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Hot HatchNew vs used: would you buy a BMW M135i or a BMW M2?

Tell us where your £36k would go

Tom HarrisonPublished: 30 May 2019 External link to Top Gear Magazine Subscription – 5 issues for £5Skip 7 photos in the image carousel and continue reading1 / 7

Last week BMW revealed the new 1 Series, and judging by the comments on our story, few of you are fans. Not of the looks, nor the fact it’s no longer rear-wheel drive. Or that you can’t get a six-cylinder engine.

Yep – the new M135i now has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive. Like the Mercedes-AMG A35, VW Golf R and Audi S3 with which it will compete. Not slow, though – launch-control and the double-clutch auto means 0-62mph takes 4.8 seconds, and the top speed is pegged at 155mph. And clever new tech means you can still drift it. Well, kinda.

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We haven’t driven one properly yet, but the early signs are pretty good. But of course it won’t be quite the same as the old M140i – such is progress. If this – the four-cylinder motor, the all-wheel drive – irritates you, old M140 and M135is can be bought for peanuts.

Or for precisely the same sum of money at the new £36,000 M135i, you could have something altogether more serious. Something like a three-year-old BMW M2, with its straight-six, manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive and muscly coupe body. A former Top Gear award-winner and thus a massively fun, all-round excellent thing. We found loads for sale, many three-years old with 10,000 miles or so on their odometers. Barely run in.

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You can read our review of the M2 Competition by clicking on these words. Then come back and tell us, which of these two BMWs would you rather own?

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