BMW coupes used to be all about compactness, lightness and rapid responses. It’s good to know that there’s still one that answers the call. The 2 Series is probably the best car that the Munich manufacturer builds and it can be yours from just £25,000.
For as long as many of us care to remember, if you wanted a well-built coupe that was fun to drive, the path was a well-worn one to your local BMW dealer where you would be inserted into a 3 Series and all was good with the world. Then things changed. The 3 Series grew up a bit and, like that friend of yours who was the life and soul of the party but these days just chases around after his kids making sure they don’t spill their Fruit Shoots, lost a bit of its joie de vivre. Fortunately, its madcap little brother, the 1 Series Coupe, was still bringing the fun. That car’s now been replaced by the 2 Series Coupe.
Although you might think it looks fairly similar to the old 1 Series Coupe, park the two cars next to each other and you’ll realise that the 2 has evolved. It’s a sleeker, classier looking proposition. If you used to love the old 3 Series Coupe and want the very most for your money, don’t bother with its modern-day 4 Series two-door replacement. This is where you ought to be looking.
Rather encouragingly, BMW has given the 2 Series line-up a serious dose of engine. Even the entry level models aren’t going to hang around. There are two 181bhp powerplants to choose from, one diesel and one petrol. The 220i petrol will dip under 7 seconds for the sprint to 60mph and hit 146mph. Drive is directed to the back wheels and you get to choose between a six-speed manual gearbox or the quite brilliant eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. The 220d diesel serves up a tall stack of torque, with 280lb/ft available from just 1,750rpm. What’s more, it’s only 0.2 seconds slower to 60mph. In real life it’s going to feel the brawnier of the two.
Pride of place goes to the M235i. With 321bhp, this has some real chops. If you specify it with the eight speed automatic transmission, it’ll get to 62mph in a mere 4.8 seconds. Press the Sport button and you’ll immediately notice the steering weight up and the throttle response sharpen. Press the button once more and you’ll find Sport+, which partially disengages the stability control and offers an even spikier throttle pedal. The chassis balance is a good deal more benign than the occasionally malevolent 1 Series Coupe and it’s a better driver as a result. Expect to be mercilessly harassed by these cars on foreseeable UK track days.
Where the 1 Series Coupe was a purposeful but slightly gawky-looking thing, the 2 Series is an altogether more cohesive piece of workmanship. The dimensions are also a little more generous, adding 72mm to the overall length, 26mm to the width and slicing 15mm off the overall height. Lower, wider and longer tends to equal sleeker. The glasshouse is also a lot more elegantly integrated into the fuselage. In fact the chassis is a modified and slightly shorter version of the 3 Series’ underpinnings and it shares its bonnet, front wings and doors with the three-door 1 Series.
The front end features a broader kidney grille and more aggressive air intakes. Moving back, you’ll find swept-up side skirts, some deeply-surfaced flanks and tight overhangs. Inside, it’s much as you’d expect, with improved build quality, with more substantial plastics used throughout. BMW’s much-improved iDrive system features a higher definition 6.5in flat screen. Access to the rear and legroom once you’re back there is a good deal better than the 1 Series Coupe and shoulder width has also been improved. The boot is a useful 390-litres.
It’s slightly odd that a car that looks so instantly a winning proposition comes with no direct rivals. What else is there that offers this sort of punchiness, in a coupe body that sends drive to the rear wheels? Nissan’s 370Z is a bigger, heavier thing, the Toyota GT 86 and Subaru BRZ twins more delicate and without the same options the throttle pedal in the 2 Series will afford. Prices are quite reasonable, with the 220i starting at just over £25,000 which is about the same as a GT 86 but the BMW features much greater torque fitted as standard. Trims run through SE, Modern and M Sport.
BMW wants over £34,000 for the M235i, which makes it one of the better performance car bargains. Equipment runs to a Nevada leather interior, both AUX-in and USB as well as a stereo that can play MP3s from CD, a multifunction steering wheel with a speed limiter mode, air conditioning, door sill finishers with M235i designation, a short-shift gear lever and a whole host of safety kit including DSC+ stability control, xenon headlights, a tyre pressure warning system and dynamic brake lights. That excellent ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox is offered as an option.
It’s hard to argue with BMW’s efficiency measures, with the 220i recording 44.8mpg on the combined cycle and 148g/km emissions. Opt for the eight-speed automatic and those figures improve to 47.1mpg and 139g/km. Go diesel and you’ll see 58.9mpg and 125g/km with the manual transmission and an amazing 64.2mpg and 117g/km for the diesel. Those are quite some numbers from a vehicle that can still justifiably wear a performance coupe tag.
The M235i also records some impressive efficiency data. It’ll squeeze 37.2 miles from a gallon and will emit just 176g/km. EfficientDynamics, BMW’s suite of energy-saving features, is responsible for making those vaguely implausible looking figures. The 2 Series is fitted as standard with an Auto Start-Stop function available on both manual and automatic transmissions. An ECO PRO mode, activated using the Drive Performance Control, is a new feature on BMW’s that adjusts various on-board systems to maximise efficiency. When in ECO PRO mode, the throttle response is adjusted to encourage a more economical driving style. The extra economy created in ECO PRO mode is fed back to the driver, with the in-car displays showing the additional number of miles achieved.
BMW used to be a company with an unerring ability to zero in on the bullseye. That was fairly easy when your range consisted of 3, 5, 6 and 7 Series cars. Now you can add the 1, 2, and 4 Series models, plus X1, X3, X5, X6 and Z4 series cars, as well as the various Gran Coupe and Active Tourer options. The range has ballooned and the quality is inevitably a little more variable. There are some great cars and some not so brilliant lines. This 2 Series Coupe might well be right at the top of the tree. It’s an inspired piece of product development and it’s just been executed so well.
Compact proportions, low weight and good performance were the design parameters for this car and BMW has nailed all three. If you feel the 3 Series coupe – and latterly its 4 Series replacement – is a car that no longer knows how to let its hair down, this Munich maker has just the answer in its fun-size sibling.