TECHNICAL BEMUSEMENT
The range-topping version of the 2 Series Gran Coupe has a transverse four-cylinder engine and part-time all-wheel drive. Behind strange looks is a well-engineered car, but a confusing one
There’s an M badge on the back and a suitably weighty number next to it, but the M235i Gran Coupe is not what could be termed a traditionalist’s choice.
Like the M135i, it has been switched to BMW’s FAAR natively front-driven architecture with power coming from a four-cylinder engine in place of the sonorous straight-six that still propels the M240i Coupe.
Which means lifting the bonnet produces the incongruous sight of a short engine sitting across the bay and mounted entirely ahead of the front axle line.
It’s a detail that will offend some, possibly to the point of rage, but it would be unfair to turn this first review into an ethical inquisition into the company’s bold new direction.
While the M135i is effectively replacing a rear-driven model, the Gran Coupe is entering a new bit of the market. It’s fair to say that the Gran Coupe’s design struggles to deliver grandeur with the car’s compact dimensions.
The 2,670mm wheelbase is identical to the 1-Series, with the 207mm increase in length almost entirely in the boot. The result is a car that doesn’t look quite long enough in the middle, something exacerbated by the heavily raked roofline. The rear lights also seem to have been designed for a considerably larger vehicle.
The interior is better. The Gran Coupe shares the 1-Series’s dashboard and most of its cabin architecture and materials feel suitably plush for the segment, with lots of switchgear and componentry familiar from higher up in the range.
Starting the 306hp engine produces a promising fusillade of pops and crackles, although this turns out to be about the most exciting noise the new powerplant makes. The engine makes plenty of muscular sounds, some of which are digitally synthesised, revs turning it louder but not more melodious.
Yet there’s no arguing with the effectiveness of the downsized engine. The peak 450Nm of torque is fully present from just 1,750rpm, with the quickthinking eight-speed auto shifting intelligently and seamlessly to wake it up when required. There is some lag below about 2,000rpm, but performance feels at least as strong as the official numbers suggest, the engine pulling cleanly to its 6,600rpm limiter with no sense of reluctance at the top end.
The all-wheel drive system uses an electro-mechanical clutch pack on the rear axle which can engage much quicker than a viscous coupling. It also gets the understeer-fighting ARB slip limitation system based on the one used in the i3. So although the M235i can run as a pure front-driver, and frequently does to reduce mechanical losses and boost consumption, it proved almost impossible to catch out, even on tight, slippery corners.
The xDrive system works well to find grip. Only 50% of available effort can head backwards and it reaches the rear wheels through an open differential incapable of torque biasing. So once the M235i has been powered to the edge of breakaway it doesn’t have any tricks left in the bag beyond tightening its line on a lifted throttle. So while it actually resists low-speed understeer better than its rear-driven sisters, it lacks their ability to go and play in the hinterland between grip and slip.
The steering is a highlight, with better weight and communication than many of BMW’s punchier rear-drivers and with minimal corruption from the torque passing through the front axle. Responses are keen, but the M235i feels less front-led than a hot hatch would.
Brakes are impressive too, the car doing without an electric servo but getting extra narrow four-pot calipers that have allowed the largest possible discs to be squeezed behind the standard 18in wheels.
While suspension settings have been softened compared to the M135i hatch the coupe still feels well lashed down.
In the end, does the M235i really work? The changing tastes of the world car market make the 2-Series Gran Coupe an entirely rational piece of product planning.
BMW’s assertion that the majority of buyers won’t even realise the car is natively front-driven, let alone care about it, is likely to grate with enthusiasts, but reflects the truth that got the car signed off.