BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé review

Like Taylor Swift's brother, the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé knows a thing or two about being overshadowed by a sibling. For while it's closely related to the 1 Series, that family hatchback gets almost all of the attention. Oddly, though, in this instance, it's the less acclaimed 2 Series that's the more glamorous of the pair, thanks to a rakish roofline.

The 2 Series Gran Coupé’s kinship with the BMW 1 Series extends to its mechanical underpinnings, choice of engines and the fact that you can have it with front or four-wheel drive.

However, it also makes it the smallest of BMW's four-door coupés (there's also the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé and BMW i4). And although it doesn’t have many direct rivals, it goes head to head with the Audi A3 Saloon and Mercedes A-Class Saloon.

So, is the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé as good to drive as its swoopy looks suggest, and how does it stack up against the best executive car rivals?

The 2 Series Gran Coupé is available with a choice of three petrol engines, starting with a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder 168bhp unit, badged the BMW 220. It has mild-hybrid assistance and can officially sprint from 0-62mph in a respectable 7.9 seconds.

That’s slightly quicker than the Audi A3 Saloon 35 TFSI, Mazda 3 Saloon E-Skyactiv X and Mercedes A-Class Saloon A200. It’s probably all you’ll ever need for everyday driving, getting you up to speed easily and happily cruising once you’re there.

Upgrading to the mid-spec BMW 223 xDrive gets you a 215bhp four-cylinder engine, also with mild-hybrid tech, and adds four-wheel drive to use the power more efficiently. It cuts the 0-62mph sprint time to 6.4 seconds and is a generally smoother engine that doesn’t need to be worked quite as hard to make good progress.

For maximum performance, you'll want the hottest version, the BMW M235, which also has a four-cylinder petrol engine and four-wheel drive, but with power boosted to 296bhp. Officially, 0-62mph takes just 4.9 seconds – which is almost a match for the Mercedes-AMG A35 Saloon – and the engine pulls strongly from the moment you press the accelerator pedal up to the rev limiter.

The rival Audi S3 Saloon is even quicker, and also sounds better if you equip it with the optional Akrapovic exhaust, which pops and crackles with an added level of excitement over the M235.

Every 2 Series Gran Coupé comes with a seven-speed automatic gearbox that flicks between gears smoothly in Normal mode and is impressively snappy when you switch into Sport mode. To make things more engaging – or for quicker downshifts – you get paddles behind the steering wheel so you can take over manually.

Gearbox wise, our only complaint is that on all versions there’s a slight delay between you putting your foot down and the car pulling away from a standstill.

BMW's M adaptive suspension is standard across the range and gives you the ability to soften and stiffen the suspension by changing mode. In its most comfortable mode, the 2 Series Gran Coupé feels quite firm and has a slight underlying fidget but isn’t uncomfortable, soaking up all but the worst imperfections with relative ease.

When the road gets interesting, you’ll want to swap into Sport mode, which stiffens up the suspension. As a result, the Gran Coupé maintains tight control of its body movements while remaining impressively cosseting.

The steering is a particular highlight, with its well-judged weighting giving you loads of feedback and making it really easy to know what the front end is up to.

The BMW M235 is even better, getting its own bespoke steering and suspension to help it keep flatter in corners. With a limited-slip differential (LSD) as well as four-wheel drive, it has superb traction on greasy, winding roads.

Refinement wise, the interior is pretty quiet in all versions. Sure, you’ll hear some road noise and a bit of wind noise, but it’s easier to hold a conversation while travelling at speed than in the A-Class Saloon, which creates slightly more noise as you drive along.

"On a twisty road, the 2 Series Gran Coupé’s steering is a real highlight, even if you're not in the hot M235 version. It’s much better than its rivals and I found it great fun to drive." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

As has always been the case with the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé (and, by extension the BMW 1 Series) the driving position is really good, with our only demerit being that the pedals are slightly offset.

Luckily, it’s still really easy to get comfortable because every version gets lots of adjustment for the driver’s seat and steering wheel. The seats are supportive, giving you plenty of back support on long drives and more than enough side bolster to keep you steady through fast corners.

You don’t get adjustable lumbar support as standard – which is a bit stingy – but you can add it by paying extra to get electrically adjustable seats option. If you spend even more, the seats get a memory function.

You sit quite low in the 2 Series Gran Coupé but all-round visibility is pretty good. Indeed, the slim windscreen pillars mean you have a good view when pulling out at junctions, and large cut-outs in the rear pillars improve the view over your shoulder.

To make parking easier, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera are standard across the range. For even more assistance, a 360-degree camera is available as an option, as is a system that lets the 2 Series Gran Coupé park itself. 

Every version has a 10.25in digital driver's display behind the steering wheel showing all the information you need in a very crisp and clear manner. There are plenty of customisation options, and you can choose between digital dials or a full-screen map. 

To the left of that screen sits the 10.7in infotainment touchscreen. Starting with the good points, it's angled towards the driver for easy reach, reacts quickly to your prods and has sharp graphics that make information really easy to read at a glance.

There are also plenty of features, including built-in sat-nav, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. It’s also handy that the 2 Series Gran Coupé is equipped with 5G connectivity, allowing it to update the infotainment system over the air, as and when required.

Less impressive is the fact that, unlike in previous versions, you no longer get a dial control between the front seats or proper physical controls for the air-conditioning. That means you spend a lot more time tapping the touchscreen or using the voice control, ultimately making the car more distracting to use when you're driving.

There’s no doubting the build quality of the 2 Series Gran Coupé – it’s among the best out there. True, it doesn’t have quite the visual flair of a Mercedes A-Class Saloon but everything is screwed together really well and feels plush, with any scratchy plastics hidden low down and out of sight.

"My favourite element of the lovely interior is the M stitching on the dashboard. You might think it was done by a machine but according to BMW it’s done by hand on every car." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

You’ll have no complaints about space in the front of the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé – there’s plenty of head and leg room, and lots of elbow room too.

The door bins are a decent size, and you get a big glovebox and a generous cubby hole under the central armrest. Add the tray at the front of the centre console and there are plenty of places to stow your bits and pieces

In the back, leg room is identical to that offered by the BMW 1 Series and slightly more generous than in the Mercedes A-Class Saloon. There's more foot space under the front seats than in the A-Class.

Unfortunately, though, the Gran Coupé shapely sloping roofline really cuts into rear-seat head room – so much so that a six-footer won’t be able to sit up straight without their head being wedged uncomfortably against the ceiling.

The boot – at 360 litres – is actually bigger than that of the 1 Series, allowing the 2 Series Gran Coupé to swallow more grocery shopping or a pushchair with ease. Even so, rival executive cars offer more boot space: 425 litres in the case of the Audi A3 Saloon and 395 in the Mercedes A-Class Saloon.

Every version of the 2 Series Gran Coupé gets 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats, which allow you to load long items through from the boot without compromising either of the outer rear seats. The back seats in the the key rivals split into three sections too.

On the subject of practicality, if you don't need the four doors offered by the Gran Coupé, there's also the even sleeker, two-door BMW 2 Series Coupé to consider. Or for a bit more practicality, there's the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer MPV.

"While the 2 Series Gran Coupé has a smaller boot than the A3 Saloon and A-Class Saloon, all three suffer because of their small boot openings. The 1 Series' hatchback opening is much better, so I'd suggest considering that if you value practicality." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

If you’re buying the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé as a cash purchase, it’ll cost you a slight premium over the BMW 1 Series and also more than an entry-level Audi A3 Saloon or Mercedes A-Class Saloon.

Luckily, to make up for that, the 2 Series Gran Coupé is predicted to depreciate more slowly than those rivals, helping to keep PCP finance rates competitive.

The entry-level BMW 220 is the most efficient version, and you can expect CO2 emissions of up to 126g/km, which is similar to the A3 Saloon 30 TFSI S Tronic and slightly less than the A-Class Saloon.

Even so, company car drivers will pay less for the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the A-Class, the A250e, because it attracts a much lower BIK tax rate. (An electric car will cost even less to run as a company vehicle.)

Back to the 2 Series Gran Coupé, and there are two trim levels. M Sport, which comes with the BMW 220 and 223, includes 18in alloy wheels, cruise control, front heated seats and touchscreen infotainment.

The BMW M235 adds to the equipment list with performance upgrades, some bespoke styling inside and out, and an upgraded Harman Kardon stereo system.

Every version comes with plenty of standard safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, traffic-sign recognition, speed-limit assistance and rear-cross traffic alert. For even more equipment, you can also add the Driving Assistant Pro pack.

The safety experts at Euro NCAP gave the model the full five stars when they tested it in 2019. That matches the A3 Saloon and A-Class Saloon, but those rivals were tested in different years so it's impossible to compare them directly.

BMW finished eighth out of the 31 manufacturers ranked in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That’s much better than Mercedes and Audi, which finished in 22nd and 24th place respectively.

The 2 Series Gran Coupé is covered by a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty, matching the cover offered by Mercedes and bettering Audi’s three-year warranty, which is limited to 60,000 miles.

"While you get a good amount of standard kit with the 2 Series Gran Coupé, you’ll probably want to add some options. I’d suggest adjustable lumbar support at the very least." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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