BMW is the greatest German automobile company, headquartered in Munich. All the cars are flawless in terms of reliability and technology. All the series of BMW are exceptional but my focus of attention is the 2 Series.
The BMW 2 Series Coupe clearly has been something of a hit for the German brand till today. Building upon the marvelous success of the 1 Series by using the same underpinnings but in a stylish, two-door coupe body, critics have clapped the way it drives but people just love the way it looks.
There are many prominent features of the standard M Sport trim level. You receive 18-inch alloy wheels and M Sport suspension, a strong sporty body kit and chrome tailpipes. On very top of that there are comfy sports seats, cloth and Alcan Tara upholstery, a multifunction leather steering wheel and a smattering of M badging around the whole car.
It also includes BMW’s Drive Performance Control, which permits the driver to set the car’s characteristics utterly depending upon their requirements at the time. The switch, which is located by the gear lever, simply allows you to have the car in ECO PRO (most effective), Comfort, Sport and Sport+. The parameters that can be carefully adjusted include steering weighting, quick throttle response, the adaptive suspension firmness (where fitted) and (when the auto ‘box is introduced – standard on 225d) the speed of the gearbox’s changes.
If we want to describe this vehicle in a word, it would be excellent. The powerful 2-litre engine, complete with 215bhp and 450Nm of torque clearly means 0-62mph is covered in just 6.3 seconds, while the top speed is 150mph. It feels as quick on the road, too, with linear acceleration and striking mid-range pulling power. It is not the best-sounding engine on the planet, but that’s really a diesel characteristic which we would live with considering the most favorable running costs as compared to a patrol car.
While BMW claims fuel economy of almost 60.1mpg, through our time with the car we were seeing 45mpg without even thinking about it. We are convinced 50mpg would be easily possible if you only concentrate a bit, so it is not bad on fuel at all really considering the quick sporty nature of the car.
Another promising feature of the 225d we were very fond of was the eight-speed gearbox. This actually makes the car very versatile since its changes are smooth, comfortable and almost unperceivable during the normal driving, but sharpen up astonishingly when one dial in Sport or Sport+ mode. We also admired the paddle-shifters, which really felt refreshingly good quality in this world of cheap-feeling plastic items. They are a heavier metal material, and this clearly makes a fair bit of difference when you are using them. It aids the car to feel a premium proposition.
As always with the 2 Series, handling is awesome too. All cheers to its smart front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration it corners very well indeed and displays communicative and sharp steering. While the adaptive suspension, installed probably costs an extra £515, we somehow think this is a great match along with the clever gearbox since it allows the car to show vastly different characteristics at the whim of the driver. In Comfort mode, ride quality is good, while body-roll and handling finesse in Sport or Sport+ mode is incomparable in this sector.
So to sum up, it can be said that BMW 225d with its muscular engine, comfortable drive and up-to-date technology make it a valuable option.
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