Morgan, I can completely understand your view of BMW and I totally agree, and I thought I will share my 2 cents about my experiences with some of the cars mentioned here. Maybe it will give you an insight into your interest in the GTi.
I have owned 2 Audi A4's, a B6 (2 generations back) and a B8 (the current model) and in between the 2 Audis, a E90 325. I am currently driving a Scirocco 2.0T.
Here's my take:-
325
- Engine sound trumps the other cars. The six is really sweet
- Handling trumps the A4's anyday
And honestly, that's all I think of that goes to the 3 because most everything else, it either loses out or is not much better.
Straight line performance - no match for the A4 2.0T nor the Scirocco. I echo what you mentioned about the Beemer being the ultimate driving machine that is slower than all its rivals. The 325 which competes with the A4 2.0T and the C250 does a measly 7.7 to 100kmh whilst the A4 does it in 6.5 and the C250 in the new facelift in 7.1. Bit embarassing for Beemer who is always considered to the most performance oriented amongst the 3 Germans
Handling - can't beat the go-kart feel of the Scirocco. True the 3 handles fast bends and corners well, don't understeer as much as the Scirocco and handles quick directional changes much better than the A4 (the A4 hates directional changes, one quick left and right and the car immediately feels very unsettled) but because the Scirocco handles like a gokart, changing directions back and forth multiple times is zero drama. No body rolls, no unsettled feeling... the car just feels like it's made to do that. Of course I have to qualify this and admit that it is not fair comparing the handling of a 4-door sports saloon to a 2-door coupe.
Interior - BMW looks only slightly better than the VW. Maybe because the interior has not really changed much since the E46 and I have grown tired of it but I find the A4 interior (the B8) so much better, from the nicely placed colored screen in the middle dash, the speedo clarity, the air cond controls
Ride - I actually find the Scirocco which I will termed as "hard ride" to be better than the 3. True the 3 handles well and you have to sacrifice some ride comfort for that but to me, the sacrifice is too much. Again, this is subjective but to me, on days when I just want to sedately drive home after a long day at work... the 325's ride does get on my nerves. A lot of it could be due to the RFT and more than once I have had people telling me if I swap them out for normal tyres, it'll be much improved. But hey, if I had to spend a few more grand on top of what I've paid for to get the car so that I can get more comfort out of it... something must be wrong.
After Sales Service - AB service ain't bad but I won't say it is much better than Euromobil. In both companies, I will say the level of service you get is dependent on who serves you. Just that in AB, there are more of the better service attendants than Euromobil. But once you know who is good and you look for the same guy everytime you make an appointment, then the service level difference becomes minimal. What I have found equally annoying about both companies is that the servicing always takes a day. Go in for a scheduled engine oil change and it takes a full day. That is annoying for me. It takes only an hour to change the engine oil and do the checks that they do but both AB and Euromobil tells you it will take a day when you make an appointment.
Built quality - have to admit that the A4 beats the 3 hands down here. Maybe because the 3 is a CKD and the A4's are CBU. But in the time that I owned both A4 (3 years for the B6 and 2 years for the B8), I have not spent a single cent of repairs. Only thing I've spent on was regular service. On the B6, Euromobil had even changed the air-cond interface on the car citing that there was some problems with it which they had received a memo from Germany and that they are changing all B6's that are still under warranty. Mine had no problems but hey, if they were gonna give me a new interface, why not. As for my 325 (3 years ownership) I have had engine oil problems. Not leaking, but evaporating. The engine oil goes down so fast I had to top up almost every few thousand kms. This from brand new. After a few diagnosis, BMW told me that it is a problem with the engine block itself and they will have to change the entire block. All under warranty of course and they gave me a courtesy car, they went to JPJ to change the engine number on my reg card for me etc but still... how can a brand new car require an engine change. Also... it was a lot tougher to sell the car when the reg card showed an engine change... Have 2 other friends with E46, one had problems with her 320's engine butterfly valves (changed multiple times under warranty) and the other had problems with his 325's gearbox.
Depreciation - believe it or not, I have lost more on the 325 than on both A4's. I had expected to lose less on a Beemer than an Audi but not true.
As for the Scirocco, except for the car having cheaper accessories (lower end sound system, no bluetooth connectivity etc) and of course a less prestigious image compared to the BMW and Audi, the ownership experience is not much difference. The built quality is still very good (I have only had the car for 9 months so maybe it is too early to tell) and the drive and feel is still very German. Service is better in that they do segregate between people who go in for repairs/troubleshooting vs regular scheduled servicing. So to service my car and get an engine oil change, it takes 1 hour. I can actually wait there and seat around. For AB and Euromobil... I have never had a half day turnaround on servicing, let alone 1 hour.
So overall for me, although VW is very much a cheaper car and of course in Germany, is not used in the same breath as the Mercs, Beemers and Audis... but the ownership experience is on par with the other Germans... at least here in Malaysia.
For me the Scirocco is a mid-life crisis go-fast car that I bought to get it out of my system before I really get too old and look like an uncle driving his son's car
so I never expected to keep it for long. Now that I've driven it for 9 months, I must say that the initial fun of tearing down the road and driving like a maniac has worn off. The impracticalities of a 2-door car, the bumpy ride etc is becoming more obvious. I will probably keep this car for no more than another 9 months to a year and go back to a proper 4-door sedan. Unless the new 2012 3-series really blow me away, I will most likely consider the C250 or the C300. With the new facelift and Merc finally replacing the stupid pop-up display with a proper built-in display, the 7-speed Gtronic now available on the C250 and the new aluminium bonnet that should shave weight and improve performance, it is starting to look more promising.
