The expansion of BMW’s front-wheel drive offerings (I know, it still feels weird writing that) is continuing at a rapid pace, and right on the heels the recent unveiling of the F40 1 Series is the new F44 2 Series Gran Coupé. That’s right – as we reported earlier, the new four-dour coupé will be driven by the wrong wheels, even though the two-door version will remain resolutely rear-wheel drive.
Our European spy photographers have caught the car undergoing final rounds of testing before its big reveal, and as you can see, much of the hard disguise has been peeled off, with only a funky pixelated camouflage wrap remaining. Munich seems to be conducting a guerrilla marketing campaign for this car – it released a teaser months in advance, and it has now printed a web address on the side of this prototype, leading to a site that says viewers will get a first glimpse of the car on July 24.
Not that it matters because these images already give us a pretty good look of what the Mercedes CLA rival will look like. The low-slung roofline compared to the 1 Series Sedan is clear to see here, even though the truncated proportions mean that the 2er GC will share less of a resemblance with its larger 4 Series and 8 Series siblings than BMW would have liked.
It’s still a pretty good looking car, however, what with its suitably angry front end dominated by the conjoined trapezoidal double kidney grille and the furrowed headlights. In a departure from BMW tradition, the lamps feature a step that makes the inner lamp cans appear larger, rather than the other way around.
Meanwhile, the large U-shaped centre air intake on this M Sport model intersects the smaller corner inlets – a graphic first seen on M Sport versions of the new Z4. Along the side, the glasshouse has been stretched as far back as possibly to visually lengthen the car, leading to a short rear deck featuring the usual L-shaped tail lights, a low-mounted number plate recess and a sizeable rear diffuser with twin trapezoidal exhausts.
The 2 Series Gran Coupé will ride on BMW’s new front-wheel drive architecture (FAAR) that is reportedly lighter and supports plug-in hybrid and full electric propulsion. It should come with the usual range of three- and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, along with an expected M235i variant that will almost certainly utilise the X2 M35i and M135i‘s 306 hp/450 Nm 2.0 litre mill and all-wheel drive.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
affordable bmw 2 series? why not :D