GT86 owners - did you consider/drive a M135i?

[daveknott5]

Interested to know of any GT86 owners who test drove an M135i when considering which car was for them.... Anybody try one? The M135i seems to offer a far nicer interior, a better stereo, better build quality, MUCH more accelerative power, a straight six sound, more practicality - and can still do tail out stuff. The major downside is the looks, but even taking the M135i's slightly greater cost into the equation (£30k new vs 25k), an M135i can be had nearly new for £25k.

So - taking all that into account - what made you still go for the GT86?

[LordGrover]

Apologies for butting in - the bimmer was not on my list.
The cars are so different I can't imagine anyone who would be interested in one would have an interest in the other.
I'm sure everything you say about the 135 is true, (some of it subjective though) but that's what BMW do - it's a premium product for a particular type of buyer. The Toyota/Subaru is none of the above, because it's not intended to be.
If you like the BMW you won't get on with the GT86.

[aspen]

The 1 series wasn't even a consideration for me either.

I wanted a lightweight(ish) sports car, designed from the beginning as a sports car. 1 series was also over budget. Saying 'it is only 5k more' is a bit daft as you could say that a boxster is only 8k more than the BMW. (Fair enough thats 27% more than a 1 series which is only 20% more than the GT86 but you get my point)

You may also be able to buy the BMW second hand for 25k but you can buy a GT86 for 20k...

They are two very different cars at quite different price points.

The only other car I was considering was a BRZ!

[yahtzee]

I guess if your considering the BMW your head is ruling your heart .. No bad thing .. I wanted a new car a rwd sportscar I knew the gt86 / brz was on the way, just when I could afford it. . No lease my own money , I went gt86 because I liked the front end and interior over the brz . I know the BMW is better built the gt86 is cheap in places and I really mean crap cheap !

I've had it since 1st September .. And would I change it no chance , it's sporty quick enough handles like a go kart with some stickier tyres on. Everyone wants to talk about it and ask questions which is nice ... " is it the new celica ?? "

I started modifying it within weeks ..

I never considered the BMW ..ever .. I'm a Toyota Subaru person with previous of both so that's why.

[PearlWhiteGT86]

As Posted by other people did not enter my head the BMW.

I did look at the 370z and Mk2 RS

But after the test drive I knew I wanted the GT86 I did not get a test drive for the others because i went back to the salesmen and placed my order.

[LordGrover]

OP, have you asked the question of BMW owners? It may be interesting to hear their views, we're the 'converted'.

[daveknott5]

No LordGrover I haven't. I suspect the BMW forum would cite all the reasons I listed in order to justify why they didn't consider an '86!

Its interesting to hear that the M135i wasn't even on most people's lists. I wonder if this was simply because it's a hatch and not a coupe? Or due to the £5k price difference?

[aka_kerrly]

Could it be that people were already putting deposits on the GT-86 before it's official release date which came in June before the M135I had it's début in July - 2012.

Then there was the pricing, we were led to believe the GT-86 was to be a £20k car, for me and I suspect a lot of people if you are buying with your own cash you wouldn't be comparing a £20k purchase to £30k.

Now that the prices and cars are available it still seams a £5k difference and a huge difference in build philosophy makes these cars difficult to compare.

On a side note I still find it amazing that BMW can sell a M135i for a profit in less of course this means they make a far more substantial profit on a £28k 123d

[otolith]

From the 135i coupe thread;

Snowman23 said:

Timbola said:

Picked up a 135i Coupé nigh on 12 months ago, a shade under £15k from AUC, with 49k on the clock.

Best all-round package I've owned. And one of the main reasons I bought it was for its looks, which I love.

Performance is suprisingly subtle, as others have commented. The twin turbos of the N54 block are hardly noticeable, as is the 306bhp. It's only a shocked glance at the speedo that belies the eye-watering pace.

Feels planted, and I have every confidence in the corners. Though the great big lumps of torque at the rear wheels can put the car sideways before the DTC kicks in however, especially in the wet.

To date I have not been obliged to fully test the ridiculous six-pot front brakes. Fortunately.

It's a smile-every-drive car.

Couldn't agree more, I've had mine 3 months, and loving it. I came from a mk 6 Golf GTI, and it is a nice upgrade in all areas.

The performance is deceptive, especially when joining a motorway, dual carriageway. It's in license losing territory without even trying

The highlight so far was the journey down to Goodwood for Supercar Sunday, I was in a 8-10 car Ferrari convoy, what a morning...I was gutted when we actually got to Goodwood

See the bold bits - some people want playful rather than planted and see being insulated from the speed of the car as a bad thing.

[otolith]

BMW sell an entry level 1-series hatch for £17500 and a coupe for £22,600. When I see essentially the same thing with a bigger engine for a 55%-80% markup, I'm not thinking "bargain", I'm thinking "juicy margin". Amazing how value for money is perceived.

[Terror Factor]

The m135 does come with quite some options as standard (xenon and iirc airco come to mind). Bigger brakes/wheels, better suspension also up the price, but I do see your point. I've got the same feeling about many cars, but the m135 does rather good in that aspect, imo.

Anyway, I don't own either of them, but I test drove them both. I found that they both felt quite isolated, but I came from a mx5 turbo with uprated suspension. The GT felt a bit slow. The m felt faster, but still felt rather slow for the performance it has. I'm not sure which one I would pick. I'd like to try them both on a closed course and/or for a longer time.
gt>>>m135 for looks though, the beemer's front is fugly.

One of my best friends also drove both of them, he'll be going for the beemer. Mainly because he can convert it to a light cargo vehicle, which means he can put 100% of the costs in his one man company (here in Belgium at least), compared to 75% for the toyota.

If the GT was turbocharged, I probably wouldn't bother with the bmw.

[keelerad]

Never even considered the BMW, wanted a sports car designed as such not the hot version of a standard car

Came from a T-Sport Celica so also brand loyalty as I had the T-Sport 8 years from new and loved it

Alec

[RobM77]

LordGrover said:

OP, have you asked the question of BMW owners? It may be interesting to hear their views, we're the 'converted'.

I'm on my 7th BMW and am also a fan of Toyotas - I have no real brand loyalty (I don't believe in that, I treat every car individually) but both manufacturers make very good cars and I've owned several of each. I've not driven the GT86, but I have driven a 135i, albeit not the latest one (I drove a 2007 model). Nevertheless, from driving lots of different BMWs (pretty much the whole range) a pattern does emerge which I suspect applies here. The trouble with the quicker BMWs is they're not very fluid to drive (which is why the comparison with the GT86 is an interesting one); the wheels are too large giving a horrible jiggly ride, the throttle has a snatchy lag on it from the top, the clutch has a delay valve on it and the steering on the faster models is often fairly lifeless due to the big wide tyres and ePAS. There is a fantastic chassis under there (1 series, 3 series, 5 series etc - all with superb balance), and certainly one to rival many purpose built sports cars, certainly the 350Z (which incidentally does actually platform share), S2000, MX5 etc. However, you'll never get to appreciate that chassis unless you either get one of the better resolved M models (E90 M3 for example - a glorious car), where everything is more thoroughly designed to work together, or one of the humble lesser models (120d, 320d etc - they all drive in a very fluid way). That might sound a bit crackers, but I've met many people who say the same having driven a lot of the range on road and track. Most PHers over on General Gassing can't see past bhp figures and straight line speed, so they don't really see this argument. However, if you do then I suspect you value handling over speed and the GT86 is therefore the perfect car; I haven't driven one yet, but I've every faith in Toyota to make it as fluid to drive as the lesser BMW models, but with a nicer petrol engine, probably a more focused setup and of course with Toyota's peerless build quality. I reckon if you need four doors, roof bars, tow bar etc then you'd go for the BMW; but if you just need a 2+2 of that ilk then the GT86 would probably be the car of choice.

[LordGrover]

Thanks RobM77.

In other news, maybe wait for a year or two: click?

[RobM77]

First I've heard of that - I'll be in the queue!

[istoo]

OP,

I am currently driving and occassionally tracking an E46 M3, however it is quite tired and i fancied a replacement. Flame me if you like, but i felt the 135 was fast, planted all those and relative performance bargain. However, it felt a bit more disconnected, less raw than the M3. I test drove a GT86 this afternoon, i want one, had all those feelings the M3 gives me but at a lower speed, felt very engaging. Different cars and i see the same point as grover and co, but it has that thing i like in cars. I know others have tried it an hated it, i am in the love it team...

[VeeFource]

I find it odd that more people don't compare these two cars more. OK so if you're a handling purist or performance purist it's clear which one would be the most desirable, but surely most phers are after the ultimate combination of both and I think these two cars are probably the closest to that you can get when looking for something practical(ish) in roughly this price bracket. Thing is they both sit just either side of that magical middle ground so it ends up being a fairly subjective decision based on slight variations like the following:

Rawness vs finesse
Looks vs quality
N/a but peaky vs torquey but laggy
Involvement vs performance

I have an E36 which to me strikes the balance almost perfectly but it's getting old and I'm struggling to decide where to go from here. I think the GT86 vs 135i debate can ultimately be summed up as involvement vs capability but deciding which is the most rewarding and fun ownership proposition is proving a surprisingly difficult decision to make...

[Zed Ed]

Think I'm still banned from my local BM dealer;)

Wouldn't have bought one over the brz though

[VeeFource]

Zed Ed said:

Think I'm still banned from my local BM dealer;)

Wouldn't have bought one over the brz though

Haha, brilliant! Think I'm getting close.. but they don't help themselves having free coffee and biscuits, NOM!

[Johnnytheboy]

I followed the 86's development with interest until I realised it wouldn't suit me - boot too small, in short.

I've been toying with an M135i since it was announced, but BMW don't want my to test drive one, so haven't got round to it.

I can't see why someone wouldn't consider them both if they were in the market for a 25-30k performance car.