M2: BMW’s smallest M bomb delivers a massive wallop

Every so often, a car comes along that much is expected of, and that car right now is BMW’s new M2.

Down to business

From the time it was first shown, motoring journalists and performance enthusiasts alike couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. We did, and our first stop was the Gerotek high-speed test facility to see if the hype was true.

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The compact high-performance segment is inhabited by the likes of Audi’s RS3 and Mercedes-AMG‘s A45 S. On our leader board, the results are: Audi’s 294 kW all-wheel-drive RS3 Sedan, which has always ruled the roost with a really quick 3.92 second 0-100 km/h run, and BMW’s previous-generation 331 kW M2 CS with a 3.99 sec run.

Audi’s RS3 Sportback slots in third with a 4.08 sec run and Mercedes-AMG’s 310 kW A45 S Hatch is the “slowest” with a 4.15 sec run.

These RS and AMG models are the pinnacle of what these brands can offer in terms of performance, and they went heads up against the previous-generation M2 CS, which is the pinnacle of what BMW was offering then.

Old vs new M2

The previous, 272 kW M2 ran the N55 engine and got to 100 km/h in 4.44 sec, which was barely quicker than a run-of-the-mill M240i and was never in contention against the big guns.

The previous M2 Competition and CS ran the S55 engine from the previous-generation F80 M3 and M4, and were quicker and could take the fight to the other two.

This M2 starts out by running the S58 engine from the current G80 M3 and M4. In very basic terms, this means bigger turbos with more boost, which on paper only increases the power output by seven kilowatts to 338 kW, while the torque remains the same at 550 Nm.

But the car on test here is only an M2: there will be a hotter M2 Competition coming next, and finally we should see the fastest version in a CS model being unleashed.

What if I told you it can not only compete with the two RS3s and the AMG A45 S, but is now faster than them all? It goes to the top of our leader board by some margin in high-performance terms.

That seven kilowatts does not come close into translating what happens on the road. This M2 jumps off the line without any fuss, thanks to the launch control electronics doing the work of keeping the power on the ground, and hits 100 km/h in just 3.86 seconds.

I knew it was going to be ugly after 100 km/h because the urge remains relentless, and that’s when
the M2 really puts its head down and runs away from the Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

The 200 km/h mark is crossed in only 12.53 seconds, and the 250 km/h electronic speed limiter kicks in at around 1 000 metres after you hit the accelerator.

Even in the roll-on acceleration runs, with an 8.62 seconds 100-200 km/h pull, they aren’t keeping up with this BMW. Sure, if you don’t opt for the M Driver’s Package that sees the limiter move to 285km/h, this will be the only time they will be able to get past this M2.

Warning

A word of warning: if you don’t make use of the launch control function, and switch the traction control nannies off, you will still be burning rubber in third gear.

When you combine this with that slightly jittery, very much alive feeling at high speed that this chassis setup offers, driving a new M2 can be a very exciting thing, or a very dangerous one.

You will have to decide which one it is, but for me, this is the most fun I have had this year in a test car, and the M2 is my pick of the bunch.

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