It’s no secret that a new generation of
BMW’s rear-wheel drive 2-Series Coupe is on its way, but today, we were
surprised to see a pair of early bird photos of the G42 codenamed model
appearing on social media and online forums. These particular ones were
discovered by a member of the 2addict forums on a Facebook group.
The first thing most will notice with a
sigh of relief is the absence of BMW’s controversial ‘double coffin’ grille on
the front end. Instead, the two-door model has a more upright and stubbier
evolution of the current car’s wide double kidney grille flanked by deeply set
concave headlamps. The rear has much bigger tail lamps than today’s model with
a shape reminiscent of those used on the pre-facelift E90 3-Series sedan. The
dark chrome surround on the kidney grilles together with the ‘M’ badge on the
lower air vent of the front bumper and the diffuser at the back tells us that
this is likely the M Performance model, possibly named the M240i.
From these two angles, we’d say that
overall, BMW’s designers didn’t want to stray too far away from the successful
recipe of the current 2-Series Coupe, but at the same time, the details on both
ends such as the bumpers are overly exaggerated compared to the more restrained
F22 / F23. Unlike the latest and newest introductions to the growing 2-Series
range such as the Gran Coupe, the G24 will retain its rear-wheel drive layout
and availability of straight-six engines as shares its underpinnings with the
3- and 4-Series.
Power will be sourced from an assortment
of turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder and 3.0-liter six-cylinder gasoline
engines, with markets outside the U.S. to continue to have the option of
1.5-liter three-cylinder and 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo diesels. Sitting at
the top of the range will be the afformentioned M240i with a de-tuned version
of the M340i’s 3.0-liter turbo six with around 350-ish horsepower and the
successor to the M2 Coupe with a newer 3.0-liter turbo six from the next M3/M4.
An 8-speed automatic will be offered,
while it remains to be seen which models (and in which markets) will be
available with a six-speed manual gearbox. Both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive
xDrive models will be on offer as well, depending on the engine and market.
It’s believed that the 2-Series Convertible will be killed off in this
generation as the market for such cars continues to shrink. The new G42 BMW
2-Series is expected to arrive towards the end of this year as a 2022MY with
sales to start in the U.S. shortly after.
