Quote:
Originally Posted by BradF
Nothing against the 2, but I've decided I really want a 128i, 6MT, Sport Package. I've been looking for three months now. There are plenty of private seller and CPO 128i's around - virtually all are autos.
I went to a dealer last weekend that just hours earlier had posted a CPO with a manual (and sport) on their website. When I arrived the car was on a test drive, and two others were waiting to see it. It sold instantly, and the SA told me that they could sell that car at least 10 times over, and that they very often get calls requesting E82's with 6MT, and (oddly) more requests for the 128 than the 135.
An acquaintance works at a bay area dealership, and when asked if they would keep an eye out for a 128i 6MT as a lease return to be CPO'ed, he said, "get in line". What are my chances of finding one? He replied, "go rub a lamp"..."or maybe find a private party seller on the internet".
There is exactly one 128i coupe 6MT on eBay as I write this (and just a few more 135’s), and an Auto Trader search will find more – but low mileage newer 6MT cars (if available) are asking prices that seem to push the bounds of reason. Do a national search on BMW's CPO car locater, and you'll find just 3 CPO 128i 6MT's and only 1 with sport. M Sport? Forget it. But, there are hundreds with the Steptronic.
Does the 6MT mean higher value? On some of the performance models it likely will. As some have pointed out, on other more luxury-oriented models it will probably be a detriment. My neighbor still has his very nice, low mileage E53 X5 with the very rare MT - he's tried a few times to sell it, but as someone once said, "it's the nicest horse in the glue factory". So, he's decided to keep it forever.
I had an '08 328i, 6MT with Sport that took forever to get rid of because 95% of the potential buyers couldn't drive a stick and/or HAD to have an auto which is why I thought that finding a 128i 6MT would be simple and cheap. As it happens, I'm wrong. E82 with a 6MT is a very sought after combination to begin with, and there were probably far fewer configured that way than with the Steptronic- making the search that much more difficult.
I can appreciate BMW's smaller engine / turbocharging strategy (albeit reluctantly) and my long term hope is that they will continue to offer the MT in as many models as possible well into the future, but the list of automakers no longer offering the MT is growing, leaving me fearful that BMW isn't far behind. Enjoy them while you can.
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That's a great choice...I had a 135i and it wasn't so reliable. My brother has a 128i sport 6mt that's had basically no issues in 100k miles..other than him treating it like crap.
I searched around for an 09 128i stick a little while back because I liked the idea of having a cheap, reliable fun car but there aren't any
