2025 BMW M235 Gran Coupe | PH Review

BMW went to a lot of effort to ensure the new 2 Series Gran Coupe could have an ‘Iconic Glow’ illuminated grille. Originally a trademark feature of its SUVs, it proved fragile in early low-speed impact tests, too vulnerable to car park dings sat lower to the ground. The grille was thus reengineered inwards so the lighting strip could be fitted behind a protective sheath.

While I doubt many PHers will tick that particular box to justify the time spent, it’s proof that BMW does more than sprinkle a bit of facelift dust on its cars and tweak the price. Even when they’re niche-fillers like this. The four-door coupe version of a five-door hatch, it’s a 1 Series saloon in all but name. And just like the 1er, it’s now had its Life Cycle Impulse, aka mid-life facelift. There are 220s and 223s that’ll be bought by the masses but forgive us for making a beeline straight to the one we care about: the M235 xDrive. 

No longer M235i, you’ll note, but that’s not due to any major tech shift. It’s simply to avoid confusion with all the i-badged electric cars. Like the M135 hatch that Matt B drove a few months ago, dynamic changes are subtly comprehensive, with detailed chassis tweaks beneath the skin and a new gearbox hooked up to the carried-over 2-litre turbo four, albeit with ever-so-slightly lower 300hp/295lb ft outputs. Gone is the old eight-speed torque converter, replaced with a seven-speed twin-clutcher. 

It works as well out in sunny Barcelona as it did for Matt in the Cotswolds, this revised M235 snapping up and down its ‘box with real vim. With second gear all out before 50mph and third done by 70mph, you’ll be working hard in manual mode on a particularly twisty road – and via paddles that respond smartly to your inputs. The engine never truly wins your affection, mind you. But it’s a thoroughly brisk car and all the more enjoyable for the natural build-up of performance that comes from its pure ICE power amidst BMW’s increasingly plug-in line-up.

Optionally fitted here is the new M Dynamic Pack, a £3,000 option that tickled Matt’s fancy at the M135 event but wasn’t available to drive. Trying to compare and contrast without a standard car alongside isn’t ideal, but this M235 does feel a precise thing to drive. Splashing out three grand brings 19-inch lightweight forged wheels, M Compound brakes nabbed from the M3, extra chassis bracing and unique tuning that brings a bit more assertiveness to the car’s variable frequency damping. Plus some figure hugging sports seats. If you’re feeling really flush, a set of semi-slick Michelin Cup 2s are available too, which generate lateral forces high enough to require a recalibration of the geeky G-meter in the digital instrument cluster. Overkill on a 1.6-tonne posh saloon? BMW insists these things do go on trackdays and that the engineers’ time was well spent…

In isolation, it doesn’t feel night-and-day different to the standard M135 I also sampled at that Cotswolds event. Nevertheless, this is a car of utmost precision and some extra braking muscle is useful for later and harder stops as you hustle it along – grip is so strong on warm, dry roads that you’ll need to brake deeply into corners to start provoking playfulness from its otherwise studious xDrive system. It’s no modern-day E46, that’s for sure, and this first acquaintance suggests the M Dynamic option waves its wand on accuracy and ultimately lap times rather than good old fun. But I applaud the fact they’ve done it – knowing full well I’d struggle to leave the box unticked if it were my car. Perhaps the magic truly comes together on the stickier tyres, though to the detriment of this car’s otherwise unimpeachable, all-year-round useability.

I think you’ll still relish a good road in here, though, even if flicking into its Sport drive mode is fiddlier than it needs to be (one button press followed by several touchscreen prods). Full-fat, M-division cars get steering wheel buttons and a similar solution wouldn’t go amiss here.

Among its numerous tech flourishes is Curve Ahead View, an option in the head-up display menu that gamifies the process of cornering. It projects a wiggling map of approaching bends onto the tarmac ahead with a distance countdown to the tightest ones. For keener drivers, it’ll feel like a gimmick – your eyes will already be cast much further down the road, making the information redundant – but at least the engineers are having fun.

And the rest of the interior feels pure luxe; fine materials and ambient lighting cloaking almost every surface. Here the LCI feels a resounding success, making the 2 Series a more cossetting and characterful proposition than an Audi A3 or Mercedes CLA. A feeling that will only be exacerbated by smaller power outputs and price points; the upscale ambience isn’t just reserved for this halo car. It also cruises impressively quietly at motorway speeds despite its transmission being a ratio short on before. If you’ve downsized from a bigger BMW, I think you’ll feel right at home. 

Its new look stretches its length by 20mm, at a mite over 4.5m, while front and rear LED lights cut more extrovert shapes into the bodywork. Like it or not, it’s more eye-catching than before – especially if you indulge in the Miami Blue paint pictured. That’s not yet on the UK configurator, mind. Thundernight purple instead, perhaps?

The rest of the 2GC is very much ‘as you were’. The boot is well-sized – offering 430 litres of capacity with the seats up versus the 1 Series’ 380 litres – but it’s accessed via a small bootlid rather than a large hatchback (despite what its silhouette might suggest), though the back row does at least split 40:20:40. Rear passenger headroom falls into the usual four-door coupe trap so while my 5’9″ frame fits snugly, taller adults will find themselves very familiar with the headlining.

Overall, it’s thoroughly likeable – so long as you get on with the looks. It never quite drives like a classic rear-drive BMW (it isn’t one) nor does its powertrain ever truly sing (again, no surprises). But it can be hustled along with indecent pace and its distillation of premium class ambience into a smaller, neater package is laudable. With or without an illuminated grille.

Engine: 1,998cc, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 300@5,750-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 295@2,000-4,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.9 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 1,650kg (EU)
MPG: 37.2 (WLTP)
CO2: 172g/km (WLTP)
Price: from £45,175