BMW M240i xDRIVE COUPE
Light heavyweight
To understand the new 2-Series Coupe, you need to take stock of all the BMWs around it. The 1-Series is now a front-wheel-drive hatchback full of Mini bits, and BMW was adamant that (though the 2-Series Active Tourer and Gran Coupe could be based on the same offal) its two-door 2 would not. Thank goodness the engineers still hold some power in the boardroom votes. But BMW was never going to spend gazillions drawing up a bespoke rear-wheeldrive platform just for one niche concern. So what BMW has done is taken the platform that goes beneath the 3-and 4-Series, chopped it about a bit, and bolted a stumpy 2-Series body over the top of it. Presto, a rear-wheel drive, longitudinally engined coupe. Except, this one actually has four-wheel drive.
Said body is a fussy one. BMW talks a good game about 2002 Turbo influences, but this new 2 is far too fiddly to be retro: it’s all angles, random intersecting lines, bulbous arches and a massive power-bulge bonnet. The M240i can justify it – the entry level 220i, not so much. The rear lights actually hurt to look at, they’re so wiggly. But at least the grilles haven’t been modelled on a powder-snorting reality TV victim.