Ok then as promised, here is my review of last night's drive in a 130i M-sport (apologies for the length of the review!). But first, I just want to give you a little background:

Before my Fabia vRS, I had an E30 325i and an E36 325i. Both were superb cars and great to drive. I bought my E30 with 120k miles and sold with 163k miles, and not a single thing went wrong. It was still fun to drive with its smooth straight six and even the gearbox felt super tight and as new.

Anyway, in November last year I decided to go for a test drive in a 2003 E46 330ci sport. The car was an absolute stunner with 38k on the clock and an asking price of

Good review

Good review - I bet with a bit of haggling you could get it a lot cheaper than 26k. Friend of mine has just got a 330d m sport with sat nav leather etc that booked at over 38k for 31k. It was a pre reg and they needed to make their figures - I did similar mine booked at 28k and I got it for 24k

For £26k you could have either a Golf GTi or Octavia VRS with all the options ! I know they're not BMW's but if you want to pay extra for a badge then I suppose you have to.

and I am awaiting the "yeah that's all very well but it still looks crap" comments !

Should have gone to Specsavers:tipspecs: ......

(Nice review though)

Must admit after slating the new price of the vrs I'm now thinking that with some of the discounts on offer it is very good value for money. If I can get an estate with 18" & climate for a bit less than the standard price in nov then I might well be interested

Same engine as in the 630i, which I've been driving for three days. Absolutely outstanding unit, the feeling you had in it is exactly the same that I had in this one (consider weight differences are really not that much)...and you're right..after that shove down at around 3.5k rpm, it just pulls and pulls...all 265 horsies...

Good review

For

but the 130i M-Sport is pretty spec'd up as it is and is bound to be a better drive[/i'] than either the Golf or the Octavia

I don't think most people who buy them appreciate any of the good drive features though.They just buy the propellor.

There are so many nicer looking BM's with cracking engines.Why bonk the ugly sister version

Thanks all - it took me a while to type that lot! Also please find attached a couple of pics pinched from tyresmoke.net.

For

Sorry - forgot the pics :duh:

For

I'm worried - I quite like the look of that

Chris

Isn't the extra money for more than a badge though? For instance RWD and an extra 65bhp.

agree...

depends if you drive for pleasure or necessity.

Nice review

I quite like it tbh, in terms of styling and interior - oh well I suppose someone has to

I quite like them Would I have one? Probably. As for buy a VRS or a Golf GTI, why buy either of those, get a Fabia it's cheaper still It's not always about price, and besides which, compare like with like FFS. You are talking new, unmodded cars. In this case with over 250bhp - have a look, what else is there with 250+ bhp? How much do they cost?

Evo 8s here cost less than that But then again you can't compare a Jap car to German quality.

I'm sure Lexus would disagree with you there

As for the Evo:

Nuff said

Love those adverts

I know you have the BMW one tucked away in the archive.It's only fair you share ( the 'sell you anything' one)

OK, a selection, just for you

Happy now?

Think they are going to do a three door which is a different kettle of fish.That looks much better. Don't know why:confused:

A well thought-out review, good work

Sounds like a good overall package, and that new magnesium-block 3.0 is a masterpiece IMO, but if I was in the position of spending that amount on a car, I feel sure the styling and value for money would put me off.

Steve

It's when you look at what else you could get for that money, that you have to wonder why BMW have the price so high... I mean, iirc it's more than the Golf R32, more than a scooby, more than some evo's... how does it compare to the monaro??

Good Review BUT.......

You say the cost is £26k - A new Specd VRS Octy is less than £19k without discount.

So the octy vrs is £6k less expensive or put it a better way 23% less expensive.

Better still for £26K you could have 2 furby VRS' - one chipped. And the furby is the same size - the octy is a much bigger car.

When I drove a one series last September (Which I have posted before) I did like the way it drove (style isn't an issue for me) but there were so many design niggles such as not being able to turn off the indicators and a boot which you scratch the paintwork to open - you wouldn't notice the latter on a short test drive - like everything else it's only whan you get the car home and use the boot you notice this.

Just my 2 p worth though. But if you like it go for it.