Base Camp: 2022 BMW M240i xDrive Coupe

Every week, wheels.ca selects a new vehicle and takes a good look at its entry-level trim. If we find it worthy of your consideration, we'll let you know. If not, we'll recommend one - or the required options - that earns a passing grade.

One doesn’t usually equate the BMW brand with anything ‘base’. Even the vehicles which inhabit the lower end of their price spectrum aren’t exactly bereft of features. Still, the current 2-Series coupe has a variant with this column’s namesake right in its title – Base.

For 2022, the $59,530 M240i xDrive Coupe Base is powered by a silky inline-six whose turbocharged guts produce 382 very German horsepower. While its rear-wheel drive architecture is a great throwback to the days of Ultimate Driving Machines, don’t expect to find any manual transmissions in this spec; it’s an eight-speed automatic with paddles in this era.

The 2 has managed to escape the visual horrors which have befallen some of its comrades, retaining its sensibly sized kidney grille instead of adopting the bucktoothed visage of other cars in the BMW range. This is tampered by taillights which are too far apart. Nevertheless, an array of paint colours are on offer for $895, including the tasty Portimao Blue and entertaining Thundernight Metallic. Alpine White is the only no charge option. A couple of different wheel styles are on offer, and we recommend sticking with a performance-oriented tire and buying a good set of winters for when the snow flies.



Leatherette seat upholstery in either black or cognac is standard, with real leather being a $1,500 upgrade on these heated seats which feature the usual adjustments plus electrically adjustable side bolsters. Aluminum dashboard trim swaps out the fingerprint-prone gloss black and is a sensible $250 expenditure. Tri-zone climate control is apparently part of the deal, though for reasons we cannot fathom. The heated steering wheel is leather wrapped and the driver faces a gently curved display with the brand’s so-called Live Cockpit Plus. In other words, there is a large digital screen with umpteen configurations serving as the gauge pod.

Infotainment is handled by 14.9-inch central touchscreen featuring the likes of navigation, satellite radio, BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant (read: voice commands), and real-time traffic information in supported areas. The BMW Digital Key may scare some luddites, but the uncomfortable truth is most of us have our smart devices surgically attached to our bodies, meaning tying the car’s features to that smooth slab of glass is ultimately convenient for wide swaths of the population.



What We'd Choose

A $2,500 M Sport Pro package essentially adds better cooling and different wheels plus some styling addenda. If all you seek is the latter, pop for the $350 Black Exterior Contents option instead. The adaptive M suspension is a good way to spend $750, though we’d leave extra-cost features like a glass sunroof and upgraded stereo on the factory floor.

The brand from Bavaria isn’t generally associated with base model cars, but it turns out they can build a pretty good one after all.