| Engine | Power | Torque | 0-100kph | Top speed | Weight | Basic price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inline 6cyl, turbo, 2979cc | 365bhp @ 6500rpm | 500Nm (369lb ft) @ 1450-4750rpm | 4.5secs | 250kph | 1495kg (248bhp/ton) | $62,200 |
On start-up, there’s a deeper and slightly more wild engine note simmering quickly into an almost menacing cadence compared with the more muted sounds of the M235i. There’s also the insane degrees of speed this mini-nuclear weapon is capable of achieving. Barrel-chested levels of torque low down mean initial pick-up is punchy straight out of the traps, continuing to rise with authority before delivering a sizeable blow as the needle ticks past the 4000rpm mark, finally running out of steam before the 7000rpm redline. With an empty road in front of me, I’d been keen to see how spirited the M2’s internal organs could be in the higher reaches, and must admit to being slightly disappointed. Whilst the donor M4’s six-cylinder continues to gnash at the bit with twin-turbocharged fury, the M2 does feel a little strained in the final few hundred revs, a slightly anti-climactic end to a euphoric build.
“This is actually the single turbocharged ‘N55’ lifted straight from the M235i. Or X4 m40i if you’re a frequent wearer of cardigans”
If though you think speed suffers as a result, you’re forgetting the M2’s sub-five second 0-100kph time and my non-too-rare dalliances with idiocy. The delivery is direct but builds with surprising ferocity. It’s a delivery eased forward by tight, punchy shifts through the dual-clutch seven-speed M box, and while perhaps not as volcanic as say a Mercedes-AMG A45 – which you’ll also find loitering around this price range – the delivery is certainly sweeter.
Little compares to the manner in which the M2 dives into the corners. It’s incredibly impressive. The M235i’s body control, by comparison, feels more inconsistent. The M2 meanwhile feels so much lighter and sprightlier on its feet, the front and rear wheels in almost perfect harmony under direction change. Turn-in is sharp and grip extraordinary, but the widened rear quarter – ironically designed to keep the rear wheels in check – is quick to break loose when we’re into the more energetic heights of Sport+.
Surprisingly, oversteer isn’t as snappy – nor as unpredictable – as it was in the 1M prodigal son, the transition more fluid and thus more engaging to temper. The steering’s rate of response is similarly well-judged, and the balance close to perfect. By comparison, I doubt the more weighty M4 could match the M2’s composure on these roads.
One crest after another is passed before the road finally starts to level out, the six-cylinder barely out of breath and almost daring the mountain to continue its rise into the clouds. Here though the road starts dropping down again into an internal valley before another, far steeper climb to the summit. The tight switchbacks are replaced almost entirely by long-sweeping off-camber turns, a much more flowing collection of turns that put heavy demands on the M’s massive brake callipers. Again, the M235i is just a passing reference, the additional beef giving me the confidence to really harry the front end. Travel through the pedal is short but the response is commendable. Even though I’m really leaning on the nose – mostly using that wide, hungry berth of torque between third and fourth gears – the rears continue to jink occasionally as one corner after another bottoms out before dropping once again. I’m suddenly very grateful for the consistently weighted steering in Sport+. Only then do I look down from the head-up display to check how far the temperature has dropped, and see the fuel gauge staring back at me. Crap…
“One crest after another is passed, the six-cylinder barely out of breath and daring the mountain climb to continue”
It takes a while for the camera car to catch up, by which time I’ve pulled a quick u-turn and am short shifting my way back up the hill, that previously rapid throttle response now being coerced as gently as I can. It’s to no avail though, and as the road mercifully begins to flatten out, I pull the plug on my efforts and admit defeat. The orange light is on, and only if I get out and push will the M2 make the final 40km stretch to the pump.
Nearly two hours have passed since we entered the mountains to begin with, and almost 30 minutes since the guys disappeared up the road on their rescue mission. The air is still, the ticks from the cooling engine are now a distant memory in the crisp night air. Though it’s not the scenario I would have chosen – this will be an embarrassing phone call to BMW in the morning – I’m relieved that my time on the climb was not in vain. Without doubt the M2 has been one of the most eagerly-awaited cars of the year, and it hasn’t disappointed.
Punchy, dramatic strikes from the six-cylinder mean the M2 has a real hunger, and while it may not champ at the redline bit quite as menacingly as I’d expected, the body control and deft balance under direction changes are still mighty.
QUOTE
But there’s more to it than that. There’s a lightness, an added dimension of agility to the M2 that the M4 had been lacking, and only now with a spirited drive through the mountains has that become clear. It hasn’t knocked my enthusiasm for the M4 – it’s still a great car – but there is a very subtle shift in character away from the outwardly lairy and feisty larger coupe to the slightly more restrained yet exploitable nature of the M2. It’s superbly fast, absolutely, but somehow more exciting when speed takes a step back and allows that back end to dance.
These same thoughts continue to bounce around my head until the guys finally arrive with a very full jerry can, enough to get me a further 90km. Behind the BMW M2 lies the same mountain range we’ve just destroyed.
…one more run wouldn’t hurt…
- Full technical specifications available on page 3
