2026 BMW 228i xDrive: Screen grab
Why look at the road when you can fuss with the touchscreen? Adjusting heat, stereo, and even picking sport mode in this updated small BMW sedan are far too complicated, ruining a fun experience.
2026 Audi S3 Prestige vs. 2026 BMW 228i xDrive Gran Coupe: Battle of the little racers.
This week: BMW 228i
Price: Starts at $41,600 for both the 2025 and 2026 model years. Advantage, BMW.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver liked the “Refined balance of ride and handling, eager powertrains, purposeful near minimalist interior design and materials,” but not the “compromised cargo and rear passenger space,” and that the “front and rear fasciae appear a bit forced on otherwise sleek bodywork.“
Marketer’s pitch: “Strikingly sporty.”
Reality: “Striking.” I was afraid of striking things as I tried to make simple adjustments.
Catching up: Last week Mr. Driver’s Seat enjoyed the Audi S3 — until he landed on the highway, or tried to squeeze in some luggage.
What’s new: The 2 Series received more horsepower and a new look for 2025, and carries on pretty much unchanged for 2026.
Competition: In addition to the S3, there are the Acura Integra, Cadillac CT4, and Mercedes-Benz CLA.
Up to speed: The 2 Series’ speed would be the first question mark. The 2.0-liter TwinPower turbo provides 241 horsepower, almost 100 fewer than last week’s Audi S3; would it keep up?
Yet the version tested gets to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, according to Car and Driver, just 0.7 seconds slower than the S3. A more souped-up model with a 3-liter six-cylinder engine gets there in just 3.6 seconds.
Shifty: The seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is super smooth, worlds above any attempt from Kia or some other inexpensive offerings.
The slider PRND operator looks cool but doesn’t offer much feel or add any usable space. Shift via the steering wheel paddles.
On the road: Handling is quite nice, perhaps in part because of the M Sport Package, which adds adaptive suspension along with other decals and stuff, plus the aforementioned dual-clutch.
In the first of several “improvements” designed to make the interior feel more high tech, Sport mode requires finding the button on the console touch pad (no solid way to feel your way to it) and then pressing the large icon on the screen. So there’s two instances you’re looking away from the road while trying to operate the vehicle.
But at least compared to last week’s Audi S3, the BMW doesn’t rattle your brain on the highways at all.
Driver’s Seat: The sport seats that come with the M Sport package are supportive and comfortable, and I never adjusted it beyond forward and backward. No annoying lumbar or grippy seat corners.
The materials all feel upscale, an improvement over the X2 SUV I tested this year. Everything about that small SUV felt cheap and plasticky.
The materials seem especially scuff prone, though. I brushed out the carpet and seats when I was done with my loan and it seemed the bristles and the plastic handle left marks on the seat and in the plastic door frame bottom. Be sure this fabric fits your lifestyle.
Friends and stuff: Sturgis Kid 4.0 laughed at how tight the rear seat was. He sat stretched into the middle just to make it workable.
He’s not wrong. My own head was squashed up against the ceiling in the corner, although foot room and legroom were pretty good. Entry and exit are challenging because the door is narrow and the seat actually sits up kind of high (not something I expected to write in this review). The middle seat is compromised by the hump and the console and the corner people trying to find a place for their heads.
Cargo space is 13.8 cubic feet, far higher than the S3.
Play some tunes: Sound from the Harman Kardon system might be better than I heard, but I could never find the audio tuning adjustment when I had CarPlay activated. It would only show up in the touchscreen when I left CarPlay off, so it was difficult to make the most of my favorite songs. B-, because why make it so hard?
BMWs once had a superb dial and button system for operating the infotainment, and some models still have it. It takes a bit of practice but you can really run it by feel after a while. Now it’s all about the touchscreen, with a roller dial on the console for volume.
Keeping warm and cool: The temperature controls appear as small +/- adjustments at the corners of the touchscreen. There’s no way to feel for them, and your eyes are off the road while you adjust.
But wait! There’s more! To make further HVAC adjustments, click on the tiny fan icon between them to open up all the controls. These are fairly clear, but I’ve already looked at the screen and away from the road twice now, just to cool off (or warm up).
Fuel economy: I neglected to note the fuel economy. (Hangs head in shame, then blames BMW for the confusion.) The window sticker says 30 mpg combined, but that seems optimistic.
Where it’s built: Leipzig, Germany. Germany is the source of 24% of the car’s parts. None of it comes from the United States or Canada.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the 2 Series Gran Coupe a predicted reliability rating of 3 out of 5.
In the end: The 228i was definitely fun to drive, but too many drawbacks made me long for the real delight of the S3. Just pack ibuprofen for the highways.