Sexy M235i Ushers In a Most Efficient New BMW Era
BMW’s latest downsized 301 hp 331 lb-ft 2-liter 4-cylinder 4-Door Coupé M235i defies the odds– and history.
I’m going to start this story by going back to the 500 hp BMW M6 V10 launch at Ascari, what must now be fifteen years ago.
Following a wild, tire smoking day on that splendid private Spanish racetrack, we retired to a villa where we dined with the then BMW M boss. I so clearly remember our conversation; “We will never turbocharge our cars,” he declared. “And BMW M cars will always have rear wheel drive.” Happy on heady Spanish wine, we all nodded and smiled in benign agreement…
A Wholly Redundant Conversation
None of us realized how rapidly, or how dramatically our conversation would become quite redundant. That greedy normally aspirated engines would very soon become public enemy number one. And that rear wheel drive would be rendered useless on the extreme torque that downsized turbo engines would soon muster.
I went on and quoted my esteemed pal’s normally aspirated rear-wheel drive mantra. Often. So, it makes me accessory to the lie. On several counts. I even lived by it. For a bit.
Roll on fifteen years and it’s all change. Everything we discussed that night has now become absolute taboo. Normally aspirated engines are all, but dead and rear-wheel drive super saloons are history. And this little number is living proof why.
M235i Delivers Far More
It isn’t really a super saloon, in fact this BMW M235i isn’t even a real M car. But it delivers on almost everything that old M6 did. And far more too.
Not quite all-wheel drive either, this front wheel-drive biased automatic takes over from the previous 2 series once-traditional BMW rear-drive. Drive actually defaults to the front and it will only send fifty percent aft if you break traction. Not that it matters to most people who drive it, but is good enough to quash all that old rear drive propaganda.
BMW’s answer to Mercedes-AMG’s CLA 35, the 235i is basically a slammed M135i. It’a a coupé with a twist because it has four-door rather than just two. Delivering 301 hp and 331 lb-ft in this current flagship 2-litre turbo 4-pot M235i replaces the outgoing M240i’s 335 hp and 369 lb-ft straight six and does an admirable job, coming close to match the old M240i’s 4.8 second 0-60 in our tests.