How much horsepower is enough? On one hand, a 78-hp Mitsubishi Mirage barely wheezes out of its own way; on the other hand, a Hellcat pushing 800-plus is fantastic but also wholly excessive. There has to be some sort of middle ground, and thanks to the 2023 BMW 230i xDrive, we think we found it.
The 2 Series — in the interest of full disclosure, we’re not referring to the sacrilegious, FWD-based 2 Series Gran Coupe — lives in a neat little niche in BMW’s lineup. It’s easy to knock modern BMW sports cars for becoming too heavy, complicated, and expensive for their own good, but while the 230i isn’t exactly light, it stands out from the rest of the BMW lineup as a surprisingly charming, well-balanced, and not-horribly-expensive little runabout, provided you go easy with the options.
Not including the immortal M2, you can go two ways with the mortal 2 Series lineup. The first is the M240i; with its silky 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six pumping out 382 horses, it’s the hot rod of the lineup aimed at all you horsepower addicts. This kind of power in such a small package is a recipe for a good time, but once in a while, you need to give your head a shake and ask if you really need it.
The second way is the 230i, the base model of the lineup. BMW’s ubiquitous 2.0-liter turbo-four lives under the hood, putting out 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft. of torque. That’s paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission, and while U.S. buyers can enjoy their 2s with power flowing only to the correct set of wheels, all-wheel-drive is standard here in Canada.
“Base model” can sometimes be a dirty phrase, but in the case of the 230i, it’s honestly the better choice for those who prefer a more balanced approach in getting their sports-coupe jollies. For starters, it may be packing considerably less heat than the M240i, but the 230i is considerably lighter, weighing in some 300 pounds less than the M. BMW likes to tout a near-50/50 weight distribution with the new 2, and with that not-insignificant weight difference, the 230i is way closer to that benchmark than the M.
By no means is it perfect; it has the same engine as that white X3 you saw at the mall earlier today, you can’t get the 230i (or the M240i) with a stick, and the steering is typical modern BMW — quick and precise, low on feedback and high on artificial weight.
But somehow — and this feels totally odd to say about a modern BMW — the 230i is an unexpected joy to drive. Somehow, everything just works together. The turbo-four is punchy, so punching it from a stoplight is genuinely fun. Although a six-speed manual would’ve been nice, the auto-box always knows exactly what to do, whether it’s dropping a gear (or three) in a jiffy or fading into the background for long highway stints. And yeah, the steering ain’t what it used to be, but working with less mass especially up front, the 230i feels playful, responsive, and quick on its feet.
And to all you spec sheet warriors, not once did the 230i feel underpowered. When you’re zipping around town, there’s more than enough grunt to make you giggle and if you keep your foot in it, you’ll end up at speeds that might snag the attention of that cruiser just up ahead. Best of all, the turbo-four is good on gas. The 230i is officially rated at 9.6 L/100 km in the city, 6.9 on the highway, and 8.4 combined. We averaged 8.9L/100 km in winter — compared to 10.5 in the M240i in similar conditions, albeit with a heavier foot.
Now, to be fair to the M240i, the concept of a big engine in a little car makes us giddy. The boosted inline-six (known in BMW-speak as the B58) is powerful and sounds great. Hell, BMW officially says it’ll do zero-to-100 km/h in just over four seconds, but it’s not impossible to crack the threes. But the problem with almost 400 horsepower is that between traffic, cops, and crumbling roads, you can rarely enjoy that kind of power. At least the 230i’s 255 horses is enough to feel punchy without getting you into too much trouble, and its 0-100 km/h sprint of 5.6 seconds is brisk. What were you going to do with that extra second in your day, anyway?
Where the 230i sort of loses the plot is on price. Although all of its fixing suggests it’s one of the few affordable sports coupes out there, affordable is a relative term. The 230i starts at a not-totally-unreasonable $47,950 before any fees, taxes, and whatnot, but it adds up — our tester rang in at $58,395, packing more than $10,000 worth of options. You can somewhat justify the price by claiming a nicer interior experience. OK, it is nice, but certain “features” come across as cleverly disguised cost-cutting, like the fancy new curved display spanning half the dashboard — because a piece of glass and two screens are cheaper than a proper gauge cluster and a separate screen for the infotainment. Also, a proper shift lever would be nice.
We have a complicated relationship with horsepower. We love each hit, but we simply want more without considering if we actually need so much power. The 2 Series lineup as a whole proves good things come in small packages, but the 2023 BMW 230i xDrive in particular takes that one step further — you don’t need a pony over 255 horses to have a good time.
