a few tasteful modifications, and after seeing your car, I'm debating on whether I should try trading my Mustang in on one of those. That is a beautiful car!

[1 M Mike]

Appreciate the friendly cordial replies that keep rolling in from you mafia kids!

And DublDee, the 1 M, or 1 Series M Coupe as BMW likes to define it, was a 2011 model year run only for NA. BMW AG only offered it in three colors.....Valencia orange metallic, Alpine white and Sapphire black metallic. During that time only 740 vehicles were sold in the US. There was a 6 month production run in 2012 as well, but it was only for selected countries of which NA lost out unfortunately. I was counting on there being a 2012 run for NA, because I had to get my frau's Sport wagon since we were afraid NA would stop importing the 3 series Touring. As it turns out I would have been better off trying to get an allocation for the 1 M in 2011, because NA decided late to continue producing the E91 for 2012.

As I stated earlier this one had two previous owners, but it had only 1850 miles on it upon acquisition. First owner was a Army Colonel who did PCD in Greer, SC last December and had it for about 3 months, and the 63 year old gentlemen I bought it from only had it about 5 months and put maybe 600 miles on it himself. Guess he grew tired of it and was looking for a new toy.

It had all of the options I was looking for namely VO skin, heated seats, HK, Sat Rad and Hands-free BT and USB. The original owner also removed the original decklid spoiler and replaced it with the BMW Performance CF spoiler, and added side gill black matte inserts to match the black inserts in the rear apron. I had my reservations at first on how it would look, but I have to say it actually is a nice touch, especially with the edge brushed in body color.

The only mod I've added myself is blackline taillights. For the foreseeable future I don't imagine any other mods, except possibly swapping out the silver chrome exhaust tips for black chrome ones. Even though the N54 is extremely tune friendly and scalable, I'm satisfied with 340 ponies at the moment especially considering that with a touch of the M Dynamic Mode button it delivers short bursts of 370 ft. lbs. of torque.

I paid more than sticker, but nothing like the ridiculous prices some of these owners are trying to get.

You can expect realistically for a mid to low mileage example to pay from $2,000 - $4,000 more than sticker at the moment, or in other words depending upon how it’s optioned $49 – $59k. There's lots of people selling at 5 - 10k over sticker, but I don't see them moving their cars at those prices.

Expectations are that once the M2 is available the number of vehicles for sale should increase with the asking prices coming down to MSRP or slightly below.

If you (or anyone) can get their hands on one I highly recommend the experience.

There is not one of you true enthusiasts here that wouldn't get a kick out of this car.

I don't know if it’s the fact it's truly limited in number, but there's something in its DNA that gives you the feeling it’s something special.

On the highway it's amazingly civilized. Make no mistake, because you definitely feel road imperfections like bumps and uneven pavement. But it doesn't jar you violently, and cause filings to dislodge as I had originally feared.

I'm also amazed at how insulated it is inside. The NVH quotient is well within tolerance for a high strung vehicle like this. And the exhaust note is really sweet, especially when you stand on it. There is a definite drone at about 2200 - 2400rpm, while cruising at about 70mph in 5th or 6th gear. But drop it down a gear, or wind it up to anything over 2500 rpm and you suddenly have amnesia about any drone.

What makes this car different than the garden 135? It's definitely the M3 bushings and suspension bits, and bigger contact patch that set it apart. The stock 135 has more engine than chassis, whereas with the 1 M the distribution is a very nice blend of both, neither overly dominant over the other. The LSD is obviously the big difference maker. With the 135 you have to be careful in mid-turn because if you over accelerate the ESP nannies will kick in, but I always kind of found that fun with the 135 because when the nose is finally set and pointed straight there's a heap of turbo steam that's been piled up ready to be unleashed if you don't ease up a bit off the throttle.

As far as gas mileage goes driving at mostly 75mph with AC on I returned about 25 mpg on the trip home after picking it up in Hilton Head Island last July. Funny thing is the insurance rates for it are a smidge less than the 135i with the exact same coverage limits.

Below are a couple of more pics of it. And since you are a Mustang owner DublDee, although this one is the Boss 302 you might be interested in the following review between the E92 M3, 1 M and Boss 302.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWJc9zmyCV4

[danewilson77]

^Breaks Necks^

[DublDee]

Wow thanks for the detailed info! All of the info, and the vids are very interesting to say the least. I was so blown away by your car that I did some research to see if there were any up here in Canada and I actually found two of these for sale up here in Canada, the cheapest of the two was $58,000 Cdn and the other was $62,000, but neither of them are near me. Anyway, the one person's ad states that only 220 of these were actually sold in Canada, so chances are it may difficult to get my hands on one for a decent price. The hardest part would be finding someone who would actually want a Mustang GT, after driving that car! Anyway, again I must compliment you on your car...It's one sweet piece!

[brettbimmer]

Hey Mike!

Welcome aboard with the mafia! Yes guys, Mike is the reason that I am here in the first place, being as he had the excellent taste to order up an Imola over NB ZHP for European delivery some years back :thumbsup. As a die-hard Bimmer enthusiast, I told him that we needed to see him over here on the mafia as I know that he would have a lot to add, and hopefully enjoy spending some time here as well.

Now, we just need to start up a petition for Mike to join us at the family reunion in Virginia in May...in a 1 M... I think that I can find some space to park a 1 M amongst a few zhps. Time for a road trip! :roundel

Seriously, we would love to have you join in the camaraderie of some fellow BMW-crazed enthusiasts for a few days in May. You were looking for an excuse for a 1 M road trip, right? :biggrin

[johnrando]

Yes, great detail.

[Lost_One]

Amazing 1M, Mike. I lived in Indiana for about 10 years before transplanting myself to warmer climates. There's a 1M that parks in the same garage as me on occasion and I stop and stare EVERY time.

[Torxuvin]

Welcome. I have spent some time in Indy and a lot in New Albany. (south Indiana) I keep meeting new enthusiasts now that I'm no longer traveling up there. :facepalm The 1M looks great. Always wanted to drive one. The 135 is pretty fun. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[1 M Mike]

Hey Mike!

Welcome aboard with the mafia! Yes guys, Mike is the reason that I am here in the first place, being as he had the excellent taste to order up an Imola over NB ZHP for European delivery some years back :thumbsup. As a die-hard Bimmer enthusiast, I told him that we needed to see him over here on the mafia as I know that he would have a lot to add, and hopefully enjoy spending some time here as well.

Now, we just need to start up a petition for Mike to join us at the family reunion in Virginia in May...in a 1 M... I think that I can find some space to park a 1 M amongst a few zhps. Time for a road trip! :roundel

Seriously, we would love to have you join in the camaraderie of some fellow BMW-crazed enthusiasts for a few days in May. You were looking for an excuse for a 1 M road trip, right? :biggrinThanks again for cluing me in to this site, Brett. A real nice and quiet community you all have here that you feel safe in raising your cars up in, showing it takes a good village to raise a BMW, and where no ZHP is left behind. A very insightful board, as opposed to the norm on most which are more like incite-ful with people always razing one another.

Thanks for the offer to join in the ZHPfest family reunion. I know I would really enjoy the experience meeting the other villagers that will congregate there, as well as seeing you and the old Imola redheaded, brown skinned girl again. It'd be sweet to caress that steering wheel, and stroke her shifter through the gears again.

Unfortunately, it's too short notice since I have a commitment that particular period. But I'll certainly look forward to details on the 2014 gathering once talks turn to that event.


Amazing 1M, Mike. I lived in Indiana for about 10 years before transplanting myself to warmer climates. There's a 1M that parks in the same garage as me on occasion and I stop and stare EVERY time.


Welcome. I have spent some time in Indy and a lot in New Albany. (south Indiana) I keep meeting new enthusiasts now that I'm no longer traveling up there. :facepalm The 1M looks great. Always wanted to drive one. The 135 is pretty fun. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks for the warm salutations gentlemen. If you're ever driving through Indiana make sure you stop off again in Indianapolis on your way. You're both already familiar with the small, big city atmosphere, but as with the rest of the state the inhabitants are warm and cordial to visitors. And just as importantly we need all of you out of state residents tax dollars to help fund our lofty sports stadiums, and cultural enterprises that we locals want to enjoy. :)

[JupiterBMW]

Hey Mike- That might be one of the best reviews I've read on the 1M... Well done, thanks for that. I personally love that car... I find it funny how BMW copied my rims for that car and the M3 ZCP... :biggrin :rofl

Seriously though, I'm pretty sure the ZHP Mafia Reunion 2014 discussion will begin the day that this year's reunion ends...

[1 M Mike]

Hey Mike- That might be one of the best reviews I've read on the 1M... Well done, thanks for that. I personally love that car... I find it funny how BMW copied my rims for that car and the M3 ZCP... :biggrin :rofl

Seriously though, I'm pretty sure the ZHP Mafia Reunion 2014 discussion will begin the day that this year's reunion ends...Hi Jon! Thanks for the gracious remarks.

Those CSL's really do look great on the ZHP. They're still a PITA to keep clean, but I think they're still easier on the knuckles than the M135's. At one time I had a set on both of my E46's. It's only now after 18 months of having zero 135's to keep clean that the rashes, scabs and scares on both hands are almost completely healed. I think over the 7 years I had them I lost enough blood to apply an extra red layer over the Imola base coat. :)

[JupiterBMW]

Hi Jon! Thanks for the gracious remarks.

Those CSL's really do look great on the ZHP. They're still a PITA to keep clean, but I think they're still easier on the knuckles than the M135's. At one time I had a set on both of my E46's. It's only now after 18 months of having zero 135's to keep clean that the rashes, scabs and scares on both hands are almost completely healed. I think over the 7 years I had them I lost enough blood to apply an extra red layer over the Imola base coat. :)

Thanks... I really like the rims (technically, they're ZCP rims which are different than the CSLs) and definitely look easier to clean than the stock 135Ms... Still not any fun, but its all good...

[johnnyrad]

Oh man total car porn with those photos! Welcome Mike!

[Reckless]

Welcome

[MKSD03ZHP]

Welcome! absolutely amazing machines - looks, performance, overall appeal; I can see why many enthusiasts have owned or own more than 1 at a time

[PirateZHP]

I realize this is a 1 year old bump... but I had to see more pics of the 1M. Absolutely stunning car!

[1 M Mike]

I realize this is a 1 year old bump... but I had to see more pics of the 1M. Absolutely stunning car!
Thanks for the gesture, Pirate!

Hard to believe it's been almost one year since I joined this esteemed body of enthusiasts. Good gang of folks here like Brettski vouched for.

Hopefully I can post up some new pics soon now that winter seems to have decided to stop lurking about, and has gone back into hibernation.

[Vas]

I personally love the 1M and it is nice to actually see them on the market.

[gmurphy]

Yes more pics please! I really like the 1M!


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[johnrando]

I personally love the 1M and it is nice to actually see them on the market.

What do you mean... you seeing used ones come up for sale?

[gmurphy]

What do you mean... you seeing used ones come up for sale?

I know you weren't asking me but I have seen a few. I like browsing the BMW CPO/PO selection on bmwusa.com. In fact this is how I found my zhp! The 1M is still selling for around what it was new (well almost :) )


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[Simmsled]

Greetings!

I live in Franklin Township... near Wanamaker.
Let me know if you ever want to caravan to Indy's northside Cars & Coffee on Saturday mornings this spring/summer!

[1 M Mike]

Greetings!

I live in Franklin Township... near Wanamaker.
Let me know if you ever want to caravan to Indy's northside Cars & Coffee on Saturday mornings this spring/summer!
Sorry, not sure how i whiffed on this post as I normally don't ignore my own threads.

Anyway, even though it's normally the Saturday morning confusion in my household I'll be sure to PM you if it looks like I can get a pass slip from the Warden. :)