F20 BMW 125i (Hatch)

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Kbeat

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Hi guys.

I had an opportunity to go and see this car at BMW. And I think its a great car for the price, with a 3 door starting at under R330 000 with a 2.0 Turbo engine and 160KW I think ths will give a VW on GTi a run for its moey. infact I think its better priced and you getting more of a car with a better brand than VW. Has anyone test driven this baby? And what do you guys think of it? Would you still buy a Gti 6 at R350 K(excl extras ofcouse when you can get a 125i 160 KW at at the same price or slighlty below? Does this mean a GTi is way over price now? Make no mistake I am a VW fan and I drive a Gti but I think the competition especially in terms of pricing will be much tougher for the GTi 7 with the A class coming as well. Whats your take?
 
For that price, I might also consider the Toyota 86, which is actually a subaru with a Toyota badge
 
Its a Toyota bro. Tell me at that price is there a Toyota 86 that can match the Beemer(125i) in terms of perfomance ? I wont even ask about quality because I had a look at those Toyota 86 and they were not different from any other dull , poor interior quality Toyota.
 
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I remember some 20 or so years ago Opel used to have a brilliant 2L 16v turbo. It was a beauty. My dad's friend had one. It was called Super Boss. It was also pushing some 160KW in a very light body. I got quite a few rides and I still remember, just about every Golf and BMW wanted to dice but that Opel was lightning itself. We checked it over and over again and with that Michellin tires it was doing 0-100 in 7 seconds. For early 90's that was fast indeed :D Mind you, even today most cars won't keep up.
 
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I remember the Super Boss, I used to love it. And think BMW did well in dumping those 2.5/3.0 L in a 125i. I think this will do very well.
 
superboss was a 2L 16v non turbo.. and nowhere near 160kw's dude..
the TS kadett and astra that came in around 94 was the 160-odd kw 2L turbo's.. and for that time, they were fast!!
these days, a stock g6 gti is quicker, but then again these days, non of those TS's are standard either!

back to the 125: i still vote premium bmw quality, over vw over toyota. its a no brainer actually!

so speed, and sport/hatch practicality, going to be hard to beat the new ford focus ST with the new 2L ecoboost engines. Hi-spec coming in under R350k...
HI SPEC: as in , if you start with the extra's on that bmw, you looking more at around 400k..

but then again my premium brand argument also stands firm... sigh..
 
"The 155kW output of the GTI's 2.0 litre engine might be shaded by most of its competitors, but, and we've made the point before, not all kilowatts are created equal. The GTI has very willing ones and certainly enough of them to hustle it along a backroad at an impressive rate." I once read this comment. And I hope the ST will live up to its power. That being said, I'll choose a 125i any day over a high powered Ford.
 
Also enquire at the VW dealer - as they're giving discounts on the GTI of R15,000.00

I also bet the GTI will hold resell better than the BMW - and is probably quicker
 
But its about to be replaced and very common..
 
Brawler said:
But its about to be replaced and very common..
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy one - but my parents made at least look, so I went the dealer yesterday.

Nice car, but I don't see myself driving one
 
If your looking to compete with the new hot hatches power wise it wont have enough grunt, for instance the new OPC astra has around 211kw.

But as a well built executive car it looks nice.
 
Also have a look at the Volvo C30 T5... similar price range and power range...
 
Have only driven the 120i for what that is worth. It drives really well, got higher corner speeds on a section of road than I got with a Toyota 86 before that car started getting out of shape. It also has more power. Build quality is good.

When doing cost comparisons you must also look at the warrenty and maintenance plan that comes with the vehicle. Once again the BMW comes out very well.

The real deal killer for me was the run-flat tyres with no spare. The salesman will tell you (but not put it in writing) that these can actually do over 300 km after flat. The only number that BMW are prepared to put in writing is 80 km. A friend recently pushed on after his run-flat got a punture and at about 120 km it was resiously disintegrating, so the 80 km is not unreasonable. This all adds up to a car that you can not take out of the city.
 
d7e7r7 said:
Also have a look at the Volvo C30 T5... similar price range and power range...
Click to expand...

+1

R Design to keep the looks though.

I'll choose my C30 over both the GTI and the BMW without thinking twice. From my experience, the maintenance plan is among the best in the industry, quality is amazing etc. In R Design is really is different and a head turner.

Three things - the C30 won't be around much longer and it is an older car with older technology etc For example the Geatronic is a 5 speed 'normal' auto that lags behind the newer autos.

The other thing is resale - BUT they give you plenty more discount upfront, so the knock actually isn't that bad. A GTI and C30 may both be listed at R400k - but the Volvo structure makes it R2,000pm cheaper per month to run

It's heavy on fuel
 
I've never liked the look of the one series hatchbacks and I still don't. I'd wait for the new 1 coupe to surface, apparently next year sometime.

You won't go wrong with a BM tho, excellent cars very good maintenance plans on them.

They do depreciate badly due to there being so many on the road.Just look on autotrader, there are literally thousands to choose from.Consider buying a demo or second hand,you can buy one stress free due to the motorplan.

As for the 86, I wanted to buy one and they really are a lot of fun to drive and I think they're sexy little cars but the cheap plastic interior and Toyota's rubbish motorplan made me decide against it.
 
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TokoZAR said:
I've never liked the look of the one series hatchbacks and I still don't. I'd wait for the new 1 coupe to surface, apparently next year sometime.

You won't go wrong with a BM tho, excellent cars very good maintenance plans on them.

They do depreciate badly due to there being so many on the road.Just look on autotrader, there are literally thousands to choose from.Consider buying a demo or second hand,you can buy one stress free due to the motorplan.

As for the 86, I wanted to buy one and they really are a lot of fun to drive and I think they're sexy little cars but the cheap plastic interior and Toyota's rubbish motorplan made me decide against it.
Click to expand...

I saw some pics of the new "1 series coupe" which will be renamed the 2 series. Very good looking indeed. There is no way I can put that lousy Toyota 86 in the same line as the 125i.
 
The Toyota 86 is a nice looking car, but not enough torque for me. Definitely not a Subaru with a Toyota badge. I personally won't drive another normal aspirated car again.

The Volvo C30 is a nice looking car... probably one of the very few Volvos that doesn't look crap. BUT, although the power is slightly higher, taking into the account the higher fuel consumption, the very low resale value (it is not called "Volvo for life" without reason) and impractical boot space, it basically disqualifies itself as a choice for me.

Opel usually have good power and although I've never owned / driven one myself, I've heard a lot of negative reviews with regards to the cars giving troubles (both from owners and people working for them). I used to be a fan of the Astra 2L Turbo, but ever since they changed their design (think it was maybe 5-6 years ago... the one where the "dented line" runs through the middle of the whole car... they lost me there and I've never really looked at Opel again. I haven't seen the newer models since then so other than the Astra 2L Turbo from almost a decade ago, I've never really had any desire to get an Opel. I guess the car just doesn't speak to me :)

What I can say about the GTI, is that it keeps its value extremely well. After my first year with my car, I would have been able to sell it for more than I originally paid for it. That combined with the build quality and much improved fuel consumption (from the MK5), I think the GTI will always be a good bet. I'd consider the GTI MK7 again if I can maybe get it in the right blue... something to stand a bit out from the usual.

As for Ford... I've NEVER been a Ford fan... always hated them. They were never really innovative... They buy a company over (Volvo, Land Rover, etc.), take their technology and then sell the company again. Their current Focus ST was more Volvo than Ford, which is probably why the car was actually good. The magazines even rated the car's handling better than the GTI. With that said though, the new Focus ST seems to be a new breed. 2L 4 cylinder turbo with much more power than the GTI, while reducing the fuel consumption to about the same as the GTI. And the car looks that part. The only thing that worries me is that during a test drive (one of the reviewers), while travelling up a mountain pass at relative speed, light came on due to the engine getting too hot. Ford said that they will fix it before release though, but still. If I travel long distance, I do at least 350km in one go and the car better be able to handle it.
 
Kbeat said:
Hi guys.

I had an opportunity to go and see this car at BMW. And I think its a great car for the price, with a 3 door starting at under R330 000 with a 2.0 Turbo engine and 160KW I think ths will give a VW on GTi a run for its moey. infact I think its better priced and you getting more of a car with a better brand than VW. Has anyone test driven this baby? And what do you guys think of it? Would you still buy a Gti 6 at R350 K(excl extras ofcouse when you can get a 125i 160 KW at at the same price or slighlty below? Does this mean a GTi is way over price now? Make no mistake I am a VW fan and I drive a Gti but I think the competition especially in terms of pricing will be much tougher for the GTi 7 with the A class coming as well. Whats your take?
Click to expand...

For that price you can also get a 2 year old 135i coupe or 330i... Apart from that nice car
 
Kbeat said:
Hi guys.
I had an opportunity to go and see this car at BMW. And I think its a great car for the price, with a 3 door starting at under R330 000 with a 2.0 Turbo engine and 160KW I think ths will give a VW on GTi a run for its moey. infact I think its better priced and you getting more of a car with a better brand than VW. Has anyone test driven this baby? And what do you guys think of it? Would you still buy a Gti 6 at R350 K(excl extras ofcouse when you can get a 125i 160 KW at at the same price or slighlty below? Does this mean a GTi is way over price now? Make no mistake I am a VW fan and I drive a Gti but I think the competition especially in terms of pricing will be much tougher for the GTi 7 with the A class coming as well. Whats your take?
Click to expand...

I’m also a VW GTi fan. The GTi 6 is a great looking car versus the understated 125i.

Go for the 125i because it has a great engine, new model, new technology, good built quality, BMW Motorplan and fun to drive.
 
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