2022 BMW M240i Coupe | Car Review

I have been lucky enough to have tested both the original BMW M2 and the updated BMW M2 Competition. Both cars I loved, the original a bit more than the Competition, and to date the original M2 is still my favourite M car.

So it seemed fitting that I would take the new BMW M240i on the same test roads as the older M cars. The M240i has been designed to be a driver-focused vehicle, with engagement and driving pleasure at its core. I was very excited to see how the new car would stack up against the older M2s, or could there be room for a new favourite?

What We Like and Dislike About The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe

What’s In The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe Range?

The M240i is currently the only coupe available from BMW New Zealand. The M240i baseline price is $108,100 which comes in Alpine white. If you want to get it in any of the 5 metallic colours, that will cost you another $1,690.

There are not a lot of options available for the M240i, you can choose to add the M Sport Pro Package ($2,800) or the Innovations Package ($3,650). The M Sport Pro Package includes the black high gloss trim, M show line lights, M Rear Spoiler, M Sport Brakes in red gloss and M seat belts. The Innovation Package includes the Alarm system, BMW Drive Recorder, Remote engine start, Steering wheel heating, Sun protection glazing and Tyre pressure indicators. Our review vehicle came with the M Sport Pro Package fitted

The M240i is packed with the 3.0-litre straight six petrol engine, with twin turbos. This helps to generate 285kW of power and 500Nm of torque, which propels the 1.765 kg car along to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds. It is pretty mental when you consider that’s the same as the old M2, and only 0.1 seconds slower than the M2 Competition. God only knows what they have in store for the new M2 with this new chassis and running gear. 

2022 BMW M240i Coupe Standard Equipment Highlights

• M Aerodynamics package
• M high-gloss Shadow Line
• M light alloy wheels
• M rear spoiler
• LED headlights and LED rear lights
• BMW Live Cockpit Plus with BMW Curved Display

• BMW Operating System 8 with navigation
• Sport seats
• M leather steering wheel
• HiFi loudspeaker system
• Automatic air conditioning with 3-zone control
• Ambient interior lighting
• Through-loading system 40:20:40

• M Sport suspension
• M Sport differential
• Variable sport steering
• M Sport brake
• Steptronic Sport automatic transmission with shift paddles

• Cruise Control with brake function
• Park Distance Control, front and rear

Our Review Vehicle’s Optional Equipment

• Metallic Paint – Thundernight – $1,690
• M Sport Pro Package – $2,800

Including the optional equipment, our review car’s retail price is $112,590

For a full list of specs and options available for the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe jump on over to BMW New Zealand’s website.

How Does The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe Compare To Its Competition?

Unlike many of the other market segments, the coupe section has very few options these days, especially around the $100k mark. This leaves the M240i with the gates wide open with the lack of European competition. However, there are some Japanese cars that you may also need to consider. 

All prices below exclude the refund or additional cost of the New Zealand Clean Car Programme.

Make/ Model	Engine	Power/ Torque kW/Nm	0-100km/h, seconds	Fuel L/100km	Boot Space, litres	Price (excl CCP)
Merc AMG C43 Coupe	2.0 inline 4 Turbocharged	287/520	4.7	9.5	435	$140,300
BMW M240i	3.0 inline 6 Twin Turbo	285/500	4.3	8.0	390	$108,100
Toyota GR Supra	3.0 inline 6 Turbocharged	285/500	4.0	8.3	290	$96,990
Nissan Z Proto	3.0 inline 6 Twin Turbo	298/475	4.3	8.0	241	$92,990

First Impressions Of The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe

I really like the look of the new M240i, it’s got a strong but cheeky presence that clearly signifies a sporty performance car. The best part is that we have looped back around the sleeper design style, instead of the obnoxious-looking top-spec M cars. The M240i looks like it’s a bit of fun, but you won’t be aware of how much fun until you drive it.

I was not sure about the new-look badge, it’s different, but I felt there is too much white around it. Wonder if this will grow on me over time. 

I also liked the active front grille vents. When the car is off, these all rotate and close up. When in use they open like gills. I am not sure how functional they are, but they are very cool, and that’s almost more important than functionality.

What’s The Interior Like In The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe?

Inside the new M240i is much like any other BMW from the last few years. Clean and clinical feeling, with sporty accents around the cabin. I really liked the trim panels on the door that had the BMW Motorsport colours across them. 

The inside was all black, with the aluminium tetragon trim finishes. It was a nice contrast to the black. The other option for this trim is black high gloss, which I think might have been too much within the rest of the interior. The seat selection was leather Vernasca Black/contrast stitching in Blue which made for a very nice sporty-looking seat, and the blue blended in with the exterior colours’ tone too. 

The seats themselves were very comfortable and the extra length of the car over the old M2 is really noticeable for taller people. It’s spacious and easy to find the just right driving position. Seats are firm and sculpted, allowing for good support on the sides for those high G corners.

The rear seats are similar to the front; less sculpted while still only having 2 seats, not 3. The central section is a cubby tray and armrest. The space in the back is the opposite of the front, for a guy as tall as me it was cramped and very tight. I am not even sure if the seat went back to the driver’s position. But to be fair, it’s not meant for full-sized adults in the back, is it? Kids would be ok, to a certain height. If I had my way, the back seats would be out and it would be a true two-seater coupe.

The infotainment screen blends cleanly into the dash, it’s not a huge screen but it is a long screen. Right off the bat, I thought the Home button could have been a touch larger and on the driver’s side, which would make it easier to reach – probably on the driver’s side for the Europeans. Nothing new here in regard to features, everything we have come to know from BMW can be found here. Radio, Media, Phone, Car Settings, Nav and Apps. 

Within the car settings and displays, there is one menu which displays all of the performance gauges; Turbo pressure, G meter, engine RPM and speed, which was cool. Not very useful, but a bit of fun.

Visibility all around is good, the A-pillar would be the least visible area, like any other car. The rest of the vehicle allowed for good awareness of your overall surroundings. Even the view out the back is good, however, it was rarely used as the BMW 360-degree parking system is great, and gives the driver full confidence in the surroundings even below the visible eye level of the driver.

Boot space is bigger than I had thought, due to the size of the car. You get a 390-litre boot, which is not much below a standard mid-sized sedan. The rear seats fold down with a 60/40 split, allowing you to carry some longer objects. There is a nice cubby on either side of the boot to allow for the storage of smaller items. Under the floor, there is no spare tyre, as BMW generally run with a run-flat and a tyre gel limp-home system.

What’s The 2022 BMW M240i Coupe Like To Drive?

The M240i has hit every nail on the head so far, but would it drive as a performance car should? In short, yes it does, and it never seems to miss a beat. 

The M240i is a proper mix of mid-week life and wild weekends. In Comfort mode, the M240i is great to drive and easy to drive too. The suspension is light and smooth, gear changes are almost unnoticeable and the engine noise is refined. It’s such a nice and easy car to potter around in, for picking up the kids to doing the weekly shopping. 

In the central console beside the gearstick, you have a range of drive mode selection buttons. If I was to complain about anything, it would be where these buttons are positioned, just a touch too far back on the console where it’s awkward to get to. But once you get your hand there, you have to switch between Comfort, Eco, Sport, Sport Plus and Sports Individual.

It’s when you switch to one of the sports modes, for me it was always Sport Plus. It stoked a fire within the car and gave you that tingle on the back of your neck. You can feel that car transform from the mild-mannered office clerk to an underpants-wearing superhero. The whole car becomes alive, stiffer suspension, quick and brutal gear changes, louder engine and turbo whistle and beautifully precise steering, so light to the touch. 

The other exciting thing that happens when you go to Sport Plus mode is that the xDrive 4-wheel drive system dailies it back a bit, letting the rear of the car become a bit loose. So if you were to nail it out of an intersection turning towards the direction you wanted, you would find yourself in a bit of drift as the car lets go, in a playful way and then digs in and shoot off down the road. It’s such a glorious feeling, and exactly what a driver’s car needs to be like.

Driving this car reminds me of the Fast and the Furious movies, as the twin turbos sound like the NOS sound effects from the film. While driving along the turbos are noticeable, which is cool, maybe they have even been designed to have a more audible impact in the cabin. Each time you give it some gas or floor it, you hear this great rush of air and spool sounds from the turbos. It’s super childish, but it’s also great.

When on the throttle, the car purrs along with a muscular undertone in the background. And when you lift off, you get these lovely gurgles from the exhaust as it overruns. It’s rather intoxicating, from the first time you hear it you remember to lift off quite a lot, which brings that silly grin to the driver’s face.

The brakes are excellent; sharp and bite in when they needed to. I found them perfectly balanced with the steering wheel, which gave the driver a lot of control and confidence. I know it’s not an M model, but it would have been nice to see a bit more flare from rotors, instead of solid rotors. But it did come with big, red flashy callipers, which did the job very well.

The steering wheel feels fairly generic from the rest of the BMW range, nothing too flashy about it. You have easy access to the paddle shift buttons, cruise control, audio and menu setting. The only thing missing was a quick selection button to cycle through driver mode, like an M button, or maybe just a Sport button. 

Fuel economy is not terrible for what is a grunty little sportscar. BMW advertise 8.0 litres per 100km; over my time in the M240i I was only able to get it as low as 10 litres per 100km. Which is not great but it is also not unexpected for this type of car. If fuel usage is a worry or concern, then these kinds of cars are just not for you, as they come hand in hand.

The driver’s aids on the M240i are a bit more stern than I remember BMWs of the past being. This is especially noticeable when driving on the motorway and you get too close to the centre or edge line. Without crossing it, the car steers back away with some force that is hard to overcorrect if the system is incorrect. In every case, it was doing the right thing, just with more force than I had expected. 

The parking system is a breeze, even with the good visibility, you have BMW’s 360-degree parking system. This makes it easy to see all angles around the car, from a nice 360 top-down to a side camera view of the kerbs so you do not damage your rims. 

I really couldn’t find anything to gripe about driving the M240i, it’s got the right amount of everything for what it is. Simply a joy to drive, every time I got into it. 

2022 BMW M240i Coupe – Specifications

Vehicle Type	Coupe Sports Car
Starting Price	$108,100 (excl CCP)
Price as Tested	$112,590 (excl CCP)
Engine	3.0-litre inline 6 turbo petrol engine
Power, Torque kW/Nm	285 / 500
Transmission	8-speed sport automatic transmission with Steptronic
Spare Wheel	Run Flats and Tyre Gel
Kerb Weight, Kg	1,765
Length x Width x Height mm	4548 x 1838 x 1404
Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down)	390
Fuel tank capacity, litres	52
Fuel Economy, L/100km	Advertised Spec – Combined – 8.0 Real-World Test – Combined – 10.8 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+
Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked	750
Turning circle metres	10.9 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+
Warranty	5 years or 100,000 kilometres
Safety information	ANCAP Rating – Not yet tested Rightcar.govt.nz – 4 Stars – PCB131

Have you enjoyed this review? Be sure to join our monthly email newsletter list so you don’t miss a single car review!