Today I’m in Thermal, California, looking at bmw’s smallest sports car in America, the 2022 2 series.
Now, there are two different 2-series models in the US, the 2-series coupe and the 2-series 4-door, and they’re completely unrelated this is a rear-wheel drive vehicle more closely related to the 3 series and 4 series, and the 2-series 4-door vehicle is more closely related to the bmw x1 and of course the mini product line, it’s The bmw kidney grille is considerably more demure than the one seen on the 4 series, which has a drastically different proportion.
Let me know what you think of this vs the 4 series chick in the comments area.
I must admit, the 4 series grill has grown on me, but I still like this specific arrangement.
The extra width has really made this look meaner and a little bit leaner than the previous version, as with every other bmw 2 door, we have a very long hood profile since this was designed to accommodate inline six engines with a big power bulge right there on the hood, and the entire vehicle has become significantly longer for this year depending on the version you get, this is either three and a half or fouth in length.
Let me know what you think of this down there.
It’s allowed them to give it a slightly longer trunk, a slightly longer hood, and a little bit of a body stretch in the middle to help the proportions out.
The previous generation 2 series looked cartoonish from some angles, which I thought was cartoonish cute, but this doesn’t have that same proportion.
This is a minor complaint, but the new door handles that we see on a number of different bmws including the 4 series grand capay and this new 2 series are quite small.
I find it a little awkward, and my hands slip off that door handle fairly easily.
If you own a new bmw with this door handle design, let me know what you think about it down there.
Even in the 230i model, there’s a small spoiler on top of the trunk lid, complete led tail light modules with the characteristic accent strip, and red turn signals (not amber in the US).
The two series will be available with two different engines and one transmission.
Things start with a two liter four-cylinder turbo that produces 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.
Now, I’ve had the opportunity to drive both of them, but the one that I’m filming with here at the beginning is the two-liter turbo model.
Due to the size of the vehicle, the 2-series is a little more front-heavy than the 4-series and 3-series.
This one will get you 0-60 in five and a half seconds and will only be available with an 8-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive at the moment.
We then get an optional three-liter inline-six that boosts things up to 382 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque and will get you zero to 60 in 4.1 seconds.
An m240i is the purple 2 series.
Let’s look at some of the distinctions.
The grille is basically the same, it’s still an active shutter design right behind those kidneys, but we get slightly different trim there as you’d expect.
The 230i and 240i get different wheels, and I really like the ones on this particular model.
We also get upgraded blue m brakes, and of course those distinctive m wheels.
The 230i can get a m sport styling package, but it doesn’t come with quite as many sport improvements as the 240i.
One interesting twist with this three-liter turbo is that a mild hybrid system is standard, but this is not the same kind of mild hybrid system that we see in the Mercedes eq models, where the air conditioning compressor is always run by the engine, so when the engine stops, so does the air conditioning compressor.
Around back, the biggest difference between the 230i and 240i will be the exhaust tips.
If I look closely, you can see that they aren’t completely rectangular; they have a little cut off angle on each side; nonetheless, the remainder of the bumper is essentially the same; we also have the same tail lighting modules and the same spoiler directly on top of the trunk lid.
The front seats are a powered multi-way driver seat with a manual extending thigh cushion, we have a manual tilt telescopic steering column with two position memory over there on the door, but an oddity in the 230i that I’m driving is that there is no lumbar support that is adjustable.
In addition to the body getting longer, the wheelbase also stretched for 2022 by about two inches, giving us more rear seat room.
Moving down to the rear seats, you’ll see that this is a strict four passenger vehicle only there’s no center seat right there instead we have a little bit of a storage cubby between those back seats we do have a fold down center armrest and the rear seats fold in a reclining position.
Moving on to the front doors, the upholstery in this model is perforated, but the front seats are just heated, not ventilated.
We have a lot of soft touch materials and some very intriguing geometric designs just beyond the front door, which you can just barely see are triangle forms.
There are some stitch materials for the arm rest around that door handle, as well as tougher plastics down at the bottom of the door surrounding those storage places.
The dashboard’s design is quite similar to that of the three and four series, however there are a few differences.
The grille above the infotainment system looks quite similar to the ones used on bigger BMWs.
For 2022 multi zone automatic temperature control, we have roughly the same idrive software operating on a screen that is now a little bit smaller than some of the other bmws in the lineup.
Below that are various infotainment system touch sensitive buttons.
Instead of wood trim, black trim is used here.
Different trims are available in each series, of course.
Moving back to the center of the dashboard, there’s a qi wireless charger in the storage compartment that also gives us two cup holders and a 12 volt power outlet there’s also a usb port in there same black plastic that we find on the dashboard there’s the typical bmw button bank right here with drive mode buttons down here Start stop button for auto brakes and electric parking brakes The infotainment controller and joystick type shifter that we find in a lot of other bmws have been moved to the center console, which opens to expose a decently big storage box.
The gearbox sits roughly beneath this tunnel since this is a rear-wheel drive car.
An analog instrument cluster is standard in the two series, but I believe a lot of people will upgrade to this 12.3 inch full color lcd screen.
There’s also an optional heads-up display.
The steering wheel design is similar to the three and four series, with paddle shifters on the back and a leather wrapped air bag cover in the middle, giving us a more premium feel.
There are a lot of controls on the face of the steering wheel, most of which are related to the infotainment system.
We have volume up and down, which interacts with the heads-up display.
If you order the model with the heads-up display, you’ll also get track forward and backward buttons, a phone button to access the menu system, and a bc button to cycle through the options on the lcd instrument cluster.
Finally, on the left side of the steering wheel are the controls for the cruise control system.
complete transparency I haven’t had the opportunity to spend as much time in this vehicle as I would like, but I have had the opportunity to drive the 230i and the m240i, as well as spend some time with the two series out on the track here.
The m240i is unquestionably the fastest version of the two series, with bmw claiming that one will go zero to 60 in 4.1 seconds and this one will go zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds, as is typical for bmw.
Expect those statistics to be cautious; if the m240i can go 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, it will be on par with the bmw m440i or m340i.
This generation of the 2 series has a little more weight on the front axle than I had anticipated, but it doesn’t feel front heavy like a cla or an audi a3, which have a lot more weight on the front axle and aren’t rear wheel drive based vehicles, so the driving dynamics out on the track or on your favorite winding mountain road will be very different in the 2 series.
The 4-cylinder engine doesn’t sound as good as the 6-cylinder, it’s not as refined, and it’s obviously less powerful, but the entire vehicle feels a little bit lighter and nimble, and when you put your foot down there’s still plenty of power for daily driving out on the track obviously the m240i will take things to the next level, but I think for daily driving I’d be just fine with the 230i if you start pushing the 2 series a little bit harder.
Out on the track or on a winding mountain road, this feels a little bit smaller and nimbler, but unfortunately, most of my time out on the actual road surfaces has been on pretty straight roads like the one I’m on here.
If you want to be one of the first people to get your hands on the new 2 series, contact your bmw dealer today.
These will go on sale in November of 2021, so right around the time you’re watching this article, you’ll be able to get As always, hit that subscribe button down there at the bottom of your screen because I’ll have a complete review of the bmw 2 series as soon as I can get my hands on one for a full week, but for now, it’s safe to say that if you’re looking for something a little bit smaller, a little bit easier to park, and perhaps a little bit more nimble feeling out on the road than a bmw 4 series or a mercedes-benz c Let me know what you think in the comments area below, and of course, if you were shopping between $40,000 and $50,000 in this category, would you purchase anything like this m230i or something like a basic m240i? Of course, anticipate more powerful and more costly versions of the two series to appear in the future; I simply don’t have any details on them now, and if you go crazy with choices on your m240, expect it to cost well over $55,000.
I’ll see you all later.