My friend and I are both in our 20s and I think we are in the target demographic for the 2 series, cla, a3/s3 sedan.
I'm in the market for a new car (my first new car actually, previously 2 were 3 - 4 years old when I purchased them) and my friend and I were both seriously excited about the CLA45 AMG. I also really didn't want to wait until well into next year to get a new car.
Here are my thoughts:
-- CLA --
Interior
- CLA has great, great looking seats
- CLA carbon fiber bits in interior look nice
- CLA air conditioning vents are ugly
- If I remember, it has a panorama roof option (I know, track guys hate that but its nice)
- CLA "number pad" is busy and ugly and does not fit its younger target demographic
- CLA navigation unit is a total disaster. Screen is way too small and as many have pointed out, it looks EXACTLY like a tom top glued to a regular dash
Exterior
- I really like that they attempted to be very aggressive in their design
- The front is OK but I don't like the overhang
- The side view is pretty OK
- The back is totally unforgivable and is ultimately the one flaw, above all others, that I really couldn't overlook. Could never convince myself to spend that kind of money when the car looks like such a turd due to how its overall shape is culminating in that droopy, ugly back.
Performance
- The numbers look amazing, both power and efficiency wise. Thats a big deal.
- Not sure about FWD but I'd def give it a try if I was still interested in the car
-- M235i --
I won't go into as much detail but BMW basically did a consistent good to excellent job everywhere. For example:
- The interior is not oh wow so stunning but it is clean and modern, makes no ugly mistakes, and has the largest and best screen of the three cars I was considering (s3 sedan included). Very good job.
- Same with the exterior. It is anywhere from good to really sexy (in the wallpaper pics) and can be made even more aggressive looking with M Performance parts, etc. Again, there is no huge mistake (e.g. CLA rear) that sinks the whole ship
- The performance and price are also very good....right in my sweet spot
Again, BMW did a solid job all the around rather than coupling some really cool/aggressive wins with unforgivable mistakes.
I work close to the MB dealership and have seen only 1 on the road so far. Hope that holds. I think M235i > S3 sedan > CLA45 AMG