It’s quite uncommon for BMW to skip a model’s Life Cycle Impulse and jump straight to the next generation. That is the plan for the 2 Series Gran Coupe, which will no longer use the current “F44” internal codename. Instead, it’ll become the “F74” to signal important changes, even though the styling might suggest it’s merely a facelift.
A new speculative rendering from our friends at Avarvarii tries to predict the future of BMW’s smallest sedan. The compact family car is dressed up with an M Sport Package and the front bumper design of the X2 M35i. A hot M Performance variant of the next-generation 2 Series Gran Coupe is planned, but the future M235i will have a different grille with horizontal slats and an M badge.
BMW won’t rewrite the book of compact luxury sedans since the Mercedes CLA rival will stick to its front-wheel-drive-based platform and four-cylinder engines. However, we’re hearing the new 2 GC will be pushed upmarket, and you’ll be able to order the car with an illuminated kidney grille if that’s your thing. Inside, you won’t find the iDrive controller anymore since the Operating System 9 running on Android Automotive is going to do without this once-essential feature.
In the United States, BMW intends to sell the car exclusively with gasoline engines while Europe and other markets are getting diesels as well. Plug-in hybrid powertrains are not planned, and there won’t be a fully electric variant either. Should you want an electrified model from Bavaria in this segment, only the X1 and 2 Series Active Tourer combine a combustion engine with an electric motor in select markets.
For Chinese customers, BMW is cooking up a stretched model (F78) with a longer wheelbase and that one too is supposedly getting the M Performance treatment. It’s set to enter production in January 2025, or a couple of months after the standard-wheelbase global model.
2024 could represent the year when BMW is going to drop the letter “i” from its cars powered by gasoline engines. The next 1 Series and 2 Series Gran Coupe are apparently going to be the first ones to adopt the revised nomenclature. Consequently, today’s 228i will become the 228 while the M235i will be known as M235i. Similarly, Europe’s lesser 218i and 220i versions are expected to lose the “i.”
Source: Avarvarii / Instagram