BMW 2 Series Active Tourer Review 2024

The BMW 2 Series is to cars what a Brazilian Ronaldo at Real Madrid was to football – chunkier and less athletic than its teammates in BMW's line-up, the Active Tourer is nevertheless quite capable of producing moments of brilliance that betray its ungainly appearance.

Yes, it may not look like it, but the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer can grip corners like a (slightly sleepy) hot hatch and has beautifully weighted controls that make it a fun and fulfilling car to drive quickly. You'd have never guessed that, would you?

And who could blame you, because the Active Tourer looks like a BMW 1 Series that's undergone an lobotomy and developed an unfulfillable appetite for pork pies as a result. How else can you explain its swelled head and chunky body?

Maybe because it's an MPV? Ah yes, knew there was a real reason... while the Active Tourer has van-like undertones, it's designed to shift people first and foremost and it does that really well – it competes with models such as the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and Volkswagen Touran.

There's easily enough space for four tall adults inside the BMW – it's not a seven-seater like the VW – and the boot is large and well-shaped. The back seat can slide back and forwards on its runners and recline, and the cabin is awash with smaller storage areas and USB-C plugs.

It is also beautifully made with soft-touch plastics almost everywhere and pretty unvarnished wood and machined metal trims to choose from.

The Active Tourer marks the debut of BMW's curved infotainment screen in a small model. Ok, so there's no iDrive controller, but the touchscreen's layout – broken up into large tiles and a smartphone-like home screen – is easy enough to use on the move and it looks great. 

The engine range has also been given a modern makeover. The 170PS 220i and 218PS 223i both get 48V mild-hybrid technology which means they can coast on the motorway, recoup power under braking and get a light electric boost under acceleration so, despite being reasonably brisk, fuel economy is strong. 

There's also the 150PS 218d diesel and, in time, the range will be joined by the 136PS 218i and a pair of PHEVs with either 245 or 326PS. They have scintillating performance and an electric range of more than 50 miles.

The PHEVs have the potential to be the Swiss Army Knives of motoring, but all BMW 2 Series Active Tourers have, like an overweight Ronaldo, the ability to surprise. They may not look like a sporty BMW but they certainly drive like one. 

Even basic versions of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer handle neatly with positive steering and brakes that are easy to modulate despite the interference of their regenerative system.

M Sport models are the ones to go for, though. Their suspension is lower by 15mm and comes fitted as standard with adaptive dampers that make the car feel inspiring in corners. M Sport models also get larger 18-inch wheels with wider tyres that helps the BMW cling to the Tarmac like a suckerfish. The result is a car that feels genuinely sporty to drive with minimal impact on comfort.

In town, the BMW's raised ride height means it deals well with speed humps and potholes, and the sheer size of the windows gives you an excellent view out. The standard reversing camera makes squeezing into tight spaces easy, but you can also spec a 360-degree camera if you want a little extra reassurance.

While the BMW's tall ride height gives you a better view out than you get on a lower hatchback, the 2 Series Active Tourer doesn't suffer from the intruding motorway wind noise you get in many SUVs, and there's barely engine noise, although there is some tyre roar to contend with.

The BMW's engine range comprises of three petrols – the 136PS 218i, 170PS 220i and 218PS 223i – a 150PS 218d diesel and two plug-in hybrid models with 245 or 326PS.

As yet we've only had a proper go of the 220i and 223i that, along with the diesel, are the only models available from launch.

The 220i manages to be all things to all people – brisk enough, while not costing a fortune to run. However, it never feels as quick as its performance figures (0-62mph in 8.1 seconds, 137mph flat out) suggest, it's not that keen to rev and it doesn't have the pleasing thrum you usually get from a three-cylinder. Based on it, we reckon the 218i will feel a little underpowered.

Sadly, the 223i doesn't deliver a performance revolution. Its four-cylinder engine is noticeably quicker and pulls more consistently to the red line, but again it doesn't feel as pacey as you'd expect given its 7 second 0-62mph time and 149mph top speed.

A brief drive of a prototype 326PS PHEV confirmed it to be both quick (0-62mph in 5.5 seconds) and willing to run on electric at far beyond town speeds. It's a combination that could make the top-of-the-range model hard to resist. 

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer hasn't been crash-tested by Euro NCAP but we would expect it to uphold the five stars awarded to the outgoing model in 2014.

You get plenty of standard safety features including automatic emergency braking and airbags, a speed limit warning on the dashboard, lane assist and attention assist.

A full suite of autonomous driving aids are optional and feel like a next-generation system making smoother inputs than the system you get in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. The BMW's system can brake and accelerate autonomously, as well as steer your around corners and observe speed limits automatically.

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is about as practical as five-seater family cars get. 

Passenger space is excellent so, even if you're tall, someone of a similar height will have loads of room to sit behind you. There's also plenty of adjustment to the seat and steering wheel to get comfortable, with things like electrical seat adjustment, lumbar, a massaging function and a heated steering wheel on the options list.

You don't get quite the same number of toys in the back seat, but it does have touches you won't find in a regular hatchback – you can roll the seat forwards and backwards on runners, and recline it. Back seat passengers also get their own USB-C plugs and air vent.

As noted, rear-seat knee room is excellent as is headroom, although the lack of three separate seats means the Active Tourer will probably feel more crushed in the back with a trio of people sitting abreast in a Volkswagen Touran. You also only get two back seat Isofix points for mounting a child seat, unlike the three you get in the Volkswagen.

That said, there's no shortage of smaller storage spaces. You get the usual large door bins and glove box, a large open tray under the front centre armrest, a smaller tray in the armrest itself and another tray in front of the gear selector. It's available with wireless phone charging as an option and if you go for that it also comes fitted with a clip that holds your phone in place like the safety bar on a roller coaster. 

While the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer might not look like a BMW saloon on the outside, it certainly feels like one from the inside. Material quality is excellent with soft-touch plastics used where you'd expect to find them – on the front doors and dashboard – and where you don't expect to find them like on the tops of the back doors.

High-end models get fancier trim finishes, so while Sport cars have fabric seats and unassuming trims, Luxury models have leather seats and un-varnished wood. M Sport models, meanwhile, get all the sporty bits: body-hugging seats finished in Alcantara, a sporty steering wheel and machined-metal trims.

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer's infotainment screen is the icing on top of the beautifully constructed cake.

It has a curved finish first seen in the BMW iX EV – with a pair of large screens designed to look like one single display – which stretches from behind the steering wheel onto the centre of the dashboard.

There's no iDrive control between the front seats – a cost too far on a front-wheel-drive BMW we were told – but there's no a need for one. The centre display is organised into tiles that are easy to swipe through, and the home screen looks very similar to the one you'll find on your smartphone.

As well as being crystal clear and colourful, the sat-nav has neat touches like augmented reality directions – that has point-by-point instructions hovering over an image of the road ahead – and an augmented parking view that makes tight manouvers and parking a doddle.

Amongst all the clever stuff you'll find infotainment stalwarts such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which mean you can project your smartphone's screen onto the car's large display.

Prices for the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer start from £30,265 for 170PS 220i petrol in entry-level Sport trim. Upgrade to the 218PS 223i petrol (which has a seven-speed automatic fitted as standard in place of the six-speed manual) and the BMW costs £32,715, while the 218d (also an auto) starts from £31,830.

Luxury models start from £32,085 (220i) and go up to £34,535 in the 223i. By contrast, top-of-the-range M Sport models range in price from £30,265 in the 220i to £36,390 in the 223i.

The entry-level 218i and top-of-the-range PHEV models have yet to go on sale, expect their prices to be revealed in the coming months.

While the PHEV models have yet to go on sale, we do know they'll have a 56-mile pure electric range that will make them extremely cheap to run if you only do short trips and have somewhere at home where you can charge them. Both PHEVs return an official fuel economy of 256.8mpg but expect that figure to drop rapidly when their battery is depleted.

Of the models you can currently buy, the diesel is the most efficient. BMW reckons the 218d will return 58.8mpg, which will make it an ideal choice if you do lots of long drives.

Saying that, you wouldn't exactly label the petrol models gas guzzlers – even the 223i returns 47.1mpg and the 220i is only slightly better at 47.9mpg.

The basic 218i petrol – which does without the clever hybrid tech – is the surprise of the group, despite being the least-powerful petrol it delivers the worst fuel economy at 45.5mpg.