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The latest BMW M240i arrives with mild-hybrid assistance bolted to its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, yet the changes do little to alter how this coupe behaves from behind the wheel. The 48-volt system finds its way across the 3 Series and 4 Series ranges, but the M240i coupe offers the first proper taste of it. The headline is reassuring for keen drivers. Electrification has sharpened the figures without blunting the character that makes this two-door so rewarding to steer.
The numbers tell a tidy story. The 48-volt setup lifts combined output to 387bhp, drawn from 375bhp of petrol muscle plus 12bhp from the electrical side, an 18bhp gain over the outgoing model. That peak now lands at 5,200rpm, 300rpm sooner than before, while torque climbs from 500Nm to 540Nm and still arrives from a low 1,900rpm. Efficiency edges forward too, with emissions trimmed by 18g/km to 167g/km and an official WLTP return of 38.7mpg, roughly 4mpg better than the car it replaces.
That uprated powertrain hustles the all-wheel-drive xDrive M240i to 62mph in 4.3 seconds, though that matches the previous time exactly. The reason is weight, since the 48-volt hardware piles on 65kg, pushing the kerb figure to a hefty 1,755kg. In everyday motoring, the system slips into the background without drama. The stop-start works cleanly, and the electrical boost helps the coupe pull away without a moment’s pause. Flick into Sport mode, and the eight-speed semi-automatic snaps off quicker shifts, with the 48-volt assistance keeping the surge unbroken as you climb through the ratios.
The four-wheel-drive system feeds power to the tarmac with a rear-biased lean, making the most of the CLAR platform underneath and only calling on the front wheels when grip demands it. That rarely happens, mind you, because the chassis carries a neutral balance and the sheer level of traction means you must push remarkably hard to find its limits on the road. Yet it doubles nicely as an all-rounder. Ease off, and it cruises in fair comfort, with only a touch of tyre roar intruding, while the suspension stays composed for such an overtly sporty machine. The sports seats wear microfibre-style fabric as standard, and the twin high-resolution screens pack plenty of functionality.
From the outside, a touch more separation from the rest of the 2 Series range would be welcome, though BMW must tread carefully given the flagship M2 sitting above. The gap between the two pitches them at different buyers, but whether that gulf shows up in how they actually perform on real roads is a far trickier question to answer. For many, the sound and spirit of that straight-six alone justify the M240i’s place, and the mild-hybrid tweaks have done nothing to spoil the recipe.
