BMW M2 Coupe (2022 - 2024) review

The target audience for the BMW M2 know what they’re getting into here and won’t mind the extra costs, but there’s no escaping this will be an expensive car to buy and run. That big six-cylinder engine defines every aspect of the M2’s character, running costs included. While it can return half decent fuel consumption on a relaxed cruise that’s not what the car is about, and as soon as you start enjoying it as intended that figure will plummet. Insurance is also going to be burly, while the weight and performance are going to chew through the (expensive) tyres and brakes, especially if you indulge in a track day or two. The only real positive? You’re basically getting the engine and engineering of the much more expensive M4 for a big saving, while the more compact size and rear-wheel drive arguably make it more fun.

Like all premium brands BMW suffers on the usual reliability indexes as much for the fact its cars cost more to fix if and when they do go wrong as anything. On the plus side the M2 has been thoroughly re-engineered by BMW’s M division, its motorsport mindset meaning everything has been reinforced or updated to cope with the extra performance. That would give us a little more confidence over a regular 2 Series Coupe, but if anything does go wrong it will get very expensive very quickly, so you may want to consider the fixed-cost service package BMW offers.

A bit of Jekyll and Hyde here. If you’re asking the grown-ups the M2 has all the airbags, driver assistance systems and other safety tech you’d expect of a modern premium car. These can be upgraded further with the optional Driving Assistant package, including useful stuff like alerts for crossing traffic when reversing out of blind spaces. It even bongs at you if you go 1mph over the speed limit, which is as an amusing irony given the car’s stated ambitions. Behind that responsible façade lurks a different car, though. And one with things like a Drift Analyser to score how long you can hold the car sideways in the turns. Obviously, this is all intended to be used off the public road and only for track days. But, even there, unleashing these barely concealed hooligan tendencies won’t go down well!

With a sensible hat on you might criticise the M2 for things like its impractical two-door layout, cramped rear seats, the snatchy throttle response and the harshness of its track-inspired suspension. But nobody buys an M2 with their sensible hat on, and there are plenty more comfortable and practical BMWs available if that’s what you need. Still here? OK, although there are fancy carbon fibre bucket seats available we were plenty happy with the firm embrace of the standard ones, the low driving position feeling suitably sporty. There’s also a huge amount of configurability, with two customisable M buttons on the steering wheel. This means you can set up a more relaxed everyday mode with the most comfortable suspension, chilled acceleration and even a more mellow response to the brake pedal. All things relative. And then on the other M button have everything turned up to 11 for when you want to really enjoy it to the max. It’s like having two cars in one, and means you can trundle through towns in relative peace and then unleash hell at the touch of a button as soon as the national speed limit signs appear. A Ford Mustang Dark Horse might nibble at the M2’s heels in raw entertainment terms, but this level of sophistication and the extra everyday usability the tech enables makes sense of the extra money.

Back in the day you’d have to pay extra for a stereo, even on BMW’s top M models. Thankfully it’s changed its ways and now bundles anything it hasn’t already thrown in as standard into easily understood packages to simplify the buying process. OK, the upfront price may be a little higher. But it means even the ‘base’ trim is generously equipped with things like carbon package, M Drive Professional pack with its Track mode and drift analyser and Live Cockpit Professional powering the paired screens as standard. And if you want anything else it’s a straightforward ‘bolt-on’, options including the (expensive) M Race Track Package with the fancy carbon seats and different wheels. This also includes the M Driver’s Pack (available separately as well) which raises the top speed limiter to 180mph and includes a day of driver training on a circuit. One other notable option is the manual gearbox, which purists will love. At least, until they learn it actually costs £1,200 more than the automatic!

If you measure performance purely by the numbers the fact the M2 uses the same engine as the M3 and M4 but makes 460 horsepower rather than 530 horsepower looks a little disappointing. It’s also half a second slower from 0-62mph, mainly because it only powers the rear wheels rather than all four. But there’s much, much more to enjoying a car than the stats, and the very fact the M2 demands a bit more of the driver is something enthusiasts will appreciate. True, you have to be a little more respectful of the throttle if the roads are cold, wet or otherwise greasy because the back end can move around. But the electronic safety nets – assuming you have them engaged – will step in before that becomes too much of a problem, and you can feel the clever traction-enhancing Active M Differential working its magic through the seat of your pants and enjoy what will perhaps be BMW’s last hurrah with the kind of powerful six-cylinder engines it made its name with. The crescendo of noise and boost as the revs increase is truly spectacular, the ability to control it via the shift paddles on the automatic or – still – via a manual gearbox if you prefer all the more special. If there is a disappointment it’s that, while smaller than an M4, it still feels a big and rather heavy car, and a blunt tool compared with the sharper alternatives like the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS.