M235i Test drive.
Discussion
So I was fortunate to have a go in an M235i yesterday,good looking car in the flesh if a little generic from some angles,strangley I quite liked the rear which I didn't in
photos,i cant however help but feel it looks a wee bit big for its wheels.It felt more positive than the M135i I test drove a while back displaying better body control and
turn in,i couldn't quite get the electric seat as low as I wanted in relation to the wheel but then I am 6ft 4 ,as with the M135i I found the 3 tier dash and centre
console overly fussy for my tastes and I do wish you could spec a Sat Nav/entertainment screen that folds away instead of permanently being on show,but altogether an
enviroment where you could comfortably spend a good chunk of time.The engine felt very muscular with a low down burble giving way to a nice howl higher up,its slightly
manufactured on the inside thanks to BMW's Active Sound but that doesnt detract from an otherwise good 'voice',pops and crackles on the over run now seem par for the
course ala A45 AMG and F1 but the M235i throws those into the mix too.It certainly goes well mated to the 8speed ZF box.
Im not a big fan of electric steering systems,lacking in some feedback compared to hydraulic,this one however was pretty good,bit of a deadzone feel slightly off centre
but nicely weighted and not totally devoid of feel . The whole package feels very competent and grown up and its happy to play commuter and hooligan in equal measure
which cant be a bad thing.I have to say that overall it was a very capable little car car but then it wanted to be at nearly £43,000.00 with extras,ofc not all will be
quite so heavily specced with luxuries as the demonstrator I drove although this car was missing the LSD which could potentially put you over the 45k mark if you added
it to an already well specced example.If you look at the base price it has lost a little of the bargain tag that the M135i is renowned for but imo opinion
makes up for it in improved looks (subjective i know but i always preferred the coupe) and a better drive,it does however push it into more direct competition price wise
with say something like the A45 AMG,it will be interesting to see how it sells next to that car and its 'cheaper' M135i sibling.
I can almost understand why BMW reportedly wont make a road going M235i Racing because it could be too close in performance to the soon to be released M3/4 but it gives
me great hopes of a blistered arch faster variant in the M2 being something worth waiting for ....hopefully
photos,i cant however help but feel it looks a wee bit big for its wheels.It felt more positive than the M135i I test drove a while back displaying better body control and
turn in,i couldn't quite get the electric seat as low as I wanted in relation to the wheel but then I am 6ft 4 ,as with the M135i I found the 3 tier dash and centre
console overly fussy for my tastes and I do wish you could spec a Sat Nav/entertainment screen that folds away instead of permanently being on show,but altogether an
enviroment where you could comfortably spend a good chunk of time.The engine felt very muscular with a low down burble giving way to a nice howl higher up,its slightly
manufactured on the inside thanks to BMW's Active Sound but that doesnt detract from an otherwise good 'voice',pops and crackles on the over run now seem par for the
course ala A45 AMG and F1 but the M235i throws those into the mix too.It certainly goes well mated to the 8speed ZF box.
Im not a big fan of electric steering systems,lacking in some feedback compared to hydraulic,this one however was pretty good,bit of a deadzone feel slightly off centre
but nicely weighted and not totally devoid of feel . The whole package feels very competent and grown up and its happy to play commuter and hooligan in equal measure
which cant be a bad thing.I have to say that overall it was a very capable little car car but then it wanted to be at nearly £43,000.00 with extras,ofc not all will be
quite so heavily specced with luxuries as the demonstrator I drove although this car was missing the LSD which could potentially put you over the 45k mark if you added
it to an already well specced example.If you look at the base price it has lost a little of the bargain tag that the M135i is renowned for but imo opinion
makes up for it in improved looks (subjective i know but i always preferred the coupe) and a better drive,it does however push it into more direct competition price wise
with say something like the A45 AMG,it will be interesting to see how it sells next to that car and its 'cheaper' M135i sibling.
I can almost understand why BMW reportedly wont make a road going M235i Racing because it could be too close in performance to the soon to be released M3/4 but it gives
me great hopes of a blistered arch faster variant in the M2 being something worth waiting for ....hopefully
Edited by wizz72 on Sunday 9th March 10:54
All i was saying is that the advertised showroom price was a whisker under £43,000.If you go to the BMW configurator and add everything you can almost get to 45k and that's still not with the LSD option. But your quite right,i have no doubt you can get it cheaper elsewhere if you know where to go. A well specced one at the price you suggest would be great as the basic on these is around 35k,it will be interesting to see what deals people can get 
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