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BMW 2 Series Coupe Rumored Again With M135i Engine and RWD

After all the rumors about a rear-wheel-drive BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe turned out to be false. The rumor mill is back at it again, this time talking about a true successor to the beloved 2er Coupe and M2.
BMW 2 Series Coupe Rumored Again With M135i Engine and RWD 1 photo
Photo: BMW
Speaking on the sidelines of the NextGen 2019 event, where they showed a bunch of electric models, BMW chief engineer Klaus Fröhlich was interviewed by Auto Express magazine.

When asked about the platform that resides underneath their i4 sedan-like model. the official made the following statement: “This is our Cluster Architecture. This is in our rear-wheel drive cars; from the 2 successor [and] up to the X7.”

But if you look at the comments, some of which date back to 2018, you realize this new scoop is just Auto Express recycling an older article and trying to support its previous claims of a RWD 2 Series happening. And there are other issues here as well.

For instance, it's nice to think that while the 2er Gran Coupe won't be RWD, the next two-door coupe will. However, the next BMW 2-door is actually the 4 Series, not the 2. So that could actually be the successor mentioned by the official. And while the new four-door-style coupe, which will rival the CLA-Class, has been testing for a long time, nobody has seen anything small and RWD besides the hardcore M2. A new model would need at least two years of development, meaning we're looking at a 2021-or-later debut.

Our source also claims that the 2 Series Coupe would be powered by the same 306 HP, 450 Nm 2-liter engine as the M135i xDrive hot hatch and X2 M35i models. Sure, BMW probably can adapt the four-cylinder turbo from transversal to longitudinal use, as it's done in the past with MINI's 1.6-liter. However, it would need a whole new gearbox, modes, software, etc.

A decision like that doesn't make much sense financially, considering that between 2014 and 2018, BMW sold only about 50,000 2 Series models in America. It would make a lot more sense just to borrow everything from the 3 Series: 330i 2-liter with a bit less power and the M340i AWD monster.

But what do you guys think, does an official mentioning a "2 successor" confirm anything?
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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