BMW M2 review: a week with a ‘sensible’ sports car
During my week with the M2, most journeys were utterly ordinary: a visit to the garden centre, several school runs and a schlep around the M25 to collect a giant Pikachu (don’t ask). BMW’s photos show the car blasting through the deserted Scottish Highlands. My reality was somewhat different.
Before you ask, yes I did seek out some ‘proper’ roads – and we’ll come to that. But my point is those errands wouldn’t have been possible in most of the M2’s rivals: low-slung sports cars with two seats such as the Alpine A110, Porsche 718 Cayman and Toyota GR Supra. Only the Ford Mustang offers a comparable blend of performance and practicality.
Our friends at The Intercooler have a maxim that the amount of enjoyment you gain from a car is directly related to how often you can use it. So while the Alpine might be a fantastic weekend toy, the BMW fits into utterly ordinary life more easily. It adds some excitement to your everyday.
Pumped-up performance
This latest ‘G87’ M2 will be the last powered solely by internal combustion – every forthcoming M car will be either hybrid or electric. It also follows the classic M formula of a six-cylinder engine up front and two driven wheels at the rear. Whatever you think of the BMW’s styling, these feel like reasons to celebrate it.
Did somebody mention styling? It seems impossible to write a BMW review these days without wading in. For what it’s worth, I rather like the M2’s square jaw and squat stance, but its lumpy hind quarters look like the aftermath of a botched Brazilian butt-lift. You can even add a kit of carbon fibre M Performance Parts for a full Max Power makeover.
Underneath, the M2 is essentially a BMW M3 or M4 with 110mm spliced from its middle. It uses a slightly detuned version of the larger car’s 3.0-litre straight-six engine, and co-opts its eight-speed automatic gearbox, six-piston brakes and adaptive suspension. On the plus side, this means 460hp and 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds. Less excitingly, it means a kerb weight of 1,725kg – around 200kg heavier than the previous ‘F87’ M2.
It’s the M, people
The baby M’s interior also borrows much from its bigger brothers, including a digital driver’s display and widescreen media system. Compared to the peerless clarity of BMW dashboards of old, it feels bewildering at first, particularly once you delve into all the drive modes.
However, the little red M1 and M2 toggles on the steering wheel can be programmed with shortcuts to your preferred settings. After some experimentation, I generally went for the steering in Comfort, suspension in Sport and drivetrain in Sport Plus.
As you’d hope for £65,830, the car is comprehensively equipped (a radio is standard, unlike BMW dashboards of old), although the light-up M2 logos in the seat headrests are, frankly, a bit embarrassing. My car came with the standard chairs, which are supportive and much comfier than the optional carbon fibre buckets with their ‘codpiece’ central hump.
There’s enough space for two moody teenagers in the back (another real-world test I ticked off), plus a split/fold rear seat and 390 litres of luggage space. The latter is on par with a medium-sized hatchback.
Paddles or stick?
My M2 also had the automatic transmission, likely to be chosen by 90 percent of buyers. It has a traditional torque converter rather than a dual-clutch setup, which sounds like a cause for concern but genuinely isn’t. OK, the shifts aren’t quite as rapid-fire as a DCT when you’re really pressing on, but you will rarely notice any difference.
For that 10 percent of purists, there’s also a six-speed manual – not available on the M3 or M4 in the UK. BMW charges a hefty £1,200 for the privilege of swapping your own cogs, and the car needs an extra 0.2 seconds to reach 62mph. That said, as our final chance to buy an M car with a stick shift, I’d certainly be tempted.
If the old M2 was a bit of a hooligan, this one takes longer to get beneath your skin. It’s also a more cerebral experience than one of the similarly-priced German super-hatches: the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45 S. You won’t hear any gratuitous exhaust pops from this twin-turbocharged six, just a cultured snarl, soaring power delivery and an addictive enthusiasm for revs.
Everyday excitement
Find those ‘proper’ roads and the BMW rewards with a beautiful sense of balance. Its steering doesn’t bristle with feedback, but it is wonderfully calm and precise. Body control is equally deft, despite all the extra weight on board; it’s a far sharper tool than a Ford Mustang.
Equally, instead of the short-wheelbase snappiness of the old M2, this one feels progressive and confidence-building, even when deliberately provoked. No doubt, the hooligan is still there, and waiting to be unleashed on a wet roundabout, but this car has a sensible side to its character too.
Part of me, I’ll confess, feels saddened by that. I loved the upstart attitude of the original M2 – and indeed its 1 Series M Coupe predecessor. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this car feels closer to a downsized M3 or M4.
Yet a larger part of me enjoyed – and regularly exploited – the M2’s extra bandwidth, particularly when tasked with the kind of prosaic, day-to-day driving you don’t see in press photos. The amount of enjoyment you gain from a car is directly related to how often you can use it, after all.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
PRICE: £65,830
POWER: 460hp
0-62MPH: 4.1sec
TOP SPEED: 155mph
FUEL ECONOMY: 29.1mpg
CO2 EMISSIONS: 220g/km