VW Golf Gti Mk7 Dsg/ BMW M135i xDrive a mini review.
Roll up ladies and gents for my much demanded comparison of my 14 plate Gti against the all new M135i!!
Firstly a bit of back ground,I have always loved Golfs and had a few over the years,not as many as some on here but most recently a Mk4 GT TDi, then a MK5 GT TDi, a MK6 Gti and then onto my MK7 Gti in carbon grey with the superb DSG box.
I really liked that car and I huffed and puffed for around a year looking at a few Mk7.5 PP and a couple of TCRs, even a Golf R or two but I couldn't seem drop on the right car that "called" to me. I kept reading about the new M135i and whenever I was driving passed the local BMW dealer Id drop in and see what they had in the showroom. They start to grow on you in the metal and look far better in real life than the pictures would suggest, the rear view imo looks great and I have even become to like the much maligned front end with the larger cerium grill. I would go so far as to say when my car was parked at the side of an 18 plate 140i it made it look a bit dated.
Anyway I sat in a few and then borrowed a demo for the weekend-a Misano blue one with the standard 18" wheels.I thought the colour really popped but the smaller wheels look a bit lost on them TBH.
It had a few extras, but although they are pretty well specced as standard this came with BMWs technology packincluding the great head up display,its pretty configurable I have mine displaying speed limit vs actual speed and nav directions when you get used to using it is brilliant and you really miss it when you drive a vehicle without it. The tech pack also includes parking assistant,enhanced Bluetooth and wireless charging,a wifi hotspot and adaptive LED headlights with high beam assist.
It had the standard seats, so the heated alcantara M seats,which are a kind of multi adjustable bucket seat and for me are really comfortable and supportive,they probably hug you a bit more than the Golf seats do. Black or red leather is also available as an option.
The drive is great its probably a bit quicker than the Gti I think, its so easy to drive fast and gets to licence losing speeds very quickly. The 306 bhp 4 cylinder with the 8 speed auto will run you around in comfort mode with no drama at all but a good prod on the accelerator (especially if you press the sport button) then it transforms into a beast. From a junction even in the wet you have a job getting it to break traction and where the Golf would probably want to spin its front wheels and you would have to feather the throttle a bit you can just press and it grips and goes with no drama. In fact its very like a Golf in lots of respects.
The interior is a really nice place to be however I feel as its a newer gen car than my Golf was its a bit unfair to compare the newer tech-the digital dash and the middle touch screen with idrive and speech command are great though,Im no computer nerd but you soon find your way around it all. One reservation for me is I have an android phone and its only got Apple carplay at the moment- Android auto is supposed to be coming as an over the air update around June this year.
Up until I had the demo car I was going to spec Storm bay grey (kind of a Nardo grey not to dissimilar to the pure grey on the TCR) but in the flesh the Misano blue looks great especially in the sun and I ended up ordering a Blue one with the Tech pack I spoke about above and the M pack which includes the 19" 557 wheels (which look so much better IMO) sun protection glass and Harmon Kardon enhanced Hifi.
It was ordered end of Jan and I sold my Gti to a dealer back then (really sad to see it go but,,,) and so after a 7 or so week wait I picked it up 20th of March just in time for the end of the world apocalypse we all now find ourselves in.
I really like the car but if I knew what was coming I would have definitely held onto my Golf for a while longer- I could have had the diamond cut alloys refurbed and it would have been mint,(the lady who owned it for its first 12 months wrecked all 4 alloys and I was never happy with them-thanks JCT600)
Its a bit of a step up from the Mk7 but as I said I dont feel its really a fair comparison because its 6 years on technology wise maybe a Mk7.5 PP would give it a fairer run for its money and as great as my Golf was this is a rung or so up I would say.
I dont regret the swap ( well apart from the end of the world bit- I would have hung onto my money,I have bought it its not a lease) but as I said I couldn't drop on a Golf I liked and from what I have seen of the Mk8 Im not overly impressed so we are where we are.
Sorry for all the random rambling and I hope I haven't bored you too much, if Ive missed anything anyone would like to know just ask and Ill see if I can find time amongst all the doing nothing to give you an answer.
