Today I finally drove the new M240i on some nice roads around Zurich and I must say I was overwhelmed.
I honestly admit that my expectations were not too high, in this era of digital and autonomous driving and especially after driving the new Audi RS3 I was expecting an artificial and soulless experience, but fortunately I was wrong.
First of all we have to be aware of what we are driving and what era we are living in, forget the M logos here and there, this is not and does not want to be an M-car, so the reference point is the F22 M240i and not the M2/M2C (I know them all very well). And it's 2022, the nostalgics can stop reading.
I won't spend a word on the styling, it's a subjective matter and everyone has their own opinion, and we're all right.
I can only say that the car looks much better in real life, I've seen it in black and Brooklyn gray and really liked both, it definitely deserves to be seen and judged in person, it's not a photogenic car (as well as the G8x). And it finally has a good appearance on the road thanks to the wide wheels with aggressive offset, compared to the narrow, flat wheels of the old F2x.
The interior is quite familiar, it's basically a G2x only with cheaper door panels, but you don't get that feeling of sitting in a "poorer" 3-series like on the old F2x, it feels much more premium and the M seats are simply beautiful. I'm not a fan of the digital cluster (and this is definitely not one of the better ones), but I can deal with it.
I'm not very good at describing tech stuff like infotainment, audio system, driving assistances, LED setups, and so on, so I'll leave that part to someone more knowledgeable than me.
What I appreciated the most was the driving experience, it's something really rare - maybe unique - these days and in this segment.
Basically, you can clearly feel that YOU are driving the car, and not the car is driving you (RS3...), it's definitely the most analog experience you can have for this money today. Again, remember it's 2022 and most of the cars out there are computer driven.
The chassis - despite the weight and all-wheel drive - is perfectly balanced, the car turns really well at low and medium-high speeds leaving you with good feedback of what's happening under the tires. And the lateral grip is immense, a big step forward compared to the old M240i.
It's not a light car but I can say that it masks its weight very well, it would probably suffer on the track but that's not its purpose.
In comfort mode the suspension and steering are quite soft, good for city driving but for sporty driving it's better to switch to sport or sport+ mode (honestly in sport+ I found the throttle unnecessarily reactive and the gearbox abrupt), the suspension becomes firmer but not stiff, I must say that here the roads are more than perfect though.
It's never a nervous car, but sometimes the suspension response is a bit harsh, probably because the car I was driving had overinflated tires for no reason (245/255 PS4S btw).
The car has a ton of straight-line traction, but you can really feel that it's a rear-wheel biased AWD system, obviously you can't smoke the rear tires like a RWD but you can have some fun, especially in the wet. The overall feel is closer to a RWD than an AWD and the torque transfer from the rear to the front is very predictable and well tuned (the RS3 is much much more different in this but it would deserve a separate chapter).
The steering is by far Bmw's best EPS in a non-M car, you can still feel some artificial feedback, but compared to the old F2x the improvement is more than huge. And I really appreciate the lack of interaction from the front axle, you never feel like you're driving an all-wheel drive car from the steering (again, RS3...
).
The ZF8 is as brilliant a gearbox as always, on this car the tuning is perfect (only in some extreme circumstances is there a bit of lag), smooth in comfort mode, really quick in sport and sport+. Of course it's not as sharp as the DKG (though much better in auto mode), but it's really hard to complain on a car like this unless you're a stick lover. In that case there's nothing you can do about it unfortunately.
B58 is a great engine as we all already knew, there is always plenty of power from 2000rpm to almost 7000rpm, with only a slight turbulag but not as much as the RS3 (which is quite faster though). The power delivery is bold but gentle, the Audi 5-pot is definitely angrier and more engaging.
The sound, despite the OPF, is quite loud from the outside (more than my ex M2C!), but barely noticeable from the inside, probably due to great sound insulation. The fake engine noise makes the cabin come alive and sounds less fake than the old F-series, if you don't like it (like me) you can reduce it to a lower level, but then the car will be really quiet.
I won't give you the satisfaction of comparing it with my former M's because that would open a pointless debate, they are different cars with different purposes with different targets, I can only say that compared to the old M240i the improvement is huge.
But yes, the old M2 was obviously much more fun.
In short, the car is a real gem, I had a lot of fun considering I wasn't driving an M-car, in this era of videogame-car it exceeded my expectations, it is definitely the best non-M car I've driven from Bmw and starting from this point, considering how brilliant the G82 is and how incredible the S58 engine is, I can only imagine what kind of beast the G87 will be.
Unfortunately after seeing at the dealer the new iDrive 8 with the full display on the new 2-series MPV (sorry I can't remember the exact name), I have to say that it is something really inappropriate on a sports car for my taste
