The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe is a unique mix of sportiness and luxury and BMW says it would be an engaging car to drive even though it is front-wheel driven.
The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe has been spied several times internationally and although the car is still under development, Autocar India reports that the 2-series Gran Coupe is headed to our shores very soon. It will take up competition against the Mercedes CLA and the Audi A3. BMW has been waiting to bring in this kind of a car to the Indian market for a long time now and its finally coming by 2020-2021.
The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe or the F44 as it is internally called hasn’t been seen in its final shape or form yet but from what was evident from the spy shots, the car clearly has a coupe like profile. The car has quite a sporty stance and the rising belt line has been beautifully made to meet the sloping roofline. At the front, there’s an updated kidney grille like we are seeing in new BMWs these days and and the headlamps also get semi-hexagonal illuminated ‘rings’ in the lamps.
There are not much details about the interiors yet but BMW say that there is sufficient legroom to fit two 6-feet people, one behind the other in relative comfort. However, headroom in the rear might be a little tight for passengers who are over 6ft tall. The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe will get BMW’s new-gen dashboard, so expect the layout and quality of materials used in the cabin to be absolutely great.
The 2-Series Gran Coupe is also expected to get an 8.0- or 10-inch touchscreen, the hexagonal digital instrument panel and, along with the ‘chrome’ inserts on the centre console. BMW is also likely to carry over the gear lever and pod from the recently unveiled 1 series. There will also be M versions of the 2-series Gran Coupe which are likely to get the M steering wheel with metallic inserts along with some more metallic inserts on the dashboard.
The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe will be based on the UKL2 platform which also underpins cars like the new 1 series and the Mini Countryman. Although it will be a front wheel drive car, BMW say it will still be an engaging car to drive. The new BMW 2-series Gran Coupe will get a specially designed suspension front suspension system that is said to reduce power induced understeer.
Normally, wheel slip is regulated by the ESC system whereas here, it would be engine controller taking care of things, making the process three times faster as the path traveled by the information is much shorter. The front axle also gets an electronic differential lock which gives greater traction out of corners, reduced shuffling of the steering wheel when you accelerate and a finer overall balance.
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As for the powertrains, the base engine of the range is expected to be the 2.0L, diesel engine that also powers the X1. It could be available in two states of tune – a 218d with 140hp, and a 220d with 190hp. As for the petrol engines, there will be the 2.0L, petrol engine seen on the X1 and also a new 1.5L, three-cylinder petrol engine with 140 hp and would be called the 218i. This 1.5L, turbo-petrol engine could also be powering the X1 and even the new 3-series in the future. If BMW sees sufficient demand for this engine, they might as well assemble the engine locally, here.
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The BMW 2-series Gran Coupe is expected to be priced between Rs. 37 lakhs for the base model whereas a fully specced top-of-the-line 2 series with the bigger engines could cost about Rs. 47 lakhs. The 2-series Gran Coupe is a unique combination of sportiness and luxury and this mix would appeal to a lot of potential BMW buyers who can’t stretch their budgets up to the 3-series.
