Special Thanks To: Amiral Motors
/ amiralmotorsadana
What's New for 2020?
BMW has given the 2-series a visual freshening for 2020 by adding darkened taillights, a black or gray grille frame, updated wheel designs, and newly available black exterior mirror caps. Rain-sensing windshield wipers have been made standard across the range and Long Beach Blue is now offered on the M240i model, but sadly the Melbourne Red metallic and Sparkling Brown are not. A redesigned 2-series coupe is expected to launch for the 2022 model year.
Although it costs over $10,000 more than the 230i, we wholeheartedly recommend the ballsier M240i model. Its turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six brings big power to the smallest BMW and it's the engine this chassis truly deserves. To help justify the increase in expense, the M240i also comes with more standard equipment, including 10-way power adjustable front seats, an adaptive suspension, racier exterior styling elements, a power sunroof, and adaptive cruise control.
Engine, Transmission, and Performance
You can't go wrong with either of the engines in the 2-series. It gets bonus points for offering a manual transmission with both engines in addition to a well-coordinated eight-speed automatic transmission. The 230i's 248-hp turbocharged four-cylinder is always on call, responding quickly to your right foot with little to no turbo lag. The M240i is another story, and a lightning-quick one: its turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six sings a mechanical aria as it rockets the small coupe to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. The 2-series handles itself with aplomb, thanks in part to its quick, accurate steering responses and its solid, capable chassis. The ride over uneven pavement is generally good, and passengers are isolated from most bumps by the firmly controlled suspension. Over repeated expansion joints, however, the 2-series rocks passengers as if they're on a penny-pony ride. An adaptive suspension with adjustable shocks is standard in the M240i, and that, plus grippy summer tires, gives this car seriously responsive handling capability.
Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG
With engines this powerful and playful, it wouldn't be a surprise if the 2-series wasn't particularly fuel efficient, but the opposite is true: it's one of the more frugal cars in this segment. The all-wheel-drive 230i we tested on our 200-mile highway testing route outperformed its EPA rating during our highway test, but so did every other car that we tested. At 35 mpg, the 2-series is still one of the most efficient in its class, and a relatively thrifty highway cruiser for a high-performance coupe.
Interior, Comfort, and Cargo
The interior of the 2-series is where great turns into merely good. The cabin is well designed, with adequate room for front-seat passengers and comfortable standard front buckets. Legroom in the rear, however, is so cramped that adults will have a hard time riding back there for long. Straightforward gauges and a simple instrument panel speak to this car's sporty intentions, but some of its interior materials are uninspired for a car in this price range. The 2-series has a relatively large trunk for a compact sedan, but its small back-seat area doesn't leave much space for extra cargo when the rear backrest is folded flat. What's more, cubby-storage space is lacking, and the center-console bin is small. We resorted to stowing our effects in the center-console-mounted cupholders during our time with the car, a solution that only works as long as you can avoid the Starbucks drive-through.
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