SEVEN YEARS AGO, BMW M CEO FRANK VAN Meel was given a rare opportunity. He was asked to change the strategy; to retain the identity of BMW M but push the brand further. He was given the freedom to hire the best people, including a new R&D boss, Dirk Häcker. More potently, he was given the freedom to design and build just about whatever he wanted, with one key caveat: all M models must be profitable.
This year, M's 50th anniversary, the real fruits of this arrangement are coming to bear. Some new models, like the M4 CSL and the forthcoming 3.0 CSL, we've been specting; others, such as the XM SUV, we haven't. But away from these extremes you'll also find a new M2- a car that sits both at the entry point for BMW M and spiritually at its core.
With the mandate to ensure that all new M cars are profitable, it makes perfect sense that the latest M2's hardware is not bespoke and expensive but is instead drawn from existing models. Luckily for us, rather than looking down the BMW range for its core components like the original M2 did (early M2s featured a non-M N55 straight-six rather than the later Competition's full-house S55), the new G87 looks up, adopting much of the hardware that's already caused a sensation in the current M3 and M4.
You might have noticed that the word 'Competition' hasn't been mentioned in relation to the new M2. That's because it won't be available in that form, not for now anyway. Nor will it come with a four-wheel-drive option, and while an eight-speed automatic transmission is standard (the market still speaks, after all), there will be a six-speed manual option, which unlike the M4's will come to the UK, recreating that archetypal BMW sports car package: straight-six up front, six gears in the middle, drive to the rear.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
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