Spiritually, the M2 has a connection to previous, old-school BMWs. But mechanically, it’s very much a 21st-century Bavarian.
Amid all the SUVs and electric things that BMW currently builds, the 2-Series is a throwback. It’s a two-door sedan when two-door sedans are hardly a thing anymore (even if BMW says it’s a coupe). It’s compact when just about everything else has swollen up like Mothra. It’s not cheap, but it’s the least expensive machine BMW sells wearing an M. And it’s the closest car in the current line to a 2002 Tii from the 1960s or the first three generations of the M3.
“The engine is so smooth with torque across the rev range that you can afford to be a gear off,” wrote Mack Hogan during Performance Car of the Year judging. “The manual gearbox, though, feels like an afterthought.”
That engine is the latest variation of the S58 turbocharged straight six. Displacing 2993 cubic centimeters (seven short of a true 3.0 liters of course), it’s rated at a thick 453 horsepower with its peak 406 pound feet of torque consistently available from 2650 to 5870 rpm. It’s an astonishingly forgiving engine; eager but never undisciplined.
There aren’t many manual transmissions around anymore, so there’s something ungracious about criticizing any of the survivors. That in mind, the M2’s stick is easily stirred if not the precise wand that Honda puts in its Civics and Integras.
As small as the 2-Series two-door is, it’s not that small. The 108.1-inch wheelbase is a tenth of an inch longer than the first-generation (1967 to 1969) Chevrolet Camaro. But at 180.3 inches longer overall, the BMW is four or five inches shorter than that ancient GM machine. More contemporaneously, the M2’s wheelbase is 4.4 inches shorter than a 2024 M3’s and the M2 is 8.5 inches less lengthy overall. More bafflingly, while the M3 curb weight is listed by BMW at a porky 3890 pounds, the M2 is only 145 pounds slimmer at 3745 pounds.
On the race track, Raphael Orlove reported back some earned affection. “It has lovable high-speed oversteer and it’s easy to manage in its racier modes. Keep your eyes up, it’s on you to keep it on the pavement. It’s not the easiest driving (or shifting) car, but it would fun, and maybe dangerous, car to live with.”
“The seats, while probably awful on the street,” wrote Matt Farah, “work well on track. And it’s tough to get it in the ride-driving mode, even if all you want is ‘full off.’ Thank God it has a stick. The stick is what keeps the engagement where it needs to be. Because without the clutch and shifter, it would be very digital.”
Dan Pund was similarly engaged. “This thing moves around a hell of a lot,” he noted. “Not really in a treacherous way, but I expected it to be less lively and a bit more buttoned down. It’s way more fun than the M3/M4. The shifter is typical BMW in being both clunky and tight.”
There’s something engagingly awkward about how the M2 looks. It’s boxy, the grille up front isn’t a monstrosity, and the greenhouse tumble from the roof to the decklid is severe. The “Hofmeister Kink” is there, and that’s where the kinky stuff stops.
Spiritually, the M2 has a connection to previous, old-school BMWs. But mechanically, it’s very much a 21st-century Bavarian. With a 0 to 60 mph clocking of 3.9 seconds, it’s ridiculously quick compared to say, the 140-horsepower 2002 Tii (the 1972 edition of which hit 60 mph in 9.0 seconds for Car and Driver), and even the beloved, 333-horsepower E46-generation 2003 M3 needed 4.8-seconds to reach that mark. So, the throwbacks here to old BMWs only go so far with the M2.
But that’s all the throwback there is at BMW right now. And that’s pretty good.
