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BMW M235i Takes on Mercedes CLA45 AMG

With the new M235i BMW has a completely new niche all for itself. That’s because small coupes with rear-wheel-drive like the Bimmer are extremely rare these days. If you lived back in the 80s you would’ve been more lucky with the E30 M3 but these days cars grew by quite a lot.
BMW M235i vs CLA45 AMG 1 photo
Photo: Original image by autoevolution
That’s why most people see the new M Performance Automobile as a return to the roots for BMW and that’s completely understandable as the new 2er is an absolute joy to drive. Its rivals from Germany don’t really exist at the moment.

Audi doesn’t have one and Mercedes has something that’s close but not really the same thing: the CLA45 AMG. That’s their small coupe-like car that has roughly the same size as the 2er. However, their alternative has 4 doors and all-wheel-drive so the fun factor might not be the same, despite being a full-on AMG vehicle.

The guys from MotorTrend decided to put the two to the test and see exactly which is the most fun to drive and, consequently, help you make a choice.

From the get go you should know that the BMW is not an M car. It’s an enhanced version of the 2 Series but it’s not an M2. That being said, the CLA is a complete AMG car and that shows both on the road and in the price tag.

While the Merc is more expensive, it’s also more powerful, has better brakes and a tougher suspension, to help it on the track. The transmission, on the other hand, is dreadful and really ruins the complete package for wanna-be race car drivers.

With the BMW things are a bit different. The car is a lot cheaper to buy, comes with the great 8-speed automatic gearbox from ZF and even a manual if you want to, as standard. Of course, not being a fully fledged M car, the brakes could’ve been better and it’s a bit wobbly at times but it’s a lot more fun to drive.

Handing it over to Randy Pobst, the winner was rather obvious. Even though the Merc was marginally faster on the track, the Bimmer is the winner here, instantly going up to the number one spot in Randy’s top BMWs of the last 10 years. Check out the video though, it has some really nice shots of the two cars!

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