The G42 is the last compact BMW coupé built the traditional way: longitudinal engine, rear-wheel drive, and a straight-six in the M240i. When BMW put the 2 Series Gran Coupé on front-wheel drive in 2019 the format looked finished; two years later the G42 said otherwise.
Mechanically it belongs to the CLAR family and sits closer to the 3 Series G20 than to any other 2 Series. For suspension and driveline the trail leads there, not to the Active Tourer, with which it shares nothing but a number. On this model that is the single most useful thing to know, because the badge misleads.
The G42 is built at San Luis Potosí in Mexico, on the same line as the 3 Series of those years.
The M2 G87 uses the same shell but brings widened wings, its own aprons and its own bonnet. Doors, roof and boot lid are common. Speakers and headlights are the first parts to have reached us from this model.
