MK7 GTI vs M135i

[drisser]

Great write up. I've been thinking about an M135 after all the delays but I think once the novelty of the engine and acceleration has worn off I'm pretty sure I would be regretting not holding out for the GTI

And is is the rub with all these road tests - can a gti stay with an m 135 on an empty road or on the track ? No, but when are you ever going to find yourself in that position ?!  Roads are too busy and the one time you are at the lights next to an m135 yes, you will have to eat humble pie, but so what ?

When you strip away the pure acceleration of the 135 and the really good auto box, what is left.   An ugly hatch that looks the same as a 116d nicely specced. This is the problem for me, you simply won't get a outh chance to use al that oomph and the one time you do some twit with a radar gun will be waiting..

So in my position with maybe going abroad in 3 years I think buying the 135 would cost me a ton of money, which leaves me with buying the gti and enjoying it for 3 years or waiting 6 months to order a gtd company car.   Keeping the gti on order is still tugging my heart strings..

[RobS23GTI]

Think you've made a lot of good points from your road test that I've experienced in my first week of M-lite ownership.

The GTI will be a more practical car in the long run, especially if you have a family as the rear room is limited. The M will cost more to own, but I don't think it will be THAT much more. If you want to be sensible 35mpg is achievable and more if you have the auto-box. Tyres will last 10k-15k tops and the rears are about £175 per corner :-s

Don't agree on the depreciation front, its a BMW and will hold its value pretty well as long as its looked after. In my experience, the type of people who rag cars to death certainly don't pay £30k for the pleasure or they have more money than sense!

On the looks side, I've not had one bad comment yet and everyone loves the Estoril blue, but I do appreciate its subjective.

Glad you had a test drive though to see for yourself the performance is on another level to the GTI, no comparison at all.

Personally, I would have ended up modding the GTI as it should have a bit more oomph, and I bet there will be a fair few people on here who go down that route when the software is available. Not once have I thought the that I need more craziness in the M135i after 500 miles.

Both great cars probably aimed at different people, I kind of fall in between the segments as I don't have a family and am willing to justify the extra cost in place of smiles per gallon!

If your not sold straight away its definitely not the car for you though.

[Hawaii-Five-O]

Lovely write up Drisser. Food for thought (for you).

I'm not in the market for an M135, but i think its a seriously good car for the money!

I think I would probably lose my licence pretty quickly if I owned one. I'll have to be VERY careful when I get the GTI 

[drisser]

I tried to approach the drive today subjectively to be honest, partly knowing that given I might be abroad in 3 years it might not be sensible to buy either !  ( my other thought is a used 135 coupe for maybe 17k to go the halfway house)

I am a real BMW fan and I think they are engineered very well, my 330 has done 101k miles, the last 35k with me and it feels rock solid and like  4 year old car.  I did hear there were some problems with the 3 litre turbo in the 335i which makes me a tad nervous.

Looks wise I would agree the M135 is definately better in the flesh than pics and the 3 door looks much better than the 5 I think.  There was a black one there today and that looked pretty menacing.  I think one thing I need is a proper 1-2 hour test drive though the 20 mins today wasnt enough,  or indeed fair when i drove the GTi for 3 hours alone.

I am planning to ask for a test drive this coming weekend at the local dealer who offered me the good deal on a 135 (27,950 with heated seats and sunroof and the 5 year service pack)  That is currently only 1200 quid above my GTi order, spec for spec and the 135 has full leather standard.  If they start shaving off more money to try and get the sales, I admit it is going to be pretty tempting

[drisser]

Rob

agree Estoril is a nice colour, the one I drive today was that colour, but I think BMW have 2 issues -

1 Estoril was always an M only colour and now you can have a 116d in Estoril which I think dilutes that colour a bit..

2.Who on earth would bother buying a new M3, or for that matter a used v8 M3 ?  No wonder they are doing huge deposit contributions on the M3, when you can get the same performance, in a more practical package for 30k less than the M3 ! IN a flash BMW have undermined a lot of the M brand with this car because it is so good.  Good for punters, not sure its good for the brand long term..

[am1w]

@drisser:
Do the sums and go for the best car for your needs and which satisfy your desires at the same time. Put it this way, your are in that enviable position which would bag you a great car. All you have to do is decide from a very short shortlist. Simples.

[RobS23GTI]

I took my brother out for a 20 mile spin around country lanes today and he couldn't believe it, said it was every bit as fast as his mates Cayman and then some.

Licence losing potential is huge if your not careful. If you red line it in 4th gear (on a private road) you will be doing around 125mph!

Its the deals BMW are offering that make it appealing, normally I would never have considered a 300+ bhp monster, but for less than £30k....it makes it at least a consideration.

I agree the blue should be an M only colour, but kinda adds to the stealth potential if someone thinks they can take a 116d or whatever and proceed to embarrass themselves!

[Gung-Ho]

Hey drisser!! "Brilliant write-up". Great to hear your thoughts on the M135i.

I agree with a lot of what you say, however I think there's more to the M-lite then just outright pace & its ugly appearance. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and personally I don't have a big problem with its looks (& the fact that it looks like any other F20 M-sport)... It's definitely a grower and looks so much better in the flesh.

I agree that with our congested roads you'll rarely have the opportunity to unleash the full performance potential of the Beemer but then again you could say the same about the GTi.  And yes I agree the Golf is slightly better than the Beemer in terms of practicality & rear leg room.

But what stood out for me about the BMW was how beautifully balanced it was in terms of how it handled. There was a precision & weighty-ness in the steering that I found lacking in the GTi. The way it strung together a series of corners was sublime. Ok it got a slatting from Autocar as the handling was unpredictable on the limit, but for everyday road use I found the Beemer more pleasurable to drive.  Maybe it had something to do with the rear wheel drive setup.

That's not to say the Golf handles like a shopping trolley, but all I'm saying is that there's more to the M135i than raw power. I was so impressed with the driving dynamics after my test drive I was ready to sign on the dotted line there and then.

But at the end of the day it was about getting the right deal and unfortunately BMW couldn't get anywhere near the deal I wanted. So VW got my business instead which I'm just as happy about as they are BOTH 'Great' cars!!

[drisser]

Interesting points Gung Ho

I think when I get a better drive on sat this week it will help me make my mind up.

Out of interest, if you could have got the 135 for the same money or so, ie less than 1200 quid difference similar spec, would you have ordered the M ?

[Gung-Ho]

Interesting points Gung Ho

I think when I get a better drive on sat this week it will help me make my mind up.

Out of interest, if you could have got the 135 for the same money or so, ie less than 1200 quid difference similar spec, would you have ordered the M ?

There's no Question about it... The M-lite was my number one choice. But it was not such an easy decision as I love my current Mk6 GTi (I would say the BEST all round car I've owned to date)...but then I'm equally passionate about my BMW's... Like I said I would have been happy with either. It's a WIN WIN for me.

It was the driving dynamics that swung it for me with the M-lite, but like you the service I got at BMW was appalling, which made me choose the Golf in the end!