[AussieRacer]

Good to see I wasn't being overly harsh just cause it wasn't a 135i. I drive a Merc V6 diesel very frequently, and it just is in a different league. And again I think BMW have done a great job with the 330d.
I haven't owned a hugh number of cars, and don't test drive cars just for the sake of it, but I do regularly get to drive other cars (either service loaners or road going cars on tracks) and like to think I can have a fairly open mind. Eg. I drove a Merc E500 recently that I can say hand on heart had brakes with better feel and stopping power that a Merc CLS AMG I had driven previously that I thought had rubbish brakes. And the traction control (not stability) on those Mercs was about 5 times more progressive than BMW's seemingly all or nothing systems.