BMW 2 Series 2017 facelift review

Khodrocar - In and amongst the general industry headache of October’s new car registration figures was an interesting stat for BMW; the brand sold more 4 Series than 3 Series models for the first time in its history. It appears their sleeker styling has driven buyers into two and four-door coupes, instead of traditional saloons, hatchbacks and estates.

It’s handy, then, that we’re testing BMW’s updated 2 Series in coupe form for the first time. Over 180,000 have been sold since the model was launched in 2014, and its appeal hasn’t dwindled yet. Nevertheless, the coupe gains some subtle styling revisions for 2017, including new front and rear LED light designs, beefier air intakes and a slightly altered kidney grille. Some new colours and alloy wheel designs also feature, but it remains a quietly smart-looking coupe – especially with the extra visual trinkets of our M Sport test car. 

The changes inside are a bit more noteworthy. The 2 Series benefits from BMW’s latest tile-based touchscreen infotainment software, with new connected services, extra voice control functions and a touchpad on the rotary iDrive dial to allow easy destination entry. It remains one of the most intuitive systems of its type to use, fitting in with the driver-focused mantra of the car’s cabin design. Elsewhere, some black gloss plastic inserts on the dash and instruments helps lift the ambience and retain the quality feel necessary for a coupe at this price.

There are no mechanical changes to the 2 Series in this round of updates, but we’d argue it never really needed any. With fewer rivals than ever, it continues to be the best small four-seat coupe to drive, with balanced and entertaining handling courtesy of the rear-wheel drive layout and BMW’s celebrated chassis tuning.

The steering responds predictably to your movements, and body control is excellent. Standard-fit run-flat tyres don’t do the ride any favours, but the optional adaptive dampers fitted to our test car smooth out the worst lumps and bumps. There’s no shortage of grip with the xDrive all-wheel drive system fitted, although it’s only available with the slick eight-speed automatic gearbox.