First Look: BMW 2 Series Active Tourer

Let’s talk about BMW’s renewed 2 Series Active Tourer. It is quite easy to set apart from the now previous model, to say the least. CJ Junior Tommy Faes will gladly run you through all that is new on what might be BMW’s most practical car to date…

Origin

The first generation of the 2 Series Gran Tourer used to be BMW’s first ever FWD car. This new generation, will be built on a new (also FWD) platform, that is going to be shared with the X1 and X2. It is mechanically related to the MINI Countryman, which is absolutely not a bad thing.

Exterior

When I first saw the car unveiled, I was immediately intrigued by the new design language of BMW. If you’re a geek like me and start analysing the front grille a little, you’ll notice that the radar sensors are actually housed inside of the grille itself. Where as before, these were seperate. The bigger “kidneys” is a design language BMW uses on most of their cars thesedays

There’s been large improvement exterior-wise, especially when it comes to making it look sportier and sleeker looking. When comparing it to the previous generation (F45-46), the new one looks less like an MPV, mostly because of the use of more glass, and the flushed door handles. You can now also order wheels up to 19 inches in size, where as previously, the biggest size used to be 18 inches.

The proportions aren’t that much different to before though. It’s 3 cm longer, 2 cm wider and 2 cm taller. Yet the distance between the front and rear wheels is the same as before. This means means that interior space isn’t that much different to before. Which I’m going to touch up on in the next paragraph…

Interior

So as I said in the previous paragraph, the distance between the front and rear wheels is still the same. Which means that once I stepped into the car, it didn’t feel that much more spacious inside. What I did notice, is the completely different interior design, and some design features that are a first for BMW as a brand.

This is the beautifully updated steering wheel design found in the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.

First of all, there’s enough charging ports for every passenger. 2 USB C’s in the front and back that is. The leg-and headroom (both in the front and the rear) was quite good in this car, even with the addition of a sunroof. You can angle the backseats more vertical if you’d need some more bootspace, and on non-hybrid versions of this car, you can slide the backseats too, further optimizing your cabin space.
Another important change to note over the previous models, is that the battery pack is now much thinner in the Hybrid versions, resulting in much more space on the rear seats, as they spread it out more evenly.

The bootspace starts from 407L in the PHEV, then the Mild-Hybrids have 415L, and last but not least, the Diesel models have a whopping 470L’s of bootspace. The loss of bootspace isn’t visible in the main part of the boot, yet it is seen underneath the false bottom. Maybe after all the Diesel may become a popular choice in this car for the benefit of the bootspace. It’s definitely quite a difference.

One downside to the cockpit (at least for me that is), is the visible HUD screen on which it projects. I prefer these being hidden.

For all the even bigger families, I’ve got some bad news. BMW won’t continue to produce its 7-seater Gran Tourer models. From now on there’s only the Active Tourer available. Yet this model does come with a variety of motorisations to choose from, follow me onto the next paragraph for more of that!

Engine Specs

So with the 7-seater not being produced anymore, there will be some other variants available. To be more specific; you’ll be able to choose between two plug-in hybrid versions. These will be a 25e, and a more powerful 30e. They both have a similar set-up, yet the 30e has a more powerful electric motor. They both get a 16kWh battery, which is much bigger than the 10kWh battery from the previous versions of this car.
The charging speed of the electric motor has been improved. Instead of only charging at 3.7kW, it will now accept up to 7.4kW whilst charging. With this, the fuel tank is also slightly larger.
The electric driving range for both Hybrid models is 80km’s, or for our foreign friends, 50 miles.

There’s a 1.5L 3 cylinder 220i, and a 2.0L 4 cylinder 223i available for the petrol lovers. For the ones whom still prefer a diesel, there is a 1.5L 3 cylinder 218d model available.

Approved?

For me this is a job well done for BMW. From the fancy door handles to the modern looking cockpit - it is a lot less boring compared to its predecessor! I can’t wait to drive this new BMW and discover all of its features. And I would actually advice you to do the same if you have any interest! Seeing and experiencing it in real life will definitely impress you. Thanks for reading and I’m honoured I got to cover this awesome reveal.