Dr Mike Civil takes the BMW 235i xDrive Grand Coupe out for a Sunday spin when the weather gods decided to put driver and car to a real test.
It’s always a good feeling when the phone rings and you are offered the opportunity to review one of the cars from BMW. Squishing in the test before a planned locum in the Kimberley limited things to a damp weekend in Perth, but them’s the breaks.
Wandering into the dealership to collect the car gave an opportunity to see the new, more aggressive front grill styling on some of the newer models. Gets my seal of approval.
Our test vehicle (the BMW 235i xDrive Grand Coupe) didn’t have one, but still good to have seen the new look.
Brief chat before driving off – apparently this is a popular choice for medicos – let’s see if we can figure out why.
Interior fit-out is the usual high specification, the wide range of electronic wizardry is (again) very impressive, pop-up display, paired iPhone, all taken for granted.
It has been a while since my last BMW test and my regular daily driver is a base model Toyota Prado, so not overly loaded with electronic multi-functions.
However, despite this long break, it was incredibly straightforward to understand how things worked and how to get the most from the various systems. I would almost go as far as to say that it was intuitive, which is great, given all my children left home some time ago. So well done BMW for not stretching the i-era needs of your test driver today.
I had been warned that I would like the “exhaust note” and there was no disappointment there. Sounds great. The car was set in ‘Comfort’ mode and already it sounded purposeful, but I was looking forward to trying the ‘Sport’ mode.
I’m always a little cautious as I drive away and I was rewarded on this occasion, as the keys were still with our sales rep at the dealership. A rep phoned and encouraged me to not stop the car, I returned to pick up the wayward keys.
Take two: I had the car for the whole weekend, so it experienced some shopping duties first and immediately I felt at home driving in busy streets, parking in car parks. There was no need for time to build up a sense of the size of the car or where the corners were. It was precise and responsive, rapidly imbuing a sense of confidence.
On the Sunday morning, the weather gods had spoken – there was rain aplenty. Water, dirt and gravel all seemed to be joining the rush to get across the road in some sections.
Clearly it would have been irresponsible to shift the car into Sports mode, so Comfort mode was the sensible choice for the moment, but then I never was particularly sensible.
In Sports mode, everything seemed to sharpen a little more, that wicked exhaust note took on more purpose, and the smile across my face increased just that little bit more. Yes, the 4-Wheel-Drive did help, but this was really impressive in such appalling conditions.
My ‘test route’ covered various types of corners and different qualities of tarmac and road service. The Grand Coupe took it all in its stride. This was on normal tarmac specification tyres (admittedly a good quality set), but they were clearly not a set of tarmac rallying ‘wets’ or even a ‘soft compound.
Despite this, grip was always there, with no suggestion of having to over-correct, or having to back that accelerator pedal off a tad. My ageing Evo 9 tarmac rally car would probably be a little quicker, but the BMW would allow my latte to stay in the cup and give a much higher level of comfort.
Confidence built all the time, and nothing happened to shake that feeling, whether it was a sweeping left or right-hander, twisty bits with changing road surfaces, there was no hint of exploring the cars limits, even in the wet.
With the ride over, it was a highly competent and thoroughly enjoyable car to drive. Whip the back seats out, put a Roll Cage in it and go tarmac rallying – please!
This Beemer really does bring the enjoyment in driving back to the driver.
All the expected BMW luxuries are still there – the electronic wizardry has become more intuitive; the trim is the usual high standard. My lady wife particularly liked the neon blue subtle lights in the trim that pick up on the stitching, very smooth.
BMW remains a prestige car producer that is responsive to feedback from customers and keeps up with current tech. They have a range of electric vehicles coming out later this year and still have the desire to try bold styling changes (that new front grill) while not forgetting that passion for driving.
It is hardly surprising that this particular model is popular with my medical colleagues and peers, in this price bracket, the BMW 235i xDrive is a hard car to pass on.