This New Little BMW M2 Is Going To Slay Giants
Don’t let its modest price tag fool you. The newest little car from BMW’s legendary M division is here to slay some sports car giants.
The all-new 2023 BMW M2 starts at $76,500, which is about $10,000 less than you’d pay for an M4 coupe or M3 sedan, and firmly in Porsche Boxster territory. But, given how good the regular 2 Series coupe is, and the fact M division has been knocking it out of the park lately, we’d bet good money the little M2 will embarrass plenty of six-figure sports cars. In terms of smiles-per-dollar, drivers are sure to get a good return.
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
Fan Service
Before we get to why, let’s put the M2 in context for a moment. This is a big moment for BMW M; the brand is celebrating its 50th anniversary by doing some excellent fan service. (After 50 years of making performance cars that delight teenage speed-demons, suburban parents and track-rats alike, the brand’s fanbase is borderline cult-ish.)
To please those fans, M recently brought back the CSL badge, which was last seen on the now-classic M3 CSL (E46) from the early ‘00s. Like its forebearer, the new 2023 M4 CSL is a stripped-out, two-seat Nurburgring weapon that starts at $166,500 and puts 543 horsepower to the rear wheels. It has all the carbon-fibre, and, actually, doesn’t cost too much more than what you’d pay for a mint 2003 CSL.
All-New M2
The M2 is the most recent bit of fan service from M, on this its 50th anniversary. Rather than adopt the strange (and highly controversial) design of the M3 and M4, the M2 eschews the gaping-grille look in favour of a shape that echoes many of the great M cars of old. Note the slim kidney grille, classic front-engine-rear-drive proportions, perfect stance and bulging wheel arches. *Chef Kiss* The big wing and extra carbon-fibre bits you see pictured here are all optional, available through the Performance Parts catalog.
Not only does it look good, it’s likely the last purely gasoline-powered M2. If there is a next-gen model in seven or eight years, we’d expect it to be all-electric.
Under the bulging bodywork, the M2 borrows a lot from the M4. The little M is only available in rear-wheel drive form, but its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six is roughly the same as you’d find in the M4, albeit detuned to 453 horsepower. That’s just 20 ponies less than the bigger M, but both cars get from 0-100 km/h within 0.1 seconds of each other. Inside, the M2 also adopts BMW’s latest widescreen infotainment screen.
Best of all? The BMW M2 is available in rear-drive form with a classic six-speed manual transmission. Purists rejoice. (An eight-speed automatic is on offer too, in case you’d prefer to spare your left foot from clutch duty.)
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
2023 BMW M2
A Giant Slayer?
On paper at least, we’d argue the M2 is better bang-for-your-buck than the M4. (To our eyes the smaller car looks better too, but see for yourself.) The Porsche 718 series is engaging, but doesn’t offer rear seats. Same goes for the outgoing Jaguar F-Type. To get rear seats, luxury shoppers would likely want to step up to the Porsche 911, which has a more luxurious cabin, certainly, but costs nearly double what the M2 does and offers significantly less horsepower. An Acura NSX is more exotic, but is it really more fun? The same question could be asked of Audi’s R8 too. Yes, we have high hopes for this new M car.
It’s no secret we at SHARP have a weakness for the M2. When we drove the first-generation model back in 2016 we called it ,“the perfect first sports car.” And then we drove the hotter M2 Competition in 2018, and we said it is, “dollar for dollar, the most fun in recent memory. It’s a muscle car with finesse.” Even before the M2 came along we loved its unhinged predecessor, the 1 Series M Coupe.
The reason we can’t help but love these little M cars isn’t brand loyalty or nostalgia, it’s the simple fact they offer everyday practicality mixed with entertaining handling (read: they’re all twitchy tail-happy little monsters). These cars prioritize real-world joy above lap times, and as a result they feel alive where most other sports cars feel artificial or, worse, inert. Nobody has driven the littlest new M car yet, but we expect the M2 to pick up where its forebearers left off.
We’ll find out next year if the all-new BMW M2 can live up to its giant-slaying potential.
