BMW 1 series - opinions?

[Mr.Jingles]

I was looking at one of these the other day as I wanted a car that :

1) could very occasionally have a childseat in the back / dog in the boot
but
2) but would suit someone who normally drives on their on
3) is Diesel (for efficency)
4) but has a bit of poke
and
5) is not too large as drive space is limited

it seems to tick all of the boxes... anyone got one that can give me feedback on the day-to-days? I consider the rear wheel drive a real positive, and lack of rear leg room doesn't seem to be TOO bad for a baby carseat (admitedly am yet to test this theory).

[garcon]

120d ticks all those boxes. You might find the 118d horribly underpowered (depends what you're used to).

[Barry Pomfret]

Buy a 150 diesel Golf instead, much cheaper to buy and run, better visibility and less depreciation.

[garcon]

Not sure about the dpreciation - would probably depend on spec and whether you're uying new or recent used (some good bargains to be had on lowmile 3-6 month old BMW UK cars).

The Golf's worth a look though - certainly not a bad car. And much better vfm than the Audi A3.

[bella]

buy second hand. that saves the drive off the forecourt instant couple of grand you lose.

someone i work with has a golf gt tdi which is his winter car - his summer car is a lotus elise. he still hasn't wiped the grin off his face - it goes like stink and it still does twice the mpg his elise did!

as for depreciation, bmws generally suffer far less from that compared to golfs and other cars. mind you, getting the top model (as the gt tdi is) is always a good way of making sure you have a sound investment sat on your drive instead of a money drain.

how do both the 120d and the gt tdi compare on road tax?