2015 BMW M235i Coupe

2015 BMW M235i Coupe

2015 BMW M235i Coupe

absolutely! AUTO REVIEW | By Steve Kursar –

For the last couple of decades, American and Japanese luxury carmakers have benchmarked their German counterparts as a way to catch up to them in several areas.  As a result, the non-German brands have started to look, feel and drive more German. Well, the Germans haven’t exactly been sitting back and watching all of this happen. Nope, they were busy designing and engineering their cars to stay one or several steps ahead.

A perfect example is the new 2015 BMW M235i Coupe. This is the BMW that is made for the entry-level luxury segment, essentially the “affordable” step into a luxury vehicle, which means it is priced somewhere in the mid $30,000 range, although the final price tag can be much higher.

But if you do drive either or more of the worthy rear-wheel drive competitors to the BMW 2-Series, what you’ll discover is the emotion that only the BMW elicits from its driver. I think that comes from both that German highway speed limits allow drivers to commonly push their cars over 100 miles per hour and that Germans just take driving more seriously. No German would consider sipping a Starbucks Mocha Latte while driving the Autobahn. Both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road at all times.

The base BMW 2-Series with an MSRP of $32,100 is the 228i with a 240 hp, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that gets fuel economy numbers of 23 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. The M235i is the more expensive – and way more fun to drive – model that has a has a 320 hp, 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine.

The M235i has the ability to make everyday driving a dream, where just a supermarket run is fun. But throw it into Sport mode, and that’s where it shines. My daughter loved getting on the Tollway ramp when I was able to accelerate to over 70 mph very quickly. Unfortunately for both us, there’s no Autobahn within driving distance. There’s a Sport mode that removes the traction control feature, but I didn’t dare go there.The standard Sport mode was enough excitement for me.

The BMW M235i Coupe has thrown down the gauntlet to the American, Japanese and soon Korean carmakers looking to offer American car buyers with the best driving cars on the road. But it’s all good news for us, because all cars just keep getting better and better.