By Staff Reporter

After the successful story of four-door coupes in the BMW line-up which began with the 6 Series Gran Coupe in 2012 followed by the 4 Series Gran Coupe, and recently the 8 Series Gran Coupe, BMW has officially revealed the 2-Series Gran Coupe for the premium compact class.

Polarising?

The 2-Series Gran Coupe looks like a concoction of various offerings from BMW’s latest line-up. The 2-Series Gran Coupe measures 4,526 millimetres in length, 1,800 millimetres in width and 1,420 millimetres tall. These dimensions make it ready to fight the likes of Audi A3 Sedan and Mercedes-Benz CLA.

Design

The low-slung four-door coupe features a contoured kidney grille on the standard models whilst the range-topping M235i xDrive has a meshed kidney grille and contrasting Cerium Grey front-bumper design elements, and mirror caps to differentiate itself visually from other trims which include Basic and Advantage, Sport Line, Luxury Line and M Sport. The Gran Coupe is fitted with hexagonal full-LED headlights as standard. There are minimal sharp lines along the frameless doors. Stand-out features at the back are the L-shaped rear-lights seen on most recent BMWs, single and dual-branch exhaust tips on standard models whilst the M235i is fitted with trapezoidal exhaust trims.

Inside

The interior looks very similar to the new 1-Series. The new design features ambient lighting with pattern design, the BMW Live Cockpit and optional Live Cockpit Plus, optional 10.25-inch touchscreen (8.8-inch is standard) running the latest iDrive 7.0 system and a thick steering wheel with logically laid-out cruise control and media buttons.

In terms of dimensions, the -Series Gran Coupe offers 33 millimetres of extra knee room over the BMW 2 Series Coupe. The seating position is 12 millimetres higher, too.

The boot holds 430 litres of gear (40 litres more than the two-door coupe) and this can be expanded further by folding down the 40/20/40 split rear seat backrest.

Engines

From launch there will be a choice of three engines for the BMW 2-Series Gran Coupe – one diesel and two petrol engines, the 218i, 228i xDrive (for US only), 220d and the range topping M235i xDrive. The 218i is powered by a 1.5L three-cylinder engine producing 103 kW and 220 Nm of torque and BMW claims a fuel consumption of 5.7 – 5.0 litres per 100 KM. It takes 8.7 seconds to sprint to 100 km/h.

The efficient yet powerful 220d generates 140 kW and 400 Nm from a 2.0L four-cylinder diesel engine. The diesel mill burns a claimed 4.6 – 4.2 litres per 100 KM. It sprints to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds

The range topping M235i xDrive is powered by BMW Group’s most powerful four-cylinder engine which is also found in the X2 M35i and recently the new M135i xDrive. The 2.0-litre engine with TwinPower Turbo develops 225 kW and 450 Nm of torque. It takes a mere 4.9 seconds (4.8 with M Performance package) to reach 100 km/h. Fuel consumption is rated at a claimed 7.1 – 6.7 litres per 100 KM.

Local pricing is yet to be confirmed. Expect the 2-Series Gran Coupe in Mzansi in 2020.

Pricing

Pricing for the all-new BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe is as follows

BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe 218i – R515,000

BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe 220d – R595,000

BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe M235i xDrive – R725,000