Yeah it's not really an MPV, think more along the lines of a Golf Plus - a slightly raised/extended hatchback - so that's one reason why the boot isn't as big as those MPVs but having the sliding bench & tilting rear backrests make a huge difference and it has a large carry capacity for the exterior size of the car - in fact with seats down it has the same load capacity as a 3-Series Touring! The underfloor boot space also helps and you can even have a space-saver spare wheel under there. Rear passenger space is really very good and although the seating positions aren't as high as an SUV they are higher than a standard hatchback and older members of the family will find it much easier to access than many other cars including those 3-series'. The SE cloth seats are the most comfortable but lack the upper body support of the sports-seats which only come in a stiffer-cloth/artificial-leather mix or leather. Lumbar Support is an optional extra... The quality also felt slightly better than the cheap feeling F2x 1-Series of the day. It handles well as Mat said but after around 30K miles the adaptive dampers become too soft in Comfort/Eco-pro mode so the body sways too much for my liking although it smooths the ride well, however in Sport mode the ride is really too hard so i'd say stick to base/luxury or M-Sport set-up, maybe. Run-flat tyres hurt the ride making it crashy and increasing road noise. Driving the 220i LCI version i've found it has loads of power with a 7.4sec (maybe less!) 0-60 time and with the DCT sports auto gearbox it really does feel surprisingly sport and can be fun to drive (it even has Launch Control!!) - really doesn't need more. Pick-up at slow-speeds is strong & quiet - almost EV like compared to some other gas cars. Also it has twin exhaust pipes which look nice and well-integrated into the rear bumper and do give a nice sound but inside the cabin engine noise is minimal and thankfully no fake engine sounds played through the speakers! You can hear the engine & gearbox if you rev the nuts off it though and it has no soft-limiter and can can manual shift the gears with either the gear-selector or paddles on the steering wheel. However the brakes aren't so great, initial bite is way too late as i think the energy recovery systems get in the way (why the non-hybrid versions have this system i don't understand, surely the battery can cope with the start/stop system just fine?) and just lack strength which reduces your confidence in them. Having a reversing camera is ever so helpful as too the Parking Assistant that can parallel park the car itself. The front corner A-Pillar blind-spots _are_ annoying but forward view is very good. LED headlights have a good spread and the LCI hexagonal style DRLs look great and make the car appear more modern. The rear-wiper is nicely hidden but the downwards sweeping-style can leave the wiped residue to run-down and doesn't often look great. The standard 6-speaker is very good with good clear punchy base and although it lacks the door tweeters i've never craved for the Harmon-Kardon upgrade. Voice input for the sat-nav recognized the address first-time and is very useful as too the touch-screen function for the map whilst the rotary i-Drive controller is much easy to use on the move. Heated seats *and* steering wheel so nice to have! Roof Rails are useful for that roof box too! Overall despite one or two points in need of improvement the F45 2-Series Active Tourer is/was a very well thought-out under-rated car, the F48 X1 SUV is a fair alternative but is a touch larger & heavier. [Incidentally over the years when searching for 2er AT reviews this review (which is well presented by Mat W) never appeared in the results and only today it randomly appeared in my YT suggestions - the KZfaq search algorithm really is a bit pants.]

I was expecting Mat to hate this car, but I have never seen Mat praising a car so much. I guess BMW really nailed it.

Lovely car. Ive drove one, spacious nice fit and finish and very good on the corners. Im in my thirtys, I would have hate it ten years ago. Im getting old

MPV is the body style of future, that's why they needed this car to be.

We had the 225xe and loved it.

I saw him live..Beautiful..I want it!!

How can you not be fan of BMW´s manual gearbox? Owned a E39 with manual gear once, it felt very good.

Best bmw ever!Can't wait fot the M version of this amazing car!

I bought this car because:- I wanted a larger vehicle as I have two young children for school run and it get hammered at the weekend taking them to activitiesI didn't want a vehicle that was too large as I am often driving on my own in the day with work on the motorway but also urban around London This was the first time I could afford a premium badge car and wanted to treat myself a little bit I had a rav 4 for a few weeks it was great but too big and also tried an a3 sports back but too small This 2 series active tourer is great for me - PERFECTIts auto gearbox is amazingIt fits my needs perfectly Appreciate BMW hardcore fans 'hate' this car and say it's not a proper BMW blah blah blah - but that fact it's fwd really doesn't not bother me in the slightest I also appreciate that some say it's ugly. I too see a luxury model with its skinny wheels and it can look odd. I have the sport model, nice trim, larger wheels, dark windows and I think that it looks great I ask that the haters simply appreciate the audience this car is targeting, that's all

Great review but please that image stabilizer in 1:41 is deforming the car

His shirt reminds me of a tea towel, I can't unsee it now

Nice BMW. Cool video. I'd get one if I could afford it....lol. Thanks for posting.

Just letting you know the Video Link Click is not working..but great video!

Good to see that BMW finally makes and launches front-wheel-drive MPV, though it's a bit late, and they gave this lucrative segment to other manufacturers for years! Since they made the fun-filled front-wheel-drive MINI for over a decade, no doubt the 2 Series Active Tourer should perform well ahead of the others. Plus, BMW is still making rear-wheel-drive models like 3, 5, 7 Series, etc., it's perfectly right to make a front-wheel-drive model, hitting sales, gaining profit for making their other rear-wheel-drive products Series much more exciting.

Looks OK.. To all those bleating 'Waaaah FWD BMW' - shut up - BMW know more then you about marketing cars.

3:15 i never noticed in your videos this much distortion in order to make it stable (the car is constantly transforming).. does that mean that this is one of the bumpiest rides or you just didnt have a proper equipment this one time?

Do you prefer Bmw Active Tourer 218i or Vw Golf SV 1.5 Tsi? Can you specify the prominent (+) and (-) sides?

OUAH ! I love this car !

I love your review Mat, Im curious to find your review on 225xe hybrid. Sounds quite economical and practical.

By VW Golf Plus, i think he's referring to the new Golf Sportsvan (SV).

is there an upgrade in terme of the recording equipment...the voice recording is waaaay mush clearer and smoother

If it's my money, I'd buy B-Class, because your friends be like... Merc B-Class→"Oh you bought a B-Class, that's nice" BMW Active Tourer→"YOU BOUGHT A FWD BMW LOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!"

I love your Reviews. The image stabilization was quite bad though

R there any news on the new Ford Mondeo? I cant understand why its taking them this long to release it here in Europe since it's on the American market since 2 years ago under the name of Fusion

Can you upload a video with BMW 2 series gran tourer?

What sizes were those luggage / suitcases shown in the video above please?

I got a bmw 218i 1.5 liter and it is a twinpowerturbo and it is a grandtourer

Make videos more often

is it a reliable car comparing to the other cars?

I think it’s a stunning car, it’s not an MPV and is more similar to the X1. Incredible value for money but I have heard some of those automatic gear boxes need replacing. Also the fuel economy is NOT good on this car. You’ll get about 35 in town and 42 on the motorway

Don't add too much image stabilization to the video at 1:42, it's wavy ;)

You need a new wallet.

"wheels are a little bit like men, helpless at multitasking" - that's from the Fifth Gear review of the Ford Focus RS in 2008... I think.

Are you going to review the new B-class next?

Pretty decent but realistically they should of re launched it as a hatchback. Has the same similarities as the new astra 5 door and a bit of golf plus elements.

No rear windscreen wiper? How does the back glass get cleared with road spray etc. given it is relatively vertical?

Funny how only Mat's videos get decent viewage at Carbuyer. He was the sun and they let him go.

What is the seat height ? Does the driver sit as in a hatchback or in a van Thats what mainly is the difference betweem a hatch and a mpv...the seating position The other distinguishing thing is the vehicles body breadth..what im referrinh to is the height minus ground clearance MPVs have above 55 inches. SUVs are lower.For example the lowest is that of the Subaru Crosstrek at just 51 inches despite a ground clearance of 7.8 inches and its an AWD

Common mistake its now the Golf SV not plus

Please test the Mercedes Benz V-Class

I thought of buying one of these. When I sat in it I was disappointed by the A pillar blind spot and realised it wasn't great for busy urban areas with lots of junctions/pedestrians.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!!!!!! New vedio!!!!!

You can tell this car was designed for LHD use and not for RHD, why are the idrive controls and the electronic parking brake on the left hand passenger side and not on the drivers side?

not sure whats going on with the onboard cam, but it kinda made me seasick.

Will this come to the States?

Really good car, no major drawbacks

It doesn't compete with the Citroën C4 Picasso, it competes with the Mercedes B Class, and VW Golf Sportsvan. The C4 Picasso is much bigger.

looks not bad

I don't get it. BMW now calls sport oriented cars with even numbers and practical with odd numbers. So why is MPV with FWD called 2 series?

Thanks for review the car. I am really interested in this car and considering buy it.

Nice video. However, in my opinion,Mini is not mini any more, and now, BMW is not BMW anymore. Nicely done. BM.

I like BMW 2 Series Active Tourer MPV 2014 review - Carbuyer

I've got the perfect nickname for it - The 2AT.

And Btw why did you leave carbuyer

Nice car

The whole car was shaking when he barely moved how good the car is??

Another slick and professional video review, pity about the ugly car in this case.

How big is the boot of car ?

Did I happen to notice no rear wiper?

The camera view inside is so bendy! What the hell?

seems like it would be a great success in america. perfect for well to do families that live in cities who will never take advantage the rear wheel drive performance.

Is it me or is there no plastic trim to cover inside door upper to cover outside paint colour? Another first for a modern BMW, and not a good one in my opinion.

This reminds me to much of the previous Merc A Class... its not nice

much better then a gti!

I'm just going to sit here and read the comments...

If it has a transmission tunnel in the rear, then they missed the whole point of FWD. Might as well have made it RWD and saved a lot of negative press from the core BMW fans

With all these car reviews , why can't you just get the base model ? A lot of your reviews tend to be top of the range , I can't afford this one !

Good car.

Rebecca's on Telegraf Cars now !

I think this is the real innovation for BMW, not the M4 or the M235i. (don't get me wrong, they're excellent cars, but there's nothing "new" there :p)

BMW they've got to be kidding: they make a FWD MPV and then leave a transmission tunnel for 4WD availability? WHY didn't they make it RWD from the beginning then? Why, when it's technically possible with this body and chassis? Jesus.

So it's just a redesigned mini contryman by BMW

BMW & MPV see the fail?

BMW should've made it more aggressive, but a lot of families will def. buy it.

Active tourer you say? MAYBE BMW X3 Sport Tourer 20e and 20d

Looks like more a failed redesign of the 1st B-Class.

I don't understand why manufacturers (Audi, Mercedes, etc) are starting to stick their infotainment/sat nav screens on the dash like that. Looks like an afterthought to me.

I think it looks like a big hatchbag rather than a proper mpv

BMW changed the automatic gearbox looks ! The previous one was waaay better ! This one looks pretty old though !

Bmw always maintained that the best way to push an object forward is from behind thats why all bmw,s are rear wheel drive...mmmmh seems theyve changed their mind..tbh i prefer rear wheel drive front wheelers always seem to squat and dive under acceleration

Sub-titles make no sense, can't have the sound on as my wife is watching Downton Abbey.

Meh to this and the new Golf Sportsvan, I'm waiting for the new SEAT Altea!

Why does it have to be front wheel drive?? Why are these called M.P.V's it looks like a hatchback.

Kia Carens with a BMW badge.

prefer the b class or the golf sportsvan more

jesus christ that pillar is insane... so how does this compare to the golf sports (van?) family thing? (forgot the name)

I drove 1.5 petrol and 2 litre diesel but it is not comfortable

Those seating adjustments exist since 94' as far as I know. Optional panoramic is nice, but expensive as fuck. An well equipped one versus a lighter 3 series? Anyone? It's a rich girl car - or her mother's. Should be called Audi A1. Not to mention the 3-cyl engines...

Here in the states this would be useless. This isnt BMW in my opinion, just stick to saloons, suv's and coupes.

I'm sorry but this is going to be polar with parents, and cmon if you where given the option to get this you wouldn't say no would you?

I thought BMW believed the front wheels steered, and the rear wheels drive?

2023..👍

It looks to me that they put too much focus on the "active" part of the name. they kept it too "sporty" and not enough MPV. Because of this it's not really good for people that like a more sportier model, they'll get the break version of the 3 or 5 series if they want more room, nor is it good for families, they'll get another brand or go with a larger SUV.

It's not that ugly, it's just kinda boring. Even a van should have more character, especially if it's a BMW. It's nice to look at but it's no head turner...

Love the interior, but the exterior design isn't nice imo.

4:22 all modern cars have that 4:27: i dont like it either

They should've just put a mini badge on it instead of a BMW badge.

We need a family wagon for the baby love! Im getting a BMW bitch!

Merc B-Class clone anyone?

BMW Fit