Personally as an E90 owner now, please go for the Golf GTI.

1) The interior in the Golf is so much nicer compared to the E90
2) You definitely get more power from the Golf GTI (from personal dyno experience, E90 325i gets around 170whp and the Golf GTI Mk6 gets around 207whp)
3) Since you are single, the Golf GTI Mk6 is a lot more fun to drive, lighter and have plenty of mods available
4) The DSG gearbox on this car is fantastic, it is the 6-speed wet clutch DSG which can withstand a lot more torque and is proven for the past 6 years already (This gearbox was in the Golf GTI Mk5). People who complain about the DSG problem saying just check Google are either people who have never owned the DSG6 and just listen to rumours. If you are keen, I can introduce you to the Volkswagen Club Malaysia folks and I can show you at least 50 owners of the Mk6 GTI who have no issues with the 6-speed DSG clutch. (On hindsight you will probably face the same 50 owners who complain with their 7-Speed DSG clutch, me included)
5) Road tax for the Golf GTI is cheaper! 2.0L engine versus the 2.5L engine
6) Maintenance for the Golf is cheaper compared to the E90 325i who is known to have the aircon condensor issue and ABS sensor and pump issues
7) Don't listen to all those driving pleasure driving rear wheel drive cars. Unless you plan to turn off your traction control and spin your car around doing donuts and burning your tyres, the Golf GTI is a good handling car. I swapped from a Golf to a E90 and regretted since. The only difference I feel between FWD and RWD is that my racing lines change.
8) The Golf GTI is faster than the E90 325i on the track. A stock Golf GTI can do around 2.49-2.50 at Sepang while the E90 325i can do around 3m. That is a whole 10 secs slower.
9) Tyres for the Golf GTI is cheaper, because you are running on stock 17" rims (if you upgrade to 18" it is still cheaper). For the E90 325i, if this is the M-Sport version, that means you will be running on a staggered setup meaning wider tyres at the rear. 235/40/18 and 255/35/18.
10) The roar of the inline 6 engine is overrated. The exhaust is muted and unless you plan to do highway runs just to hear it sing, you would probably be overtaken by countless Mk6 GTI while you are doing that.

Downside with the Golf
1) Lack of boot space if you intend to play golf as it struggles to fit in a single golf bag
2) Prestige between a luxury brand and VW (personally I think it is over rated) and at your age, who cares about that. The Golf GTI is a lot more of a fun car.

This post has been edited by Mavik: Apr 17 2014, 03:42 PM

No worries mate, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and thoughts. To me I just would like to share more because I have driven in both situations, normal day driving, B road driving as well as driving on the track.

1) The drive - When you drive with a RWD car, on normal roads or B roads or trunk roads. Highly likely you will have your traction control on (DSC/DTC/ESC, etc..). In these situations, the only difference you will feel is that you will tend to have less understeer when going into corners. Please note that although you may have a RWD, if you go into a corner too hot, no matter what, you will understeer. I can bring you for a ride to show that to you. Otherwise in all honesty, the drive is the same. Yes you can cut corners faster but to me all that says is a different line that you take through the various B roads. I have driven my E90 320d through Ulu Yam as well as the Golf GTI through Ulu Yam, personally I prefer the Golf because it has a bit more power delivery and the car is lighter.

2) 50:50 weighted balance - Honestly, ask any laymen on the street if they can tell the difference if the car is 50:50 weight distributed and 55:45 weight distributed. Even when I bring my so called 50:50 weight distributed car on the track, there are a lot of other factors to consider and only in those situations will you appreciate the balance of the car. And by those situations I mean the ability to balance the car through difficult corners by tapping the brakes and shifting the weight through acceleration.

In the scenario of the Golf GTI vs E90 325i, you are comparing a 1400kg car vs a 1600kg car. That is 200kg more and the E90 325i has less power. The E90 M-Sport suspension is very crashy and doesn't feel comfortable at all (I have a lot of rear seated passengers who complained to me during long distance driving). The Golf GTI however comes with DCC adjustable suspension which is useful if you want to cruise nicely and relaxingly or want a stiffer ride.

Just my 2 cents here.

Actually that is my thoughts as well! Looking around for a 4WD or AWD car to play around as well.

Awesome stuff, I went to see a couple of Subaru Impreza WRX STI over the weekend. A version 8 on Saturday and a Version 9 Spec C earlier today. Funnily I know the Spec C is Subaru's track spec version of the Impreza which is lightened but the previous owner decided to add more weights to it by including huge woofers and sound proofing all around. All the weight saving was gone haha.

The M3 is a totally different story. I have seen a couple of the E46 M3 sold for around RM110k-RM115k cash on Mudah. If TS is ok with the dated look, go for the M3. Performance wise is at a whole different level. Last year's time to attack had a E46 M3 who did a 2.33 timing at Sepang.