So which would you have: BMW 1 Series or Mercedes A-Class? And yes, this was filmed long before the lockdown began!

It's a proper clear cut review for the discerning buyer...unlike others who just beat around the bush.

BMW shockingly small, no head room in the back, smaller boot space so we took the A class instead and it felt more premium and the 1.3 very punchy in-deed !! Clear winner was the A class auto AMG line executive with black pack !! Stunning

Great balanced review with a perfect level of detail. I came away knowing relative strengths of each car. Keep this chap on!

just had the 118i BMW 1 series M Sport. Had the choice of the Merc 180 AMG line the Audi A 3 30 s line.Drove all 3 on test drives. Audi nice slightly better performance than the other 2 but build quality lacking and drive felt nothing special. A Class tech spec wow the screen at the front unbelievable but again build quality lacking and drive was nothing special. BMW build quality is what you expect and the drive is by far superior. Think it comes down to choice and personal preference. I preferred the BMW.

a250e is the winner. blown away over 20 years of Prius tech in a nutshell straight. 80 km wltp in 1 charge, over 200mpg wltp. amazing 1.3L petrol unit, and all that practicality.

I currently own a 2006 S3 and test drove both 1series and the A Class. The 1series, regardless of it FwD switch, gives much more of a spirited and active drive

Listen to the two interior sounds of the two models. The A Class sounds like a tank when driving. I'm really glad I never drove the A-Class and decided to buy the right car right away! I've fallen in love with my new BMW..

Merc dash looks great but only if you pay for it. Standard dash screens look terrible

The best reviewer this channel has had in a very long time..

Most of these car reviews don't mention the sound system for us audiophiles.

John, you're really good at your job. Thanks for offering a better analysis and more interesting reflections that the usual video review.

They're both great car companies but the average BMW owner drives far more aggresively than the average Mercedes owner (racing, excessive lane changing, tailgating etc) Mercedes drivers are generally pretty cool and BMW drivers often act like jerks on the road, which is why many people choose Mercedes, regardless of the relative attributes of the cars. Sorry if I've offended anyone but it's the truth a lot of the time.

Finally a car reviewer that shows us the standard bmw series 1! Thank you! Perfect review!

I got a 1 series a week weeks back and the BMW is wayyy more fun to drive

Got my bmw 1 series Wednesday last week. Love it.

BMW 1 feels more premium. The Mercedes A reminds me of driving a Renault Megan 10 years ago. A very road-disconnected experience. I take the BMW

It is a pity that it was not mentioned that Mercedes does not offer an automatic tailgate ;) By far the best in the BMW!

BMW grille design is hideous. Previous generation was far better

I would like to correct something as I drove both cars B180 has 1.3 petrol 4 cylinders, I think dct but never jerks yet you can hear noise from doors (rattling) some noise on the highway, but very comfortable to drive and really super premium. 118i 1.5 turbo dct is jerky in traffic not on the highway also very tough start stop combined with auto hold makes stopping and go sluggish, yet amazing handling no rattles super quiet on highway (better than benz) Final verdict: benz for the level of comfort and effortless driving experience, I'm also 40 if you are 20 and rich get the BMW

It is a matter of choice between showing off and real quality. I sit down in both cars and found build quality and driving were better in 1 series. BUT that futuristic dashboard in A class is astonishing. Build quality was very disappointing though. So choice is yours. Better look from grimps vs real better quality

You're wrong saying one can't have the centre folding armrest in 1 series. With the optional 40:20:40 (through loading) rear seats split you automatically get a folding armrest. Check out the optional extras

You can get a rear armrest in the 1 series if you go for the 3-way split rear folding seats.

I like Mercedes A class

Think I would go for the BMW. Excellent review by the way.

Bmw makes the driver feel more connected. Just reordered mine in m sport, storm bay colour.

Hard to say, I drive both. The 1er is more sporty, looks better outside, but the 120d xDrive feels much slower than the A220d, altough the acceleration is almost the same. Another negative point of the 1er is the overreacting steering out of the middle, it makes the car more nervous. But the automatic is better than the DCT in the A. The A220d have a great engine, have an amazing cockpit, lots of additional options, is more relaxing to drive. On the other hand it looks a bit to plump, have a bad ground clearance, less sporty, is more expensive at buy and have higher service costs.

The build quality test moving the dash pushing it in 1mm is so stupid 🙄

Had Mercedes Aclass was very comfortable but terrible on road bumps. However now have a bmw 118i m sports much much better than the Aclass glad I have this car very nice stronger sturdier to drive stunning!

I regularly drive both the A180d AMG line and the 116d M sports line. Very identical! It all comes down to personal taste, really. Or... buying, servicing and selling or just renting.

Great review would go for the BMW.

The merc is classy outside but that big "smartphone" cockpit looks cheap for a 3 pointed star.The bm is better inside but the outside is quite dull if u take the kidney away u dont't know it's beemer.

I was going to say, the A class sounds sooo noisy inside! I thought something was wrong with the mic because it was dead silent in the BMW! BMW clear winner here

It was pretty obvious which car you preferred right from the start.

Mercedes A class is much better looking car inside and outside

Generally, Mercedes doesn’t worth that high price. It is meaningless to compare tiny little options as options vary in many way also in regions.

An excellent review but who would have said that Mercedes had a poor quality interior compared to models 20 years ago. This will lead to squeaks and rattles around the dash area before long. BMW for me.

I really enjoyed the review. Very unbiased and informative. Perfect!

The A class comes with 1.5 dci Renault diesel engine, dont you think that's a fact worth mentioning ?

I picked up the A class sedan. Both A class and 1 series are pretty damn good cars, but unfortunately there's no sedan option in 1 class. At least in my country.

Audi A3

I have a 2018 A250 AMG Line (FWD) W177 with the Adaptive Suspension. My previous car was a 2007 BMW 118i 5-Door E87. Gotta say for a FWD car I love how the A250 drives. Yeah, it suffers from torque steer in Sport Mode and in rainy conditions, but it’s actually pretty exciting to drive, handles well and in hard corners I don’t detect any severe understeer. Steering response is great and allows a combination of sporty driving but also limousine-style driving in which you don’t want passengers to feel you steering the car. The engine is very responsive and powerful and also fuel efficient. On lengthy Autobahn trips at a cruising speed of 140-150 km/h I can get as low as 6 - 6.5 L / 100 km!!! That’s impressive. At 180 km/h the engine revs at 3000 RPM and is very quiet - so it’s also a comfortable long-distance cruiser. MBUX is also very good and never disappoints. Interior ergonomics are excellent except for the placement of the rear wiper controls. I currently have 70,000 km+ on the clock and the car has never had any issues. This one will be a keeper since it combines fun driving/handling/comfort with superior interior ergonomics and interior space. Overall it’s a very intelligently designed car in my admittedly biased opinion. I’ve also driven the A200, A220 and A180d as loaners when my car was getting serviced and found them all to be good engines. The A200 in particular with the 1.33-l engine blew me away as pretty smooth and peppy: didn’t feel underpowered at all.

The BMW built quality is mind blowing 🧠🙏👌

Definitely Audi A3 for me

Bmw is really great to drive but the plastics in the engine , mine didn't last long. So I opted for a benz, I must say it doesn't drive like the bimmer but 6 years and still no major issue.

I'm still trying to decide which one to buy. In Portugal, the A200 is around €33K and 118i around €28K. It looks like the BMW has a better value for Money?

I extremely seldom give any comments, but now I have to: great test & comparison. More this!

The 1series in this Test, but i would rather pic the new A3! So please get your hands on it and test it against them as well! 😄

that guy does the best reviews very informative !

Amazing review, really liking these guys videos of recent

The interior build quality of the A Class and CLA is atrocious. Looks good in pictures but it takes 10 seconds of sitting in the car to realise how tacky it is.

My VW Golf 7 has lumbar support and front and rear parking sensors as standard.

I'd go for a Scala so the video really isn't for me, but comprehensive comparison regardless!

Great review. No wasting time and informative.

If you add through loading to the 1 Series, you get a rear armrest

Good no BS review - thanks. Erratum @ 11:04 : A180d is 6 not 7 speed in manual guise. Cheers. G.

The old bmw was sloppy?? Ey? Since when

Does this new version still have offset pedals.?

Im glad i brought the A class love it for its design and interior bmw 1 series the old one yes but new one no thanks.

Nice review! But one thing I never understood is why the heck you are going to try and wobble a car's dashboard like a mad man? I never drove a car and suddenly had the urge to go ham on the dashboard... I understand it is to demonstrate the build quality but come on... It is not like you dashboard will suddenly collapse haha

Then again, would you have that rear seat space over the earlier 1-series versions RWD..? No that’s what I thought too.

2020 BMW 118 Vs MK4 focus what would you recommend?

Very good, helpful review! The 1 series is definitely much better on build quality but the Mercedes interior just looks so cool to me! bare in mind the a class is higher spec than the 1er in this vid too

Is it only me not a fan of overly glorified Mercedes ipad style infotainment system? It makes drivers cockpit a little clumsy. New A3 is way better.

Which trims on the A class have the automatic parking?

Who get's in a car and starts checking if things are wobbly? I mean come on.

Do either have speed sensitive steering?

Great review, keep it up!!!

Seems like every other review and comparison, as well as Google, says the A Class has a 370 litre boot vs 1 series' 380 litres. Not a huge thing but this is the only video or place I've seen the A Class be called better here

Great Review! Keep them coming

I’ve currently got the a200d a class. Getting the m sport 118i end of September, keen to see the difference!

Is that the 2 litre X drive?

I am juggling between bmw 118i m sport and the audi a3 40tfsie, cant decide

New Golf mk7 1.0 TSI for me. Only 12.000 GBP

Bmw for me any time thank you

Great upload, thanks for sharing

outside looks of bmw but interior mercedes next level

The top spec screens for the a -class are nice but if you don't get the top spec for the A class you get really bad screens and then the BMW easily wins.

Mercedes defo losing their touch in regards to build quality which is disappointing

11:02 the A180d does not have a 7 speed manual box lol.

BMW looks like a Ford Focus so just looks cheap. Owned the last 1 series and it was awful to drive and badly built. Currently own a CLA and the interior and exterior are in a different league. A Class and CLA are great to drive. The only area BMW are better (basing this on my experience of the new 3 series) is the auto gear box, which is a lot more responsive.

I think the BMW is ever so slightly better.

Mercedes is the best👑👑👑

How loud is the road noise in the merc? That is horrible

31k now, I don't think so.

WTF? A palmrest mushroom for wobbling the touch pad in A class? Shouldn't they just put a longer armrest with bigger space inside??

The new 1 series is a great car and the better of the two. I just can't get around how hideous it is and how bland and uninspiring the interior is.

I'd have the 1 series, I bought a new a class last year and hated it!

Which one of these is more reliable ? Less likely to break , and what is the average running cost like ?

Just like to point out you now get 2*10.25" screens on all models except the base model of the A class, i just picked up my A200 Line Exclusive and came with 2*10.25" screens, Absolutely love the car btw, what a piece of engineering, 163hp from a 1.3 coupled with the 7 speed twin clutch auto, great great car.

*I saved over £10k with a **_used_** 81 Mile B200 CDi AMG with full MBUX with Multi-Link Rear Suspension Augmented Reality Sat Nav/Traffic Assist/Traffic Lights/Weather/Fuel Prices etc. Brilliant and have achieved 85.6 MPG over 108 Miles of driving, {ECO MODE} best car ever. However after 3 Years you have to pay for Map Updates and other items like Fuel Prices/Weather etc - bit of a **_con_** in my view as not explained at POS - Don't know about BMW but assume probably on par - ps the 'B' Class is basically the 'A' Class but on a higher build giving more space in the boot and headroom. Possible to get 2 Mountain Bikes in the rear without taking them to bits. (**10:35** The Steering is amazing and like running on Rails) Don't ever put the B200 CDi in **_Sport Mode_** it may be exhilarating but mind blowing fast !*

But what is the range of these cars

The bmw looks horrible like its put on weight in the lockdown. Glad i went for the Merc!

Great review, focused and to the point, unlike that idiot on Car Wow reviews where it is all about him and not the car!

I have got a 118i AUTO Msport. I am certain it quicker than 8.5 - 60 more like 7-7.5. I got it in black as I am not a huge fan of the design but in black looks great. I prefer the top end a class tbf but msport is much cheaper to get into than amg line, thats why i went for bmw. If you are thinking about buying 1 you wont regret it!

BMW 118D MERC' 200 sport! fair comparision?

Bmw 1 series 118i m sport

Nice review. Previous BMW 1 is still better than both

Being FWD is not the only problem for 1-Series. It is also as ugly as sin. On the other hand, A-Class doesn't look very good with AMG Package either. It looks much better with 17 inch wheels from the Sport trim.

Good vid tnx