The new BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé is a car that has made an important course correction. Now sportier in its demeanour and re-engineered to be more dynamic, it is a car that seems to have more BMW DNA in it.
New BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe exterior design
Sportier exterior design
This is clearly visible, even at first glance. The design of the nose is now more compact and sporty. The shark-like flat nose with the ‘overbite’ makes it look rakish, and add in the peeled-back headlamps and bonnet lines that converge, and you have a car with plenty of individual identity.
New 2 Series Gran Coupe has plenty of individual identity.
Around the side, the new car gets bigger wheel arches, fleshed out to make room for wider and taller wheels. And what gives this car a neat profile is that the roof and rear windshield flow into the boot seamlessly. Around the rear, the addition of new angled tail-light clusters adds freshness. The boot now gets a capacity of 430 litres, but that’s without the spare tyre. Indian cars will get a space-saver tyre that will reduce space considerably.
New BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe interior and features
Interior draws from BMW’s larger sedans
Step inside, and you’re greeted by a freshened-up cabin that takes a leaf from BMW’s latest style sheet. The look-and-feel of the cabin is now in line with other sedans from BMW’s range, and the new curved display with BMW’s latest software is one of the highlights. It’s also full of clever little features like big, bold ambient lighting bars and highlights that react to temperature adjustments you make on the screen – blue when you ask for cooler temperatures and red for a warmer cabin.
Cabin look, feel, quality and tech are now not too far removed from top cars.
While space in the rear is marginally improved and it doesn’t feel quite as cramped as the earlier car, this still remains a car that is better experienced from the front seats.
New BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe underpinnings
Increased chassis rigidity, stiffened springs
Under the skin, BMW says it is doing its best to align the 2 Series with the sporty appeal of cars like the 3 Series. Built on a front-wheel-drive platform (the M2 and the 2 Series Coupé, interestingly, use a rear-wheel-drive platform), BMW has stiffened the front springs, used new multi-valve dampers and increased the rigidity of the chassis. This, it claims, helps the new 2 feel both more agile and precise on the road. In addition, it has increased the caster offset of the front wheels to ensure more stability, and at the rear, the anti-roll bar is now pre-loaded so that the stabilising effect comes into play earlier.
There’s marginally more space in the rear, and the seat is slightly larger.
New BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe powertrain, specs
New 1.5-litre mild-hybrid turbo-petrol engine
Under the hood, the Gran Coupé is likely to get a downsized engine. Featuring mild-hybrid tech, the three-cylinder 1.5 turbo-petrol makes a total of 170hp and 280Nm. This is marginally down from the earlier car. Still, what is likely to make it feel more responsive is the addition of 20hp from the E-motor (included in the 170hp), which also helps the car do 0-100kph in a claimed 7.9 seconds. Sufficient power, but nothing more.
While BMW is expected to carry on with the 2.0 diesel engine that does get four cylinders, power is expected to be 163hp (down from 190hp) and torque a strong 400Nm.
The 2.0-litre diesel engine is expected to continue, but with lesser power.
New BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe expected price
Expected to be in showrooms towards the middle of the year, with prices expected to range between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 47 lakh, BMW’s new 2 Series Gran Coupé is a car for self-driven owners who are looking for a fun, dynamic drive. Some are likely to want more power and performance, though.
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