Okay, so possibly you’re having a tough time with the entire “BMW’s performance future is a hybrid SUV” factor. You aren’t out of contact; it’s the kids who’re fallacious. Thankfully, BMW isn’t simply wholesale abandoning the standard sports activities vehicles its M division is thought for. In truth, the 2023 M2 takes a refreshingly back-to-basics strategy to efficiency.
Full disclosure: BMW flew me to Arizona and put me up for 2 nights so I might drive the M2 with different journalists. BMW additionally let me drive an M2 again house to Los Angeles, which meant I received to cease and see my pricey buddies, the Cabazon dinosaurs.
The present G42-generation 2-Series coupe makes use of the identical modular structure that underpins the BMW 3-Series and 4-Series, so it’s no shock that the M2 is carefully associated to the M3 and M4. All three vehicles have the identical engine, chassis and brake {hardware}, and the M2 comes normal with the staggered 19-inch entrance and 20-inch rear wheel setup that’s elective on the M3 and M4, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.
Dimensionally, the M2, M3 and M4 are an equivalent 74.3 inches extensive, with the identical 63.7-inch entrance and 63.2-inch rear track-width measurements. However, the M2 has a 4.4-inch shorter wheelbase, which makes it noticeably extra agile. Aiding within the M2’s nimbleness are entrance springs which might be stiffer than what you get on the M4, making for sharper turn-in. Softer rear springs make the M2’s tail somewhat extra energetic, as nicely, and since this setup requires additional damping forces, BMW suits this coupe with firmer dampers borrowed from the European-market M3 Touring.
Every M2 comes normal with BMW’s Adaptive M suspension, and there are tangible variations between the coupe’s Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus settings. On the hilly roads up close to Prescott, Arizona, or on my favourite native canyons again house in California, Sport Plus does an excellent job at maintaining the M2 secure whereas cornering with out being overly chatty on damaged pavement.
Comfort mode works properly, too, simply in the other way. Don’t get me fallacious, the M2 is stiff, but it surely’s an M automotive, in order that’s to be anticipated. That doesn’t imply the M2 is a ache within the ass to dwell with daily, and even on a six-hour slog between Phoenix and Los Angeles. This automotive is simply as compliant as an M3 or M4. But possibly don’t spec the hella-aggro carbon bucket seats with the bizarre thigh bulge should you’re planning to drive lengthy distances on the common.
The M2 has the identical brake-by-wire setup because the M3 and M4 – noticing a sample? – with Comfort and Sport settings, however in contrast to the adaptive suspension, the distinction between these two modes is just about imperceptible. More importantly, the brake-by-wire expertise doesn’t really feel synthetic or tough to modulate, with the six-piston vented entrance discs offering enough stopping power with out pronounced nostril dive.
BMW’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-6 engine is a peach throughout the board, and also you received’t discover the 20-hp shortfall within the M2 in comparison with the M3/M4. With 453 hp delivered at 6,250 rpm and 406 lb-ft of torque obtainable between 2,650 and 5,870 rpm, the M2 rips. BMW says it takes the M2 4.1 seconds to hit 60 mph – identical to the M3 and M4 – or 3.9 seconds should you ditch the usual 6-speed handbook transmission for the elective 8-speed automated.
The automated transmission is okay, and the steering-wheel-mounted paddles are comparatively satisfying to make use of, however should you cross up the six-speed handbook, goodness are you lacking out. I do know some individuals complain about BMW’s handbook gearboxes feeling rubbery, however I like it; there’s nice tactile motion whereas shifting between the gears. You can simply flip off the automated rev-matching tech within the drive mode menu, however I’m a giant fan of leaving this on. Smoothing out downshifts makes the handbook transmission a lot much less of a problem while you’re caught in stop-and-go visitors, and it enables you to seize decrease gears faster and extra easily, too.
The M2 is rear-wheel drive, and BMW isn’t planning to supply an xDrive all-wheel-drive variant, however an digital limited-slip differential manages energy supply and vectors torque throughout the axle to assist with total grip. There are ten completely different ranges of traction management intervention, which is de facto simply overkill, so far as I’m involved. There’s additionally a Drift Analyzer operate to critique your TC-off slides, however please don’t be a type of individuals who makes use of this in a grocery retailer parking zone or a canyon highway turnout. No one is impressed by your smoky antics, I promise.
The lack of all-wheel drive is hardly a dealbreaker, and it’s one of many solely issues that really separates the M2 from the M3 and M4. The interiors of those M vehicles are all principally the identical, particularly now that the M3 and M4 get the brand new curved infotainment show that includes a digital gauge cluster and BMW’s iDrive 8 multimedia suite. In each different regard, in comparison with a base M3 or M4, the M2 is simply pretty much as good – if not higher.
Besides, don’t neglect: If you need an xDrive M3 or M4, you must pay for the privilege. All-wheel drive is barely obtainable on the Competition variants of the M3 and M4, which value $83,595 and $85,935, respectively, together with a $995 vacation spot payment. Sure, you get 503 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque with the Competition fashions, however is that actually well worth the upcharge? With a base worth of $63,195 – or $75,395 together with supply on my well-optioned check automotive – the M2 is a severe cut price. It additionally seems to be a hell of so much higher in my opinion, although given BMW’s styling path of late, that’s clearly debatable.
More than something, the M2 is a reminder that BMW cares about constructing thrilling sports activities vehicles at the same time as its portfolio expands to incorporate new sorts of M merchandise. The M2 is perhaps a bigger, extra advanced, barely uglier model of the coupe that got here earlier than, but it surely’s each bit as satisfying. I’d completely have one over an M4.
Engine sort
Twin Turbo Premium Unleaded I-6
Transmission/Drive
Manual w/OD
Source: jalopnik.com