The 2 Series Coupe and 4 Series Gran Coupe are not for the usual BMW buyer

Singapore

HERE'S a tip if you're in the market for a BMW: if its model designation starts with an even number, it's more fun to drive than the norm. That's an idea embodied by the brand's newest cars, which are aimed at drivers in search of a good time behind the wheel.

The 4 Series Gran Coupe has rolled into Singapore, with three versions on sale ranging in price between S$273,888 and S$409,888, including Certificate of Entitlement. A four-door car with a low roofline and a tailgate, the Gran Coupe completes a 4 Series trio that kicked off with the launch of a Coupe and a Convertible, both of which have two doors, earlier this year.

BMW also unveiled a full redesign of its 2 Series Coupe in its home market last week, calling the compact two-door a "drift machine". BMW Asia intends to put the car on sale here within the first three months of 2022. Both new models are built on the running gear of BMW's popular 3 Series, a bread-and-butter car for the brand, but the teams behind them say that all three are separate and distinct.

The 2 Series Coupe is the most driver-focused among them, according to Emanuel Varga, the car's product manager. That's partly because it's smaller and lighter than the others, but also because it incorporates chassis components from the Z4, BMW's zippy two-seat roadster, ostensibly so it can dance through bends.

"It has the agility and light-footedness of the Z4 combined with the extreme precision and also comfort of the 4 Series Coupe," he told The Business Times in a virtual conference. "We put this together in one car and got the 2 Series Coupe."

The top version, the M240i xDrive, has a 374 horsepower engine that launches it to 100km/h in a speedy 4.3 seconds.

Varga said the new 2 Series Coupe continues a tradition of compact two-doors that stretches back to 1968, and said it evokes the 2002, an iconic car among BMW fanatics.

Christopher Weil, the head of exterior design at BMW, said the car was "designed for our fans".

He said the single front headlamps are a direct nod to the 2002's design, but told BT that BMW prefers to keep things modern. "We don't do retro design, but (here) the approach is a bit more classical," he said. "It's still on the modern side, but we have the classical BMW genes: a long hood, the wide kidney grille, we have the short overhangs and as you can see with a wide body, we have a very good stance."

In contrast, the 4 Series Gran Coupe is meant to be a practical take on the idea of a fun BMW. Andres Ederer, the car's product manager, said it's aimed at more extroverted drivers (the large, imposing vertical grille is decidedly not for wallflowers) who still need a useful boot and five seats.

Yet, he is adamant that it is more than a 3 Series in fancier clothes, and said the two cars have important differences under the skin, such as suspension changes and even an exhaust system tuned to sound more exciting in the 4 Series. The new Gran Coupe also has a more rigid body, to make the steering more precise and immediate.

In Singapore, the four-door is the only version of the 4 Series to come with the option of a six-cylinder engine. The M440i xDrive, which has 374 horsepower and hits 100km/h in 4.7 seconds, sits atop the range, which also includes 420i and 430i versions with less powerful four-cylinder engines.

BMW is targeting an entirely different customer group with the 4 Series Gran Coupe to that of the 3 Series, Ederer said.

"They're looking for something special, and maybe those customers would even buy a (two-door) coupe if they could, if not for their family situation," he said.

"What we're offering here is a coupe but with the practical ability of a sedan and more, because we have that large tailgate."

Traditionally, the 4 Series Gran Coupe buyer tends to skew younger and wealthier than the typical 3 Series customer, he said.

As for the idea that practicality is important to buyers, the 4 Series Gran Coupe usually accounts for half of the model line's sales, with the Coupe and Convertible splitting the other half evenly between them.

A BMW Asia spokesperson said that in Singapore, the Gran Coupe version has historically made up more than 70 per cent of 4 Series sales.

Here, pragmatism rules, even when it comes to BMW's more fun models.