When I first saw the title of this posting I got rather excited.....thought you'd paid a trip down to Mr Matty's Emporium!
I've run both cars. A tough choice Dave. My Golf was one of the most unreliable cars I've owned and yet I really enjoyed it. The BMW......IMHO the Touring is a nicer shape than the saloon ...was extremely reliable and not expensive to run. I've never sat in the back but none of my passengers ever complained although with the transmission tunnel I'm not sure how a 5th passenger would get on. There are issues on the diesels with swirl flaps disintegrating which can wreck an engine but the flaps can be modified to prevent this...not an approved BMW mod.
My only issue with the BMW was how poor it was in the snow...until I fitted winter tyres. Typical of a rear wheel drive car particularly mine which was an M Sport model with rather wide rear tyres.
I can't really advise you which one to go for.....I'd have to toss a coin....but if you think the styling is dodgy, well there's your answer...go for the Golf!
