BMW 220i Gran Tourer: Sheer Driving Pleasure with the family

The Ultimate Family Machine
To those who have been waiting for an MPV by BMW, its first seven-seater compact MPV is definitely long overdue!
YOU may have owned at least a BMW car before and loved it to bits, or maybe you never had one, for certain reasons. You are now at a point in your married life where you have a few children, and life is good enough to be marked by a BMW in the porch. To have a BMW saloon may not be so practical. Besides, you already have a car. The same goes with a BMW SUV, which also comes with higher price and running cost. So, the 220i Gran Tourer is your best option, for now, while you wait for the kids to grow up and leave the nest!
If you currently own a BMW and are also an enthusiast-owner – with a list of successive BMW cars occupying your porch over the years, where you had no choice but to buy a non-BMW as your family transporter, acquiring the 220i Gran Tourer is a no-brainer. Yes, this is the daddy/mommy mobile that has all the qualities of a BMW car – prestigious badge, fun to drive and after my 950km with it around Selangor and Perak, it is unsurprisingly one of the best-driving seven seaters in the market.
Bear in mind that, after the five-seater Active Tourer, BMW’s first MPV, the Gran Tourer is also front-wheel-driven (FWD), and this fact is naturally met with a disgusted reaction by a BMW enthusiast. Sure, the rear-wheel drive (especially in any RWD BMW car) is much preferred for the superior high speed cornering balance and crisper steering, that usually provides a more entertaining drive.
But times have changed. In this era of forced induction (turbocharging and supercharging) and ever more efficient engines (BMW has a three-cylinder engine in its range!), there are certain things we can’t change, yet, especially when it comes to achieving the best packaging for a seven-seater MPV which emphasises on optimum space and comfort. A FWD layout liberates more space in the cabin which won’t have a prop shaft tunnel on the floor running the car’s length. The space in the engine bay is fully utilised and the car won’t be unnecessarily long in the nose and cramped in the cabin. And this is what the 220i Gran Tourer has achieved. Except for the X5 SUV, no other BMW has so much space behind the driver’s seat. So, to all BMW hard-cores who are reading this, you must find it in your heart to forgive the Germans. The technology is just not there yet to create very-thin prop shafts and super-compact rear axles!
Right after picking up the 220i GT from BMW’s office in Cyberjaya, I immediately felt its “FWD-ness”, especially in the long sweeping corners around Cyberjaya and Putrajaya, where the MPV’s bulky tail reminded me to adjust my driving accordingly. And like any MPV, the best way to drive/enjoy it is by filling it up with people and things.
The joyride
Starting the drive with a full tank, I was joined by my brother, his wife and three sons, where only six seats were filled up instead of all seven as I had initially hoped for. His daughter changed her mind and decided not to join us on the drive (typical teenager!). We packed light, simply because what’s left of the cargo area could only take some small soft bags. Despite its seven seats, the 220i GT isn’t a happy place to be in for seven people on a long drive (thank you, niece!). While the front and centre seats offer ample room and comfort for up to five occupants, the third row of two seats are for short drives. The floor is too close to their bottom half for long-distance comfort. Whenever unused, both of them can be folded down and disappear into the floor, leaving a very ample storage area.
The 1,615kg (unladen) 220i GT comes with three driving modes – Sport, Comfort and Eco Pro, which can be selected by an up-down switch right in front of the gear lever . Other than driving on the North-South Highway to Ipoh, we drove mostly on trunk arounds around Batu Gajah, Bota Kiri, Teluk Intan, Sitiawan, Lumut and the coastal road towards Kuala Lumpur, where the Eco Pro mode was used most of the time. This mode enables the reduction of fuel consumption by up to 20% depending on driving behaviour. Selecting this mode, you would immediately feel that the engine is very relaxed and docile. The tachometer’s needle dips to about 800rpm when the right foot is off the gas. It’s very suitable for lazy drives along the countryside and in small towns.
The Comfort mode was used whenever the roads were bumpy, especially in the rice field areas of Perak. The Sport mode was chosen whenever there’s a long, slow queue and overtaking multiple vehicles at one go was needed. There were many unscheduled stops along the drive, and in the end, the reserve fuel indicator flashed after 640km of drive. Not bad at all, thanks to the eight-speed transmission and BMW’s fuel-saving Auto Start-Stop function that turns off the engine each time the vehicle comes to a complete halt – such as at traffic lights – and restarts it automatically.
I find the 220i GT – powered by a 192hp, 2-litre engine – very pleasant to drive, with my having slight fatigue by about the 500th kilometre. Mind you, we made so many stops along the way, to take photos of local attractions, check out the beach, try interesting foods and drinks, visiting some relatives – all done during last weekend’s exceptionally hot and humid weather.
The 220i Gran Tourer, in my opinion, is unrivalled in its segment, where it has set the pace in terms of agility, driving feeling, directional stability, steering precision and controllability at the limit, without shortchanging the uncle and auntie in everyday use. I humbly admit that I borrowed those words (except the uncle and auntie part) from the launch of the insane BMW M2 Coupé’s on Wednesday (see page 20), but they really do echo my feelings!
KEY SPECS
Safety: Airbags for driver & front passenger, head airbags (front to rear, covering entire window), side airbags for driver & front passenger (integrated into front seat backrests), child seat ISOFIX attachments at the rear, disc brakes (front & rear), dynamic braking lights, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) including Antilock Braking System (ABS), Automatic Stability Control (ASC) and Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), run-flat tyres and flat tyre indicator.
Driver assistance: Rear view camera, Parking Assistant, Park Distance Control (front and rear).
Accessories & equipment: Leather Dakota upholstery with perforations, exterior & interior mirrors with automatic anti-dazzle function (including fold-in function), LED headlights including LED daytime driving lights & cornering light, ambience lights front and rear, BMW Apps, connectivity with USB devices and Bluetooth (including Bluetooth audio steaming), HiFi loudspeaker system (205W, with 7 loudspeakers), navigation system with 6.5" display monitor, operation via iDrive, controller with direct selection buttons, on-board computer including Check Control.
Price: RM279,800, on-the-road (for Peninsular Malaysia), inclusive of 6% GST, with 5-year Unlimited Mileage Warranty and Free Scheduled Service Programme.