2019 Mercedes A 250 Takes on Old BMW 125i in Acceleration Comparison

We know that as compact executive hatchbacks, BMWs can't compare on things like space, quality or features. But what if you want some playful rear-end shenanigans and are dead-set on buying the "wrong car"?

Let's take a look at what was the top version of the A-Class until the A35 came out and compared it to the BMW rival. According to the alphanumerical German systems, these bad boys are called the A 250 and the 125i.

Both come with decent 2-liter turbo engines, but let's look at the specs. The one in the BMW makes 224 HP and 310 Nm (229 lb-ft). The video doesn't list xDrive, but we can see the gearbox has an S mode, so its the 8-speed ZF unit with paddle shifters.

According to the manufacturer's numbers, the 125i will get to 100 km/h in as little as 6.1 seconds. So even though it's less powerful than a Golf GTI, it's faster because the traction wheels are loaded better off the line.

As far as we know, the 125i is pretty rare, but the A 250 was popular. This new version bumps up the power from 211 before to 224 HP, plus 350 Nm (258 lb-ft). You can have it with AWD, but it's not present here. The 7-speed twin-clutch gearbox is supposed to rocket you to 100 km/h in 6.2 seconds.

All that being said, the fancy digital dashboard of the A-Class shows that it's faster by about 4 km/h. However, the tests were carried out under slightly different conditions, with the 1 Series being taken out in the spring when the tires have less traction. Like we said, this test is somewhat irrelevant since few people even want the 125i and the Merc does luxury better.