It's easy to lay into the BMW 135i for its price tag: As equipped
, our 2008 BMW 135i coupe cost $37,145. But these adaptive, bi-xenon headlights are standard on the 135i, and as I learned on Saturday night, they work very well.
That afternoon a friend (with a modified WRX) and I caravaned to Yerba Buena Road north of Malibu and took our cars through some corners. Yerba Buena is a rough road, but the 1 Series has plenty of suspension travel and managed fine over the ruts, remaining composed and compliant. It's hard not to notice the car's safety-minded predisposition toward understeer, but between its small footprint, sharp steering and gargantuan torque, it was still very fun on this narrow road.
We then parked the cars and hiked 1.5 miles up to Sandstone Peak, oooh and aahhing at the panomamic ocean/mountain vista upon reaching the top. Unfortunately, we turned down the wrong trail on our descent and had to do almost 2 miles of backtracking, using our cell phones to light our path. When we got back to the parking lot (shown above), we were tired, hungry and cold.
But the day wasn't over. With the BMW 135i lighting the way down Yerba Buena back to the coast, there was more driving fun to be had. With the high beams on (low beams shown above), I could see through most of the corners and we kept a decent pace on the way down.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 20,996 miles
tcd223 says:
12:23 PM, 04/27/09
The headlights in new BMW's are great. Unfortunately I have people who angrily get behind me and high beam me as a result of those great headlights.
hondacura4 says:
02:09 PM, 04/27/09
Other honorable mentions:
Acura TSX (1st gen)
Honda S2000
BMW X5 (1st gen)
I found the HID low beams of the above vehicles to be SUPERB at night.
banhugh says:
02:37 PM, 04/27/09
are you trying to start a wildfire there?
stovt001 says:
04:35 PM, 04/27/09
tcd, most modern factory HIDs actually seem easier on my eyes. Its the awful aftermarket ones that really blind you.
uncanny_man says:
04:36 PM, 04/27/09
Ah, no pictures of the view? Sounds like fun though.
hondacura4 says:
06:20 PM, 04/27/09
"Its the awful aftermarket ones that really blind you."
Aftermarket HID kits arent the culprit, its the reflector design. Halogen lamps use different reflectors vs HID.
eriches says:
06:50 PM, 04/27/09
@uncanny_man: Editors Caroline Pardilla and Jay Kavanagh have also done the Sandstone Peak hike. Here's a link to a photo from the summit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caroscuro/1190663978/. It's actually the highest peak in the Santa Monica Mtns -- 3,111 feet. --ER
compliance says:
08:47 AM, 04/28/09
Late night canyon drives? Where does one meet a girl like you Erin?
uncanny_man says:
09:33 AM, 04/28/09
Cool, thanks eriches.
bbechtel16 says:
04:57 PM, 04/28/09
LOL compliance! I said almost the same thing to Erin this week in the FX50 blog: http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2009/04/2009-infiniti-fx50-needs-a-big-asphalt-paved-yard.html#comments
Sorry Erin; but we're born with it!
tcd223 says:
11:02 AM, 04/29/09
I agree with you stovt, i don't mind the HIDs. Whenever I see another e92, if its possible to get ahead of them, I do just to get an idea of what its like for someone I'm driving behind. The lights are not that bad.
But the lights do cover a good bit of territory. I was stopped by a cop once because my lights were illuminating low hanging branches of trees in a suburban neighborhood and he was convinced my highbeams were on. After I demonstrated the difference between the two, he was still giving me a hard time so i ended up having to drive away with only my sidelights and fog lights switched on.
audisport says:
02:03 PM, 04/29/09
I think that my A4's HID's aren't as bright as the ones that are on E92's. It could all be in my head, but they just seem a bit dim. The service tech at the dealer said all was AOK.