Essentially a more stylish looking version
of the new 1-Series family, it celebrates its public premiere at the 2019 Los
Angeles Auto Show and will launch in our market in two versions, called the
228i xDrive and M235i xDrive.
The latter, which is showcased at LA, gets
a 301 hp and 450 Nm of torque 2.0-liter turbo-four, matched to an
eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. It does the 0-96 km/h in 4.7 seconds as standard, or 4.6 sec with the optional M
Performance Package, and maxes out at 250 km/h.
The 228i xDrive on the other hand has 228
hp and 350 Nm of torque from the 2.0-liter turbo-four, connected to
an eight-speed auto and AWD. From 0 to 96 km/h it needs 6.0 seconds,
and tops out at 209 km/h on all-season tires, or 243 km/h with performance rubber.
Not to be confused with the rear-wheel
drive 2-Series Coupe and Convertible, the 2-Series Gran Coupe builds on the
front-wheel drive-biased platform shared with the 2-Series Active and Gran
Tourers, X1, X2 and a few MINIs. Its main rival is the Mercedes-Benz CLA, which
has a starting price of US$ 36,650. We expect BMW’s smallest sports sedan to
cost about the same in the entry-level variant, whereas the M235i xDrive should
set you back for at least US$ 40,000.
