• Rear seats not adult-friendly
• Good boot space for a coupe
• Average storage space up front

How much space is there?

The BMW 2 Series is technically a four-seater, but no-one’s going to mistake this for a family car. But, considering its tight proportions and stocky stance, it’s really not too bad. It can’t compete with family-size hot hatchbacks, but it’s certainly roomier than the Audi TT and Toyota GR86.

There’s no shortage of head, leg and shoulder room in the front seats – all our testers felt generously accommodated. But, in typical BMW fashion, you do feel a bit hemmed in, particularly by the high centre console, and that won’t suit everyone.

In the back, there are two bucket seats separated by an oddments tray. There’s actually plenty of legroom – I fit behind my own driving position comfortably. But the sloping roofline forced most of our testers to bend their neck forwards, a long way from ideal. But shorter adults and children could be perfectly comfortable back there – assuming they’re athletic enough to clamber past the front seats.

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BMW 2 Series boot space and storage

For what’s technically a two-door saloon, the 2 Series has a surprisingly large boot for this kind of car, with 390 litres of capacity – 10 litres more than the VW Golf. The opening is quite big considering the lid is hinged below the back window, as well. It’ll certainly hold a couple of large suitcases; we even managed to get a sizable folding pushchair in. The back seats also fold down in a three-piece 40:20:40 split, which is useful for longer loads.

Cabin storage is merely sufficient. The glovebox is big enough for the owner’s manual, the door pockets hold a one-litre bottle, there are cupholders in the centre console, a small cubby under the centre armrest and a wireless phone charging pad. In the back, there’s that tray between the seats and cupholders in the centre armrest.

Is it easy to park?

At 4.5 metres long, the 2 Series actually isn’t that small – indeed it’s about 20cm longer than the 1980s 3 Series. The back window appears as a narrow slit in rear view mirror, though you can just about see the thin boot spoiler which helps place the car when parking. The view over your shoulder is pretty hopeless.

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Still, the view forward is perfectly fine, the door mirrors provide a good view, plus all models have parking sensors and a reversing camera. Add it all together and this isn’t a particularly hard car to park. A 360-degree parking camera system is available from the options list.

Safety

• Four-star Euro NCAP rating
• Lots of safety tech on offer
• No front seat Isofix

Car safety experts Euro NCAP gave the BMW 2 Series a four-star rating when it was assessed in 2022. It’s a perfectly safe car for those inside – it scored over 80% for both adult and child occupant protection. But it got comparatively low scores for vulnerable road user protection and its driver assistance systems, largely because it doesn’t have a system that detects pedestrians walking behind the car.

Safety features it does have include autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist and adaptive cruise control – more are available from the options list. Both rear seats have Isofix mounting points, but we don’t fancy the prospect of wrestling child seats in there.

Watch: BMW 2 Series Euro NCAP safety testing video