A45 vs m135 future value

[covmutley]

Topic done to death I know. Test drove both yesterday, both 15 plate. bmw is up for 18k, A45 is budget stretching 25k.

To oversimplify, agree with other reviews the 135 is the better all rounder. The a45 left me giggling like a child, a real event. I found the ride firm but not crashy, exhaust noise in s mode fun. Not sure it is worth 7k more though?

Anyway, been plugging overall costs into a spreadsheet and using auto trader I have been reckoning on the 135 being worth 12k in 3 years (12k miles per year) and the a45 about 18k.

Does that sound about right?

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 27th February 08:46

[Blanchimont]

There's many factors that can alter that. The new 1 hot 1 series could be 4cyl, and 4wd. There will be people who will want an RWD Inline 6. Could cause 1 series prices to firm up.
The new A45 could also cause prices to drop for the old model further. It's hard to tell.

[ilikejam]

One factor to consider is that the M140i's are probably all still under some warranty. Once the 140i starts to show up used without warranty the 135i prices could take an extra wee hit.

[Hammy98]

covmutley said:

Topic done to death I know. Test drove both yesterday, both 15 plate. bmw is up for 18k, A45 is budget stretching 25k.

To oversimplify, agree with other reviews the 135 is the better all rounder. The a45 left me giggling like a child, a real event. I found the ride firm but not crashy, exhaust noise in s mode fun. Not sure it is worth 7k more though?

Anyway, been plugging overall costs into a spreadsheet and using auto trader I have been reckoning on the 135 being worth 12k in 3 years (12k miles per year) and the a45 about 18k.

Does that sound about right?

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 27th February 08:46

If you are overly concerned on residuals then I'd be spending 23-24k on a well specced m140i Shadow Edition.

As another poster mentioned the incoming m140i replacement will be 4WD and a 4 pot, so the last of the line well specced m140i should hold their money.

Other factors to consider:

IIRC the A45 needs serviced every 10k? and I don't remember it being cheap! - worth looking up.

New A class has already been released, with a new A45 due in a bit. Unlike the BMW the new A45 will likely follow the same formula as the old one, 4WD 4 pot with a better interior than the previous iteration. As a result I'd expect values to take a hit.

[covmutley]

Good point on the 6 cylinder factor.

I had noticed that bmw are doing new 5dr shadow editions for circa 27k (10k off). Although maximum depreciation on new of course.

Depreciation isn't the biggest issue. Just trying to get the closest idea of overall costs of ownership

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 27th February 09:08

[Hammy98]

covmutley said:

Good point on the 6 cylinder factor.

I had noticed that bmw are doing new 5dr shadow editions for circa 27k (10k off). Although maximum depreciation on new of course.

Depreciation isn't the biggest issue. Just trying to get the closest idea of overall costs of ownership

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 27th February 09:08

I haven't had to service my m140 yet, but I'm sure I remember a comparison video on youtube where it was explained that the BMW isn't hit with the 'M tax' for parts and servicing since its not a full on M car, whereas the A45 is a proper AMG so servicing and parts are subsequently more expensive.

Depriciation aside it is a trade off as the BMW will likely eat back tyres and be thirstier than the Merc.

[Montybaber]

It saddens me a little to hear spreadsheets being used to make car buying decisions, depreciation etc is not everything

Some of the decision has to be made with your heart, you have to spend a lot of time in it and so buy something that makes you smile

If it was me I'd go BMW purely because my experience with MB dealers/service departments have been expensive and a let down

[Dannbodge]

The BMW will be worth less imo.

There are so many m135/m140s on the roads at the moment compared with A45s.
Market will be flooded with the in a few years when they start to get older.

[nunpuncher]

The A45 will hold it's value better simply because there are less of them. Add in the fact it's an ACTUAL AMG car and not a "lite" (god I fking hate that M-lite patter).

People are speculating that the next 1 series/M135/40 will be 4 cylinder and probably 4wd so price wise the 6 cylinder RWD ones will firm up. Personally I can't see that happening. It's a niche performance model therefor with a limited market and there are loads of used ones for sale due to the aggressive discounting BMW seemed to always have on the model. I previously thought E82 135i prices might hold the M135i prices up but as they are much rarer I've now spotted a few m135i's under the price of a decent e82 (understandable as it's a much better looking car).

[JS2808]

Buy an M140 for 22k ish?

You will likely get bored of the A45 quicker, I test drove one and my god I thought it was boring, that was a facelift too.

[covmutley]

Montybaber said:

It saddens me a little to hear spreadsheets being used to make car buying decisions, depreciation etc is not everything

Some of the decision has to be made with your heart, you have to spend a lot of time in it and so buy something that makes you smile

Know what you mean. But I also have a limited budget and a family. So cost is unfortunately relatively important

[ZX10R NIN]

The A45 will hold it's money better, on top of that it is just a bombastic car that's also better than the M135i handling wise too.

[mikey P 500]

I was/am also considering both these cars at some point, but in the end decided I would buy a porsche 996 in the mean time while a wait for both to deprecate further over the next few years while hopefully my porsche stays the same/goes other way. Really like the a45 but find it hard to justify the price gap over 135i (also quite like the fk2 civic type r).