BMW 2 SERIES GRAND COUPE Rating ★★★☆☆ Price €46,824 - €60,769 as tested Engine a 1.5ltr turbo petrol with mild hybrid tech giving off 168bhp The Spec add-ons do mount up fast Verdict falls between a couple of stools
YOU can never take anything for granted these days — and BMW is busily underlining that fact right now.
Aside altogether from making possibly the most groundbreaking electric vehicle we have yet seen with the ‘neue klasse’ iX3; it has been doing other things which are annoying, rather than uplifting, the faithful.
Heretofore, the Munich giant was a purveyor solely of cars whose rear wheels were the driven ones, but lately it has been unveiling a series of front wheel drive models in what, for supporters of the brand, is something of a sell-out.
Of course, purists being what they are, any small change of tack on a manufacturers’ behalf can lead to accusations of tyranny and fraudulent behaviour — they’re a finicky bunch those traditionalists — despite any pleas on behalf of the car maker that they are merely making commonsense decisions.
That BMW has laid its soul at the altar of pragmatism, customer demand, and financial wellbeing. It does not prevent brand stalwarts accusing it of a sell-out of its traditional DNA and a betrayal of its design essence.
All nonsense, of course, but that’s the way life is these days, and acts as confirmation, if it was needed, that indeed you most certainly cannot please all of the people all of the time.
Some time back, BMW started making front-wheel drive products for the first time — and if people believed then it would be the only time, they were being rather silly. The news brought forth a pretty predictable response: It was the end of the world as we knew it.
The fact of the matter is that the 2-Series, in grand coupe format as we recently tested it, is one of BMW’s most popular cars and it also has the lowest average age in terms of buyers. On the face of it, it could be suggested that it was aimed at a niche of buyers who were older and did want the absolute zip of other Beemers, but nevertheless liked the look, but not so.
No, this is a car with the lowest average owner age of any BMW and I must say I found that surprising.
But anyway, what BMW has done here is a refresh similar to that bestowed upon the 1 Series last year. The car has a newer, flatter, kidney grille, a completely new interior, and mild hybrid engines which, shock horror, drive the front wheels.
The 220 version we tried utilised a 1.5l turbo petrol engine with 48-volt mild hybrid tech producing some 168bhp and a vigorous 280Nm of torque. This is matched with a seven-speed dual clutch auto ‘box.
It is brisk enough too and makes the 0-100km/h dash in 7.9 seconds and an unexpected top speed of 230km/h, which sort of blows out of the water the theory that older, less keen owners would like it best.
The sales figures prove otherwise anyway.
On the consumption front, it will return a figure in the region of 5.5l/100km — which is just over the 50mpg mark.
That it is so relatively quick sounds impressive enough, but the fact it makes rather a clamour when you do get serious with it, is something of a pain and rather takes from the gloss a little.
On the upside, however, it is a very neat handler indeed — which rather gives the lie to some of the arguments made by the anti-front-wheel drive brigade.
The steering is precise — hardly a touch of understeer — and body control is excellent.
Sure, it’s not something that you’re going to be going drifting in, but it is a confident chassis and one that has excellent grip levels.
Cornering is neat and with drama and the ride, even on our B-road surfaces is settled and sure. Undoubtedly the M adaptive suspension specified on the tester helped greatly, so you should bear that in mind when you’re thinking of buying.
The interior too is above average in terms of design and class. This is one of the last Beemers to adopt the company’s curved display instrumentation and infotainment, and the single screen system looks absolutely fantastic.
One particular downside is that physical buttons are all but gone and you now have to access the climate controls via the screen, which is not always ideal.
Our tester was in M-Sport trim and here there are some lovely detail touches, such as the ‘M’ colours being handstitched into the dashboard and the illuminated backlit aluminium panels dotted around. Very classy and very upmarket.
This is a four-door coupe and as such doesn’t lend much practicality to proceedings; for family buyers, there’s a lot to be desired. The rear doors don’t open too wide and getting a baby seat in there will be tricky.
Legroom is saved by the sculpted front seatbacks, but the roofline compromises comfort levels for anyone over about 5ft 8in.
With regard to boot space, the mild hybrid system eats into available space — there’s only 360l of volume in there, although the rear seats do fold down to add capacity.
Specification levels are decent enough with sports seats (heated) in the front, the aforementioned uprated suspension, but it is worth noting that the M Sport Package Pro kit — which adds nearly €3,000 to the baseline — gives you M Sport brakes with red calipers, an M Sport leather steering wheel, and an M Sport spoiler.
If you want a panoramic roof, however, it will set you back a further €1,429.27, to be exact.
In fact a lot of the extras here come at quite a cost and the Harmon/Kardon surround sound audio system and the Technology Plus Pack — which adds adaptive LED headlights with high beam assist — cost nearly €4,500 between them.
From a relatively modest entry level price then, as is ever the case with BMW, you can lose the run of yourself pretty quickly — which will be painful for your wallet.
But then, you have to weigh up all the options and decide what you have to have as against what you can do without. It’s difficult.
This is a very nice car — although I wasn’t mad about the tanzanite blue colour scheme, which is another €1,800 extra — that’s beautifully constructed and drives really well.
Somehow though, I felt it fell between two stools in that it is neither a hot hatch nor an everyday family car. Certainly it has sex appeal, but its practicality is questionable.
Even without the grief caused by the front wheels being driven for some punters, there are other holes in it armoury.
