130i .. what next? Advice required!

[briantherobot]

Owned a BMW 130i for 3 years now and time to consider my next daily. I am struggling to find anything that comes near in terms of its all round ability and price..
Had an ep3 type r before this, love the civic revving character but the low down torque from the 130 is fabulous and much easier to drive every day.

Budget maximum 9k.
Reliability is key.
Hot hatch / saloon

Audi s3 would be perfect however I've got it in my head these are very pricey when they go wrong..
Focus ST perhaps.

Any suggestions would be great !
Thanks

[Vocal Minority]

Not being silly but why do you want to change?

Fancy a change, or is it starting to cost money?

The only reason I say is that if you think there is no other reason beyond 'it's been three years so I probably should' there would seem to be no point s you seem to like it so much

Obviously it's your life and if you fancy a change why not - just a thought.

[briantherobot]

Indeed costs are starting to increase due to the mileage and age, still feels great to drive but have a feeling it will start to empty my pocket shortly!

[SteA]

It all depends what you want from a car and my thoughts may not be it. I had two 130i s and moved to a 2010 Leon Cupra R which I really liked (I did uprate the ARBs and got a remap), I mention this as we also run a 2010 S3 and I would take the LCR every time. Both were very reliable. I'm not sure you get much S3 for 9k, probably much higher mileage in comparison to the Cupra...

[briantherobot]

Cupra r sounds good, will take a look see what I can find.
Thanks

[swanny71]

Unless you really fancy a change then I'd keep the 130i, nothing comes close for the money and they easily handle big miles when looked after.
I'd need to spend double your budget to find a suitable replacement for mine.

[flight147z]

Z4c has the same engine and is much more special /bias