2022 BMW M240i xDrive
The 2022 BMW 2 Series Coupe is all-new and dressed in a handsome, classically BMW wrapper. There are two versions so far, the four-cylinder 230i and the six-cylinder M240i xDrive seen here. Alex Kwanten

BMW knows how hard it is to follow up fan favorites. When the original 3 Series debuted in 1975, some fans bemoaned that it was bigger, heavier and more civilized than the legendary 2002 it replaced. When BMW announced the new 2022 2 Series Coupe in June, the purist patrol immediately noted that it was not only bigger and heavier, but that it lacked a manual transmission. Those things are true, but the new 2 still brings the smiles. 

Hustling both variants of the new 2 Series through canyon roads around Palm Springs, California as part of a BMW-hosted event revealed their different personalities, both of which are engaging in exactly the way fans expect. They aren’t entirely like the old 2, but BMW also has more variations on the way, including rumored M models. They have big shoes to fill. 

Like the even-smaller (and more awkward-looking) 1 Series before it, the outgoing 2 Series was aimed at hard-core fans of older, simpler and smaller Bimmers put off by the increasing size and complexity of the 3 Series. The result was a light, fast and communicative car many Bimmerphiles agreed was a spot-on modern interpretation of their favorite traditional BMW traits.  

2022 BMW M240i xDrive
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW M240i xDrive

Not all 2 Series buyers are performance purists, however. When the 2 Series arrived in 2014 it gave BMW an entry-level alternative to the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class and Audi A3, but the brand eventually tired of only having a two-door model to sell. In 2020 it added the unrelated four-door 2 Series Gran Coupe, riding the Mini Cooper’s platform. 

Most premium customers want features, including active safety tech, even if some enthusiasts don’t, but making automatic emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control work with manual transmissions is costly and difficult. Some automakers, like Mazda, do offer these functions with manuals, but in that case the vehicles stall if the system is activated without the driver pressing the clutch which, in an emergency, they may not be able to. Many new manual cars, like the 2022 Subaru BRZ, don’t offer AEB or adaptive cruise at all.

There’s also the matter of what consumers actually pick. BMW doesn’t comment on how many people option their cars, but used vehicle data suggest that fewer than 7% of first-gen 2 Series buyers chose manuals, which might explain its absence in 2022. Among the hardest of the hard-core, more than half of M2 buyers in the same era rowed their own, and six-speed equipped M2 Coupes are coming. 

For now there are only two models, the rear-wheel drive 230i and the all-wheel-drive (AWD) M240i xDrive. Aside from the lack of a manual and a convertible body style, these 2s do a good job preserving the model’s fun feel through a major design shift, and its cosmetic makeover is one of BMW’s better recent efforts.

2022 BMW 230i
Though in no way retro, new 2 Series builds on styling themes that date back to the 1960s. It manages to look contemporary while harking back to models like the 2002 and a variety of long-ago 3 Series generations. Alex Kwanten

Remaking the Classic BMW Two Door 

If the original 2 Series was a larger, cleaner-looking follow-up to the 1 Series, the 2022 version is a scaled-down version of the 4 Series Coupe. It doesn’t look anything like its big brother on the outside, which is partly why it might steal some sales from that more expensive model. It also makes the new car feel decidedly more premium than the outgoing 2.

The new 2 rides BMW’s CLAR platform, shared with the 3 and 4 Series. That’s in part why its larger, but the biggest similarities are on the inside. Surprisingly, stepping into the 2 reveals a near carbon copy of the 3 and 4 Series’ dashboard and interior fittings, albeit with a smaller back seat. The 2 is just as functional, running the same iDrive 7 infotainment system and standard 8.8-inch or optional 10.25-inch screens. A 12.3-inch digital driver display, again as in the 3 and 4, is available. 

The interior similarities of the 2 and 4 do not extend to the surface. Penned by Mexico-born designer Jose Casas, who also styled the concept version of the upcoming iX electric SUV, the new 2 Coupe is a muscular reinterpretation of old themes that date back to the 1960s. The greenhouse isn’t tall like the 2002 or the “E21” and “E30” generations of 3 Series, but echoes of their lines and a touch of early 2000s “E46” 3 can be found this muscular machine. 

2022 BMW M240i xDrive
The trapezoids are something new and distinctive, but given the compact size of the car, BMW went with more conservative horizontal grilles for the 2 rather than controversial vertical schnoz of last year’s 4 Series. Trick shutters open up when the car is turned on. Alex Kwanten

The 2022 model is 4.3 inches longer, has 2 more inches of wheelbase, and is 2.6 inches wider than before, giving it a longer, lower, and meaner look. The vaguely shark-nosed front is broad and wide, and the two big kidneys are filled with trick opening shutters—closed with the engine off and open for airflow when it’s on. 

The larger dimensions do nothing for interior room, and this new 2 is an inch lower than the old one. Just as before even tall people will be comfortable up front, but not so much in back. It may not be terribly uncomfortable for people under 5-foot-9 once they’re inside, but entry and egress aren’t easy.  

Back seat space is not what cars like this are about. Having owned an E21 3 Series and spent many hours in E30s, there’s more room in those aft seats than these. (Munich’s 1970s and 1980s engineers did not have to deal with modern crash structures.). That said, the Lexus RC’s back seat is much worse and the Subaru BRZ’s almost purely ornamental.  

In the safety arena, the new 2 will come with forward collision warnings and AEB with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warnings and rear cross-traffic alerts. Adaptive cruise and several more features are optional.

2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
The 2022 2 Series’ interior will feel very familiar to anybody who’s been in a recent 3 or 4 Series, but that’s no bad thing. The back seat is much tighter than those cars, but just as well-appointed. BMW could warranty the individual USB ports and climate controls back there for the lifetime of the car given how frequently they’ll be used. Alex Kwanten

Driving the 2022 2 Series Coupe 

They’re close kin, but both versions of the 2 Series have distinct driving personalities. This may have as much to do with the drivetrain configuration as with the engines, but we’ll have to wait for additional variations to know for sure. 

The 230i is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, up 7 horsepower and 37 pound-feet from the previous-generation 230i. Both versions of the two use the same eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters and launch control, but in the 230i it transmits power only to the rear wheels.  

BMW says the 230i will hit 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, which jibes with my unscientific measurement, but its straight-line speed isn’t its best attribute. The 230i weighs 3,519 pounds. That’s 150 pounds more than last year thanks to the new car’s added size, but it’s 350 pounds lighter than the M240i. An aluminum hood and fenders help weight balance, and the 230i places 51.6% of its heft on the front wheels to the M240i’s 53.1. 

2022 BMW 230i
18-inch alloys and all-season runflat tires are standard on the 230i, but BMW makes a wide array of wheel and tire choices available, including 19-inchers, non-runflats and performance rubber. 19-inchers are standard on the M240i. Alex Kwanten

All this makes it feel lighter than it is, and more reactive. Both of the cars I sampled were equipped with the variable sport steering also found on the 3 and 4 Series, but the 230i did not have the adaptive suspension found in the M240i or the 3 and 4 Series models we’ve recently driven, which also share these engines. 

It did have a firmer-than-stock M Sport suspension, but it still rode smoothly and its suspension damping transmitted a feeling of control to the driver. The one I drove was also equipped with the optional M Sport differential and brakes. It has that “analog” connected feel and was happy to play on the twisty canyons outside of Mecca and Borrego Springs. The 230i is spirited when you want it to be, and calm for the commute. Manual or no, many enthusiasts who can only have one car would be satisfied with the 230i. 

The M240i draws power from BMW’s turbocharged 3.0-liter “B58” inline-six, a rev-happy gem of an engine that produces 382 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. That’s 47 horsepower and a single pound-foot more than last year. Here the eight-speed automatic drives all four wheels.  

2022 BMW M240i xDrive
The M240i xDrive may trend fractionally more towards understeer than its rear-driven sibling, but it wants to have fun and offers the kind of speed only dedicated M cars did not long ago. Alex Kwanten

The power and the sonorous exhaust note are intoxicating even if this is not a proper M car, and the M240i xDrive will boogie to 60 mph in just over four seconds. 

The AWD M240i has tenacious grip, but neither of these cars will break traction unless the driving aids are off or you work very hard. As in larger AWD BMWs, there’s a weight cost to the AWD gear, and with more pounds overall and a slightly higher percentage of them on the front wheels, there’s slightly more tendency toward understeer. But most people won’t care, since the power and the sound encourage hooliganism. 

Equipped with the adaptive suspension, the ride in the M240i xDrive was not appreciably smoother than the 230i, but the various drive modes had more of an effect on the car’s personality. Exploiting this car’s outer limits requires a track but it does feel sharper—and louder—in Sport mode. 

Both the 230i and M240i xDrive feel more stable and precise than the previous-gen 2 series without feeling more anesthetized, which is a credit to their suspension tuning.

2022 BMW M240i xDrive
BMW quotes only 10 cubic-feet of space in the trunk, but that’s only a hair below average for the 2 Series Coupe’s competitors.  Alex Kwanten

4 Versus 2, and What’s to Come 

Of the two new 2s, the 230i is arguably the better value. Starting at $37,345, including destination fees, it’s a fun machine at a very reasonable price in base form. Add on the options and things get expensive.  

Including the $1,900 dynamic package (M Sport differential and brakes), the $3,250 M Sport package (variable steering, sport suspension, ambient lighting and more) and a $2,650 premium package (heated seats, head-up display, adaptive LED lights and a head-up display), the Melbourne red 230i I drove soared to $46,570. If you’re going to add all that, the $49,545 for the M240i xDrive starts to seem close at hand, but it too has loads of pricey options. The Mineral White M240i seen here stickered for a cool $57,295.  

These cars aren’t inexpensive with that level of equipment, but consider that similarly equipped 4 Series two-door will run $10,000 or more above that. After the sturm und drang about the appearance of last year’s redesigned 4 Series Coupe, the 2 Series looks comparatively classic. For buyers who don’t like that car’s visuals and who don’t need a back seat, the 2 Series offers a more enjoyable alternative for less. It’s also a more fun and functional car than Lexus’ RC or Audi’s A5 Coupe. 

For those who want an all-wheel drive 230i or a rear-drive M240i, those models may be announced in the spring. If you’re holding out for a manual hero it’ll mean waiting for 2023. Rumors suggest the M2 will bow in the fall of 2022 and pack a 455-horsepower version of the same inline six used in the M3 and M4. 

In the meantime, 230i and M240i xDrive models are arriving at dealers now, so buyers can saddle up with them in short order. It’s hard to imagine they’ll drive away disappointed. 

2022 BMW M240i xDrive
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW M240i xDrive
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW M240i xDrive
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW 230i
2022 BMW M240i xDrive
2022 BMW M240i xDrive