New-look BMW 2 Series Coupé on the way

The new BMW 2 Series Coupé will launch later this summer, and the German manufacturer has today (17 May) released images giving an early impression of the revised model.

As with most new car reveals, the car is decked in a camouflage livery, posing the question of ‘why bother to show something off if you’re not willing to show it off properly?!’

But it does seem that some parts of the car remain under development, and after the negative reaction to the front end treatment of recent facelift models, BMW are seemingly opting to keep the final design a secret until the last minute. The photos of this section look fairly brutal at present, with perfectly square rectangular mesh sections where you’d expect to find the grille. Rumours suggest the trademark kidney grilles will be somewhat smaller than other new models, to the relief of many.

BMW will stick to what they know best, so the standard 2 Series will again feature rear wheel drive, an ‘extremely powerful’ in-line six cylinder engine, near enough 50:50 weight distribution plus an extremely stiff chassis to handle agile and dynamic driving behaviour.

The new machine is currently undergoing track testing, with particular focus on its drive and suspension systems. As with most German manufacturers, the Nürburgring has been the venue of choice, with its 100-plus corners and countless inclines and cambers allowing an ideal test for suspension, chassis, damping, steering and braking. If that wasn’t enough, the 2 Series has been blasted down country roads around Munich and run at the BMW Group test site at Maisach, ensuring that both race track and normal roads have been ticked off.

Figures of 374 hp are expected from the engine, which will be paired with an eight speed Steptronic Sport gearbox.

The top of the range M240i xDrive Coupé is set to deliver a combined fuel consumption of 34.45 MPG and CO2 emissions of 186 g/km, and will also feature an all-wheel drive system, still optimised around the rear wheels but allowing the car to adapt to adverse road and weather conditions.

All models of the 2 Series will benefit from the aforementioned tougher chassis, which has a 12 per cent improvement in static torsional stiffness, allowing an even better driving feel. This has been achieved with dynamic struts in the rear of the vehicle, and increased track width at the front and rear axles, reducing body roll during sporty cornering.

Each variant will also come with stroke-dependent dampers as standard, finely tuned to create a “noticeably optimised balance between sportiness and ride comfort.”

Revised aerodynamics have played their part in the improved handling characteristics, particularly with the M car. A model-specific front spoiler lip, front splitter and air curtains, air deflectors, tank and rear axle covers plus contoured underbody struts have resulted in a 50 percent reduction in lift on the front axle compared to the previous 2 Series.

Optional extras will include an Adaptive M Chassis, which features electronically controlled dampers that offer mapping choices for both sporty and comfort-orientated driving.

Variable Sport Steering is another add-on, combining optimised precision when steering into bends with reduced steering effort for everyday driving, for example parking and manoeuvring.

Manufacturing of the new model will start in the next couple of months, though an on sale date has yet to be revealed.