scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Never been a fan of BMW's, but recently ive been driving a Brand new BMW 325D M-sport everyday, and to be honest, Ive been thinking off getting rid of My STi(never thought about it before) As its made me question why I really own a scooby??
The BMW drives nice, got loads of toys(not used to it after owning jap scrap for years) and im not visiting petrol stations as often!! Ive usually got a heavy right foot, and find myself giving the scooby some most of the time, where as in the BMW I tend just to drive sensible and just relax as its nice and quite.

So after driving Subaru's & Evo's over the years, I hate to admit it, but ive fallen for the BMW And maybe when im ready to part with the scoob, I think I should start looking at some of the quicker BMW's!!

shytorque

Anyone see Clarkson thrown off course in one of these things on Sundays Topgear??

In a straight line as well.

Thought they handled well???

Saxo Boy

A car flying off a soaking track at 120mph in a straight line is almost certainly the consequence of tyre choice, pressure, etc. I seriously doubt this a reflection on the M135i, despite Clarkson (who clearly SHAT himself) making a big deal about it.

Brun

120+ mph and accelerating n a rear drive car through standing water followed by a spin does not reflect on a cars handling!

shytorque

So after all these years Clarksons a **** driver then???

ummmm not so sure.

I think I will steer clear of these!!!

john banks

Wouldn't surprise me if a GT-R would do the same on its OEM tyres, people say it drives itself, but the first week I had it I quickly realised in the wet that traction control on or not, AWD or not, you didn't floor it with any steering lock on unless you were on your toes and ready to catch the rear end. I upgraded to the tyres on the M135i for better wet weather handling LOL. I expect the two cars feel remarkably similar just at different sizes, weights etc.

Littleted

What pissed me off was he never reviewed my imminent A45 said it was to expensive, ****.

He's always been a golf lover he's drives one I think

Matteeboy

It was rather silly and a few detectives/geeks have spotted a number of timing irregularities, if looks like they blanked off the traction off light, you can't see the Golf when he spins, etc.

Plus it got five stars in JCs Sunday Times column and the Golf got four. Amusingly he said "if you don't like this, you don't like driving!"

Anyway I don't plan to do many 120mph runs in standing water in mine.

I did have a fantastic drive with my Dad (a lifelong petrol head) on Sunday on some cracking local roads; absolutely nailed it; it was superb!

What can't be argued with is the lap time; beats the M3, M5, Z4MC and matches the Exige S. Not bad for a shopping car...

John; there's a cracking write up in Evo on the GTR. They describe it very well and it sounds superb fun. And rather nippy.

Anyway an M135i nearly killed Clarkson; respect!

Ted; yep that was rather silly.

Dingdongler

You may not want to hear this but the GLA 45 AMG seems to be the better car. It seems to have been universally reviewed as riding much better and handling 99% as good as the A45.

I saw a non AMG GLA at my local dealer and it's a nice looking car and far more practical.

Matteeboy

Ding; do you mean the CLA? The GLA is the mini SUV type thing although there is also an AMG version.

There are a few small rapid SUVs now - the GLA AMG, the Q3 RS, the Macan soon. They all look fun, even the Audi!

billyray911

iTrader: (4)

For what it's worth,this reviewer chooses the GLA over the various incarnations.
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=29536
I was really looking forward to a decent review on Top Gear,but unsurprisingly,It wasn't to be.
A wasted opportunity...

Matteeboy

Oh yes! It seems the Q3 RS is also the pick of the current RS range too. SUVs beat hatches and coupes; who'd have thought it?!
It was great to see the M135i driven well around the track but that was about it.

Littleted

unfortunately THE gla starts at around 45k Mark, I already explored that arena.

My current A45 with all my whistles on is 42K, and was over my budget, if I went GLA it would be too much.

I also have read varied reviews of it, some like some don't, I personally think it looks OK but prefer the A45, I do not like the CLA...

Ive not yet read any good reviews on the RS Q3

Dingdongler

Yup Mattee, the GLA AMG. I'm only going by reviews of course but on the whole they seem to prefer it to the CLA (horrid looking thing) and the A45.

The GLA actually looks really nice for a SUV type thing.

Dingdongler

Fair enough, I didn't realise it was so much more expensive.

The A45 looks like a cracking car as well

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Really? Evo rate it highly as do a few others.

It feels wrong to be writing this, but the RS Q3 is a far more successful and enjoyable machine to drive than the RS3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. And its used values look set to reflect this; a residual value of 52 per cent after three years/60,000 miles is second only to the Porsche Cayman when it comes to being depreciation busting.

Littleted

It did look nice. but I was blinkered by the S3 stats to care about it. If it was my money id be getting the

SQ5, as that engine is a peach in that, like a rocket.

Matteeboy

Just to clarify, the SQ5 is the diesel Q5, the Q3 RS is a petrol with a lightly detuned RS3 engine; the latter is very appealing indeed.

Anyway, enough Audi speak on this thread...

Littleted

yes it is, My friend has the A6 variant, over 600NM very fast thing. and very nice MPG

Matteeboy

It's the first six pot to "beat" the 335d for bhp and torque. Suits the A6 and Q5 well.
The 3.0TDI bi-turbo A6 Allroads are about £70k! Prince Charles has one!

Littleted

wow that's a lot, mates a6 was a shy under 50k I think.

Gotta say though doesn't look anything cant tell its Bi-turbo unless u look at the exhaust holes....

Matteeboy

I like that…

Matteeboy

Well the M135i is on 7.5k miles. It's been to Germany

photo gone...

via France then back via Belgium

It's done the shopping, the school run, plenty of ***** out hooning, it's humbled (matched) and AM Vantage V8 and other serious kit, it's been reliable, comfortable and returns quite amazing mpg unless mercilessly thrashed.

The satnav (we have the mid level) is great with extra "help" on the dash, bluetooth connects instantly, the (mid level) stereo is excellent, the seats are very comfortable.

The car makes a lovely scream at high rpm and the exhaust crack and pop at lower revs and up-changes. The 8 speed ZF auto is simply epic - SO fast that razzing up the gears sounds not unlike an F1 car (the latest ones not the V8/V10 ones!) and it's as fast as I'd ever need.

You DO need to be careful on the limit as it can bite but it's all pretty obvious stuff. Grip is great and it takes some serious provocation to unsettle it but I have had it fishtailing at 50ish when I booted it - in the dry.

I'll never call it a great looking car (some think it is, I'm not convinced) but that's never a priority for me. It looks purposeful and almost invisible to all but the nerdiest car geek - which means it really shocks some people.

It got a cracking TG lap time (even though JC span it on the sprint - goon) and humbled properly quick cars like the C63 Coupe, RS4, M3 Competition, old M5 and many more properly rapid, much more focussed cars.

Second hand prices will probably tumble but there aren't loads around - anyone thinking of getting one, DO IT!!

zip106

Sounds great, just too small for our needs.

Therefore, the M3 has been ordered - just have a week to decide on the colour...

Matteeboy

Ooh nice!

But twice the price for a bit more performance and the "same" engine (S55 in the N55 with an extra turbo) does make them rather less accessible to most people.

zip106

I see your point, but the 1 series has less room than the E92 we have now.

A 12 year old who stands at 5' 3" already and a nearly 9 year old who's catching up renders a hot hatch useless!

The wife's company car allowance almost covers the lease cost so we thought, **** it, just do it.

And I will never ever buy another BMW with my own money again.
Have you seen the depreciation on all of them?

Matteeboy

There definitely isn't much room in the back of a 1 series. It's tight for my (tall) five year old!

Depreciation isn't so bad if you get 20% off. I still can't get finance or leasing numbers to work for us.

Amazingly quick though; I think someone got sub 9s to 100 for the M3; that's supercar territory!

zip106

The only slight concern is the mpg - the Alpina regularly gets 40-50 mpg when the wife drives (she also managed to get nearly 30 in my Porker when she had a go - how do they do it? )

Having been graced with such good economy, its going to be a bit of a shock I think...
Although with her driving it 90% of the time, I doubt any grand prix starts will ever take place.
In fact, it'll never come out of 'auto' until I use it.

Matteeboy

We're genuinely getting about the same as our old 335d; 350 miles to Folkestone at decent speeds - 34.9mpg, very high speed 650 mile blast to Germany - 30mpg. It plummets on really fast rural roads but overall, we're amazed. The fuel tank is small but we still get 300ish miles (350 if careful); not bad for 320bhp and most run in examples seem to be more like 340.

I bet the M3 isn't loads thirstier?

My missus also gets good mpg but doesn't hang about. Weird!

Very exciting for you; I much prefer the M3 to the M4 too.

Littleted

time to chip it in Now matte for that A45 mwhahahahaha

but in all seriousness it sounds good, you looked to have had fun, so QQ from me. if you had to swap it I presume youd stay BMW, don't you fancy the Xdrive ? or 235 Xdrive next