Yahoo News BMW 2-series Convertible review: a fresh look for the fresh-air specialist
To take on a smarter look, improve one’s efficiency and try out some new technology might all sound like textbook New Year’s resolution material, but it also refers to an approach adopted by car-makers to spruce up a model midway through what tends to be a seven-year lifespan.
BMW calls it a Life Cycle Impulse (or LCI), presumably because it sounds more sophisticated than “facelift’”, in the same way that “hand-cooked potato chips” sounds tastier than “crisps”. The LCI comes to every BMW, and has most recently been applied to the appealing little 2-series, a bang-on-time three years after it first went on sale as a replacement for the 1-series Coupé and Convertible.
In this instance the changes constitute new bumpers and a larger kidney grille, full LED headlights across all models, plus a redesigned LED formation in the tail lights.
Inside the car is what BMW describes as a new dashboard, although in reality it mostly seems to have involved moving a piece of trim from above the glovebox so that it now abuts the central air vents instead. Opt for an M Sport model and you also get neat Black Optic 3D dials that appear as a gloss panel only to glow into life when the ignition is switched on. It’s neat, if still not as flash as the Virtual Cockpit in Audi’s TT.
Last but not least BMW has integrated its new tiled iDrive menu design, adding another level of functionality to what is already one of the best in-car infotainment systems on offer. Choose the 8.8-inch Professional version and there’s a touchscreen to go with the voice control, touchpad and capstan dial, which in practice isn’t quite as unnecessary as it sounds.
With minimal changes to the engine line-up the range continues to start with the 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo 218i and goes all the way up to the fabulous 3.0-litre, six-cylinder M240i. In between is a range of petrol or diesel four-cylinder turbo engines which send their power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox. Opt for the most popular 220d 2.0-litre diesel and you can also choose BMW’s xDrive four-wheel-drive system if desired.
To have your 2-series with a folding fabric roof costs about £3,000 extra, robs the car of a good deal of boot space when stowed, and makes the rear seats really rather tight. Getting in the back isn’t impossible, but only kids would be happy for anything other than a short journey.
In that sense it’s less of a disaster that the very effective wind deflector must be clipped on top of the rear seats, at which point the 2-series offers a suitably refined top-down driving experience for two.
That said, if you’re after the fully polished BMW ultimate driving machine you might still find the Convertible lacks the dynamic excellence of the Coupé. As evidence of as much, I tried a 230i Convertible and a 220d Coupé back-to-back over the same challenging stretch of UK B-road and found it impossible to ignore the occasional shake in the former’s steering column or the way its body jars over potholes or sharp bumps that the smoother-riding coupé simply shrugs off.
As a result the Convertible never feels quite as cohesive as you might hope for a small BMW with such an alert, pointy front end. Also, while undoubtedly effective, the 2.0-litre turbo unit in the 230i doesn’t stir the soul. It’s fast enough for sure, with strong pulling power right from the guts of the rev range, and the eight-speed automatic gearbox is nothing short of brilliant in the way it combines smoothness and speed.
But this remains an engine lacking in the zing and aural appeal of BMW’s old naturally aspirated 3.0-litre straight-six that would have once played the starring role in a car wearing the 30i suffix, such as the first-generation 130i hatchback.
What this car is then, is a reminder that the loss of six-cylinder power from all but the flagship BMWs in recent years has slightly dented the cars’ overall appeal, even if the numbers suggest otherwise. Torque, for example, climbs from 232lb ft of the six-cylinder 130i to 258lb, resulting in a 0-62mph sprint time of 5.9 seconds. Plus of course it’s much more economical, managing 47.9mpg on the EU Combined cycle rather than the 30.7mpg of the 130i, causing CO2 emissions to fall from 221g/km to 142g/km.
Yet still the 230i Convertible isn’t as wholly convincing as you might expect of a powerful, rear-wheel-drive BMW convertible, at least not at the recommended retail price of almost £36,000.
To be clear, there is a comfortable four-star car in this revised 2-series range (that fantastic little 220d Coupé being one of them), but if it’s a truly charismatic convertible you’re after I’d urge you find an extra £4,000 and opt for the flagship M240i instead, complete with its superb six-cylinder soundtrack.
THE FACTS
BMW 230i M Sport Convertible
TESTED 1,998cc four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, eight-speed automatic gearbox, rear-wheel drive
PRICE/ON SALE £35,645/now
POWER/TORQUE 248bhp @ 5,200rpm/258lb ft @ 1,450rpm
ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds
TOP SPEED 155mph
FUEL ECONOMY 36.7/45.6mpg (EU Urban/Combined)
CO2 EMISSIONS 142g/km
VERDICT Desirable as a compact BMW convertible might sound, the 230i is not quite the model we’d choose. Rather, we’d recommend spending the extra required for the M240i in order to revel in its brilliant straight-six engine.
TELEGRAPH RATING Three out of five stars
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