Singapore favourite, BMW’s 2 Series Active Tourer MPV is wildly improved although its ascendance comes with a larger price tag

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SINGAPORE – BMW’s 2 Series Active Tourer is not the 2 Series Active Tourer you know, especially in Singapore. 

First off, it’s a lot more expensive – this particular version costs around S$230k with COE. But if that’s put you off, read on to find out how/when a cheaper one could come to market. 

BMW’s first MPV, the 2 AT was in its first-generation a strong favourite here: A small BMW with practicality, a Cat A-friendly 216i model, and a seven-seat Gran Tourer version to boot. With big discounts toward the end of its life-cycle it was even relatively affordable – sub-S$150k with COE – at one stage. 

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But CarBuyer never called it pretty, refined, or particularly fun to drive – our cynical take was that it succeeded because the blue-and-white roundel offset the implied dorkiness of owning an MPV.*

The new, second-gen model is a huge improvement over its predecessor, and you only need to look at it once to understand why.

* We don’t think MPVs are dorky, they’re intensely useful and at their best when unabashedly all about the job that needs doing.  

Design and Appearance

It took this iteration of the 2AT to realise why we never enjoyed the looks of the first one. It’s difficult to make an MPV look sleek or cool simply because they’re boxes on wheels, there’s no way around it.

The first 2AT’s shovel-nosed front simply looked strange on an otherwise boxy car. It was a byproduct of BMW’s ‘grille dynamics’ – at that time, slim kidney grilles were a part of the brand design language.  

As our First Drive overseas tells, we like the new look. This version is a beneficiary of BMW’s controversial upsized grille, which first debuted on the facelifted 7 Series, and as a result it looks much more MPV-like upright, and less like hiding its boxiness. 

As our launch story mentions, there’s also a more understated Luxury version – while M sport is almost always the popular choice, M Sport just doesn’t go with an MPV. It’s certainly more exciting to look at than a B-Class. 

This is the M Sport version – you can tell by all the dark bits on the front of the car and the rear diffuser, and the M sport badges. The wheels are the same size as the Lux model – 18 inches – though with a different design, and as always the interior sees a dark headliner, M Sport steering wheel, M sport seats, and M-themed scuff plates.

Page 2: MPVs live or die by this – space. Does the 2AT have enough of it?

1. Introduction / Design and Appearance
2. Interior and Features / Space and Practicality
3. Driving Experience / Competition and Pricing

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