2016 BMW M2 REVIEW | A Modern Classic Is Born… Like An ‘M-Car’ Of Old
IS THE DESCENDANT OF THE INFAMOUSLY INSANE 1M COUPE – THE NEW BMW M2 – REALLY AS GOOD AS EARLY REPORTS SUGGEST?
The motoring press has been describing it as some kind of miracle on wheels, and throwing around superlatives like “incandescent”, “inimitable” and “interstellar”.
And if so, why is BMW selling it so cheaply? Buying a proper M car has always been a six-figure proposition, yet the M2 starts at just $89,900, and even the top-spec model is $98,900.
BMW has a plan, of course, and that is to attract new and younger buyers to its brand with this piece of eye and engineering candy. The fact that it comes loaded with “apps” should be enough of a hint that the M2 is aimed at successful up and comers, aged in their mid-, or even low-30s.
It turns out, however, that the M Division has made a car so good, so exciting and so pure that everyone will want one, and anyone who’s already bought an M4 for $150K may either rue their decision, or buy an M2 as well.
Vehicle style: Two-door coupe
Price: $89,900 for the manual Pure ($98,900 with DCT)
Engine/trans: 3.0-litre, twin-turbocharged straight six with 272kW and 500Nm, six-speed manual or seven-speed DCT
Fuel economy claimed: 8.5L/100km
OVERVIEW
Making a car that borrows much of its technology and driver-focused philosophy from the already impressive BMW M3 and M4, but being allowed to make it smaller, sharper, lighter and significantly cheaper must have been one hell of a design brief for the father of the BMW M2, M Division engineer Frank Isenberg.
But then he’d been given a similar job before, with the 1M Coupe, back in 2011 – a car that even he now admits was flawed, due to a limited development timeline, and borderline dangerous to drive at the limit.
(Those failings haven’t stopped it becoming something of a legend, and a collector’s item, of course.)