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BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe (2025) review

The Underdog You Didn’t Know You Needed

TBA

Somewhere between a hot hatch and a luxury sedan lives the 2025 BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe. It’s like BMW took a Mini Cooper, taught it table manners, sent it to finishing school, and handed it a tux. But here’s the real twist—under all that badge prestige and coupe styling hides a humble 3-cylinder engine. Blasphemy? Perhaps for the purists. But before you scoff, take a closer look, or better yet, a tight corner.

Design

BMW’s design team clearly raided the top shelf this time. The 2 Series Gran Coupe now features the Glow kidney grille, a trickle-down from the flagship 7 Series. It’s more showbiz than subtle, and it gives the car a much-needed sense of occasion, especially at night. The new arrow-shaped LED tail lights are slick, unmistakably BMW, and the faux rear diffuser, while not fooling anyone, is at least neatly integrated. Exposed tailpipes would’ve been a nice touch to augment its sporty intentions.

The iconic Hofmeister kink remains, but with a twist: it’s now embossed with the number ‘2’, just so you never forget where it fits in the pecking order. The coupe-like roofline, sporty 18-inch M wheels with tubeless rubber, and adaptive LED headlights complete what is easily one of the most youthful and assertive BMW designs below ₹50 lakh.

A little Euro-centric touch is the panoramic sunroof, but under the Indian sun? It’s mostly just a fancy greenhouse. I’d happily trade it for ventilated seats—something this car oddly misses. Then again, Indian buyers often prioritise what they can see (and show off), and nothing screams premium like a giant glass roof. Pop the trunk and you’ll find 430 litres of boot space which is ample for a weekend getaway, or a full-blown family vacation if you pack like a sensible human. And those frameless doors? Stylish for sure, but they do lack that reassuring and solid thud.

Technology

Inside, the second-gen 2 Gran Coupe feels like it punched above its weight and won. BMW’s all-new cabin architecture debuts here with some serious wow-factor: You can’t help but notice the high-quality textures and materials all around, and an especially avant-garde touch is the subtle M-stripes stitching on the dashboard. Twin curved, high-resolution touchscreens blend into each other. 10.7-inch for the infotainment and a 10.2-inch driver display. The entire layout harks back to classic BMWs with their driver-angled dashboards, but with a modern, digital twist.

The steering wheel is chunky and satisfying to hold and the host of buttons and toggles fall easily to hand—except for one tiny annoyance. The volume and track change buttons feel oddly limited. A rotary dial for volume and physical + / – buttons for track skips would make so much more sense. Even better? Let users remap those buttons to suit their preference. After all, if the car can park itself and beam augmented reality directions on to the navigation screen, surely a little button customisation isn’t too much to ask. BMW’s ConnectedDrive OS 9 runs the show, and it’s slick, responsive, and packed with features. You get premium maps, seamless smartphone integration, and an augmented reality HUD that makes navigation feel like a mission briefing. Camera quality all around is fabulous and looks like Discovery Channel in 4K!  

Your phone or smartwatch can also act as a digital key, assignable to up to four users—ideal if you’re a tech-forward family or the generous friend with a fancy car. The digital key resides right inside your Apple Wallet which is great because it negates the need to open any specific app. Just double tap the Siri side button and you can access it from your Wallet app with specific controls. If you just want to lock/unlock the car, simply bring the phone near the NFC door handle reader and you’re in! If you’re someone who prefers a physical representation of NFC, a smart card key is also provided. There’s an interior camera (handy for security or cheeky selfies), and Park Assistant Plus with a 360° camera and reverse memory assist that can retrace your path for up to 50 metres. Seriously impressive in tight parking spots or gated colonies.

The sports seats are snug and supportive, with extendable thigh support, and the illuminated metal trims with subtle M branding really elevate the feel. At the rear, the seat cushioning and recline has changed subtly, but overall, space is still tight and is better suited for young adults and not basketball rookie. There’s a 12-speaker, 205W Harman Kardon system onboard that doesn’t just fill the cabin, it lays down a soundtrack for your commute. The sound is rich, detailed and energetic and the door cards or cabin panels have no signs of rattling or resonance trapping that could make the bass boomy.

Performance

Yes, this is a front-wheel-drive BMW, but it still pulls off something few in this class can: a 50:50 weight distribution. Combine that with reworked dampers and a sharpened front axle, and you have a car that still feels like a BMW from the driver’s seat. The steering’s quicker, more direct, and the body control is far more sorted than it has any right to be. Even with “just” 156hp and 230Nm of torque, the 218 Gran Coupe doesn’t feel anaemic—it feels alive. It gets from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.6 seconds, but with a quick-shifting 7-speed DCT and a cheeky little boost function, it delivers its power with a grin-inducing urgency.

And that exhaust note? A bit synthetic, sure, but the Active Sound Design does enough to tickle your eardrums. It may be piped in through the speakers, but it works—especially when you’re flicking it through corners with the kind of poise you’d expect from something wearing an M badge (and yes, this one does come with the M Sport package as standard).

There’s something inherently fun about how the 2 Gran Coupe handles. The improved brakes bite well, and thanks to the new damper setup, the ride is neither too soft nor crashy. It leans more toward playful than plush, but it’s just grown-up enough not to be exhausting on a long drive. The 19mm bump in ground clearance also means Indian roads—or whatever counts as them—won’t have it scraping its underbelly every few minutes. ADAS too, has finally trickled into the 2 Series in a meaningful way. You get blind spot monitoring, rear collision warning, lane change warning, and even an exit warning that tells you if you’re about to door someone on a scooter. The Park Assistant Plus suite includes a 360-degree camera, self-parking tech, and that brilliant reverse assistant we mentioned earlier.

Conclusion

Let’s be honest—this is not the BMW you grew up dreaming about. It doesn’t have a straight-six, it’s not rear-wheel drive, and it won’t light up the rear tyres at will. But it’s also not trying to be that car.

What the 2025 2 Series Gran Coupe is, however, is a genuinely engaging small luxury car. It’s got just enough power, just enough tech, and just enough edge to stand apart in a sea of bland sedans and bloated crossovers. It looks sharp, drives better than you’d expect, and won’t leave you longing for the next variant up (okay, maybe a little).

Stuff Says

The 2 Series Gran Coupe is proof that you don’t need cylinders to have soul. It’s compact, clever, and comfortable—the thinking driver’s entry-level BMW.
Good stuff
Bad stuff
  1. Cabin quality and tech

  1. Responsive powertrain

  1. Sharp steering

  1. Retains the fun-to-drive quotient

  1. No seat cooling

  1. Styling more inclusive but still hit-or-miss

  1. Won’t be cheap

Specifications
Engine: 3cyl 1.5L
Power: 156hp / 230Nm
Transmission: 7-speed DCT
Acceleration: 0-100km/hr in 8.2 secs
Top speed: 230km/hr