Photo: Andrei Nedelea for autoevolution
You'd think that when BMW decides to enter a niche that was previously occupied solely by its three-pointed star rival from Stuttgart, it does it with guns blazing, taking no prisoners.
At least that's what the Bavarian carmaker did when the 6 Series Gran Coupe was swiftly followed by the 4 Series Gran Coupe - and now there is also an 8 Series Gran Coupe – all thanks to the success of the first-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS.
The recently unveiled 2 Series Gran Coupe is another first for BMW, but it only gets to face the Mercedes-Benz CLA – the “compact four-door coupe” niche's inventor – and some would say that it's a somewhat half-baked first attempt.
Some say that for the 2 Series Gran Coupe to become a true CLA rival, it would need more versions, including an iconic “Shooting Brake” version. Sadly, BMW doesn't have any plans to make a 2 Series Gran Coupe Touring, but we decided to see how one would look anyway.
Apart from a terribly long name, pretty much everything about such a model would rate high on the awesome scale, from looks to practicality and even performance.
Looks are obviously subjective, but we do have a soft spot for sporty station wagons with frameless doors. Practicality would obviously be improved thanks to the slightly higher roofline and the addition of a hatch at the rear, while the higher weight on the rear axle would, in theory, make the car more stable during high-speed cornering.
Taking cues from other BMW Touring models, the CGI is a rather awesome-looking Shooting Brake version of the M235i Gran Coupe that BMW will never build. Those looking for the Hofmeister kink should be reminded that the car is FWD-based, and this is why the design motif is missing from both the rendering and the production model, but everything else is pretty much typically BMW.
That said, BMW is only testing the waters with this new family member, and if it's successful enough, a station wagon isn't completely out of the cards going forward.
The recently unveiled 2 Series Gran Coupe is another first for BMW, but it only gets to face the Mercedes-Benz CLA – the “compact four-door coupe” niche's inventor – and some would say that it's a somewhat half-baked first attempt.
Some say that for the 2 Series Gran Coupe to become a true CLA rival, it would need more versions, including an iconic “Shooting Brake” version. Sadly, BMW doesn't have any plans to make a 2 Series Gran Coupe Touring, but we decided to see how one would look anyway.
Apart from a terribly long name, pretty much everything about such a model would rate high on the awesome scale, from looks to practicality and even performance.
Looks are obviously subjective, but we do have a soft spot for sporty station wagons with frameless doors. Practicality would obviously be improved thanks to the slightly higher roofline and the addition of a hatch at the rear, while the higher weight on the rear axle would, in theory, make the car more stable during high-speed cornering.
Taking cues from other BMW Touring models, the CGI is a rather awesome-looking Shooting Brake version of the M235i Gran Coupe that BMW will never build. Those looking for the Hofmeister kink should be reminded that the car is FWD-based, and this is why the design motif is missing from both the rendering and the production model, but everything else is pretty much typically BMW.
That said, BMW is only testing the waters with this new family member, and if it's successful enough, a station wagon isn't completely out of the cards going forward.
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