there's occasional wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth over the question of
whether a four-door car can be called a coupe but BMW has pushed that
controversy aside and applied that tag to its SUVs and more traditional cars
the latest example being this one the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe a but before we
take a closer look remember for all the detail on safety tech and standard
features you can read my detailed written review at the cars guide website
and if you enjoy this video make sure to hit subscribe and give it a like so you
can stay in touch with all our latest videos the 2 model 2 Series Gran Coupe
lineup kicks off with the 218i at forty-seven thousand four hundred and
ninety dollars before on-road costs and BMWs aiming up at mercs CLA 200 with
this car at a more than 13 K differential in similar fashion at sixty
nine thousand nine ninety before on-road costs the m235i xDrive lines up price
wise against mercs CLA 250 4matic but knocks it for six in terms of
performance in fact BMW wants a piece of the Merc AMG CLA 35 with this mini
muscle car its natural habitat is the urban jungle appealing to those wanting
a racy four-door with the lot without much room to spare but a car in this
price bracket needs to be more than a one-trick pony when it's time to escape
to the country it should still have the ability to deliver a refined yet
engaging Drive so we headed for the hills and some twisting back roads in
between them to see how this fashionable newcomer measures up
a big grill is a big focus for BMW in terms of design at the moment and the
two series gran coupe obliges with this oversized version of its signature
kidney grille and it works together with these angry angular LED headlights and
big grilles either side to give the car a confident assertive face at just over
4.5 metres long the Gran Coupe is a fair bit longer than the 2 Series
two-door it's also a little wider and fractionally taller but the big surprise
is a shorter wheelbase and that's because this front and all-wheel drive
model is based on the 1 Series platform the cars profile conforms to the BMW
gran coupe template with this sloping roofline tapering towards the rear and a
series of creases along the cars flanks emphasizing its lengthy look long slim
distinctly horizontal LED tail lights define the rear with other lateral lines
and trim elements enhancing the cars wide and planted stance
the interior will be instantly familiar to any current model BMW owner with the
neatly arranged dash- featuring the cockpit professional setup including a ten-point
to five inch configurable instrument display at another same size multimedia
screen next to it all instrumentation and key controls are
angled towards the driver and the attention to detail in terms of quality
is high lights and screens are the new Chrome for automotive designers and the
2 Series Gran Coupe a complements it's sleek screens with an interior ambient
lighting package as well as brushed metal elements and BMWs usual array of
logically arranged legible and user-friendly switch gear but no matter
how hard you shut your eyes and spit out a Harry Potter style incantation you
can't magic up a big interior in a small car the BMW packaging boffins will have
sweated bullets to eke out every last millimetre in here but there's no
denying the 2 Series Gran Coupe a is diminutive cozy is the best way to
describe this front seating area and despite electric adjustment even for
these side bolsters the front seats are snug storage is provided in all the
right places but scaled down to suit the available space
there's a lidded compartment here between the front seats a pair of
cupholders and a wireless charging Bay for devices just here there are decent
door pockets in the doors with room for bottles and a glovebox capable of
accommodating several pairs of gloves access to the rear requires mild
gymnastic prowess because the door aperture is modest and
once you're in there it's tight so sitting behind the driver's seat set for
my 183 centimeter position my shiny paint makes firm contact with the
headliner and my knees are starting to strike up a firm relationship with the
front seat back forget three abreast in here I would describe the Gran Coupe a
sitting position as a two plus two plus one back seaters had access to small door
bins and a fold-down center armrest with two cupholders the Primo m235i X Drive
features adjustable rear vents while the 218i misses out
the boot chips in with 430 liters of volume which is okay rather than
cavernous and remember with a booted car like this it's often this distance here
which is your limitation but the 40/20/40 split folding rear seat
liberates more space but this is the ultimate driving machine why are we
talking about boot space the 218i gran coupe is powered by a 1.5 liter
3-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing 103 kilowatts and 220 Newton meters
sending drive to the front wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch auto transmission
the m235i is powered by a 2-liter four-cylinder turbo petrol engine like
the 218i triple also used in various BMW and meeting models this time
including the mini John Cooper Works GP it produces no less than 225 kilowatts
and a whopping 450 Newton metres sending power to all four wheels through an
8-speed conventional torque converter automatic transmission and a dedicated
transfer gearbox [Music]
for most driving circumstances the 218i offers enough performance to
get the job done with claimed zero to 100 km/h acceleration in under nine
seconds the three cylinder car is smooth surprisingly quiet and responsive the
little turbo providing a satisfyingly linear response with maximum torque
available from just fourteen hundred and eighty rpm all the way to 4200 rpm the
7-speed auto is most undual-clutch like in that
it's unobtrusive but very dual clutch like in that it shifts rapidly and
precisely step into the m235i and you're entering a world of serious performance
with more than twice the power and torque of the 218i it's able to
accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in less than five seconds which is properly fast
the inline 4 is crisp and lights up with only a modest flexing of the right ankle
and the engines raspy induction noise is smile inducing and the exhaust chimes in
with blurts and bangs on maximum rev up changes and pops and crackles on the way
back down through the ratios the 8-speed Auto doesn't give anything away to the
218i dual clutch in fact shift to manual mode and a flick of the pedal
results in a pretty much instant gear change the xDrive all-wheel-drive system
keeps the car planted additional gear box on the back of the transmission
seamlessly distributing drive to all four wheels pushing along some v road
bends the m235i remains balanced and feels eager picking up the throttle
quickly out of tight corners and the big brakes keep the car stable as weight
transfers to the front axle but no matter which version of the two
Series Gran Coupe you're in ride handling balance is impressive
suspension is by struts at the front multi licks at the rear in both versions
and this cars ability to blend precise cornering with a comfy ride really the
mark of a company that knows it's way around suspension design steering is
accurate fearsome and nicely weighted in both models although the m235i dials
things up with some meatier variable rate settings the seats in both models are
grippy although it must be said the m235i runs the risk of compromising long
distance comfort for short term location these bolsters can be adjusted and even
on their wider setting feels pretty snug the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe a hadn't
been assessed by ancap or EuroNCAP at the time this video is made the BMW is
confident it will score a maximum 5 star rating you can go to the review on the
cars guide site for all the details but it's worth noting full aeb isn't
standard at urban speeds the city brake system will detect a potential forward
collision and slow the car if necessary but not bring it to a complete stop for
that you'll need to option in adaptive cruise control at six hundred and fifty
four dollars for the 218i and eight hundred and fifty dollars for the
m235i combined cycle fuel economy sits at a measly five point nine liters per
hundred kilometers for the 218i and a slightly thirstier seven point six
liters per hundred kilometers for the m235i during a week of city suburban and
freeway running in the latter we recorded a real-world number of 10.2
liters per hundred kilometers [Music]
small four-door cars aren't exactly flavor of the month but this newcomer
combines solid value with great dynamic balance in a premium compact package
it's aimed at a niche within a niche for seekers of sleek in a city sized and by
that I mean small four-door luxury the 2 Series Gran Coupe a has a lot to offer
Bis Später!
(See you later) [Music]
[Music]