Super smooth coupe that’s seriously fast G
OOGLE ‘typical BMW driver’ and the search engine will beat you to it - suggesting the words before you get past the M. Then you’ll be presented with nearly half a million results headed up by videos, memes and blogs dedicated to stereotyping the German brand’s customers as everything from rude and arrogant to aggressive and dangerous.
Now, I’ve covered a lot of miles on our roads - both in a car and on a bicycle - and this has always confused me.
I’ve not noticed any significant correlation between driver behaviour and vehicle. After all, how often do you see really fast cars going really fast?
And since when did the drivers of prestige cars risk their expensive metallic paintwork brake checking or cutting up other drivers in traffic?
Anyway, having spent a week with a BMW M240i, it’s all become clear. It’s jealousy. The 2-series coupe was launched to succeed the 1-series coupe and as such is one of the smaller models that BMW produces.
That means that if you put a 335bhp engine in it, it will have the potential to be a handful.
But couple that with an eightspeed automatic gearbox, firm yet compliant suspension and fantastic traction control systems and you end up with a car that feels as happy commuting as it would being pushed to its limits on a track.
The 3.0 turbocharged engine is a peach and certainly this car’s trump card. BMW knows its market and has set its coupe apart from the likes of the similarly powerful Audi TTS, Mercedes CLA45 AMG and VW Golf R by opting for a six-cylinder engine so it’s seriously fast.
Unless you’re desperate for a manual, the auto box is the obvious choice as the result is a faster, more economical and greener car. Plus, it’s easier to drive in traffic.
The ride is firm and inspires confidence on the bumpiest of B-roads. It’s not overkill though and smooths off the trans-Pennine potholes in a measured way that I can’t imagine its uncompromising big brother, the M2 coupe, would.
As you’d expect, the cabin is a pleasing mixture of high-quality materials and German functionality.
I have to move the seat quite low and the wheel as high as it will go to give me an unfettered view of the dials and, certainly on the first few drives, I’d have liked to sit a bit higher.
I remember poring over a manual to get to grips with an early version of BMW’s i-Drive ‘infotainment’ system many years ago.
The system bring together audio, phone, navigation and air-conditioning controls and early versions were challenging. However, the setup has become much more intuitive over the years and this iteration is very easy to use especially with the voice controls.
Leg room in the rear seats is decent and the boot is a respectable 390 litres large and folding the rear seats flat opens up a really decent load space. It has to be said that a high lip on the boot makes threading a road bike in an exercise in patience and dexterity.
Consumption isn’t bad with BMW quoting a combined figure of around 35mpg.
So, all in all, a pretty enviable package.
And, yes, for all the green-eyed keyboard warriors, it does indeed come with mirrors and indicators.