ENDANGERED SPECIES

The M2 might be the last of its kind from BMW. Enjoy it while you can.

If BMW’s 3 and 5 Series can be considered thoroughbreds, then the 2 Series is pretty much the mongrel of the family.

Bear with me here: while the 3 and 5 share common underpinnings and a similar vibe right from the entry level versions up to the top-spec luxury and firebreathing M variants, the 2 Series can’t claim the same kind of uncluttered lineage.

You see, the 2 Series line-up consists of the FWD/AWD 2 Series Gran Coupe four-door (although BMW NZ has quietly dropped the Gran Coupe here) and Active Tourer baby people mover that share their underpinnings with various Minis, while the RWD 2 Series coupe sits on the same platform as the Z4 and, in turn, the Toyota Supra. Which is quite the DNA cocktail to lump under the

2 Series banner.

And now there is the M2, just to widen that gap even further.

The “2 Series” M2 is about as far away from the “2 Series” 225e Active Tourer as it is possible for a car to get, packing a 338kW/

550Nm version of BMW’s utterly brilliant 3.0-litre turbo inline sixcylinder engine and offering up all the feral thrills you expect from a proper M car, with an added and slightly sad incentive: it will likely be the very last purely ICEpowered RWD M car BMW will ever build.

The M2 is instantly recognisable and strikingly differentiated from the lesser M240i coupe by its aggressively gaping square intakes and a subtly muscular body. Dropping down inside it, the M2 is likewise differentiated inside with some violently colourful seats, M-specific graphics on the infotainment screen, as well as the expected M-coloured stitching. Like the M240i/Z4/Supra it fits like a glove and feels instantly sporty and purposeful, as well as remarkably comfortable.

Fire the M2 up and it doesn’t exactly sound spectacular. Neither does it feel particularly special at urban speeds, giving off strong Z4/Supra vibes and making you wonder quite why you wouldn’t spend a significant amount less and just buy a Supra or even a M240i coupe (you can’t buy a Z4 because BMW has also dropped that here).

But that is selling the M2 short, as once you wind up the revs past the midrange things start getting surreal. The engine takes on a significantly more purposeful bellow and the whole car seems to tighten up like it knows what is coming.

Slam it into a corner with purpose and the M2 shows you just exactly why it is easily worth $32k more than the M240i (and an eyewatering $45k more than a Supra) with the kind of special blend of terrifying ferocity and assured confidence that BMW’s M division does so well.

It is one of those rare performance cars that rewards you for going through a corner quickly by simply going faster at the very next one as your confidence in its abilities grows. Every single corner has you feeling both thrilled and slightly disappointed in yourself when you realise you could have almost certainly gone harder. Ah well, next corner . . . Of course, the wonderfully flexible engine and 8-speed automatic transmission are also totally into this, with the engine roaring and bellowing magnificently, accompanied by savagely fast shifts. The fact that the M2 initially feels somewhat underwhelming at low speeds is simply due to the remarkable flexibility of the engine and slick nature of the transmission when just left in their normal settings.

Of course, this is an M car, so there are many settings you can tweak to get it just as docile or feral as you want, with everything from engine response and suspension stiffness, through to the aggression of the gearshifts being adjustable.

Wind everything up to 11 and the M2 is a fire-breathing supercarworrier that would be a match for some significantly more expensive cars on a winding road.

But wind it down to more mellow levels and you get a wonderfully tractable and docile car that is a superb daily driver.