2017 BMW 240i

There is one thing which BMW enthusiasts always crave for & that’s more power. Well BMW isn’t disappointing its fans on this front. They have already upgraded the 4 & 3 series with more powerful engines & now it’s the turn of their little brothers, the 2 series to get similar upgrades. The 228i will be upgraded to 230i making 248hp & 258 lbft of torque, an increase of 8 HP & 3 lbft from the previous models which frankly speaking isn’t whole lot. But we are here to talk about the already loved M235i which will be called M240i. What does the change in badge get you, well for starters you get 335hp & 369 lbft of torque, an increase of 15 hp & 39 lbft over the previous model. That’s a healthy bump in torque!  I can’t begin to imagine what this additional power improvement would do to this already great sports car.

We all know how good the M235i is with its perfect size, excellent weight balance & gobs of power!! It’s already one of the best handling modern BMW’s reminding the Bimmer fans of the greatly loved E46 M3 which had similar dimensions as the M235i.  Equipped with the all-wheel drive option, this little gladiator can propel itself from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.3 seconds!! That in my opinion is properly fast! BMW will continue to offer the excellent 6 speed manual option on the non X drive versions & I really thank them for that. I’m willing to give up on those couple of one tenths of a second as far as acceleration goes in favor of that mechanical connection that a manual offers which makes driving this car so much more fun. The manuals will also come with a rev match option which will automatically blip the throttle for you when you downshift. This will make even the most ordinary drivers look like heroes. The excellent 8 speed automatic transmission will be a no cost option across the 2 series line up. Other standard equipment includes M sports suspension, 18 inch alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires which in my opinion are one of the best tires for a fast car like this, variable sports steering, upgraded M sports brakes etc.  All this equipment servers only one purpose, it makes the car go fast on straights & around corners & makes it stop in time when required.

We have to address the elephant in the room which is the BMW M2. The M2 has a more powerful engine, better tires, aggressive body kit & a lot of equipment from the M3 & M4 which makes it lighter, faster & stiffer. It will also do a 0-60MPH run in a shrieking 4.2 seconds. With a manual transmission & executive package the M2’s MSRP is just under $55,000. Similarly equipped, the current M240i will cost around $52,000. The M2 is no doubt a better track car & totally worth the extra cash which in this case isn’t a whole lot. The issue is getting your hands on one at MSRP right now. As of today, the M2 is extremely rare & dealers have huge markups. You can easily expect to pay 5 to 10 grand above MSRP which seems like a complete waste. Also one would need to wait 12-18 months to actually get one after booking it. On paper the new M240i is almost as good as the M2 & you can get your hands on one without the wait & won’t have to worry about the dealer markups.  It also might be a better daily driver than the M2. BMW is yet to announce pricing on the new 2 series but I don’t expect it to very different from the current pricing. If you shop smart, you can have a manual M240i for well under 50 grand in your garage & I think that that’s a steal!!