The GTi is the car that tries to be all things to all men(and women...pc) and as such nothing is turned up to 10.
If you are a driving enthusiast IMO it's absolutely not the car for you, if you are looking for a timeless hot hatch classic you can't go far wrong and it makes a great everyday car.
My rule of thumb is of the wife is happy with it as a daily then it must be ok 
im starting to doubt the whole 'every day' qualities of the car to be honest.
if the car is awkward to drive in traffic (manual version is a bloody disgrace) then its at a serious disadvantage to other 'every day' cars right away.
and as i keep saying the interior rattles and creaks are terrible so driving the thing everyday would throw me over the edge i think.
thats what is annoying me about the car - if it squeaked, rattled and was a hard to drive in traffic BUT it was special in other respects like driving enjoyment/evolvement/character etc i could forgive it.
to me its not a special car to drive - in many respects its less than ordinary BUT a lot of its everyday usability is ruined due to it being so bloody frustrating to drive.
theres no doubt in my mind i bought the wrong car and i cant see me sticking with it much longer really.
that BMW is very tempting but i dont want to go down the road of iro£30k for a hatchback again any time soon.