BMW’s M2 gets the Competition treatment
Can’t shake that 2-series in your mirrors? Could be the new Competition, the car the M2 wanted to be all along
WHITE WITH STRIPES 2002 Turbo. Black ’n’ orange Alpinas, low on fat slicks. Roll-caged Schnitzers at every conceivable angle of oversteer. It’s fair to say Munich’s back catalogue heaves with outstanding examples of quick, compact saloons fettled to kill giants. And now we’ve a new one, the M2 Competition.
The M2 you’ll remember from the world’s rapturous response way back in 2016. Lighter, more affordable, better balanced, usefully compact and with a more satisfying engine than the M3/ M4 above it in BMW’s hierarchy – a turbo six that loves to rev freely, feeling closer to the sparkling M140i than the grunt-laden M3 – the M2 was immediately hailed as M division’s return to form. ‘ The E30 M3 reborn!’ screamed the hysterical masses, and to an extent they had a point. Trademark M visual menace, delicious throttle adjustability you didn’t have to be Winkelhock to enjoy and, if you were of sound mind, a six-speed manual gearbox – as a proposition it was enticing enough to swallow the hefty £47k asking price. (As ever, PCP helps. Right now BMW will do you an M2 for £400 a month if you can find a £7k deposit.)
The new M2 Competition enjoys a clearer position than the mildly baffling relationship between the standard M3/M4 and the Competition Pack cars. With an M3 or M4, the Competition Pack version effectively replaces the standard car – in truth if not in actuality – by bringing such a tangible increase in driver appeal (not to mention visual appeal) via its bigger, wider wheels and re-tuned suspension, and for such a meagre premium4
(£3k) that the Pack may as well be standard-fit. With the M2 it’s simple: the Competition is the M2 now, replacing the 365bhp car we’ve come to know and love with something even more desirable: faster, tauter, meaner.
The M2 Competition is one of the first petrol-engined BMWs to meet the latest EU emissions standards, employing a particulate filter in order to do so. Such filters typically strangle output but Munich’s engine whisperers have thoughtfully wound up the S55 3.0-litre turbo six to more than compensate. Peak power heads north of 400bhp (404bhp: 39bhp up on the standard M2) while peak torque is a useful, tyre-troubling 406lb ft.
For the modest price hike – at £47,260, the Competition’s £2545 dearer than the outgoing M2 – those are decent gains. The 0-62mph sprint time drops a tenth from 4.5sec to 4.4sec for the manual, and to a rapid 4.2sec for the DCT-equipped car. Top speed, with the limiter removed, is 181mph.
But it’s the detail stuff that’ll have wavering buyers grabbing their credit cards and making The Call. The M2 Competition rides lower on revised springs and dampers, promising still greater highs on roads with the space and the spice to do the car justice. The standard wheels are new Y-spoke 19-inchers, with optional 20s available, and they set off a body given a decent wedge more road (or track) presence by extended ‘shadowline’ black detailing, a new lower front bumper, trick new M-spec wing mirrors unique to the M2 Competition and two new metallic colours, Sunset Orange and Hockenheim Silver.
Inside, the 2-series cabin’s lifted by M sports seats (standard on UK cars), the M5’s red starter button, new M-specific dials and M drive manager to calibrate and corral the car’s various steering, powertrain and damper settings. Pop the bonnet, as M deviants are sure to do regularly, and you’ll find a delicious crossbrace in glossy black carbonfibre.
Want more from the M2? Sources suggest a still more extrovert M2 CSL hangs in the balance, its future hinging on production capacity. Think M4 GTS in terms of character – raw and a little wild, with no back seats, big power (440bhp via water injection) and less weight – and price: in excess of £85k.
Until then the M2 Competition will tide us over nicely.