RE: PH Blog: heart versus head

RE: PH Blog: heart versus head

Wednesday 27th June 2012

PH Blog: heart versus head

Why the BMW 125i M Sport beats the Golf GTI in a very subjective game of Riggers Top Trumps



My beloved PH Fleet Golf GTI is due to return to the Volkswagen Press Office fold in a few short days and, though I will miss it greatly, I might just have found an alternative that - whisper it - pushes my buttons even more.


I know it is wrong to speak ill of the soon-to-be-departed, but the 125i M Sport we had from BMW for a few days recently might just have the Edition 35 licked as far as I'm concerned, speaking entirely subjectively ahead of a 'proper' Driven piece to follow shortly.

Indeed, that's rather the point - from an objective point of view the Golf GTI Edition 35 and the 125i are hard to separate. Both are more or less identical on price once you add a couple of options. Both are near-as-dammit equal on power and performance (218hp, 228lb ft and 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds in the BMW plays 235hp, 221lb ft and 0-62mph in 6.6 seconds in the Golf). Both fit four passengers and luggage (five at a pinch). And both will satisfy the enthusiast in you while returning 30mpg-plus if you're careful, though the 1 Series has a clear edge on the Golf in economy.


On a purely pragmatic basis, then, you would be hard-pressed to say whether the Golf or the BMW is the better car. So why do I like the 1 Series more?

This is where objectivity has to go hang, because the things that make it the car I would choose over the GTI are subjective. The way it smells inside. The slightly pointier, but less surefooted handling. The way it could actually be mistaken for a 116d if it weren't for the M Sport bodykit. The simple fact that I would call myself a 'BMW man', though not a fanboy.

The funny thing is it's these last points, the seemingly inconsequential matters of personal taste, that would be the clincher for me. And probably are in the vast majority of car-buying decisions for the likes of us. Care to share yours?


If you take only one thing from this blog, then, let it be this: we can only say that the BMW 125i M Sport is definitively better than the Golf GTI Edition 35 if you happen to be me. Because, for those of us who care about cars, our final choice is always subjective.

Riggers

 

Author
Discussion

SirSamuelOfBuca

Original Poster:

1,353 posts

156 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
it just looks so plasticky compared to the z3mcoupe does nothing for me at all (same as the golf).

Garlick

40,601 posts

239 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
An yet, on the flip, I am rather tempted on some sort of lease deal...

molineux1980

1,197 posts

218 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
It looks like vomit.

David87

6,648 posts

211 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
I like it very much. The M135i should be a riot.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Is the 25i a 6 pot engine? I have only skimmed the article so far, hope I'm not being thick.

Garlick

40,601 posts

239 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
MSTRBKR said:
Is the 25i a 6 pot engine? I have only skimmed the article so far, hope I'm not being thick.
Now a turbocharged four.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Garlick said:
Now a turbocharged four.
Nawww. If it were still a 6 then there would be no contest!

PaulieMafia

3,321 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
MSTRBKR said:
Garlick said:
Now a turbocharged four.
Nawww. If it were still a 6 then there would be no contest!
Seconded. This four-potted future we live in makes me sad. Straight six would swing it for me too.

Wardy5

136 posts

205 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Subjectively.... it looks terrible.

I'm liking the current BMW design trend; I prefer the current F10 5-Series to the E60, the new 6 is a step forward and I think the 6 Gransport is nicely styled.

The new 1 though - hmmm, not a looker.

Raoul Duke

929 posts

162 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Will be watching this with interest as I am changing from a golf shortly myself, and the 125 m-sport is on the shortlist to replace it with - quite fancy one in the orange, although yet to see one in the flesh.
Still can't quite decide if i can live with the looks, but the m-sport pack improves the situation hugely.

Jobbo

12,960 posts

263 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Without options, the 125i MSport is much closer on price to the normal GTI rather than the Edition 35. Looking like an objectively sensible choice too.

toppstuff

13,698 posts

246 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
It is not the best lookin car out there. It is a bit of a munter.

But it is infinitely more interesting than the white household appliance that preceded it.

And much more worthy of the thousands of words of copy that will no doubt be written about it, if the Golf was anything to go by. wink

Wardy5

136 posts

205 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
PaulieMafia said:
Seconded. This four-potted future we live in makes me sad. Straight six would swing it for me too.
Absolutely. A creamy Munich straight 6 would be lovely. But it just wouldn't sell in significant enough numbers in today's climate, especially as a large amount of these will appear on fleets. It's hard enough to find fleet lists these days that will let you have anything petrol-powered.....

As the £6 unleaded gallon approachs, the fact this will do 43mpg is a pretty strong selling point; annoying as that might be!

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Not driven the new one series and I suspect I'd prefer the way it drives, but it's just soooo ugly.

Somehow the fact that the BMW is a turbocharged four is more annoying than with the Golf too, because BMW used to be one of the last bastions of larger capacity N/A engines.

Riggers

1,859 posts

177 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
toppstuff said:
It is not the best lookin car out there. It is a bit of a munter.

But it is infinitely more interesting than the white household appliance that preceded it.

And much more worthy of the thousands of words of copy that will no doubt be written about it, if the Golf was anything to go by. wink
biggrin Sadly I won't have the chance, as it isn't on long-term test. But I can write thousands of words on it and PM them to you if you wish? wink

Actually, joking aside we will be doing a 'proper' first drive on it rather than just my fairly random thoughts...

Yorkshirepud

136 posts

183 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
Do the driven wheels weigh in your mind at all?

Also I think this just shows as is often mentioned when prices of GTIs are stated in reviews how much more expensive mainstream hot hatches are (I know all cars are but bear with me). The thought when I was 15 (I'm 30) that you'd pay the same for a BMW as you would a VW would have made me laugh. But then that was a world where every other car was a Vauxhall or Ford, seeing a BMW or Mercedes was quite rare and revered, Audi wasn't even a premium brand, when normal wage earners didn't wrap themselves in credit like we do now.

moskvich427

227 posts

174 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
You make a good point... there's an awful lot of subjectivity regarding car verdicts.

This is what makes me cry out every time an Alfa wins a group test, due to its "flair" or "character", despite the reviewer addmiting that it's German rival is the better car...

KM666

1,757 posts

182 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
They both look fat, and not in the complimentary street meaning of the word. If I was given one for free it'd be the bmw for me, slightly sharper in the details, and its not a VW. Plus dont BMW offer some depreciation cushioning in the form of a pre agreed value down the line? I've heard of it on their approved used cars.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
It should be a little less ugly in 3-door and a little cheaper too.

As for 6-cylinders, well you have the forthcoming (and inc VFM) 135i but I guess the sound and the character might be compromised by the presence of the turbos ...

dandare

957 posts

253 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
The Golf is boring in styling but inoffensive. The BMW is very ugly and poorly proportioned. If it had come from a Korean source a few years ago most people would have laughed at it, but being a BMW "it looks cool".

Having said that, I would probably go for the BMW simply because it is RWD and promises to be a better fast drive. I think that a four pot probably improves weight distribution, and as long as the power is sufficient, have nothing against it.