BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe Petrol

BMW’s compact sedan’s ace up its sleeve may be its 2.0-litre petrol motor

- Simran Rastogi

Type 1,998cc, 4-cyl turbo-petrol

Max power 190PS@5,000rpm

Max torque 280Nm @1,350-4,600rpm

LxWxH (mm) 4,526x1,800x1,420

Price ₹49.02 lakh (on road Mumbai)

OD Rating

Agility, quality of cabin, engine character

Cramped cabin, torque steer, pricey

The front-wheel driven 2 Series Gran Coupe, which shares more in common with the 1 Series (or X1) than the regular 2 Series Coupe (a la the excellent M2 Competition here in India), now finds itself with a 2.0-litre TwinPower turbo-petrol engine mounted transversely, after the model was introduced in the country with a 2.0-litre diesel late last year. Power outputs stand at 190PS/280Nm, versus the diesel’s 190PS and 400Nm, with both powerplants being mated to an 8-speed Steptronic Sport automatic gearbox. It’s also only available in the M Sport trim, while the diesel is also available in the Sport Line trim. So what do you gain/lose with going petrol over diesel in BMW’s compact sedan? Our road test with real-world performance figures holds the answers.

ENGINE, PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY

Jumping straight into the heart of things, considering the BMW 220i Gran Coupe is identical to the 220d Gran Coupe in every other way, the 1,998cc turbo-petrol motor endows the 220i with a nearly half-a-second quicker run from 0-100kmph, with a claimed 7.1s versus the diesel’s 7.5s claimed performance. In our testing, the 220d managed this metric in 7.7s, while the 220i dispensed with the same in 7.4s. The extra performance is surprising, especially considering that the diesel has over 40 per cent more torque!