[ZacMatic]

Quick thoughts and photos from my first day of ownership (first BMW, first performance car). Previous car was 2019 Mercedes-Benz A220 4MATIC, so some comparisons to that included.

Ride comfort/quality of life: Sensatec seats are super comfortable and side bolsters feel cozy and supportive, but are not in the way. Seating position and steering wheel adjustments work well for me. Road noise quieter than previous car, comfort suspension is also better at absorbing bumps. I have 19" all season run flats, coming from 18" all season run flats on previous car, so no observations regarding tires or grip yet. All in all, despite both these cars being the entry level models, 2 series feels like a substantial upgrade.

Steering: I think I understand now about the "on center feel" criticism. My take on this is that on other cars (at least on my A220), there is a certain amount of turning you can do where nothing happens. It reminds me of using a joystick on a computer where there's an area called the dead-zone--you can wiggle the stick, but the direction pushed is not registered until you go past this threshold. My observation of the difference between the two cars is that on A220, if I'm driving straight, I can turn the wheel maybe 1 or 2 degrees left or right without really changing the car's direction. I guess you could call this on center wiggle room. On the M240i, the car immediately starts changing direction at the slightest turn of the wheel. I personally think this is a positive trait, and it contributes to the feeling of direct control you have over the car. It's just very, very noticeable if you've been driving a different car how sensitive the steering is. It doesn't make me feel unsafe or that I'm going to drive off the road if I'm not paying attention.

Brakes: at city speeds, the brakes are way grabbier than I'm used to and I have to be gentler. At highway speeds, it took a lot more pressure on the pedal to slow down for traffic than I was expecting. Not sure if this is just because everything is still new and not broken in or it's just because of the weight.

Audio: this Harmon Kardon is better than the Burmester system despite being about the same price. Burmester doesn't have a multi-band equalizer for one thing. I haven't messed with any EQ or other settings yet other than turning off the surround function, but right away I notice the bass is better (louder and punchier with no distortion or rattles), presumably due to there being two 9" woofers in the floor instead of one 8" in the trunk. Still, now that I know there are drop in replacement speakers from Bavsound and BimmerTech, I'm curious if they can get even better

Technology: iDrive 7 is a big learning curve over MBUX, but I'm a tech person and I like that it has a lot more options. MBUX is a lot more aesthetically interesting, but iDrive 7 is much snappier and everything seems to work as expected. I'm looking forward to doing a deep dive into all the menus. I have to shout out the heads up display though. Holy cow, that thing feels like the future. When using iDrive navigation, you get street names, street diagrams, highway lane diagrams, lane indications, everything you need. It's hard to retrain myself to look at the HUD instead down at the screens, but it's so nice having that info right there.

Overall I'm so impressed with this, and glad I didn't move to an A35 or CLA45 (which are both discontinued in the US now anyway). It has better fuel economy too, supposedly.

And here are some photos straight off my phone without any editing.

[CarsAndGuitars]

That's the first time I've seen the ambient lighting aside from the default //M colors. It looks great inside and out..

[ZacMatic]

Let me know if you want photos of anything specific

[Roadwar]

Thanks for the review of your experience so far! Beautiful car. Enjoy it!

[pbw]

Looks great, thanks for sharing your first impressions. Many happy safe miles.

[ryo-]

those are some nice high quality (resolution?) photos. the steering and brake pedal feel are 2 things that I notice are mentioned a lot. I like a quick steering rack but some people state there's a decent dead zone so I am curious about how I would feel on my first drive. as for the brake pedal, hopefully stainless steel lines and pads would be able to solve that problem. the last thing I want is a decrease in confidence due to the brake pedal feel under hard braking. however, I did get the performance pack so I wonder if there is a difference. unfortunately I have to wait until late summer to find out (only if nothing gets delayed further)

[acouncilofone]

TNM is such a beautiful color! I'll be picking mine up from the same dealer, how long did the paperwork and dealing with the finance guys take? Looking forward to seeing your new ride around the area!

[harcos]

Congrats, great car and nice review

[ZacMatic]

Originally Posted by acouncilofone

TNM is such a beautiful color! I'll be picking mine up from the same dealer, how long did the paperwork and dealing with the finance guys take? Looking forward to seeing your new ride around the area!

Signing all the paperwork probably took around 30 min. There's a menu of products they had to go over, like windshield insurance, wheel & tire insurance, PPF, etc. I politely listened to all of the spiel and then said no thanks. I'm not sure if they normally don't try any high pressure sales tactics, or they just didn't bother with me because I was fairly well educated about the car.

All in all it wasn't too bad of an experience. My CA was Nick and he was actually pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

[ReallyRadams]

I like the purple with the oyster. I have the cognac interior, idk if that would work with the purple.

[Lenny33]

Congrats. I went to test drive one today and it was sold right before I got there. Looked exactly like yours. They wouldn’t even let me sit in it ha

[mechman]

Originally Posted by ReallyRadams

I like the purple with the oyster. I have the cognac interior, idk if that would work with the purple.

Here ya go.

I personally like this combo as evidenced by the pictures of my car

[zipstic]

Congrats on the new M240!

Is this Canberra Beige?

[beamer-dreamer]

i think that's oyster venasca

[Lord Two Hats]

Originally Posted by zipstic

Congrats on the new M240!

Is this Canberra Beige?

Looks Canberra to me. Oyster tends to be more of a white than the beige that's shown here.

[ZacMatic]

It's the Canberra beige. I've always opted for black, but decided to give this a try since the entire dash remains black, and I like the contrast. It is kind of nice having more light in the interior.

Also, I hope there's less brake dust after the pads are broken in. Right now my wheels are a new color: gunmetal gray

[Baldilocks73]

Old thread, new question. Is this the only color interior (in North America) that actually has matching seat belts?

[AcrimoniousMofo]

Originally Posted by ReallyRadams

I like the purple with the oyster. I have the cognac interior, idk if that would work with the purple.

I personally think the cognac looks great with TNM. Plenty of folks have told me that they like the combo, so it probably isn't just my awful sense of style

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by Baldilocks73

Old thread, new question. Is this the only color interior (in North America) that actually has matching seat belts?

No. Black seats have black seat belts

[Baldilocks73]

Originally Posted by Pentland

No. Black seats have black seat belts

Sorry, I meant other than black since pretty much every interior has black seat belts it seems EXCEPT for the beige Sensatec.