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"BMW carefully stage-managed plans to unveil its all-new 2 Series range during January&amp;#039;s Detroit Motor Show have been upstaged by its own South African outpost. The website of the BMW South Africa last week posted the full specifications and local pricing of the entire range through its car configurator tool. Though it was quickly removed, we didn&amp;#039;t need much of a peek to discern the important stuff. Officially, the 2 Series range will replace the 1 Series Coupe from next March in Europe, just as the 4 Series has replaced the 3 Series Coupe in the next segment upstream. While it posted no pictures of the car (we have earlier spy shots attached, above), the South African configurator did confirm the initial lineup would include a 220i four-cylinder gasoline model, a 220d turbodiesel and a faster BMW M division M235i, complete with a twin turbocharged, six-cylinder gasoline engine. Sadly, the site carried no word on the possibility of an M2 to replace the cult-status 1M Coupe. A direct replacement for the M135i, the M235i will hit 62mph in 4.8 seconds, according to BMW South Africa, thanks to tweaked version of the M135i&amp;#039;s engine. It will have 322 horsepower, which is a small, but significant lift from the M135i&amp;#039;s 306hp. BMW sources insist the focus has been on delivery, not numbers. They boast that it laps the N\u00FCrburgring&amp;#039;s Nordschleife faster than the old 1M Coupe thanks, in part, to the mechanical limited-slip differential option that wasn&amp;#039;t available in the M135i.  Like its predecessor, the M235i will be offered with either a six-speed manual gearbox or an eight-speed automatic transmission, complete with paddle shifters, and both versions will run to a limited 155 mph. BMW South Africa listed this as a 503,079 Rand ($50,775) machine, making it the most expensive of the 2 Series family. The cheapest of them will be the 220i at 366,257 Rand (about $37,000 USD), with a 181 hp version of BMW&amp;#039;s 2.0-liter turbo four helping it to hit 62 mph in 7.0 seconds and on to a 146 mph top speed. Splitting the two gasoline powerplants on price will be the 393,000 Rand ($39,660 USD) 220d. Its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel will boast the same power output (and top speed) as the 220i, but it will have 280 ft-lbs of torque at its disposal and will take only 0.1 seconds longer to hit 62 mph. According to the BMW South Africa site, the 2 Series will receive more standard equipment than the 1 Series, with the spec list running to M Sport brakes and suspension, sports seats, rain-sensing wipers, active cruise control, and electric power steering. Satellite navigation, parking sensors, adaptive suspension, and a sharper auto transmission will also be offered as options. While BMW South Africa gave the game away with the 2 Series range, it hasn&amp;#039;t mentioned anything about the much-rumored M2. Some at BMW are content with delivering just an M division version of the 2 Series, but there is a push to bring the full weight of M to bear on the new coupe to replace the cult-status 1M Coupe. That would mean swinging the M4&amp;#039;s new S55B30 motor into the 2 Series engine bay and, while it would fit, conservative forces at BMW remain unconvinced the extra effort will deliver a profit. With 424 hp and more than 270 lb-ft of torque, the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, in-line six has the potential to turn the M2 into an M3/M4 killer, at far less money.  While the commercial people at BMW are concerned by the threat, M&amp;#039;s engineering people have to be strongly held back from doing the car anyway, chiefly because many of the M3/M4&amp;#039;s critical powertrain pieces bolt directly in to the smaller car. There would be significant costs in time and money, though, with all-new carbon-fiber roof, one-piece carbon-fiber propshaft and bootlid pieces needing to be designed and built, but the harder work will be in the suspension. The M3/4&amp;#039;s suspension pieces, rear subframe and triangular reinforcements are too large for the 2-Series footprint, so it would require a lot of unique design, engineering and aluminum casting to bring to market. And there&amp;#039;s always the threat it poses to its more profitable big brother, the M4. A convertible version of each of the 2 Series models will also follow the coupes, with a six- to 12-month gap between the launches. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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