[MR.]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Today I visited the Brussel Auto Salon. The press day was held today and on the BMW stand the German brand showcased not only the new BMW M4 GTS, but also the new BMW M2. It had a prominent place at the beginning of the stand and was included in their presentation as their new M car.

With full anticipation of what was to come I visited the event first checking all the other new cars on the show before visiting the BMW stand. My first impression of the vehicle is one which completely confirms all the photos and videos we have seen before. Nothing new for me and the looks were perceived by myself as I expected it. No negative or postive surprises, I saw what I expected. Still I had goosebumps after waiting so long for it.

After walking around the car I had a proper look inside and made up to 100 photos of all kind of features of the car we have not seen yet. I only had my phone with me and show light always kills the true nature of the interior and exterior still I felt we should have look under the bonnet, inside the interior and under the car, so I focused on those areas.

First impression
Let's go back to my initial impression. The BMW M2 has a strong and aggressive front presence. The position of the fangs and the way the front flows is different from every angle you look at it. The air intakes on left and right are open. They flow into the wheel arches. This is clearly visible on the photos. The inside of the air intakes is made of black plastic and is not the best part of the front bumper, although I can understand why they did it like this.

The sides of the car features the non M-mirrors. Even though we all are complaining about them, I can tell one thing they are not of any concern when you are next to the car. After a while I did not notice them. I am more negative about those side air vents just behind the front wheels. They look cheap! Especially the black plastic. I will definitely replace them.

Move to the rear and you will notice that the rear wheel arches are way more subtle than on the 1M and feel less aggressive. The stone protection stickers are an absolute no go for me. I will get PPF fitted to the complete car to protect it against stone chips.

At the rear not much new. Really noticeable is the way the two reflectors are included in the design of the bumper. From a distance you think they are placed really deep in the body work, but when you get closer this is not the case. The rear diffuser is again made of black cheap plastic. Another thing I will replace on my own car.

Opening the booth and you are greeted with a lot space. I really liked the large opening you had to enter stuff into the boot. The shape of the trunk also worked for me. All in all really nice. There is hardly to no space underneath the floor cover of the boot. The battery is placed in the back and there is no additional space and no spare wheel of course.

Open the door and you are greeted by an interior that is really familiar. Lots of M235i aspects in the cabin. The mount of blue stitching is noticeable. It is simply everywhere; floor mats, seats, back seat, doors, knee protection, head rests, etc... The amount of blue stitching will definitely have you consider taking another color than the LLB body color. It is so visible that I feel that people with grey will absolutely hate the combo. With white and black you can come up with interesting design concepts to have the blue connected to the white or black body color. Perhaps with some exterior accents like a sticker pack. Grey is just a miss in my opinion! Interestingly, the steering wheel has a mix of blue and red stitching.

I was not allowed to start the engine, but I could switch on the power checking all the internal systems and settings. There are not many M or Sport settings. The M4 offers a lot more! There is an option to change the sport setting allowing you to choose between drivetrain + chassis, only drivetrain or only chassis. The chassis option allows you to change the damping of the suspension. Bad news for the manual set up! People will not be able to change rev matching via the menu of the iDrive system. I double checked this with a spokesperson for BMW M.

Talk with BMW M spokesperson:
During my talk with the BMW M spokesperson, we discussed the technical highlights of the car. He told me the following things:

- The turbos are different from the M235i. The M2 has two turbos, not one he said! (We all know that is not true ) They are not the same as the M4. There is a large list of engine changes. If requested I can get the full list from my contact, from air intake to oil pump and more...
- Rev matching for manual cars cannot be disengaged in Sport mode, only goes off in Sport+
- There is no oil or water temperature gauge in the whole car. Information will only presented on the M Performance steering wheel or via an aftermarket system (e.g. P3Cars.com).
- The M2 has the ability to change the damping between comfort and sport. Not sure if there is a difference between comfort, sport and sport+. There is definitely a sport and comfort damping difference and there is a setting for both. In the iDrive menu you can opt for having a comfort chassis mode when you select Sport mode. It is not the same system as the M3/M4 has.
- According to the M spokesperson, no sound deadening material was removed from the car. He never heard about this. This contradicts earlier reports that it was done to safe weight.
- He could not say why the M2 runs on less width tires than the M4. BMW M decision he knew nothing about.
- The M2 has ASD, and you are officially not allowed to disengage it. System works similarly to the M235i.
- The total production number he heard was 7,000 pieces. He is not aware of any production numbers higher than that.
- If you order now in Belgium, your car will be delivered in June/July. There is a six months waiting time for people who order this week.

This is my initial story, when more comes up I will share it with you guys. Please feel free to ask anything which is on your mind and I will try to answer it. Please before asking, check the forum because many questions have already been answered somewhere.

Photos: You will find them here:

- Engine http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214285
- Exhaust http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214307
- Exterior http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214322
- Interior http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214325
- Suspension http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214326
- Wheels http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...5#post19203055

[W///]

The turbo is indeed different than the M235i, but it is a SINGLE turbo, not twin like the S55. That's irrefutable (I know the guy that works with the X4 M40i).

Looking forward to your pics!

[metrickid]

Too bad you can't change the gearbox in SPORT, but you can't get everything you want in life...

[JustChris]

Fantastic information Mr.

- So definitely 2 turbo's rather than a single twin scroll turbo....has your contact been at the bar....?
- I'm amazed that delivery is possible mid year if ordered now, not possible in the UK, at least near to me.
- How was the Alcantara feel, good quality, its only in the door inserts and around the 6MT hood and handbrake? Assume this was a DCT car.
- I might be out of touch with this next one but I thought Adaptive suspension was not an option?
- Any more info you could ask from your contact about the MPerformance suspension coil overs?

Please for all the above of course, thanks again, nice info, looking forward to the pictures.

[MR.]

Originally Posted by W///

The turbo is indeed different than the M235i, but it is a SINGLE turbo, not twin like the S55. That's irrefutable (I know the guy that works with the X4 M40i).

Looking forward to your pics!

I was like... "Really two turbos? Two twin scroll turbos?" And he said "yes, there are two...." In the end I only spotted one turbo fitted to the engine, and I did not want to argue with the guy over the fact that there are one or two turbos.

MR

[jstnstr]

Wow. Usually it's the salespeople who are misinformed about the very product they are selling- but the M representatives as well? Yikes.

[JustChris]

On the photo on the instrument huddle.....do the 2 dotted yellow lines between the speedo and Rev counter indicate active cruise control usually or some sort of lane assist? 2 series and M2 doesn't have that I thought?

[WAY]

Can you please explain what changes does selecting chassis make given there is no adaptive damper???

[metrickid]

Originally Posted by Chris10Bimmers

On the photo on the instrument huddle.....do the 2 dotted yellow lines between the speedo and Rev counter indicate active cruise control usually or some sort of lane assist? 2 series and M2 doesn't have that I thought?

Lane departure warning, part of the Driver Assistance Package.

[hsb]

Can you confirm if it's possible to turn DSC off and still have Throttle set to Sport (non-Comfort)?

[Artemis]

Thanks for your impressions about your first encounter with the M2.

Originally Posted by MR.

Move to the rear and you will notice that the rear wheel arches are way more subtle than on the 1M and feel less agressive. The stone protection stickers are an absolute no go for me. I will get PPF fitted to the complete car to protect it against stone chips.

Dirt tends to keep sticking on the edge of the stone chips film stickered on the rear fender. Of the four colors on offer for the M2, the 'dirt line' of the film will be most visible on AW, methinks.

Originally Posted by MR.

- The M2 has ASD, and you are not official allowed to disengage it. System works similarly to the M235i.

And so the 'Please no Active Sound Design" hope is now officially dashed.

At SEMA 2015 BMW reps told that it is the goal to have the M Performance Parts for the M2 available at launch (April 16, 2016) (see here). Over two months have lapsed in the meantime. Any update yet about the availability date ?

[Benzima]

Very good review! Keep up the pictures!

[W///]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Thanks for your impressions about your first encounter with the M2.



Dirt tends to keep sticking on the edge of the stone chips film stickered on the rear fender. Of the four colors on offer for the M2, the 'dirt line' of the film will be most visible on AW, methinks.



And so the 'Please no Active Sound Design" hope is now officially dashed.

At SEMA 2015 BMW reps told that it is the goal to have the M Performance Parts for the M2 available at launch (April 16, 2016) (see here). Over two months have lapsed in the meantime. Any update yet about the availability date ?

Oh come on, are you really going to believe someone that said the M2 has 2 turbos?

And of course no BMW representative is going to say ASD can be disabled. He was probably thinking via iDrive.

No need to worry, you'll be able to code it off as usual

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Originally Posted by MR.

- There is no oil or water temperature guage in the whole car. Information will only presented on the M Performance

Can you explain this a bit more?

[MR.]

Originally Posted by jstnstr

Wow. Usually it's the salespeople who are misinformed about the very product they are selling- but the M representatives as well? Yikes.

Tell me about, I kept silent during the talk... I was really like W T F are you talking about... Just funny to see all your reactions here now

Originally Posted by WAY

Can you please explain what changes does selecting chassis make given there is no adaptive damper???

Yes, I asked one of the sales representatives a few minutes to make a photo of the car on the stand and the three settings. I included the photos below! The answer is simple. It does not have the adaptive dampers of the M3/M4, but you can set the dampers between sport and comfort. Only the damping is adjustable!

Originally Posted by hsb

Can you confirm if it's possible to turn DSC off and still have Throttle set to Sport (non-Comfort)?

Sport+ allows for DSC off and all settings in Sport mode

And so the 'Please no Active Sound Design" hope is now officially dashed.

At SEMA 2015 BMW reps told that it is the goal to have the M Performance Parts for the M2 available at launch (April 16, 2016) (see here). Over two months have lapsed in the meantime. Any update yet about the availability date ?

I will definitely come up with a DIY for the ASD off. Together with the technician at my dealer I will dive into it and get it removed! The M spokesperson was like but that is not allowed, and I was like I am not from Belgium...

No word on the parts... He could not tell and they were not on display. He also said that there was no removal of sound deadening material.

Originally Posted by W///

Oh come on, are you really going to believe someone that said the M2 has 2 turbos?

And of course no BMW representative is going to say ASD can be disabled. He was probably thinking via iDrive.

No need to worry, you'll be able to code it off as usual

Everyone is allowed to make mistakes... If he makes one mistake does not mean he is wrong on other parts. In the end, we all know more than a sales person. Simply because we love our car, they do it because they get paid to tell a story about a whole number of cars. Most people wouldn't care about the story we are being told, we do as passionate BMW lovers.

Originally Posted by Mattgfx

Can you explain this a bit more?

In the dashboard there is no oil temperature or water temperature gauge. Some people asked me this before and I got confirmed it is not there.

MR

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Originally Posted by MR.

In the dashboard there is no oil temperature or water temperature gauge. Some people asked me this before and I got confirmed it is not there.

MR

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by " Information will only presented on the M Performance " ? Will BMW be offering a solution? Or is it only going to be aftermarket.

[MR.]

Originally Posted by Mattgfx

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by " Information will only presented on the M Performance " ? Will BMW be offering a solution? Or is it only going to be aftermarket.

M Performance Steering wheel has this feature, my fault. I will fix that in my initial text. Typed too fast in the train home

MR

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Originally Posted by MR.

M Performance Steering wheel has this feature, my fault. I will fix that in my initial text. Typed too fast in the train home

MR

Ah okay thanks!

Or something like this, which is frustrating cause the data is there!

http://www.p3cars.com/bmw-2-series/

[MR.]

Originally Posted by Mattgfx

Ah okay thanks!

Or something like this, which is frustrating cause the data is there!

http://www.p3cars.com/bmw-2-series/

Yup that is mentioned on my wishlist Definitely going in the car, or I opt for another system that is not directly connected to the ODB port. There are more options available on the market to deal with this.

MR

[MR.]

Photos: You will find them here:

- Engine http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214285
- Exhaust http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214307
- Exterior http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214322
- Interior http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214325
- Suspension http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1214326
- Wheels http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...5#post19203055

I know I made different topics, but there are so many photos that I thought it would be better to categorize them and discuss each segment of the car separately. Else this topic would become a total mess...

I leave it to Jason (admin) to decide if he wants to merge all to one post or not. I could easily see him setting up a nice gallery system in the first post of this topic including all the photos

I also fixed some grammar errors in my story and updated some little bits and pieces.

MR

[gthal]

I'm confused... it is a passive suspension but has two damping settings? So, unlike the active dampers in the M3/4, this suspension is more like the E92 set up where you could set them from comfort to sport but without active management during driving?

[chak87]

Well engine temperature is displayed in the normal board computer. At least that's what the manual says. Your sales person seems to need some product training.