I wonder if they plan a Touring? (I mean á là 3 Series Touring, not the 2 Active Tourer) I mean, if you're going to compromise on FWD and 4-cyl, then a Tourer is the upside to the compromise. A 'new' 2 Touring would still be longer than my first BMW E30 3 Series Touring back in 1989:
Sadly, both myself and the BMW range have suffered somewhat from middle age spread since then: my 325i Touring above was 170.3" long and the current 2 coupé is 178.5" long. Another retrograde step is that the wipers on those headlights worked way, way better than the hopeless sprayers on my M235i.