Power is the name of the game with the BMW M240i
The BMW M240i is a very powerful car – but is there more to this sports coupe than outright performance? Jack Evans finds out
Back when I passed my driving test, I remember the constant horsepower question. Among my friends and me, the thought of a 150bhp Golf or – when we were dreaming really big – a 180bhp BMW 3 Series was almost beyond consideration. Anything nudging 200bhp was simply too much power to imagine.
Which brings us to the M240i. This is a relatively mundanely styled, easy-to-live-with coupe with four seats, a boot and even heated seats. Yet, when you look at the car’s power outputs, its 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six petrol produces 335bhp. Yes, 335bhp. That’s close to 100bhp more than the R32.
However, once you’re done pootling around town, you can head out to the countryside and – more importantly – proper British B-roads. This is something I did recently – both the pootling and the country roads.
It corners beautifully, and though some of the engine note is artificially generated, the vast majority of the racket coming from the 3.0-litre up front feels organic enough. You can lock the excellent eight-speed automatic in full manual mode and shift via the steering wheel-mounted paddles too, with cogs clicking into place with guillotine-like efficiency. Then, once you’re done, it’ll happily settle back into all-automatic mode.
Seeing as this car comes as a more powerful update on the also very good M235i, it’s not unimaginable that the model that replaces this one will be knocking on 400bhp’s door. That is, again, a huge amount of power for a regular road car – but I can certainly see it happening.
I’ve also had a couple of issues with the on-board infotainment. Every time I get back into the car, it connects to my phone automatically. However, when I start playing music from Spotify, it sometimes fails to identify the songs and won’t allow me to skip a track. It’s just a minor thing, but one that quickly gets quite annoying.
Living with the M240i is a reminder of just how far we’ve come – particularly in terms of horsepower. Of course, outright pace isn’t the be-all and end-all, but the BMW really does show which way regular sports cars are heading.
