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A BOXY BMW with a burbling voice has landed here, but it finds itself in hostile territory. The Category B certificate of entitlement (COE) that applies to the 218i Active Tourer’s 136 horsepower engine now costs S$95,889, which has pushed the new baby’s pricing into adult territory. The Luxury edition kicks things off at S$220,888; a more racy looking M Sport version retails for S$223,888.

If you like the glass roof on the test car that The Business Times drove, you’ll have to add S$9,000 for the Launch Edition options pack, which also includes head-up display, some Augmented Reality overlays on the navigation screen, various parking aids and a rudimentary massage function for the driver’s seat. I’ll take my lumbar manipulation any way I can get it, so what the heck, I would probably cough up the extra cash.

Mind you, BMW dealer Performance Motors is hiking the prices by S$4,000 on Monday. But even before that happens, you would really have to want a BMW with all your heart for this sort of money, because a Volkswagen Golf 1.5 e-TSI Life Plus offers much more car for about S$70,000 less.

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If a VW is too far down for you to reach, brand-wise, the new Active Tourer has many of the same virtues as its predecessor. The boxy shape creates an airy cabin with plenty of headroom, and the boot is a versatile space. It starts at 470 litres, but you can tilt the rear seats more upright or slide them forward as much as 13 cm to expand the cargo area. You can fold the seats flat, too, giving you a useful 1,455 litres. 

Ultimately, the Active Tourer isn’t a large car, so things in the back will feel intimate if you use all 3 seats there, but the hatchback format and commodious boot are what allow BMW to tout this as a car for an active lifestyle. You’re meant to haul a bicycle, perhaps a pooch, or maybe a pram around in this BMW, not a trio of sullen teens.

That much was true of the previous model, so what’s noticeably fresh here is the fact that the cabin borrows liberally from the iX, BMW’s tech flagship. Like that car, the Active Tourer has a dashboard with a long curved screen, along with a floating armrest with a neat cluster of buttons and switches, most of them to do with making the car go.

The layout isn’t as dazzling as it is in the much larger, much more expensive iX, but it’s a big improvement on what the last car had, which was a rotary controller buried low between the front seats. Meanwhile, the operating system is BMW’s slickest looking one yet, though it’s also more confusing to use than ever.

The Active Tourer is a practical car overall, but if you’re looking for driving pleasure here, you’re barking up the wrong hatchback. The handling isn’t especially sharp or lively, even on the M Sport’s lowered suspension setup, and the acceleration is no more than eager. The twin-clutch gearbox makes the car step into action abruptly sometimes, and the engine has a 3-cylinder warble that’ll either delight your ears or assault them, depending on how you feel a BMW should sound.

On the plus side, it’s a frugal car that most people would have to fill up only twice a month; even after I covered 259 km, the trip computer said the 218i would have kept going for another 635 km.

It’s also sharper looking than before, with crisper lines and fashionably slim lamps, plus a less-steeply-raked front windscreen that eases some of its predecessor’s frumpiness. All that aside, what would really get buyers interested in the new Active Tourer is the launch of a less powerful 216i version that qualifies for a Category A COE (currently yours for S$68,001). That doesn’t exist yet, but is probably inevitable, because BMW does have the engine to make it happen, and would merely have to slip it into the Active Tourer. At this end of the market, it’s what’s inside the box that counts. 

BMW 218i Active Tourer M Sport Launch Edition

Engine: 1,499cc, turbo in-line 3

Power: 136 hp at 4,400 to 6,500rpm

Torque: 230 Nm at 1,500 to 4,000rpm

Gearbox: 7-speed twin-clutch automatic

0-100km/h: 9 seconds

Top Speed: 214 km/h

Fuel Efficiency: 6.9L/100km

Agent: Performance Motors Limited

Price: S$232,888 with COE

Available now