BMW M235i Owner Review

My rather in depth review of the BMW M235i that I've owned for the last few months.
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[@JonathanFeast]

For a man who doesn't claim to be a car journalist, you just did a sterling job. A really good effort. Cheers

[@omfgimgettingpissed]

Owner reviews are best imo. Someone driving a car for a week, that has no intention of ever owning that car, are of no use to most of us. You need to own a car a while to really know all the pros and cons. Thanks for posting.

[@kasoneduardo1634]

I dont mean to be so off topic but does anyone know a method to log back into an instagram account?? I was stupid lost the login password. I appreciate any tips you can give me.

[@jaseharold3119]

@Kason Eduardo Instablaster =)

[@kasoneduardo1634]

@Jase Harold Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@kasoneduardo1634]

@Jase Harold it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy! Thanks so much, you really help me out !

[@jaseharold3119]

@Kason Eduardo Happy to help :D

[@JohanDeLijser]

Honest and good review, one thing why I really like this review is because you are not trying to hard, you are just calmly giving us your opinion mixed in with facts about the car. You look comfortable in front of the camera and that makes it really easy to watch this review. This review actually seems more professional to me than most of reviews. Great job, learned a lot about the car!

[@DedicationBlog]

+JohanDeLijser Thanks, glad to hear that :)

[@bjjace1]

I agree none of the usual pretense that usually accompanies these videos. I like this guy's style.

[@roadreg1820]

JohanDeLijser I have to agree. He's also a pretty hot driver too. I've now subscribed and look forward to watching more content. I'm a big fan of the M135i's/M235i's. I think they're proper Q cars. I hope buy one in a few years time when the price goes down a little.

[@Zackary_]

This was by far one of the greatest reviews I’ve seen on KZbin regarding the M235i. Thinking of picking one up over the next few months as they’re now around $28k with 30k miles in my area. Thanks for such a great video!

[@petermaharaj]

One of, if not the best reviews of the M235i. Thank you and great job!

[@xtravisxmanx]

Nice review. I enjoyed the snippets you inserted throughout the video when talking about things like the downshift speed and paddle feel around 4:30. It really is a great all around car especially considering the price.

[@troypower4733]

Good review, always good to get real feedback from a real world review based on daily driving.

[@Agathorn]

Nice review! I have a 135i myself and I love that it's fast and fun but still has a backseat (that folds), good boot, nice interior with a good quality feel to it. It's not perfect but really good value for the money and a good mixture or sports car/practical every day car!

[@daniellucfarrugia1117]

Great job :) honest and calm along with a great knowledge tackling every sector. Keep it up

[@CharlesMeasures]

Great review. I have just acquired a M235i myself with the automatic gearbox. It is a tremendous car, well thought out and designed, phenomenal power and driving capabilities and yet it is still practical for every day driving. Most importantly, it puts a smile on one's face.

[@williamk1800]

A much better review than a lot of the "pros". Not just the content, but the delivery and presentation too. Great job, and great car!

[@d33pNacho]

Very, very good review. Informative, sincere and mixing personal impressions with facts. Loads of useful information for those of us who are considering buying this car. I really like your calm approach, far from the fanboys that usually praise their rides on youtube. If you ever go for your own youtube car review channel it'll probably be quite a success. Congrats.

[@catsound]

Really Nice review, way more professional editing than tons of established webzines or journalists... The oil temp stuff is like the coolest aftermarket piece of hardware I've ever seen for this car (or maybe the 2nd after the led alcantara steering 😋), I definitely wanna order one for my f20 135i even if i'm not racing You're doing great, I hope you'ml continue reviewing your Next cars ;)

[@DriveBeyond_GT]

Nice honest review. Much better review than you get from other youtubers + well edited too.

[@DedicationBlog]

+James Stringer Thanks, I was worried it might come off as a bit too negative lol hopefully people watch it far enough to see the summary at the end where I say how good I think it is overall

[@fabiancharbonnier]

Honest and thorough review. Thx. Very helpful. I’m soon getting one.

[@tburden09]

I’ve had my M235i for 2 weeks and it’s great! I’ve also got the Hardon Karmon speakers so awesome sound

[@ziyanzhang8821]

Best review on the m235i i've watched! =) Thank you!

[@ozonelives]

Great job on this review! Looking to replace our 2014 335i in the next 9 months and definitely considering this car. Agree on the looks. Front and sides are great...rear could be better. I also own a 1993 Rx7 so completely understand the steering comments on modern cars. Only one of the reasons why I'll never sell my Rx. Nice work!

[@GermanEagle1962]

Thanks, best review of the car I have watched.

[@mablevins08]

that blue color on a BMW is just stunning! Super cool car

[@Mrbfgray]

Except that's what everyone else gets? A little second hand shopping reveals a choice of colors in the US.

[@Mrbfgray]

@Formidable Legend123 I can't criticize as one of mine is silver, the most common color in the USA and the other is white, lol. I buy used and mainly insist on a light color for practicle reasons.

[@martinsgiberts4680]

Spot-on review! Would be interesting to see you reviewing some other cars as well!

[@DedicationBlog]

+Martins Giberts definitely going to do the R8 and GT86 (and I think Si will do his Abarth too) but I wouldn't really want to do reviews of other cars that we haven't at least owned for a few months

[@Charles-bm2fp]

Great review. I have the convertible and all the shortcomings (busy display, side mirrors, smaller boot, wimpy brakes, even heated seats) are forgiven. Happy camper here.

[@DoktrDub]

You aren’t a car journalist but you are clearly an enthusiast, pretty good review. Also it’s pretty quick? I mean dang what cars have you driven man? Must be some insane ones because some people have gotten 0-60 ratings on this stock at just under 4.5 seconds, which in reality is insanely quick!

[@scheffchen]

Thank you for your excellent Review!

[@kashv2500]

vids getting alot better btw

[@greenbrae7]

For those who might interested, there's info on how to inexpensively tune your 235i for dramatically improved acceleration, as well as some observations about it's handling dynamics in the extended piece below.

[@drewmorg.]

Awesome review dude, nailed it

[@gabourelperez]

Great review man! very detailed and quite honest :) plus you said that the castor brake fluid is the best for this car!?

[@alzaguensey]

This would be my choice as an achievable, fun car for sure! Great vid.

[@partlett123]

Loved this mate

[@vincentc6653]

Those roads look absolutely gorgeous!

[@IceFish.]

also i fully agree with the brake issue , the steering is variable sports steering on mine its brilliant

[@grantschneider926]

Great review, you do a better job than alot of people who do reviews for a living. Lmbo

[@LondonE46]

It's disappointing that you guys have so few subscribers but your channel is so good! Hope you get more popular soon!

[@DedicationBlog]

+magiatismic don't worry, we're not desperate for views/subscribers lol if people find the videos then cool, but if not it doesn't matter. We're not going to start making click bait rubbish just to get more subs or anything like that.

[@onlymt]

+DedicationBlog I personally like the channel because it's a smaller community and you can reply to pretty much every comment which is awesome! Also good review, didn't have a clue this car was putting out over 300hp!

[@DedicationBlog]

+Dawid “SpaceUnicorn” Bielusiak yeah I like that as well - actually get to know people and have a laugh with people who comment regularly, rather than it just being lost in a sea of thousands of comments. Yeah the car definitely doesn't look like a 320 bhp beast haha but its pretty rapid

[@jnrosemas]

Great review. I've got the same car with AWD just minus the 19" wheels (which look amazing by the way). I tend to shift mine around 5-6k rpms as well - that's where you get the nice burps coming out of the exhaust. Cheers!

[@DedicationBlog]

+John Rosemas I didn't know they did it in an AWD option to be honest. Yeah shifting around 5k seems to just feel right to me in this car lol glad I'm not the only one

[@JoshuaPlays99]

Nice review. Well done and pretty thorough.

[@ofentsepheto5351]

great review mate

[@MrNightspore68]

Great review, thanks!

[@Halfmoon67]

Love your vids man !

[@DedicationBlog]

+Halfmoon67 thanks :)

[@FlavortownFreddy]

Really honest review..wish journalists would do that rather than just saying its a good car..none of them mention the operating costs and reliability

[@KeoniSanchez]

Looks awesome, the review is great and editing is really good! M235i's seem like an fantastic investment too.

[@Robbieifyoucan]

+BoostedView Investment?

[@KeoniSanchez]

Robert C Hehe what I meant it looks like it would be worth spending 44k on. I should choose some better words next time. ;)

[@colinsmith1176]

Great review!

[@gus7895]

Great review! Very good.

[@E15tony]

Terrific review, very fair and informative. Better than some motoring hacks! :)

[@geofferz]

Great review - thanks. I think I'll get one.

[@carllynch8798]

Good honest review.

[@MrScootmcg]

Really nice real world review. Interesting to hear your comments on the subtlety of the looks and it's ability to blend in. It was one of the reasons I chose it, although imo the m135i is still the ultimate stealth buggy. Pickup mine on Saturday, really looking forward to it.

[@theharlekin]

Finally a honest and detailed review, exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! :) BTW: Can you tell me what RPM the engine is doing at 70mph in 8th gear?

[@MrZebrawr]

+celaCH1 8th gear at 70 mph is about 2k rpm

[@greenbrae7]

An inexpensive flash tune produced 298 awhp on my twin turbo N54 135i and 530 Nm of torque. It blew away a 235i which had been run in when a dealer salesman took his demonstrator out for a comparison run against my 135i on a freeway. While the 235i zipped through it's endless 8 gears, the high torque of my flash-tuned 6 speed manual minimized the significance of the slower shifts. HERE'S THE KICKER: TORQUE DETERMINES ACCELERATION. HORSEPOWER DETERMINES TOP SPEED. if you double the last two integers (numbers) of a 235i you are still well below the top speed of my speed delimited 135i. I Bought a 3yr old 135i in Sept 2013 with the M Sport package [from a bank manager who was upgrading to the then current 4 litre V8 M3] for 50% of new price with 26,000 miles on the odometer.. The M Sport package includes upgraded suspension , sun roof, power seats, sound, etc... loaded . I Had it flash tuned almost immediately, as follows: 1. Increasing turbo boost by a mere 4psi from 9 psi to 13 psi 2. Leaning off the fuel mixture - in order to more closely approximate a stoichiometric ratio of the comustion reagents - for optimal use of engine and combustion chamber capacity. 3. Advancing the timing That's it, Other than a. Replacing the blown factory charge pipe with aftermarket aluminium charge pipe - the factory charge pipe is made of poly ethylene plastic and blows apart. This happens even on standard turbo boost. BMW make a small fortune on a plastic pipe replacement - circa 300 Pounds Trade price. b. A rapid response, blow off [pressure relief] valve not venting to atmosphere but recirculating to the cold side of the turbo for minimal lag by maintaining turbo boost - this was is included as part of a kit together with the after market charge pipe. The blow off valve prevents charge pipe back pressure from retarding the rotation of the turbo fins as well as protecting the bearings from damage and premature wear. The recirculating valve keeps the turbo spinning for immideate response - particularly between gear shifts Several tuners have commented that the twin turbo N54 engine of the 135i has shown greater potential enhanced performance than the twin scroll, single turbo N55 of the 235i Total cost for Flash tune: Approx 750 pounds to folks in England - resulting in 298 hp at wheels - up from 251 hp Tuners generally estimate a driveline loss of 15 to 20%. hp. On this basis flywheel hp = 350.5 hp > 372.5 The kicker: As any mechanical engineer knows horsepower determines top speed and torque determines acceleration. My tuner optimized the tune parameters for maximum torque. rather than HP. I read that the M235i's handles so much better than the 135i and M135i. Despite the longer wheelbase and wider track of the M235i I still credit the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres with most of the handling improvement. After fitting the Pilot Super Sport tyres, which replaced the factory run flat "nightmare" Goodyears on the 135i I'm verging on ecstatic. The only other tyres I've had which may have been better handling were Pirelli P Zeros on a new sapphire 300ZX Twin Turbo twenty-one years ago when I lived in Northern California, driving past George Lucas" Place, yup Lucas Valley Road. However, technology's evolved since then and emotional memories are subjective not objective. God that was some colour and some car... driving through stunning coastal scenery on Highway One to Mendocino on a Saturday afternoon, with the T tops off and the detector picking up the local Sheriff's radar half a mile away. Yup I'm on the way to being an old Geyser: Porsches, 7 litre Mustang, 5.7 litre Monaros, Camaros, an Evo 10 flash tuned by the same guy, but that's another story. Regarding "Dedication Blog's" comments on the 235i's handling: My driving experience with the 235i suggests that the shorter wheelbase of the 135i offers more responsive " steering turn-in" than on the 235i - which seems to comport with his impression. Sure the tail might come out eventually - not yet though; but hell we're all going to be dead one day. How about some fun!

[@Adonis8989]

Great video! I'm torn between this car and the S3.

[@yiptv1]

good review cheers

[@brianearl8347]

great video, its hard to belief thats its faster than the old lotus carlton , thats fast , the m 240 is just an insane animal , brutal . i feel sorry now for porsche 911 owners

[@cam_here]

I like all the gopro suction cup marks on your window haha

[@WillWaddington]

With hindsight would you go for an M2 over the M235i or M240i? Assuming you want a regular useable car as well as something sporty. Great review, by the way.

[@kashv2500]

love it!

[@naingaung4629]

I totally agree about steering wheel I prefer the steering feel on the 1 series model before 2 series was introduced , BMW dropped it's game on the steering which is disappointing.

[@DomiiniicHD]

Chris, just wondering where you've picked up the oil temp gauge for the car.. can only find it on US sites! not long took delivery of my 235i and it's annoying i cant see the temp! Great video btw!

[@timgalley4391]

I guess you must live in North Lincolnshire, recognised the A46 there as well as Ulceby village and on other vids I see you were driving through Brocklesby Park and Caistor. Good memories of this area when I was younger on bikes and GTI's :). Then the cops started driving and riding un-marked cars and bikes plus the Police helicopter at Humberside airport

[@DJ_MH_Remixes]

Nice video. After al i know i think M235i is a perfect car for a good price. Nice gas use. Not to crazy. ❤

[@PaLm3R99]

Get mine on 27th of this month :) it's replacing my mk2 focus rs I hope your right ill like it more lol

[@alexgerling3686]

I think ... Probably as I want to but one, it's a practical sports car with lots of potential with style and performance £600 could get you to 370bhp on stock internals and styling cost is up to the driver

[@Talon276]

OMG it's made an appearance!!!!

[@DedicationBlog]

+Talon276 only took me 10 months to get round to making the review haha

[@dhanusha15]

Great review! I'm ordering mine next week, and was wondering if you know if the M Performance Exhaust is worth getting or not?

[@zeljkomadzo614]

+Dhanush L I have the M-exhaust and I think it´s worth getting but only if you really are picky about the sound because the original exhaust sounds good as well and the M-exhaust does not sound any louder when you are sitting in the car. But if you drive with an open window or in tunnels then you can hear it better. Depending on where you live you can get it really cheap from Germany, don´t buy from a BMW dealer they are mostly quite expensive.

[@IceFish.]

i have an m235i n all and tbh i fucking amazing all it needs is a jb4 or tune to around 380hp and the suspension changed then you have basically an m235i racing like they made for a series in germany :)n one more little thing i want the bloody alcantara seat option they have for other markets!

[@topspykimi]

If you changed the brake fluid on your car by yourself, Does it violate any rules of warranty? I tested this car as well. I think the man-made engine sound comes with the reason. It really help you concentrate on the road and and your thoutle. One thing I agree with you is that the steering response is bad comparing to old 3 series.

[@mbardos]

Additional to fluid, get better brake pads and braided brake lines, for track days, it helps. No mention of Android Auto / Apple CarPlay, doesn't it have it? Quite a good review, btw!

[@feerdy120]

Peak torque is not at 6k RPM and it's a twin scroll turbo which is why you aren't feeling the turbo "lag".

[@lozz0dnb]

I was literally thinking just before you said it the flappy paddles sound terrible. Its weird in the other BMWs I've driven they don't sound like that

[@Philmoscowitz]

Is this an accurate representation of Estoril Blue? Looks much, much brighter compared to other videos...

[@seankim41]

Love your video! Do you have lsd in your car?

[@jozefhrusecky3085]

Hi there, thanks for the review, yes, you can proudly call this review. One comment and one question. 1) you did a lot, I mean a lot of editing, sometimes it's too much, I mean to have in 5 seconds 3 edits is quite a lot, but apart from that it was quite good, a lot of information. And the question, you mentioned couple hot hatches and some bigger cars and I'm interested on your opinion on road noise in M235i. Is it better than HH, such as cupra or other C class cars? BMW being "premium auto maker" is it givin some additional value on this field (can it be compared to bigger cars), so is it quite/noisy/...? Thanks a lot.

[@zeljkomadzo614]

+Jozef Hrušecký I own the car with 19" wheels and it´s not that noisy even here in Sweden which have the shittiest roads in Europe because the tarmac is crap.

[@Jawnderlust]

Just a guess but I believe it stops pulling at 130mph because you haven't removed the electronic top speed limiter yet

[@bamboojelo3897]

im looking forward to buy m240i july this year, but can’t choose transmission. i had a lot of fun with my 2013 fr-s MT but now im getting so bored with my 328i AT. i will using this car for daily car, and I live in OC in southern california . lots of traffic on rush hours.(my workplace is at Irvine) for this reason (plus, DCT is faster than MT, and has more efficiency) maybe Ill get DCT but ..I don’t know. car is not cheap to me, so I need to get right one for me. can you give some advice for me? (I really miss my frs MT. except the lack of power)

[@danlewis7641]

very informative

[@kingkang6877]

Man I"m debating between 2 series and Mazda 3 and I can't decide!!!

[@473incognito]

Great video Chris. Can you notice a major difference in the power between the M3 and the M235i?

[@DedicationBlog]

+473incognito if you drove them back to back or raced them in a drag race I'm sure you would, but personally I don't remember a huge difference from when I test drove the M4

[@secondchance4498]

Thanks for another vid. So why the 235i over the 135i? And unless ive missed it, it would be good if Si could do a video on his car, for what ever reason its a car I know very little about.

[@DedicationBlog]

+Second Chance I was under the impression you couldn't still buy a brand new 135i but maybe I'm wrong. I just preferred the look of the 235i really, and other than that they're pretty much identical (though apparently the 235i has slightly stiffer suspension on the rear if I remember rightly)

[@wezz69]

You were driving through Ulceby halfway through👍

[@walmaromendoza1977]

I am always too lazy to login just to like a video but, you good sir get a like from me. Great job and keep the good work. M power!

[@DedicationBlog]

+Walmaro Mendoza haha thanks, much appreciated

[@xYanXnicKx]

Is this Estoril Blue? Maybe I skipped the part where he mentioned the colour..

[@sorted0blud]

Hey Chris how did you do those panning shots? They look pretty cool!

[@DedicationBlog]

+sorted0blud a camera slider, I mentioned/showed it in our latest Extras video at about 2:18 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXKXcqeYrb94i5o

[@joes7372]

Awesome video. Wouldn't have minded the whole 45 minutes! :)

[@DedicationBlog]

+Joe S haha I think others would disagree

[@ChipZilla69]

Hi, I'm buying an M235I in February, I have saved for two years and can't wait. I don't like the standard wheels that come with the car and want to upgrade to 19" but am concerned how this might affect the handling and ride. What has your experience been like with these 19" wheels on the M235i?

[@zeljkomadzo614]

+ChipZilla69 I Have the 19" wheels and they are great, just don´t have to much psi in them ;)

[@DirtynewMac]

It’s a wonderful car to drive and I’m 6’6” tall 🤗

[@karlo1507]

Would you prefer 235i over a 997?

[@fayajkhan1539]

good review

[@fayajkhan1539]

what is the price for this car?

[@AnupC]

Differences to your old E92 M3?

[@Philmoscowitz]

What wheels do you have on your car?

[@karlo1507]

How would you compare this to a 997 911?

[@alexalin768]

Awesome

[@GladiusYTR]

Owning both.. don't you think it's a bit redundant to own both an m235i and a turbo gt86? The way you describe it, it would seem that way.. the m235i one or two upgrades away from being track ready and far superior day to day.. so why have both?

[@AmarT097]

You have the best taste in cars

[@Dung8aj]

Which wheels are they bud?

[@poksi9542]

When you compare this to your GT86, are you comparing it stock for stock? Thought the gt86 had a few mods?

[@DedicationBlog]

+Swarthy when I was talking about the handling and interior/practicality I was referring to when the GT86 was stock yeah, but the comments about the differences in the way the turbo kicks in is obviously referring to after I've modified it as the 86 doesn't have a turbo normally

[@frzen]

Nice review, I'd like one but no way could I justify the price, 60k euros with 750 euro yearly tax. You make a good point about not wanting to bring an R8 to tesco, and I feel the same, it's nice to just be able to park a car up somewhere and not have to worry if it will be stolen or vandalised, and not worrying about wear and tear from everyday use. 300 odd bhp is enough for the road, I feel you just need enough power to never have to worry about getting up to speed to merge, or making a clean overtake. And just generally not having to worry if someone starts to accelerate while you're overtaking them.

[@DedicationBlog]

+frozen Yeah exactly, I mean more power is always (well almost always) more fun but 320 bhp is still enough to be exciting and to be able to easily overtake most traffic

[@Idle566]

+frozen costs 100k usd in my country =/

[@DedicationBlog]

+Idle566 damn, which country is that? Here they are about £30K brand new, which is about 50k usd

[@Idle566]

Israel

[@hahaabc9597]

+DedicationBlog an m235i brand new costs 100k pounds here in singapore and costs 1k pounds for road tax lol you can take a look at singapore's cars here at www.sgcarmart.com Not to mention that all cars have a limited lifespan of 10 years before you have to scrap it

[@deandoucette7206]

In the BMW 228i, the comfortable height limit in the back seat is a passenger 5'9". What is it in the 235i?

[@uport2]

The same

[@jgunshon]

i know what you mean about the mirrors i had a 135i same thing !!!

[@Captus177]

How much this model pays monthly?

[@DanielSadjadian]

Awesome review. Just one thing, I hate how it still has a hand brake, why not just add an electronic park brake? (Except for doing hand brake turns of course haha).

[@DedicationBlog]

+Daniel Sadjadian I don't see any downside to having a hand brake instead of an electronic park brake? It still has a "P" mode on the gearbox which stops it moving as well, so you don't HAVE to pull the hand brake in most situations if you don't want to

[@DanielSadjadian]

DedicationBlog But it looks fugly!!!! Lol

[@DedicationBlog]

+Daniel Sadjadian lol can't say I've ever heard anyone complain about the look of a handbrake before

[@DanielSadjadian]

DedicationBlog Im special :)

[@2forgildan]

VERY good camera work! You're a bit hard on yourself. Otherwise, nice review.