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BMW

What: 2 Series Active Tourer
Variants: 218i
When: Q1 
How much: S$165,000 with COE

A busy year for BMW will see the German brand launch eight new or facelifted cars in Singapore. That comes on the back of a record 2021, which saw BMW beat Mercedes to the global luxury crown for the first time since 2015 by selling 2.2 million cars.

A small car but big seller for BMW could be the new, second-gen 2 Series Active Tourer. A five-seat, five-door mini Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) built on the same underpinnings that support BMW Group’s Mini model range, the boxy 2 Series has typically sold well here.

Expect to see a 218i debut around March with a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbo engine. The 136hp output means this small BMW will need a Category B COE, alas.

BMW says it’s roomier inside in terms of leg, head and shoulder room, while the upsized boot goes from 470 to 1,455 litres when you fold the rear seats. It gets big screens (10.25” for the driver display, 10.7” for infotainment) and the new OS8 menus that the iX introduced to Singapore, with its sharp graphics. There’s no word on the seven-seat Gran Tourer model yet, though. 

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) versions that offer up to 80km of pure electric range (more than enough for a typical day’s motoring here) could also make it here, depending on whether they qualify for any emissions rebates. The 225e xDrive, with 245 hp, is a candidate.

What: 2 Series Coupe
Variants: 220i, M240i xDrive
When: Q1
How much: S$210,000 with COE for 220i, S$280,000 with COE for M240i xDrive

The new 2 Series Coupe is a car that you should expect big things from. One, it replaces a model Team CarBuyer considered the most fun BMW around. Two, BMW itself describes it as a “gift to its fans” and a “drift machine.”

Got your attention? It’s small, relatively light and, like a proper coupe, has two doors, and is due here in the first quarter of the year.

The rear-wheel drive 220i gets 184hp and hits 100km/h in 7.5 seconds. If that’s too slow it’s the M240i for you, with 374hp from a silky six-cylinder and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system helping to keep it all under control. Incidentally, we asked the car’s engine chief if upcoming emissions standards would kill BMW’s last straight six engine, and he didn’t seem to think so.

The 2 Series Coupe may be 10cm longer than before, but it’s still not a family car, with four seats inside. Yet, expect it to be more refined than ever, thanks to its 3 Series underpinnings. There will undoubtedly be a Convertible version, which is great news since we adored the last one, but don’t expect to see it this year.

What: 3 Series LCI (facelift)
Variants: 318i, 320i, 330e, M340i xDrive
When: Q3
How much: S$210,000 for 318i, S$260,000 for 320i, S$285,000 for 330e, S$290,000 for M340i, all estimated and including COE

The G20-generation of the quintessential sports sedan gets a mid-life update of the kind that BMW calls a “life cycle impulse (LCI) but everyone else calls a facelift. Details are scarce, but expect to see new headlights with more angular graphics for the daytime running lights. Rumours say the lights themselves will lose the little notch at the bottom, but we’ll find out when the G20 LCI arrives in the third quarter of the year. A larger touchscreen with BMW’s OS8 software (plus more powerful processors to run it) is also a likely upgrade.

What: 7 Series
Variants: 735i/Li, 740i/Li xDrive, 750Li xDrive, M750e xDrive
When: Q3
How much: From S$460,000 with COE

BMW usually throws everything in its engineering toolkit at its luxury flagship, so expect the all-new 7 Series to be a big deal, literally.

Official details are like rocking horse poop at the moment, so take everything you read here with a pinch of salt, but we expect the new 7 Series range to kick off here with a 735i variant, powered by a 3.0-litre straight six with maybe 272hp.

Singapore buyers tend to be big on long wheelbase variants, so expect to see the 735Li version as the big seller. That should be the only rear-drive 7 Series, with the rest gaining BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system. Next up are the 745i and 745Li with the same engine tuned for 374hp and above that, who knows? The 750Li with a V8 could return, but there’s also talk of an M750Le, a PHEV with more than 550 horsepower.

Whatever’s under the bonnet, the new 7 Series (codenamed G70 and G71) will likely continue on BMW’s current styling path of geometric lines everywhere and a front grille as big as a mansion’s gates. The door handles will probably be flush and inside you’ll likely find a freestanding screen set-up (both of which you’ll find in the iX). The prototype pics suggest that the front headlight will be split. Most likely, so will opinions about the car’s looks.

What: 8 Series Coupe / 8 Series Gran Coupe facelift
Variants: 840i, M850i xDrive, M8 Competition
When: Q2
How much: S$520,000 (840i), S$580,000 (M850i), S$700,000 (M8), all with COE

Possibly BMW’s most conventionally glamorous car at the moment, the 8 Series gets its mid-life update with rumours that little is being done to change the exterior. Hopefully, that means the front grille and lights stay slim.

Instead, expect to see alterations inside, with the new BMW OS8 infotainment system making it into the cabin on a bigger touchscreen.The same treatment should make it onto the 8 Series Convertible, but in its current form that car isn’t offered for sale here. The LCI will help the 8 Series carry on until the end of 2025.

What: i4
Variants: eDrive40, M50
When: Q1
How much: From S$290,000 with COE

BMW’s next electric car will march into Singapore by March. The i4 is the battery-powered version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe (G26 if you’re all hip to BMW’s model codes), which makes it the brand’s first electric sedan, essentially. Look out, Tesla.

The base eDrive40 has a rear motor good for 340hp and a 0 to 100km/h time of 5.7 seconds, and its 80.7kWh battery is apparently good for up to 570km. We figure it’ll sell for roughly S$290,000 at today’s COE prices, which is less than you’d have to pay for an M440i xDrive.

In overseas markets BMW has also launched an i4 M50, which has a twin-motor setup with 544hp and 795Nm of peak torque. It’s bloody quick on paper (0-100km/h takes 3.9 seconds) so it would be interesting to see how the M3 crowd takes to it. Except it hasn’t been confirmed for Singapore, though we really can’t imagine BMW not bringing it here eventually.

What: i7
Variants: eDrive40, eDrive50
When: Q4
How much: S$500,000 with COE

Little is known about the i7, which is what BMW will call its electric 7 Series, but BMW does like to mix-and-match components so it seems reasonable to expect a rear-motor eDrive40 with 340 horsepower as a base variant. A twin-motor eDrive50 should be next up on the price ladder and then a more powerful M60 version, but at this stage we’re purely speculating. 

While we’re at it, we might as well mention the split headlight rumours. They say the i7 (like the new 7 Series) will have a vertical front end with two-level headlights (think 2018 Hyundai Kona). It sounds like BMW’s flagship electric car will be anything but dull.

As for range, the Mercedes-EQ EQS, a direct competitor, can summon up to 770km from a single charge, so anything less from the i7 would be a disappointment.

What: X1
Variants: sDrive18i
When: Q4
How much: S$200,000 with COE

Expect BMW to start selling an all-new X1 here before 2022 is over, in the form of a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder sDrive18i. A 2.0-litre sDrive20i is possible, too, but it won’t be a volume seller.

It’s too early to see details from BMW, but we reckon the boxy body will grow slightly in most directions, with the front grille at least doubling in square footage.

Inside, the large screens and BMW OS8 software from the new 2 Series Active Tourer should make it over to the new X1 (codenamed U11), which should help sales. We were starting to find the X1’s cabin dated even after its facelift in 2019.

Under the skin, the X1 is switching over to the new FAAR architecture (from the previous UKL platform), which will enable more powertrain options: pure combustion, plug-in hybrid and full electric. A plug-in hybrid X1 eDrive20 is a candidate for Singapore, but in 2023 we’ll probably see a pure electric iX1. Judging from how good the iX3 is, that version should be a corker.

What: X7 LCI
Variants: xDrive40i
When: Q3
How much: S$520,000 with COE 

The big daddy of BMW’s SUV range reaches LCI age this year, but instead of a minor nip-tuck it is allegedly going in for major cosmetic surgery. The rumour mill says the facelifted X7 is getting front end styling that takes its cues from the elephantine XM concept car; that means an (even) bigger front grille and split headlights, with ultra slim items on the top edge of the bonnet and a larger cluster on the front bumper.

Inside, a switch to twin screens (within a long, freestanding enclosure) could give iX vibes, and there are rumours of a PHEV version with 50km of pure electric range. We’re not sure how that would work with the car’s three-row seating format, however, since the plug-in’s batteries would presumably live under the boot floor, leaving no room for the two rearmost seats.

Regardless, we reckon the xDrive40i version (with mild hybrid tech) with seven seats will swoop in here around August.

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