BMW 2-Series Gran Coupe (F44)

	BMW 2-Series Gran Coupe (F44)
	Debut: 2019 Maker: BMW Predecessor: No

Published on 4 Mar 2020

It takes BMW 7 years to copy the idea of Mercedes CLA, yet the execution is poor...

7 years ago, Mercedes opened a new class with its CLA. Traditionally, German premium car makers rarely compete in the C-segment because of lower margins and stiff competition from mainstream brands. The buyers of C-segment are cost-conscious, and they are sensitive to space and practicality. This explain why Mercedes A-class and BMW 1-Series had a hard time to fight against mainstream family hatches. However, the CLA changed that. It was conceived as a 4-door coupe, which was hardly a new idea, but this concept was applied to the compact class and front-wheel-drive architecture for the first time. This means, while it could be derived from the A-class platform to save money and lower price point, its gorgeous, coupe-like appearance enjoyed a premium image – even though the car drove quite badly. As a result, it sold in big numbers, many of which in North America where the A-class had no market potential.

It takes BMW 7 years to copy the idea of Mercedes, by now the CLA has entered the second generation. Slow is not the biggest problem, but the execution is. The CLA’s success hinged very much on its good looks. The same cannot be said to the 2-Series Gran Coupe. Put it straight, this is an ugly car, although it is hardly a news to BMW – we gave the same comments to the Z3 and Z4, the first two 1-Series, 5-Series E60, 7-Series E65 and plenty of BMW SUVs. Maybe Munich gets used to criticisms about its ungainly styling, it is not afraid to create more.

Dynamically, it is not the worst BMW, but the success will hinge on design more than everything.

The 2er GC has an ill proportion. Its nose is too long, the bonnet is set too high, and the deck lid is so high and short that it looks as if taken from an X6. It looks unbalanced. While CLA has a sleeker shape and a jewel-like nose, the BMW looks just fat and headed by a cumbersome nose. Even though the roof line is swoopy, there is none of the aesthetic deserved by something classified as a 4-door coupe. The graphical elements like double-kidney grilles, headlamps and the 3 bumper intakes are all poorly executed, especially in the M-Performance model where some of these elements are blackened. They make the front end looks busy, even outrageous. While taste is very personal, it is fair to say the car’s styling get overwhelming negative reviews from motoring journalists all over the world. If styling is a negative asset to this coupe, how can it sell?

Maybe the substances are better. The 2-Series Gran Coupe share its underpinnings with the new 1-Series hatchback. Both cars are derived from BMW’s front-wheel-drive UKL2 platform, which is also the basis for 2-Series Active Tourer, X1, X2, Mini Clubman and Countryman. It has no relationship with the long-serving 2-Series Coupe though, which is the last remaining rear-drive BMW compact car. Some motoring publications insisted the next 2-Series Coupe will continue to be RWD, but I really doubt. If BMW is willing to invest into a new RWD compact platform, why not use it on the 2-Series Gran Coupe as well?

Some might say, because the front-drive architecture is more space efficient. Yes, that might be true. The 2er GC runs a rather short wheelbase of 2670 mm (like the 1-Series), but it offers 33mm more rear legroom than the 2-Series Coupe, whose wheelbase is 2690 mm. Nevertheless, the Coupe is nearly 100 mm shorter overall, as the front-drive car spends more metal to the front overhang. Give the rear-drive platform an extra 100mm wheelbase, you will get limousine-like legroom. Moreover, while the GC offers decent rear legroom, it is still not comfortable enough to fit six-footers for anything other than a short trip, because rear headroom is tight. You cannot have a coupe roofline and good amount of rear headroom simultaneously. The same can be said to CLA, but in that case at least you feel it is worthwhile to compromise space for grace.

It shares the same dashboard with its hatchback sibling, the 1-Series.

Sharing key dimensions with the 1-Series hatchback means it is easy to share a lot of interior bits. In fact, the whole dashboard is the same. For this class, it looks upmarket, if again beaten by Mercedes. Ergonomics is good. Technology is sophisticated. Quality and materials are premium. Equipment is abundance, provided you spend extra money. Apart from a tighter rear seat, this place differs from its hatchback siblings in a few ways. Its smaller glass area makes the ambience less airy. Its windows are frameless, like all BMW coupes. Its rear door aperture is smaller, making entry and exit more difficult. Its boot is larger, at 430 liters, although it loses hatchback convenience.

The Gran Coupe shares the same powertrains with the 1-Series, too. At the bottom of the range is BMW/Mini’s 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbo with 140 hp. It gets the car to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds. Certainly not the one enthusiasts chase for, but for those people wanting an entry-level BMW with a coupe presumption, probably quite tempting. Next up is 220d, a 2-liter sequential twin-turbo diesel good for 190hp. Not the most refined motor in the range, but provides all the torque you need for effortless overtaking. American buyers will get 228i, a 2-liter turbo petrol with 231hp. Mated with xDrive mandatorily, it is good for 0-60 in 6 seconds, thus is a solid choice to most buyers. At the top is M235i, again with xDrive comes standard. Mirroring M135i, the highly tuned turbo four produces 306hp and 332 lbft of torque. 0-60 takes 4.7 seconds. Compared with the equivalent 1-Series, the 2-Series Gran Coupe is 45-60 kg heavier, so it is also slightly slower.

As there won’t be a true M-car for the UKL2 platform, M235i xDrive is as far as it can go. While performance is pretty strong (faster than a Lamborghini Countach QV to 60 mph, remember!), the sense of excitement is limited. Its engine starts with deliberate pops and crackles, but once on move everything calms down. Even at high revs the exhaust note is subdued, more so than its hatchback sister. No wonder BMW needs to feed some artificial exhaust noise via speakers. It sounds quite true, but keen drivers mind. There is a little turbo lag low down, but generally the engine revs smoothly and eagerly towards its 6600 rpm redline. The 8-speed automatic comes standard on the M235i works quite well, so well that I saw at least a couple of UK publications mistaken it for the great ZF product (sorry, ZF builds only the longitudinal 8HP or a transverse 9-speeder auto). It is actually an Aisin product. Shift is slick and responsive enough, although timing is sometimes misjudged.

BMW claims that 90 percent of buyers will not be aware by which axle this car is driven. However, what separate a good car and an average car is usually the last 10 percent.

The xDrive system has no problem to cope with such power. However, it again fails to entertain. This is a part-time system, normally driving the front wheels until electronics detect slippage, then the rear-mounted multi-plate clutch engages and directs torque rearward. There is no more than 50 percent torque to the rear wheels, and the car has a static balance of 58:42, hardly a typical attribute of BMW. The car resists understeer strongly through its advanced stability control and brake-based torque vectoring, but when it finally reaches the cornering limit, it will understeer. Back off will tuck in its nose a little bit, but no option to push the tail out. It is therefore less entertaining than a typical rear-drive BMW. It does not react to lift-off oversteer as keenly as a good hot hatch either, not only because of the functioning of xDrive but also the conservative tuning of its chassis. BMW sets its suspension a little softer than the 1-Series, and its steering a bit lighter as well, as a third of all Gran Coupes will be sold in USA and China.

The M235i is easy and safe to drive quickly. Its ride is generally smooth. If a bit harsh on poorer surfaces, switching the adaptive dampers to Comfort mode will solve. Its standard-fitted Torsen front LSD puts down the power effectively. Although some torque steer can be detected when accelerating out of corner, it doesn’t affect handling, just reminds you this is no rear-drive BMW. The steering is also good, feeling better weighted and more intuitive than some rear-drive BMWs. Just as BMW claims, 90 percent of buyers will not be aware by which axle this car is driven. However, what separate a good car and an average car is usually the last 10 percent.

If the 2-Series Gran Coupe fails, it won’t be because of dynamics, or practicality, or even price. An ungainly styling would be the most likely root cause.

Verdict:

Published on 26 Feb 2025

2025 update (F74)

Mid-life update pretends to be a new generation.

Although it gets a new codename, F74, this is actually a mid-life update as the F44 2-Series Gran Coupe is just 5 years old. The outgoing car was one of the least remarkable cars in BMW’s lineup. It was built on the compact front-wheel drive platform shared with the 1-Series, X1 and Mini, but pretends to be a sporty car by adopting a “4-door coupe” body shape. This compromised its looks as well as interior space. In addition to the poor job done by its design team, it failed to match Mercedes CLA for showroom appeal. No wonder we rarely see it on street.

The mid-life update is quite comprehensive, including facelift, an overhauled interior and some engine updates. All the hard points are unaltered, of course, so the shape of the car remains familiar, which isn’t as sleek as we had hoped for. However, the design details have been improved slightly, such as a sharper and more sculpted kidney grille, slimmer headlights and taillights as well as new bumper designs.

Inside, the entire dashboard is new. It follows the company’s as well as industrial trend to abandon physical switches for touchscreen-based control. Conventional instrument pod is gone, replaced with a slightly curved panel which houses a pair of screens, one for instrument and another for infotainment system. As a result, the center console and transmission tunnel have been cleaned up. While the loss of physical switches does make life more difficult when you are driving, BMW’s slick and quick-responding infotainment system keeps pain to the minimum.

Overhauled cabin abandons physical switches for touchscreen-based control.

The cabin’s build quality is also improved, thanks to good-feeling new recycled materials and, on M-model, air vents made of real aluminum. Space remains on the tight side, especially for rear passengers. While headroom and legroom are okay for those no taller than 1.8 meter, the rear bench is so narrow that squeezing in a third passenger is mission impossible. However, that’s no surprise for a car sitting at the entry level of BMW’s vast family range.

Changes to the engine range gives a mixed feeling. All petrol models follow BMW’s new nomenclature to abandon the “i” on their badges, so we have 216, 220 and M235 xDrive Gran Coupe. The first 2 employ the company’s 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbo engine, producing only 122 hp and 156 hp, respectively. However, the 220 engine is mated with a 48V starter-generator mild-hybrid system, lifting system output to 170 hp, accompanied with a useful peak torque of 206 lbft. It is therefore good for 143 mph and 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. Mating with a 7-speed twin-clutch gearbox, this car feels brisk enough on the road while the lighter nose gives eager turn-in. On the downside, the battery of mild-hybrid system eats into the trunk, reducing from 430 to 360 liters, which is very small.

Powertrain gives a mixed feeling...

The range-topping M235 xDrive also employs the new 7-speed DCT instead of the outgoing Aisin 8-speed automatic. Maybe due to stricter emission standards or the torque capacity limitation of the DCT, the 2-liter turbo four loses 6 horsepower and 37 pound-foot of torque, leaving 300 hp and 295 lbft. However, BMW quotes the same 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds, thanks to probably the more responsive shift of DCT – the old Aisin unit was not very good, as mentioned in our last report. The engine feels potent, but the noise it makes at higher revs is uninspiring.

The M235 comes with mandatory xDrive which is predictably a part-time system. In general the car feels heavier at the nose and less keen to steer than the front-drive 220. The steering does not feel as clean, although traction and grip are superior. Standard adaptive dampers keep body motions in check without ruining ride quality. That said, it is not as interesting to drive as an Audi S3, let alone hot hatches like Civic Type R, i30 N or Golf R.

After all, the 2-Series Gran Coupe is not a true driver’s car. It is just a compromised package trying to offer a taste of premium car and stylish coupe at an affordable price, but fails to excel in either.

Verdict: