5Series.net Car Review: 2014 BMW 228i
Lastly in this small series of reviews, the BMW 2 Series. The 2 Series replaced the BMW 1 Series. Essentially, many people complained that the 1 Series was too small, so BMW made it a bit bigger and renamed it. Personally, I never thought the 1 Series was that small of a car. So, did BMW screw up the formula and make a heavy, chunky vehicle just to satisfy obese Americans? Nope.
The 2 Series is light and agile, and properly brilliant. I spent the most time in the 2 Series the day I did all of this, and I couldn’t be happier in the car. I first got to take the 2 Series out on the road and feel how it would do during normal everyday use.
Many small cars usually have quite heavy handling due to the shortened steering racks. I like heavy racks. They make you feel more connected to the road, but many others don’t want that heaviness, and BMW definitely made it extremely light. In my opinion, too light, but due to that lightness, the car handles very well. It goes where you want and doesn’t miss a beat when putting it through some turns.
There is a fair amount of body roll, but the one I took on-road was more tuned for road use. There are, however, plenty of options from BMW to make the car handle better, including the technically brilliant M235i.
Power, though, is very nice. It uses something that BMW calls a TwinPower Turbo engine. In reality, it’s a twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder. Unlike most turbocharged engines, there really wasn’t any noticeable power lag from the turbo, which makes for a much more spirited drive. OK, it’s quick. Much quicker to 60 than my FR-S, and really, BMW is marketing this car to the same age range as Toyota with the Scion FR-S, so a win for BMW for overall speed.
The seats are, as you would imagine, a bit less luxurious than the 5 Series or the i3, and that proceeds throughout the rest of the car. I won’t say it’s spartan, but it definitely feels less of an event. The interior plastics feel a bit cheaper. There wasn’t any of the cool tech that was in the 5 Series, and overall, it felt more like just a car, rather than a BMW.
When you get into a BMW, you want something more — something greater than a normal car. This one just didn’t feel that way. I loved the 5 Series, but I was definitely struggling to love the 2 Series. That is until I got to the second portion of the day. Autocross.
Let me preface this by saying I’ve never autocrossed before. I wasn’t expecting much. I still wanted to do well because I’m a competitive person, but I definitely wasn’t expecting much. More of a learning experience and to get a better sense of the 2 Series. OH – MY – GOD. The 2 Series, with a few M Performance parts becomes a completely different animal. It’s brilliant, and fun, and nimble and quick, and just a riot to drive. It did things I could have never thought were possible.
We first got drives with an instructor showing us what is technically possible with the car. Amazing. Then we did one-on-one practice sessions with another instructor. Brilliant. Then we broke up into teams of six and went for the fastest overall time. We won, but during that drive I gained a huge amount of respect for this little car and BMW. Here’s a short video of my lap.
The car never felt like it was unstable, or trying to step out on you. It felt planted. It felt perfectly suited for a small autocross circuit. The closest thing I could describe the handling to is a go-kart. When pushing this car to its limits, the vague steering feel I had during the road drive completely disappeared. It weighted up hugely and made the entire car come together. Braking was phenomenal thanks to a set of larger M-Performance brakes, but the real treat was the instructors. They really showed us what was possible with the car, and helped us achieve, in my mind, 85 percent of what the car was truly capable of.
The 2 Series is a bit of a split personality. It’s comfortable and compliant on the road (and pushes more toward too compliant), but then you get it out on a track and it becomes an animal. I love this car. I want this car. I want to race this car … mostly the latter. I wish I could have spent an entire day running the autocross course. Best of all, I didn’t have to pay for the tires. If you get a chance to try one out, do it. You won’t be disappointed, but definitely make sure you throw some M goodies into it.