The farewell BMW 2-Series Coupé is, according to the purists, the only 2-Series that still works according to the correct principle: a sporty-lined car with rear-wheel drive. For those there is good news: the new 2-Series Coupé sticks to that.
The 1 Series, the 2 Series Active Tourer and even the 2 Series Gran Coupé are all front wheel drive. Of course you can also let the rear wheels participate with xDrive, but in principle they deviate from a BMW philosophy that is as old as the road to Rome. To deviate from that is swearing in church, some think. “A BMW should have rear-wheel drive.” For those purists, there is good news: for the new 2-series Coupé, BMW makes an exception to the new rule at the bottom of the model range. The 2-series Coupé will be based on a different basis than its 1 and 2-series brothers. While these are built on the UKL platform, BMW takes the CLAR base for the 2-series Coupé. Yes, the basis on which big brother 3-series also rests. A somewhat shorter version is undoubtedly used for the 2-series, but the most important thing is that this allows the same configuration as with the current 2-series. All forces to the rear, or in the versions with xDrive to all four wheels.
Lower nose
The basis is therefore true to how it once started with the delicious 1-series Coupé and that largely also applies to the appearance. The current 1-series and the different versions of the 2-series all have somewhat more bulky shapes than before. This ensures a striking whole, especially with the 2-series Gran Coupé, with a fairly large, high nose and behind it a tighter-lined body. With the Coupé, it is all a bit more aligned. It just gets a fairly slender, lower nose again, followed by the well-known relatively compactly designed coupé lines. Yet it is of course not a one-to-one evolution of the current 2-series Coupé. For example, the new generation of headlights gets a lot smaller in comparison to the rest of the nose, although this is largely due to the considerably larger grille. At the rear it looks a bit more familiar, although the lighting is also completely according to the current design principle of BMW in terms of layout, with the rear lights twisted in various bends. From now on, the sides of the tailgate intersect the light units.
Six-cylinder
Although the 2-series Coupé is on a different, more sporty driving basis, you can count on the Coupé to start fairly modestly in terms of motorization. The offer will probably start with the 218i, with a 140 hp four-cylinder. For diesel engines, it probably starts with the 116 hp 216d or the 150 hp 218d. In contrast to the 2-series Gran Coupé, however, we can also expect six-cylinders on the order list. We will find it in the successor of the M240i and may again bear that indication. In the outgoing 2-Series Coupé, it produces 340 hp. At the very top of the offer will probably be an M2 Coupé. It delivers around 400 hp while the Competition even exceeds that. We dream on happily, because when it really is a party, there will also be an M2 CS with roughly 450 hp.
Anyone who cannot wait for that to happen is out of luck. The 2-series Coupé was recently spotted in the open air for the first time, and then still heavily camouflaged. For the time being, he will be in the delivery room at BMW for a while. You can count on a revelation shortly after the turn of the year. Sometime in the spring of 2021, the new 2-series Coupé will probably find its way to the showrooms.