[Criticall]

Hi guys

Currently owning a 2014 A45 AMG, which I will discuss a bit below. Before always owned BMW cars (1 series), and I would say we kind of are a BMW family at home (father receiving his 435d in a month), stepmom owning a 1 series as well. I was always looking forward to the 2 series (years ago), but then Mercedes made the A45 AMG and I really liked it…
Anyway, now that I went to the Autosalon in Brussels, I saw a M235i in white with all the performance parts installed and now I’m torn apart between keeping the A45 AMG or going back to BMW and buying a (second hand) M235i.

Obviously opinions on this forum will tend to be more positive towards the M235i, because otherwise you guys wouldn’t have bought it, but I hope you could help me with some of the questions I have, as objectively as possible .

First I’ll ‘review’ my A45 a bit so that you know what I like and dislike about my current car. If you don’t like to hear about it, just skip this part :

Likes/Pro’s:
- The 19’ Black AMG wheels with silver lining, I absolutely love those
- The exhaust sound, especially on downshifts or when releasing the throttle
- The interior in general (seats, dashboard, …)
- Grip on the road (however it is completely different than RWD BMWs, the overall grip is good because of the AWD (pitty only 50% power to the rear wheels))
- The brakes are stunning
- Nice acceleration
- Beautiful pano roof on a white A45
- Could be easily tuned to 400-450 hp

Dislikes/Cons:
- The car is really really stiff. It should have been less stiff with option buttons to make it stiffer.
- A lot of rattles. It started with the passenger door, the center console and now (probably because of the coldness in the winter) the pano roof also started to rattle.
- Gearbox isn’t that good. Once running it’s beautiful, but there is quite a bit of take off lag and taking a 3 point turn takes forever. (Not a big issue though)
- Engine sound, but I wasn’t expecting a nice engine sound. It’s quite obvious when buying a 4 cilinder 2 liter engine car.
- Overall view from inside of the car is less than with my previous 1 series, but something you get used to.


Now concerning my questions, if you could give me some opinions about the car in general, that would be great.

Also I haven’t found any (ECU-)tuned acceleration video’s or times. I think the A45 AMG can do 200km/h in around 14 seconds tuned completely by Rebellion. Does anyone have 0-100 km/h or 0-200 km/h times of the M235i (tuned)?

Now should I be changing, there is the choice between the RWD M235i or the M235i xDrive. I’d be tempting to take the xDrive version, but this one’s around 8k euro more expensive, so are there any opinions on this matter? I remember that with my 200hp 1 series it was hard getting nice traction when taking off when it had rained. How’s the traction in both versions wet and dry? Other pro’s and cons of both versions?

The last (minor) thing I was worrying about was the fuel consumption. With the A45 I’m currently averaging 11l/100km with spirited driving. On the A45 AMG forum this is about the average of most of the drivers. Normal driving would be around 9,5-10,5l, highway driving is around 7-8l while keeping to the speed limit, while very spirited drives can go up to 16l-18l/100km. Could anyone have a go at the average fuel consumption of the M235i?

I’ve been thinking about this car ‘issue’ for 2 weeks now and I hope you guys could help me a little.

Thank you in advance

(Oh and is there a facebook page somewhere for m235i owners?)

[335BOY]

YIKES! Last time anyone mentioned that car it got crucified. I think its a great car and I'm sure its very different than the M235. Good luck. Put your flame suit on....................

[golf_234]

I think you already know the answer. As an owner of many Benz's and BMWs... The BMW is a car you will love. The Merc is... just a car. In this model case especially, there is no contest. Mercedes just can't get the details that make you absolutely love the car like BMW does. That being said, I think it would be wise to see what the M2 offers before making the decision on an 2, as only more options are becoming available.

[FunRevn]

The AMG is a very nice car. I think you summarized th Pros and Cons well.

Your first few cons where deal breakers for me and that is why I chose the M235.

Is a great daily,driver with multiple personalities.

If your cons list is really killing you and you can get out of your AMG without losing much, I think you will enjoy the M235.

[bimmerfile]

OP:
Most here will be somewhat biased favourably in their opinions towards the 2-series.
There are already a number of excellent unbiased head-to-head comparisons (try googling M235i vs A45 AMG)).
Here's one:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/m...st-drivers-car

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by golf_234

I think you already know the answer. As an owner of many Benz's and BMWs... The BMW is a car you will love. The Merc is... just a car. In this model case especially, there is no contest. Mercedes just can't get the details that make you absolutely love the car like BMW does. That being said, I think it would be wise to see what the M2 offers before making the decision on an 2, as only more options are becoming available.

He said he wants to find a second hand 2er... And i personally know the AMG is not just a car. I suggest you drive one.

[configt]

Is the A45 the same as the CLA45? Last time I sat in an CLA45 I was disgusted by the cheap plastic interior. Brand new car rattled and everything felt loose and plastic like. No premium feel like you get in the M235i even if it doesn't look as fancy.

[335BOY]

Originally Posted by configt

Is the A45 the same as the CLA45? Last time I sat in an CLA45 I was disgusted by the cheap plastic interior. Brand new car rattled and everything felt loose and plastic like. No premium feel like you get in the M235i even if it doesn't look as fancy.

OP, This is what I was talking about.............

[tke743]

Originally Posted by Criticall

- Could be easily tuned to 400-450 hp

I had driven the CLA 45 before I bought the M235i. It is the best of the FWD based platforms out there, but this statement scares me. If you push it to that mark it will no longer be a mill under the hood, but a grenade.

[Criticall]

Well I don't really agree that the A45 is just a car. I really like it, and it does put a smile on my face, but I've been into BMWs since I was little. When the A45 was launched, I took the leap and I don't regret having done it, but the M235i might just be more a car for me.

I will look into the link posted about the unbiased review, but I also like to hear the opinion of people who owned the car for a while now.

The things I really like some more info about are the overal pro's and cons of a m235i, the grip (especially in wet weather conditions), some acceleration times, the fuel consumption,...

The M2 will be a dream car, but as I will be looking to buy a new house in a year, I don't want to/can't just buy a new car again...

The interior of the A45 has some parts that do feel cheap (plastic), which is a pitty, but I find the interior to be pretty nice and decent apart/besides those cheap parts.

Thank you for the responses so far. I really appreciate it!

[BMW335iOn18s]

you had trouble getting grip in a 200hp one series? I don't know, my old E46 330ci NEVER broke loose LOL. My M235i is completely fine in the rain...are you taking 40 km/h turns at 120 km/h? I've never had a problem in the rain with any of the 12 BMWs my family has had....

I prefer 6 speed manuals anyways, but the 8 speed ZF is fantastic, I've driven both the normal version in the 528i, and the sport version in the 640i.

The M235i is basically a shorter 435i, and both have outstanding interior quality...

I think this car is an upgrade in every way, you want regret it

[riccappa]

Get the Michelin Pilot Super Sports if you're concerned about grip. They're much better than the all seasons in terms of grip (provided it's not freezing outside).

[Criticall]

Yeah I really had. Even with my (half year in-between two cars) 116d coming out of some roundabouts in Belgium at only 30 km/h the rear would really slide (too much for the speed). I had Eagle F1 tyres on then, so that's why I'm asking.

Thanks for the reply, hope I will get some more info concerning my other questions too

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

There's plenty of threads here on 235i vs 235xi. Read through those OP and keep the peace here on the board by doing so.

In addition to 1m, M3/M4 I considered the CLA AMG and the W205. IMO all the CLA's lacked refinement and felt like poser MB's to me. Thats just a personal opinion and I'm sure you feel differently. The AMG was a bulldog no doubt. An exceptional motor for its size. Terrible transmission and stiff, stiff ride.

I'm still in break-in with my M235xi so I cannot review it fully yet. Suffice to say, I love firing it up in the morning, its a cruiser when I need it to be and goes into beast mode when I'm in the mood for that too.

I've owned both previous Gen M3's and probably close to 10 BMW's in 25 years. The M235xi has all the attributes to equal my fave of all - the E46 M3.

I cannot pay it any more homage than that...

[Criticall]

It was never my intention to disturb the peace on the board here. I have tried to search for threads that would give me more insight, but the search option on this board doesn't seem to like me.

I would like to thank you for your (time to) reply, same to all the others who took the time to reply to my questions and won't bother you any longer with any further questions.

[ABPReader]

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[Vervain]

My average fuel consumption is 12.5l/100km, but I've only done around 2500 kms. I get 8-9l/100km highway driving on Ecopro. City driving is around 14l/100km on ecopro. I've done mostly highway so far.
Fuel consumption is not very good so far, but I hope it will improve with time.

I've used 2.5 tanks of fuel in 3 weeks and I haven't pushed the car at all, while driving exclusively in ecopro lol.

[Dawko]

We were in the market for an M235i last year as well. Since it would be a car driven by both myself and the misses, we quickly disregarded the M235i as a serious option.
Since my GF currently drives my 'old' F20 118d, the rear seems to slip very often. Might be the heavy foot, decent tires but also Belgium roads/weather.

So X-drive was a sure choice for us. The AMG A45 was also an option as she really like the styling (so do I actually). But it lacks the feeling I have for a BMW. That and the fact we can't put our kids trolley to fit in the trunk made us skip the A45 as well.

We currently have a M135i X drive on order and we both think this would be the best choice. If you're not into hatch or don't need the extra space, I'd say go for the M235i. The A45 lacks (decent) finition the BMW does have.

[ABPReader]

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[Vervain]

Originally Posted by jet_00

Your drive a MT or AT ?

AT

[Criticall]

Thank you for your replies.
The roads in Belgium are quite horrible, that's why I'm concerned about all the power on rear wheels only. Think I'm going to give my BMW dealer a call for a test drive in one.

I sure hope the fuel consumption isn't much higher than around 12. 13l/100km max preferably. I mostly drive in Sport mode at the moment, so I guess in the M235i that won't be any different..

Thank you again for the help.

[moltenfire]

I'm getting around 11.5 L/100km in mixed city driving, and around ~450 km per tank. A tank is around 52L according to the manual. I have the ZF8 and haven't driven the car hard in sport mode though, since it's very snowy here in Canada and I've only had the car since the beginning of January 2015.