With the new M235i, BMW successfully wrote a beautiful page in its recent history, showing that not all hope is lost. The 2 Series is shaping up to be quite the success, especially in the US.
The strategy put in place by the Germans was also used by Mercedes-Benz and then adopted by Audi. All three eternal rivals came up with cheap, thrilling cars that are tearing the sales charts into pieces.
However, in BMW’s case it was more than just a suggestion coming from the market, it was a necessity. The company built its good name with cars that were cheap, looked serious enough and had performances way beyond what any on-looked would expect. That was the case of the E39 M5, E30 M3 and so on.
With newer cars, the Bavarians went from Ultimate Driving Machine to Ultimate Luxury Machine, with prices to match. That didn’t go well with the massive fan-base they had out there.
The M235i changed all that. First of all, it’s a decently prized piece of equipment. In the US, it starts at just above $43,000 which is more than decent for a car offering such a level of performance.
Second, we shouldn’t forget that this is not a full-on M car. It’s an M Performance Automobile which is BMW’s version of the S models from Audi. To put it differently, it’s supposed to fit in just above the regular 2 Series and beneath a full M2.
And it does just that, perfectly. Sure, it could be more composed on the track and offer better brakes but that’s reserved for the M2. It does give you plenty of power, torque and precise handling though, more than enough for a car in this price range.
Consumer Reports even dared to go as far as to say that it’s better than the Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette C7 for a number of reasons. The price might be one of them but also the dual character of the car: you can drive it in comfort around town and go on a proper track with it, without fearing that it won’t handle it.
“This really is a totally dual-purpose car. This is a car you could drive to work every day of the week without it killing you. And then you could go take it to the track on the weekend,” said Jon Linkov, Consumer Reports deputy cars editor in an interview.
We wouldn’t go as far as to call it better than a Porsche, but it is a pretty good car. With an overall score of 98 out of 100, the M235i is pretty darn close to perfect, according to CR.
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