BMW 2 Series Coupe Review & Prices

They say good things come in small packages – well, the BMW 2 Series Coupe must be a very good thing, because while cars keep getting bigger and bigger, it has remained impressively dainty by comparison. It’s like a tricky winger on a football pitch of lumbering centre backs.

As such, there aren’t too many obvious alternatives to consider beyond the Audi TT. The Toyota GR86 is cheaper (if you can find one) but has a sportier focus and less fancy interior, while the Toyota Supra and Ford Mustang are a good chunk more expensive.

You wouldn’t immediately know it from looking at the BMW 2 Series, though. It looks fantastic (from the front, at least) with bulging bodywork and narrow, focused headlights that leave no doubts about its sporty character. The back is a bit more aesthetically challenging, a touch reminiscent of Sid the sloth from the Ice Age movies…

It’s more conventional inside, though personal preference will determine whether that’s a good thing or not, because the design is a touch plain. There can be no complaints about the interior’s quality, with everything feeling well put together and posh to the touch. The infotainment system is top notch, too.

By two-door coupe standards the 2 Series is fairly practical, but it’s not for people who regularly drive around with a car full of mates. There are small cubby holes here and there and a space to wirelessly charge your phone, and while passenger space up front is decent, those in the back will find it rather tighter. At least the boot, at 390 litres, is bigger than the Audi TT, and beaten only by the Ford Mustang.

Cars like this are not bought for their practicality, they’re bought for putting a smile on your face out on the open road, and here the BMW 2 Series delivers. There are two petrol engines, called 220i and 230i at 184hp and 245hp respectively (as well as the sportier M240i and M2 models reviewed separately), and the 230i we tested delivered strong acceleration to go with the impressive levels of grip in corners.

Okay, so it’s not a proper hardcore sports car, but if you’re looking for a fun road car the 2 Series is a fantastic option. Its diminutive stature means it’s not intimidating to thread down a tight country road and the car turns into corners quickly, so it’s fun and responsive even at normal speeds.

It’s a bit jiggly over bumps, but forward visibility is good and the controls are pretty light, so if you’re willing to sacrifice a little comfort, it’s easy to drive around town. There’s a bit of road noise at motorway speeds, but nothing intrusive enough to be annoying.

If you like what you hear, see how much you could save on carwow’s BMW 2 Series Coupe deals page, or browse the latest used 2 Series Coupes from our network of trusted dealers. You can also see what other used BMWs are available, and when you want to sell your car, carwow can help with that, too.

The BMW 2 Series Coupe is priced directly in line with the Audi TT, though that model is a bit more powerful. The entry-level 220i starts at about £37,000 and it’s about £4,000 more for the 230i. The sportier M240i is more again at around £50,000.

The Toyota GR86 is about £5,000-£10,000 less expensive than the non-M BMW, depending on the version, but they’re difficult to come by, have a sportier focus and a more basic interior.

Like the GR86, you can get the Toyota Supra and Ford Mustang with a manual transmission, though both of these models are considerably more expensive than the 2 Series, to the tune of £15,000-plus.

The BMW 2 Series is great to drive down a twisty road, but it’s not mega-comfortable around town

In town

The BMW 2 Series Coupe is small so it’s easy to navigate through tight streets. You sit quite low in the car, forward visibility is good, though it’s not quite as simple to see out of the back.

Comfort isn’t too bad, but the sports suspension means there’s definitely a bit more jiggling over bumps than you would get with a less sporty model. This is something of an expected compromise with this type of car, and it’s a similar story with the Audi TT – and in both cases, the bigger alloy wheel choice will reduce comfort.

Perhaps surprisingly, the M240i can be more comfortable around town, because you can upgrade to the adaptive suspension system. This lets you choose a comfort-focused suspension when you want it, whereas the regular 2 Series only gets the standard, firmer, do-it-all setup.

While the lack of a manual transmission might be disappointing for driver involvement on a twisty road, the automatic is better-suited to driving in stop-start traffic.

On the motorway

Whichever model you go for, the BMW 2 Series has enough performance to make getting up to motorway speeds or pulling off overtakes easy enough. The automatic gearbox is pretty quick to change gears when you put your foot down and need more power, while shifts are nearly imperceptible in regular driving.

Because it’s pretty small, the 2 Series doesn’t come packed full of heavy sound deadening materials, and coupled with the big alloy wheels means there is a bit of road noise to contend with on long motorway drives. Fortunately, the engines all settle down quietly at a cruise, so it’s not like you’re shouting at your passenger to be heard or having to turn the radio up to 11.

On a twisty road

The M2 and M240i, with their sporty upgrades and shouty six-cylinder engines, are the highlight of the 2 Series range for keen drivers. But the regular 2 Series models are by no means poor relations.

Helped by the fact it’s pretty small, so you’re not constantly worried about keeping between the white lines, the 2 Series is great fun to drive down a winding country road. The 230i that we tested has more than enough power to make the most of the excellent cornering ability, too, by giving you oomph out of the bend.

Turn into a corner and the front wheels respond quickly, giving the car a sporty feel, plus there’s loads of grip from the tyres and the body stays reassuringly flat. It’s definitely more of a baby sports car than a comfortable weekend cruiser.

Front seat space is pretty good, but those in the back will find things a bit more claustrophobic 

There’s no getting away from the fact that the BMW 2 Series is a small car. Therein lies much of its appeal, but that does mean interior space is rather limited. To be fair, those in the front are pretty well-served by small sports car standards, with decent headroom and enough movement in the seats to get comfortable. It’s hardly spacious though.

Storage isn’t too bad, with door bins that can just about take a water bottle, and an area beneath the armrest that’s quite wide but shallow. There are a couple of cupholders, but when you have coffee cups in place they block access to the wireless phone charging bay, which is annoying.

Space in the back seats

Although the BMW 2 Series is technically a four-seater, it’s best thought of as a 2+2. It’s a bit more spacious in the back than an Audi TT, and has the advantage of at least having some rear seat space, unlike the likes of the Porsche Cayman.

However, it’s not spacious enough that friends and family will be happy to sit in the back for hours on end, particularly if those in front are tall and need to push the seats back. Legroom isn’t terrible, but the cut-outs in the seats in front are positioned awkwardly, so you’re forced to sit very upright. Six-footers will be brushing their heads on the roof, too.

There’s not much in the way of storage either, just the seatback pockets and a shallow area for small bits, though you do get a couple of USB-C ports.

Fitting a child seat is possible, but not recommended for regular use. There are ISOFIX mounting points in the outer rear chairs, but you have to fold the front seat forward to get access, then lean in and pass the baby through a small space. If you have a small child the 2 Series should remain strictly in ‘second car’ territory, unless you’re really committed to its cause…

Boot space

Compared with other small sports cars, the BMW 2 Series’ 390-litre boot capacity is positively cavernous. Okay, maybe not quite, but it’s comfortably larger than the 305 litres you get in the Audi TT. The Toyota GR86 and Supra offer even less, at 226 and 290 litres respectively. Only the Ford Mustang beats it at 408 litres, and that’s a much bigger car.

Despite its decent capacity, the 2 Series’ boot isn’t particularly easy to access. The aperture is a bit small and it sits quite low, so you have to reach down to pick things up and lift them over the prominent lip. You can fold the rear seats by pulling a latch on the roof of the boot to open a bit more space.

The BMW 2 Series’ interior is well-made and you get a great infotainment system, but its design isn’t particularly exciting 

Drop into the driver’s seat of the BMW 2 Series and the interior feels like it wraps around you, with the dashboard angled towards the driver. It feels instantly sporty, and the simple design and high quality materials give it an upmarket edge worthy of the posh BMW badge embossed within the steering wheel.

However, its simplicity is also its undoing, because the Audi TT is a much flashier prospect, with its big digital instrument display and circular air vents.

Regardless, the 2 Series is a lovely place to sit, because everything you touch feels of the highest quality, and BMW’s infotainment system is one of the best of any car maker. You get a 14.9-inch display on the dashboard that has sharp graphics and responds quickly to your inputs, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for easy smartphone integration. It’s actually not the latest BMW system (as seen in the iX and 5 Series, among others), but that’s actually a good thing, because it’s easier to use and means you get physical climate buttons.

The 12.3-inch instrument screen displays all the information you need clearly and its menus are intuitively laid out, but there’s no denying it’s overshadowed by the TT’s high-tech setup. 

There are a few useful option packs worth considering, such as the comfort pack that adds keyless entry, electric memory seats and a heated steering wheel. There’s also an electric glass sunroof that makes the interior more light and airy, while music fans should go for the excellent Harman Kardon sound system – though it’s certainly not cheap.

There are two petrol engines offered with the regular 2 Series, dubbed 220i and 230i, with both having a smooth eight-speed automatic gearbox. There’s also the sportier M240i and M2 if you want more performance.

Sticking with the regular models, both use a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, with the 220i making 184hp and the 230i producing 245hp. Both are rear-wheel drive, but the more powerful model gets from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds, compared with 7.5 seconds for the 220i.

The flip side is that the 220i is more economical, but only just, achieving up to 44.1mpg compared with 42.8mpg in the 230i. We drove the latter, and got impressively close to the official figures at 39.5mpg over a week of mixed driving.

This also means that the 220i is a bit cheaper to tax, though both sit at the upper end of the company car tax bands.

The BMW 2 Series was put through safety testing by Euro NCAP and scored a disappointing four-out-five stars. Its adult and child occupant scores weren’t too bad at 82% and 81% respectively, but its vulnerable road user and safety assist systems were rated poorly. Its assistance tech struggled in particular with spotting cyclists and pedestrians crossing the road, but the 2 Series was largely commended for passenger safety in a crash.

Standard safety kit includes Active Guard Plus, which pops the bonnet up when a collision with a pedestrian is detected to create further distance to solid objects in the engine bay that could cause injuries. You also get front and rear parking sensors and cruise control.

Adding the Technology Pack brings an automatic parking system, while you can also add adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

Ownership surveys indicate that the BMW 2 Series is one of the more reliable sports cars you can buy, with many owners commenting on how it’s one of, if not the most reliable BMW. There are very few tales of major issues, with most problems appearing to be minor and fixed under warranty.

Speaking of which, you get the standard BMW warranty with the 2 Series, which is three years and unlimited mileage. That makes it a bit better than average, as most car manufacturers offer warranties for the same time period but put a limit on miles, although Toyota has a 10-year warranty if you maintain the car within its dealer network.