Long-termers

LONG-TERMERS BMW 2 SERIES ACTIVE TOURER

Our six months with the Beemer have drawn to a close. Is it a car that we can recommend? James Batchelor reports.

In the Nineties, car manufacturers did a superb job of convincing everyone that they needed a large multi-purpose vehicle, or MPV for short. These days, the MPV craze has been superseded by SUV-mania and there are very few people-carriers on sale. Which is one of the reasons why we were keen to spend some time with the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.

You could say the practical Beemer shares very little with the good old MPVs of the Britpop era. There are no removable seats, for example, and there are no clever storage compartments to lose things in. It’s essentially a normal car with slightly more headroom, and is arguably the only model in BMW’s range that simply focuses on the job of being a car. I like that.

In my time with it, I never wished for the seats to move around to create a conference area like those MPVs of yore. I never yearned for sliding doors, either. It was great at carrying the occasional tall passenger and a tonne of luggage, or a builder’s bag of rubbish to the tip.

Another way it’s unlike those old large battle buses is the way it drives. Our car, badged 223i, was fitted with a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid four-cylinder petrol engine that pushes out 215bhp. Doesn’t sound all that impressive, I know, but by heck did it shift.

It’s an engine that loves to be revved to the red line before changing gear, too, and with 0-60mph taking just 6.8 seconds it feels hilariously fast for such a tall car. As it was an M Sport version, it got stiff suspension, a thick-rimmed steering wheel and figure-hugging sports seats up front; it even sounded rather fruity, too.

The 223i was surprisingly good fun when I was in the mood to drive quickly but frustrating at the more mundane, normal driving, which was surprisingly disappointing.

BMW has fitted the 2.0-litre with a mild-hybrid system to reduce CO2 and improve fuel consumption, but it annoyed me as much as it delighted me. At very slow speeds or when cruising, the engine would shut off and the car would drive on electric power. At other times, there was a little extra electric boost to assist the petrol engine when accelerating.

This was excellent and I’d routinely see 40mpg on the trip computer. What was not so good was the system’s hesitance when stationary. It seemed to hate being rushed from a junction, for example, leading to a handful of rather dangerous moments at T-junctions or roundabouts. Spot a gap in the traffic and push the throttle and quite often there was no power at all – squeeze harder and the engine would kick in and I would hurtle forwards.

While I think of it, that stiff ride that was so good on a twisting B-road was a little too unforgiving around town, and that thick-rimmed steering wheel made low-speed manoeuvres a bit cumbersome.

Speaking of frustrations, BMW’s decision to not fit a rotary controller for the infotainment system is a curious oversight. The Active Tourer gets BMW’s latest infotainment tech and onepiece curved touchscreen display, which is excellent. But while the 4 Series and iX BMW have a wheel on the centre console to control it, the 2 Series doesn’t. It’s an odd decision in what is a family car, and it made selecting even basic functions such as a radio station or adjusting the climate control unnecessarily complex.

Our six months with the 223i have been enjoyable, and overall I think I could live with all of the shortcomings. It’s practical, has some clever tech and feels a quality item.

Factor in performance that will embarrass a hot hatchback and the 2 Series Active Tourer is a fine example that MPVs can be good cars.

THE KNOWLEDGE

BMW 2 Series Active Tourer 223i M Sport

Price (as tested): £41,489 Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged

petrol

Power:

215bhp

Torque:

360Nm

Top speed: 150mph Fuel economy: 44mpg

(combined)

0-60mph: 6.8 seconds Emissions: 137-149g/km CO2 Mileage: 4,853

This month’s highlight:

Performance that would embarrass a hot hatchback.

OTHER CARS WE’RE DRIVING

Mazda CX-5

Mileage: 13,840 We’ve been putting some big miles on the CX-5 recently and it’s coped really well.

Skoda Enyaq iV 80x

Mileage: 1,804 There’s a lot of chat about EVs at the moment so we’re looking forward to seeing what living with one is like.