The BMW series 2 116i with 8 speed auto transmission was a fine car which I owned for 6 months. The transmission is probably the best currently available in the world and was always willing to change up or down in a very slick manner. Switching to manual mode immediately caused a gear change putting the car into a good gear for overtaking. I wish VAG cars did this!

In 6 months I covered 3200 miles which was mainly commuting and the average fuel economy was 43MPG whilst the car used 1L of oil. The chrome tip of the exhaust pipe was always very black and sooty and would never remain shiny for more than a few days after a clean. I was concerned about this. My daily commute was 10 miles each way.

In gentle economical driving I found the car offered a level of driving precision and stability that surpassed anything I’d driven before. The SE suspension with non-run-flat tyres rode very well apart from a tendency to pitch fore/aft over speed bumps. The damping was a good compromise between body control and comfort.

When pressing-on a bit things became a bit less impressive with the auto favouring tall gearing by default, the car is definitely over-geared and the 118i actually has better gearing (more revs). Sport mode made the car very lively using lots of revs at all times but it was too extreme for my taste. In faster driving the steering lost some of its impressive feedback and the car felt less special. Perhaps the Hankook Ventus Prime 2 non-runflat tyres 205/55 tyres were to blame.

When going flat-out the car became impressive again showing unexpected levels of grip and traction that was a delight. The engine always felt very smooth and unstressed and even at 80MPH the fuel economy remained in the high 40’s.

My biggest complaint with the car was the very low seating position coupled with low head height which made the car cramped for any passengers. I didn’t appreciate the long bonnet and there was 300mm of empty space in front of the engine.

The car was beautifully crafted with no rattles or knocks. Most of the underside of the car was plastic lined with 4 jacking points requiring a special jack head. No jack or spare wheel was provided so I bought them along with a spare wheel which was difficult to locate anywhere in the car. The spare wheel used half the boot space and there was no proper place for it due to the rear battery location.

There were a few software glitches with random water level warnings and loss of transmission gear position display. These cleared after switch-off.

The Hannkook tyres supplied suffered out-of-roundness imbalance that made the car shake a bit. I would never recommend these tyres!

I never felt completely comfortable with car because of its long nose and low height. The cloth interior material was very dark and prone to showing fluff and hair which was difficult to remove. The accelerator pedal was relatively stiff after VAG cars and hinged from the floor rather than from above. The stereo was simply superb with deep bass and good treble coverage.

The car depreciated £1200 in 6 months which was acceptable on a 2 year old car. It was easy to resell.