Fabia vRS has a new stablemate - enter the BMW 120d M-Sport!

[Sparkly]

Actually Tom, nevermind the bimmer, i've just noticed something, what is that sexy piece of carnography parked in front.

Let's see some photos of that!!!!!!

From photos alone, and the cheeky aftermarket 'Kernow' sticker I can see that it is clearly faster than the 1 series,

[pipsyp]

Added Spec :

Sport Auto with flappy paddles

M-sport Plus pack - Xenons, M-sport braking system, HK audio, Sun protection

Driver comfort pack - servotronic steering, Rear parking sensors, Cruise control

Full black panel display

Could have gone mental on th options list but tried to show a little restraint to protect my wallet haha! Nav would have been nice but couldn't really justify the cost on that one.

The HK is awesome even straight out the box. Should improve a lot too as get a few hours on it for the speakers to bed in apparently. Fantastic top end clarity and stereo separation. Thundering levels of bass are pretty good fun too!

I'll get some more pics up soon if it helps make the change happen for you lol! Go on you know you deserve/need one hehe!

mate I want! I know exactly what you are saying about the Nav, youve really got to get the Pro one and 2k adds quite a bit onto the monthly cost. The HK is fantastic, think its ace it comes with the plus pack.

For what you paid absolutely a better bet than an Octy too. What does it go like, bet its not disimilar to the Fabia?

One question....did you consider the 125d at all? Its about another 2k more isnt it?

Edited 24 September, 2013 by pipsyp

[Furbytom]

mate I want! I know exactly what you are saying about the Nav, youve really got to get the Pro one and 2k adds quite a bit onto the monthly cost. The HK is fantastic, think its ace it comes with the plus pack.

For what you paid absolutely a better bet than an Octy too. What does it go like, bet its not disimilar to the Fabia?

One question....did you consider the 125d at all? Its about another 2k more isnt it?

Mate it feels über rapid. Not much drama about it, just a relentless wave of torque with relatively little drop off at higher revs. Trouble is you don't quite appreciate the speed you are doing until you look down at the speedo as the wind and road noise are so well suppressed. In the Fabia it's quite the opposite especially with the Milltek fitted. I suspect against the stopwatch in a straight line there wouldn't be a huge amount in it. Cornering speeds in the 1er can be comfortably higher tho.

The 8-spd box in manual mode is awesome. Night and day difference between paddle shifts on comfort vs sport. With the gearbox in sport it really thumps home the up shifts with a nice little thud in the back.

I did consider the 125d but you are right it is nearly 2k more. The mgfv is a tiny bit higher which offsets that a little but it still would have added another £35 or so per month so decided to stick with the 120d. 125 does have twin pipes tho which looks much better!

[logiclee]

Looks great as I said over on babybmw.

Have you tried the braking cruise control yet? Takes some getting used to and still catches me out.

I never thought a conventional auto could beat a DSG until I drove a ZF8HP equipped car, it's an awesome bit of engineering.

As you say they are so quiet and refined you sometimes mistake how quickly you are travelling especially with the 8HP in Drive as you have no idea what gear you are in.

@Dexter619, there's no longer a 120i hatch, it was discontinued in 2011 when the new f20/21 shape came out.

If you want petrol your choice either side of that is..

118i 1.6 Turbo 0-62 7.2, 140mph, 50.4mpg combined (Auto)

125i 2.0 Turbo 0-62 6.2, 151mph, 44.8mpg combined (Auto)

Both considerably quicker and more economical than the old normally aspirated 120i

Cheers

Lee

Edited 24 September, 2013 by logiclee

[pipsyp]

Mate it feels über rapid. Not much drama about it, just a relentless wave of torque with relatively little drop off at higher revs. Trouble is you don't quite appreciate the speed you are doing until you look down at the speedo as the wind and road noise are so well suppressed. In the Fabia it's quite the opposite especially with the Milltek fitted. I suspect against the stopwatch in a straight line there wouldn't be a huge amount in it. Cornering speeds in the 1er can be comfortably higher tho.

The 8-spd box in manual mode is awesome. Night and day difference between paddle shifts on comfort vs sport. With the gearbox in sport it really thumps home the up shifts with a nice little thud in the back.

I did consider the 125d but you are right it is nearly 2k more. The mgfv is a tiny bit higher which offsets that a little but it still would have added another £35 or so per month so decided to stick with the 120d. 125 does have twin pipes tho which looks much better!

its a proper car thats for sure. Amuses me that its Fabia vRS quick yet capable of 62mpg, now thats german engineering at its best.

The ZF 8 speed as logiclee says has got to be about the best out there, in fairness ZF have always led the way where autoboxes are concerned. Be interesting to see when VAG drop the DSG in favour of one of these such boxes, DSG will always be a bit compromised IMO.

I reckon real world theres not much in it between the 120 and 125, bang per buck the 120 wins every day of the week. Such a good car, almost the prime case of a diesel hot hatch as far as Im concerned.

[logiclee]

I reckon real world theres not much in it between the 120 and 125, bang per buck the 120 wins every day of the week. Such a good car, almost the prime case of a diesel hot hatch as far as Im concerned.

 

If you spend a bit of time on the 1 Series forums you will find a lot of 125d owners feel the car is not as fast as the figures suggest it should be. But pitched against the clock they all seem to be putting out the performance. The twin turbo setup on the 125d is just so linear in it's delivery. 

The 120d though always feels as fast as it should even though it's a bit slower than the 125d. I'd certainly save the £2k and go with the 120d if I was choosing between the two.

 

Cheers

Lee

[Furbytom]

Looks great as I said over on babybmw.

Have you tried the braking cruise control yet? Takes some getting used to and still catches me out.

Cheers

Lee

 

Lee how does the 'brake function' work? I asked the dealer on pickup but he had no idea really just described it as a standard cruise, reckoned the 'braking' bit meant cruise disengages if you press the brake pedal..... :wonder:

[XK140]

Lee how does the 'brake function' work? I asked the dealer on pickup but he had no idea really just described it as a standard cruise, reckoned the 'braking' bit meant cruise disengages if you press the brake pedal..... :wonder:

ALL cruise controls disengage when you touch the brakes.

Above that are the ones with sensors in the front which cancel cruise if you get too near to the vehicle in front.

[Furbytom]

Actually Tom, nevermind the bimmer, i've just noticed something, what is that sexy piece of carnography parked in front.

Let's see some photos of that!!!!!!

From photos alone, and the cheeky aftermarket 'Kernow' sticker I can see that it is clearly faster than the 1 series,

 

The Kernow sticker adds at least 10 Bhp, everyone knows that!

 

Here is some Fabia-Porn for you -get that Kleenex ready......

 

 

 

[Furbytom]

ALL cruise controls disengage when you touch the brakes.

Above that are the ones with sensors in the front which cancel cruise if you get too near to the vehicle in front.

 

I know mate, dealer wasn't so sure tho! I asked him if it would auto-brake for the car in front and he said no. Lee will be able to fill us in on what "Cruise Control with Brake function" actually means I hope, otherwise I might have to actually read the manual lol!

I tried it briefly but it seemed to work the same as the setup on the Fabia.

[logiclee]

Yep the cruise auto brakes, if you are going downhill at increasing speed it will brake and if you are doing 60mph and engage a 40mph cruise speed it will brake quite hard down to 40mph.

 

You select which speed you want by moving the little led pointer around the speedo the hitting the set button.

 

Moving the little toggle switch up or down slightly changes the speed by 1mph and the car accelerates/brakes slowly. Moving the toggle past it's resistance point changes the selected speed by 5mph and the car will accelerate/brake more aggressively.

 

Cheers

Lee

[Furbytom]

Yep the cruise auto brakes, if you are going downhill at increasing speed it will brake and if you are doing 60mph and engage a 40mph cruise speed it will brake quite hard down to 40mph.

 

You select which speed you want by moving the little led pointer around the speedo the hitting the set button.

 

Moving the little toggle switch up or down slightly changes the speed by 1mph and the car accelerates/brakes slowly. Moving the toggle past it's resistance point changes the selected speed by 5mph and the car will accelerate/brake more aggressively.

 

Cheers

Lee

Sweet, ta for clearing that one up!

Wonder how many people have assumed the 'brake function' is some sort of front-sensor collision avoidance feature and slammed into the motor in front whilst testing it?!

[logiclee]

Sweet, ta for clearing that one up!

Wonder how many people have assumed the 'brake function' is some sort of front-sensor collision avoidance feature and slammed into the motor in front whilst testing it?!

 

That's "Active Cruise Control", not available on the 1 Series otherwise I would have ordered it. :(

 

Nearly had the Park Assist for £225 but then decided against it.

 

You can go on forever with options though.

 

Cheers

Lee 

[tonystop]

I am loving the BMW. Funny my friend has just got a new M135i and i was fortunate to be let loose on it. All I can say was I was completely blown away by it. I have never driven such a lovely car. The soundtrack was awesome and the performance was off the scale. Build quality, comfort and handling were top notch.  He wisely choose some great options the best one being the adaptive suspension which was great.

 

It would be extremely unfair and unjust to compare the Fabia Vrs as the BMW simply is leagues better in every aspect and so it should be with a price tag of £30k.