It may have failed the moose test in top-spec M235i guise, but the BMW 2-Series Gran Coupe has earned top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the crashworthiness and front crash prevention systems.
The premium subcompact model, which goes against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz CLA, has scored ‘good’ ratings in all six evaluations, including the challenging small overlap front (driver and passenger), moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints.
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It was rated ‘superior’ for the available Active Driving Assistant and Active Driving Assistant with Stop & Go in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation, avoiding crashing at 12 and 25 mph (19/40 km/h), and ‘advanced’ in the vehicle-to-pedestrian tests, where it either avoided the dummies or slowed down substantially to reduce the severity of the impact.
In order to qualify for the Top Safety Pick award, cars need to have at least one ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ headlight rating, and ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ ratings across all trim levels for the Top Safety Pick+. However, the 2-Series Gran Coupe’s standard LED projector headlamps earned a ‘marginal’ rating as they provide inadequate illumination, and the curve-adaptive LED projectors didn’t impress either due to their excessive glare. As a result, the BMW failed to nab one of the two high ratings.
Unrelated to the rear-wheel drive two-door versions of the 2-Series, as it is underpinned by the front-wheel drive-biased architecture of the 1-Series, X1 and X2, the 2-Series Gran Coupe was launched in the U.S. for the 2020MY. The range includes the 228 HP 228i xDrive and the 301 HP M235i xDrive trim levels, which start at $37,700 and $45,500 respectively.