BMW 2-Series Coupe Gains Size, Loses the Stick

by Tim Healey

Published: July 7th, 2021

bmw 2 series coupe gains size loses the stick

Once again, the crowd weeps. And with good reason — the BMW 2-Series, which I remember being quite wonderful to drive the last time I piloted one (it’s been a few years) — will be going automatic only.

That’s not the only change. It’s longer, lower, wider, and the styling is refreshed.

Hitting dealers first will be the rear-drive 230i and all-wheel-drive M240i xDrive. That first one is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. Those are increases of 7 hp and 37 lb-ft, respectively.

The M240i xDrive gets a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six that makes 382 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque and 369 lb-ft of torque. The sole transmission, at least for now, is an eight-speed automatic. A 230i xDrive and M240i and perhaps an M2 will follow the November launch of the first two cars, and perhaps the M2 and/or the M240i will offer three pedals.

We sure hope so, anyway.

An M Sport Package Pro adds M Sport brakes, 19-inch lightweight wheels, gloss exterior trim, unique headlights, black front spoiler lip, black M rear spoiler, black exhaust tips, black grille surround, and a Sprint mode that can temporarily shift to the lowest usable gear and call up the sportiest settings for a quick blast. An electronically locking rear differential is standard in the AWD car, which has rear-drive bias. The car’s stability control system can limit understeer by shifting power.

The front suspension is spring strut and the rear is five-link. An optional M Sport suspension firms up the dampers and springs. All-wheel-drive cars are standard with an adaptive suspension.

Available driver-assist tech includes lane-departure warning with lane-keep assist, frontal-collision warning with braking, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot detection, and smart cruise control.

Other available or standard features include iDrive, navigation, head-up display, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Amazon Alexa integration, satellite radio, moonroof, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive LED lighting, premium audio, drive recorder, and automatic high beams.

BMW has bestowed the car with somewhat funky styling, especially in the rear, but the grille is at least not as oversized as it is on other cars in the lineup.

If the 2 tickles you were it feels good, so to speak, the price of entry is $36,350 for a rear-drive car and $48,550 for the M240i xDrive, plus the $995 destination fee.

[Images: BMW]

#2-Series #BMW #Bmw2-series #FutureCars #NewCars

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 23 comments

JMII on Jul 08, 2021

So the only fun BMW left is? None of them apparently. The only thing this announcement does is jack up M3 prices on Cars and Bids even more.

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- Dal20402 on Jul 08, 2021
  
  That's how I feel. The M3/M4 is all engine and nothing else (and sounds like it's broken from the factory) and nothing else even tries to be fun. There is no new BMW I want remotely as much as I want an E92 335is.
  
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Jeff S on Jul 08, 2021

Inside Looking Out--That's BMW's goal is that when any part fails you buy another BMW "the Ultimate Money Machine" I don't have a problem with the looks of BMWs more of that most of them are endless money pits. Breaking plastic parts that are expensive. Watch Hoovies Garage, the Car Wizard, Watch JR Go, and Scotty Kilmer. JR was driving 1 of Hoovies BMWs to a Salvage Yard in another state and each time JR stopped for gas he had to add oil to the V8 powered BMW. Sharp looking car but was a pile of junk.

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