BMW 125i 2008 Review

More than able to cruise along on sheer brand power, the big Bavarian leaves such trifling concerns as bang-for-buck to the plebeian marques.

Which is why the 125i Coupe seems such a stunning bargain. Actually, scratch `seems' and make that `is' — at least by German prestige-car standards.

Not that Audi or Mercedes-Benz offer anything at this price point with anything like comparable go.

If you've ever contemplated hocking an organ to afford a BMW with a real engine (ie, an in-line, six-cylinder petrol), here's one for around the price of a sleepy 320i sedan. Or a Mazda RX-8 GT, for that matter. Or less than a Golf R32.

Leave the options list alone, insist on a non-metallic-painted example with six-speed manual gearbox, and the 125i can be had for $54,400 plus the usual dubious charges — a price that comes in comfortably under the federal Government's iniquitous, ludicrous and soon-to-be 33 per cent luxury-car tax.

Opting for a six-speed automatic takes the price $200 north of that mark; the other embellishments on our test car, including the M Sports kit and iDrive, send it past $60K. You need none of those things.

All right, there's not much by way of family facility, with only two doors and a cabin of an aspect so grim as to depress a Puritan.

But don't count the seats (quite adequately two-plus-two, by the way). Look under the lid and count the six pretty pots lined up in a row.

No, this is not the top-whack 1Series — that's the scintillating, twin-turbo 135i. And if you must be pedantic, the three-litre six of the 130i hatch has the full-cream 195kW/315Nm output, whereas the 125i is confined to 160kW/270Nm.

But the former costs (a not unreasonable) $73K, while the latter is so freakishly hideous to behold that — in nature — it would have been killed at birth by its own parents.

DRIVING

Having secured the exclusive first drive of this newest variant last week, we found what we had half-hoped and half-expected: a rapid, superbly sorted compact whose obvious ability is readily exploitable and enjoyable.

To BMW's close to 50/50 weight distribution and rear-wheel-drive, the coupe brings another theoretically (but not always) wonderful combination: a big, and pretty powerful, engine in a small car.

This one, however, achieves the desired outcome of evoking BMW's quick compacts of previous decades — not least the classic E30 3 Series — while being in every respect completely contemporary.

The 125i's claimed mid-six-second acceleration time to 100km/h is a second shy of the mark set by its 225kW/400Nm turbo sibling, but escaping city streets for the hills is to have the 125i's abilities revealed in increments.

That M kit, which lowers and tautens the suspension, has rendered various 3Series uncompliant, tramlining teeth-gnashers even in suburban driving. If run-flat tyres are so wunderbar, why does BMW eschew them for full-on M Series cars but inflict them on those with the M Sports kit?

Or so would have run the sentence I'd more or less already written. If you're prepared to accept firmness as fair (this is not a Citroen or a Camry) you can't have a lot to complain about.

All right, even with the easier-riding standard 17-inch rubber of the 125i, you're never less than fully aware of mid-corner bumps — but not to the unsettling degree of the 135i, which skitters and skips on coarse surfaces like a roller skater over marbles.

The manual 125i's kerb weight is barely over 1400kg, some 80 kegs less than that of the surprisingly heavy 135i.

Even with the weight impost of the ZF automatic transmission, the 125i is able to make light of what is, on the face of it, a drastic output deficit.

Yet it's almost always sufficiently responsive, especially when the gearstick is flicked into sport mode and the manual shifting levers are engaged.

The 125i coupe is as civilised as a 3 Series on the freeway, but its agility comes to the fore on the sections of twisty tarmac.

With steering that becomes feelsome as the 125i gathers momentum, turn-in is that of a sabre rather than a rapier — more in the manner of a compact GT than an unruly tail-wagger.

But this BMW's remit is not that of a rice rocket or a local yokel. Understand that, and you'll revel in its super- assured behaviour and the unflappable composure with which it retains speed through bends.

BMW's version of an electronic stability program extends a long leash before making its presence felt.

No doubt, there will be those who'll find the 125i too clinically efficient and insufficiently flamboyant.

But, as we say, it's elegantly sufficient, as apt for long-range cruising as it is for B-road deployment.

It's tough to find fault with what is arguably a unique BMW: one that's desirable, enjoyable and approaching the realms of affordable.

If only BMW would take over Qantas.