After making an appearance at the Nurburgring a few months ago, the new generation BMW 2-Series Coupe was recently taken close to the Arctic Circle in Northern Europe, where it had to face the sub-freezing temperatures. The prototype snapped by our spy photographers retained the heavy disguise, so there isn’t much to report on from a visual standpoint, other than this probably being a lesser variant of the car, considering that it has a single round exhaust pipe on the driver’s side.
Purists will be glad to know that the new
2-Series Coupe will remain rear-wheel drive, as it will be based on the CLAR
platform of the latest 3- and 4-Series. This will draw a clear line between the
two-door models and the 2-Series Gran Coupe and 2-Series Active Tourer, which
utilize the front-wheel drive UKL architecture shared with the X1, X2 and
1-Series.
The new architecture will make it
compatible with a wide number of powertrains, with the entry-level grades
expected to launch with the usual four-cylinder petrol and diesel mills. The
six-pot gasoline burners will power the M240i and the M2 Coupe, with the
range-topper, which will replace the current M2 Competition, is expected to use
the M3’ and M4’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six.
The official unveiling date of the car is
unknown, but considering that the new year is around the corner, we’d expect it
to premiere sometime in 2021, perhaps launching as a 2022 model. The new M2
Coupe should follow it in 2022.
