Diablo

It might be ugly, it might be small inside and it might have the wrong image, but it is most certainly not over priced.

There is now no doubt in my mind that from a driving and quality perspective it is well worth the premium over other similarly sized 5 door hatches.

With the exception of the A3, nothing comes close on the impression of quality from the driving seat. Golf included. The driving position is perfect, and the relationship of wheel to gear lever to pedals is as good as it gets. You sit in the car, not on it.

The sports seats are fantastic, and the controls are extremely well damped and pleasingly tactile. There is a weightyness about the main controls that imparts a real feeling of solidity.

Refinement is excellent and the ride on the sports suspension is more than acceptable.

And rear wheel drive is very much the purest driving experience. No question. Having driven FWD and AWD cars for years I'd forgotten what RWD was like 3 stage switchable traction/stability control meant it was even manageable in the snow recently.

The engine pulls like a train with a decent power band. Absolutely stunning.

The ultimate driving machine? In its class, probably. The best overall car I've ever owned/driven under 25K as a whole package? Yes, without hesitation.

If you can get past the looks (growing on me by the day), the interior space (not a problem for us) and the image (a problem for many on here it seems), I would not hesitate to recommend this car.

Downsides?

The standard ICE set up is ok, but not great, and the upgrade costs are high.

Erm..and that is it, basically.

Nice touches?

The instrument illumination is very cool
The input jack for MP3 players in the centre console (works with any male/male 3.5mm cable)
The fact that input jack was a good enough reason to buy an I Pod nano yesterday.
Electrically adjustable side bolsters in the sports seats
Split sector climate control
And the fact that individual "key fobs" remember personal settings for mirrors/instrument illumination, indicator preferences ("on" or "*** U, i'm in a BMW ), vanity lighting, etc, etc.
The starter button

Performance wise it should do 60 in 7.5 to 8 seconds, 100 in 20 odd and 137 flat out once run in. Thats 1.9 GTI pug numbers, but with a higher top speed and much, much more torque.

Quick pic from phone cam

zilch

was it the 120 or the X3 that Top gear did the BMW badge in a turd joke on

Sorry could not resist

Diablo

LOL

If I couldn't handle the jokes, I wouldn't have bought one

Petem95

The latest BMW 2.0d makes too much sense almost!

The blend of performance and economy is enough to swing BMW-haters into one. The only problem is they'll be more common than Fords at this rate!

Rabid

They aren't class leading due to the compromise on space IMO.I thought about leasing one and decided I couldn't live with the boot size.
I like the way they look though, they remind me of the old Z3 based coupe.
Loads of good deals available on them though which suggest to me depreciation might become an issue.

zilch

zilch

Good point, must admit the only Z3 based vehicle that was worthy was the the M3 roadster, the Z3 otherwise was pretty ordinary. The Mazda MX5 i would say was a better deal, IMHO of course

Jamescsti

I believe the 3 series is nore common than the Mondeo now?

dpb

cant see it muyself

brickboy

Does the 120 have the pedals offset? That always puts me off the 3-series, gives me chronic backache!

Diablo

Not that I've noticed, no.

sgcooby

Must admit i like the look of the 1 series. Cracking engine aswell however i personaly would have gone for the Audi A3. Better built, better interior and more space. Cant see the advantage of RWD in this type of car i would rather have FWD or AWD for the bad weather. All the BMW owners at my work struggled to get to their work last week in the snow and one wrecked his car. If space isnt important however it is still a cracking car but i would be tempted to get a 3 series diesel for much the same money.

Mike123

That's Astra GTE 16v quick, never mind the 205

Diablo

Have you driven them though mate?

The Audi has a very well made interior, no question, but the BMW's is bloody close on quality. As for overall build, there is very little, if anything, in it.

From a driving perspective, the BMW wins hands down. Dynamically, it is the better car, no question. Sure, RWD is never going to be great in the snow, front wheel drive will always be the better choice in those conditions.

But it snows in central Scotland, what, for a handful of days a year?.

3 series a better proposition if you need the space, but I don't and a similarly specced 3 series is £4k plus more expensive, slower and uses more fuel.

cat7

While I waited for my m3 to be readied the sales person offered me a spin in there new 130 sport demo. Must admit it was a lot of fun once I turned off the DSC! I think you are spot on with your comments, only really interior space that lets the package down. It felt very quick and rear wheel drive will always be preferable to any other driven wheel combo if "fun" is your thing.

sgcooby

Used to own an A3 hand have driven many different versions of the new A3. Mate has a 3 series diesel and i have been in a 120d. The 120 d dash is very plasticky which is something that definately cannot be said of the audi. No doubting that the 1 series probably is better dynamically but that isnt the point of a diesel car is it. Its all about economy as why else would you want one?? Dont understand BMW's fascination with runflats especially when it doesnt even free up any more boot space if you consider the 1 series. IMO i cant see any area where the A3 isnt better than the 1 series. If driving dynamics are your thing buy a fast petrol. Still a nice car though and being a close contender to an A3 is no bad thing whether you or i think it is better or not. P.S if you are going to use the word mate in your responses please ensure you havent made ****** comments to me on other threads.

Diablo

LOL

You know that "mince" was said in jest

Ok, here's a couple of questions for you. Why shouldn't a diesel car be good dynamically?

Why shouldn't it be fun?

The 120D was the fastest 1 series prior to the 130. Its certainly a fair bit quicker than the 120 petrol.

All that and better fuel consumption.

The engine in the 120D is IMO streets ahead of the VAG 2.0 diesels.

Is your mate's 3 series a current model car with the 163 bhp 2.0D? All the car magazines seem to be saying the 320D is the best real world car there is.

I've driven the A3 as it was on my shortlist. I'm not disputing the 1 series dash doesn't exude the same quality feel as the Audi's (but then, what does? )

It's horses for courses, but IMO the areas where the 1 series is better

Steering feel, accuracy and response
Balance - you cannot beat near 50/50 weight distribution and RWD
Ride/handling balance on the sports suspension
Spring/Damper harmony. The old A3 was terrible, the new one better, but its not great.
The pedal/wheel/gear lever relationship,weighting, feel and operation
Seats (the sport seats in any event)
Engine - the euro 4 2.0 BMW diesel is a cracker
Performance (the 120D is a fair bit quicker than the Audi)

And where IMO the Audi is better

Dashboard/interior quality (but lets be honest, both are miles ahead of mainstream manufacturers)
Interior space
ICE (as standard)
Boot size
Looks (in 3 door format at least)

Size, space and looks may well swing it for a lot of people, but they were not important to me.

As you say, both are very good cars, but I don't buy the diesels can't be fun line

Andy M3

BMW 120d Sport: Excellent choice.

sgcooby

Audi will soon have the 167bhp 2.0 diesel to compete more closely with BMW.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

They have grown on me a bit.

mn_angrybeats

Whats yours like on gas though a bloke in work is only averaging 27mpg which for a Diesel is pretty crap..

Newbie123

Glad you like it Diablo.

I'm picking my 120D M Sport up in a couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to having some fun with it.

Oh and I've previously owned one of the new A3 sport with the 2.0TDI engine and yes the Audi does seem to have that extra level of quality materials inside, but to drive it is just dull in comparison to the 120D, plus the engine is also much less refined in the Audi.

Diablo

I'm averaging between 35 and 40 running in, which includes a fair amount of stop start traffic. Goes up when settling into a decent cruise (will show 60 plus mpg at an indicated 70 mph)

27 is poor, no question. Does he drive it like he stole it? I'm sure if you used all of the available performance all of the time you could see low 20's.

The most powerful 2.0 diesel is never going to be as econimical as your run of the mill diesel, though, and will still be better than equivalent petrol engine.

Spoon

There is no might about it!! It's fúckin hideous to look at which is a shame.

MattOz

Diablo,

He must do, cos I average that in my M3! He should be comfortably getting 40+ from it. I suspect he's come from a petrol and is ragging the **** out of the thing rather than letting the torque do the business!

Matt

Darren 01

I had a loan of a 120d sport when our old MCS was in for some warranty work,
Really nice car
Fantastic driving position. Best of any car I have driven.

Felt quite quick for a derv for the first day or two but then got a bit bored of running out of revs...
In 4th gear up slip roads to join a motorway it picked up its feet very well.
The 500 miles I had it I avaraged 38mpg...

sgcooby

38mpg isnt great for the compromise of having a diesel TBH. I would have thought you would get a lot better than that from the beemer. Must have been running in???

Flatcapdriver

What made you go for the 120D as opposed to the 130i? If they make an M version, I'd definitely be up for it...

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Interesting choice of car (once again) D It'd be nice to see 19mpg, never mind 38

Gastro

What wheel option did you select ?
Might buy some of those for the missus' 120