Only downside if you’re looking for practicality is that the 3 door version looks massively better than the 5 door version.
Does it? I dunno, personally I can't stand the 3 door version. Kinda looks to me like the back has its arse in the air. There are 3 door cars that look proper good, the A3 I think looks mediocre. I'll take the 5 door everytime. People often say it looks like an estate, but I like this version. I suspect there will be opinions on both sides here.
On BMW equipment levels:
Con - You got to add a lot of stuff to get it to the Golf level
Pro - Virtually everything you do add is better than the equivalent Golf
Con - Drives cost up fast!
Pro - BMW will likely discount it all anyway putting the costs back in line
Its tricky and almost apples and oranges. Because of BMW's kind of unique view of how cars should work the VW and Audi brands lack obvious competitors (Ford is lower price and quality). I think you might have to go to Merc. Or... if we discard the (German) view that German cars are better qulaity and more desirable there are a whole load of other brands that are frankly just as good. May not have the same image but does it matter? Its VW et al themselves who are largely responsible for the propoganda that you should be buying German. A totally biased view. If you want proof then look at what the Yanks think of German brands. A German car is often synonymous with
unreliability in the US, because the US has different biases!
Ok I got a bit off topic there. My bad.
