Compare the2024 Subaru LegacyVS 2023 BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Legacy have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Legacy are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Legacy are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Legacy has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Legacy. But it costs extra on the 2 Series Gran Coupe.

Both the Legacy and the 2 Series Gran Coupe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Legacy the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 55 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 2 Series Gran Coupe last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.

Subaru’s powertrain warranty covers the Legacy 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than BMW covers the 2 Series Gran Coupe. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the 2 Series Gran Coupe ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 80 percent more Subaru dealers than there are BMW dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Legacy’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than BMW vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 7 more problems per 100 vehicles, BMW is rated lower.

The Legacy Sport/XT’s standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder produces 32 more horsepower (260 vs. 228) and 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 258) than the 228i Gran Coupe’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Legacy lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

On the EPA test cycle the Legacy gets better mileage than the 2 Series Gran Coupe:

The Legacy has 5.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the 2 Series Gran Coupe (18.5 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Legacy has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Legacy stops shorter than the 2 Series Gran Coupe:

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Legacy’s wheelbase is 3.2 inches longer than on the 2 Series Gran Coupe (108.3 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Legacy is .7 inches wider in the front and 1.9 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the 2 Series Gran Coupe.

For better maneuverability, the Legacy’s turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the 2 Series Gran Coupe’s (36.8 feet vs. 37.4 feet).

The front grille of the Legacy 2.5i uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Legacy Sport is quieter than the M235i xDrive Gran Coupe:

The Legacy has 1.4 inches more front legroom, 2.6 inches more front shoulder room, 1.5 inches more rear headroom, 5.1 inches more rear legroom and 4.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the 2 Series Gran Coupe.

The engine in the Legacy is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the 2 Series Gran Coupe. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Legacy’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Legacy Base). The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its BMW Assist can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Legacy’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the 2 Series Gran Coupe’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Marginal.”

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Legacy has standard extendable sun visors. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Both the Legacy and the 2 Series Gran Coupe offer available heated front seats. The Legacy Limited/Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the 2 Series Gran Coupe.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Legacy Touring keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The 2 Series Gran Coupe doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Subaru Legacy and the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Subaru Legacy outsold the BMW 2 Series by almost two to one during 2022.