[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Poochie

That's true but when I read in between the lines of Frank Meel's Q&A; he said that if they could, they would offered both the M2 and M2C co-currently but because of forced retirement, that's not an option. Leads me to believe they originally wanted to save the S55 for something special, like a M2 CS or CLS and eventually had to scrap those plans and offer it in the standard M2C because of regulations.
So maybe 'rush' was the wrong work but more of a change of course.. This is just an opinion, I could be wrong...

Here's the excerpt from the interview with BMW M boss Frank van Meel (source: here):

• Q: Why opt for the S55 engine and introduce such a massive change to the key character of the M2?
• A: During the development of the M2 Competition, we faced a major challenge with regards to the N55 engine due to a number of reasons. First of all, we felt we pushed the engine performance to its limits. 370 horsepower is a great number, but we wanted more. Secondly, we needed changes to meet the new European emissions standards, and so a business decision was made to move to the S55 engine and develop a brand new exhaust system for the M2 Competition which includes the same particulate filter as on the M4.
• Q: Would you have kept the base M2 available for sale, if the WLTP [Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure] would not have played any role in the decision making process?
• A: Yes, the production of the M2 LCI would not come to an end this summer if the WLTP did not play a role. We would have continued the M2 next to the M2 Competition and both cars would have been built alongside each other at the factory in Leipzig, Germany.

[Artemis]

Damn, that feeling when they roll the roof like a tin can... (from 00:32 onwards).

[seis-speed]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Damn, that feeling when they roll the roof like a tin can... (from 00:32 onwards).

Yeah, no thanks!

Does look good when done though!!!!

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Damn, that feeling when they roll the roof like a tin can... (from 00:32 onwards).

Thanks for the video. Actually they make that look easy. Kinda eases my mind letting port install the roof, since they will have some formal instructions/guidelines to follow.

[boostspoon]

That was a very quick snippet video, there may have been steps or hurdles that’s left out.

If anything, I don’t know how others feel about people stepping in and out of that interior with potential scuffs. Not a fan but if you so desire having that roof, you do you!

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by boostspoon

T
If anything, I don’t know how others feel about people stepping in and out of that interior with potential scuffs. Not a fan but if you so desire having that roof, you do you!

Literally have zero worry with port install. Don't like something I see, simply don't accept the car. Scuff on a panel or seat or whatever, replace it or I'm not completing the purchase.

[boostspoon]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Literally have zero worry with port install. Don't like something I see, simply don't accept the car. Scuff on a panel or seat or whatever, replace it or I'm not completing the purchase.

Agreed, if anything was taken apart, I’d look it over thoroughly at a dealership vs normally doing a quick look over on a new car without being taken apart.

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by Mosely

Are the M2C mirrors simply caps on the old style or totally redesigned? Anyone who's seen both in person want to weigh in?

They're M3/4 Mirrors so quite different.

[Mosely]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Literally have zero worry with port install. Don't like something I see, simply don't accept the car. Scuff on a panel or seat or whatever, replace it or I'm not completing the purchase.

Agree with the sentiment, but it would really suck to wait 6-12 months for the car, only to have it arrive less than perfect or with some issue that holds it up in the port or at the dealer because of this. Worst case you decline to buy the car because it's not perfect and you're back in the waiting list for an allocation.

[Franzino]

Originally Posted by Artemis

[Franzino]

Originally Posted by Artemis

My dealer has an M4 GTS in his showroom. "We hope that someday someone will buy it". I gave it a closer look when I took delivery of my M2 back in April 2016. Last time I passed, it was still sitting there.

Who in his right mind is going to pay 189.000euro for this M4 GTS?

[MR.]

Originally Posted by Franzino

Who in his right mind is going to pay 189.000euro for this M4 GTS?
[PICTURE]

Nobody is...

Get a second hand GT3 RS and you drive circles around that thing. IMO the M4 GTS is one of the biggest fails in the history of BMW M.

MR

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Franzino

Who in his right mind is going to pay 189.000euro for this M4 GTS?
[PICTURE]

The one I referred to was new and had the Frozen Dark Grey Metallic color.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by MR.

Nobody is...
Get a second hand GT3 RS and you drive circles around that thing. IMO the M4 GTS is one of the biggest fails in the history of BMW M.
MR

The fact that 803 were sold, doesn't help moving them away from several BMW M dealer lots and the resale market. Sad if the M4 GTS 'experience' would have influenced the hardcore M2 project in an adverse way.

Not all dealers and speculators who purchased an M4 GTS managed to sell the cars. Looks like BMW has 'boxed above its weight' with the ambitious M4 GTS price-tag. Brand loyalty has its limits - for that money customers also have a chat with a Porsche dealer. And then there's also the nervous road behavior in the wet that didn't help either promoting the M4 GTS.

M4 GTS in EVO Car Of The Year 2016:

"I turn the wipers from frisky to frantic, transfer control of the DCT to the paddles and narrow my focus on the crimson flare of brake lights ahead barely penetrating the spray but almost semaphore active. The ease with which the M2 is keeping up - indeed, is all over - the car in front, without asking much from me, is a surprise. I'll reveal what those flashing tail lights belong to in a moment, but the first intriguing insight of the day is starting to form.
If there wasn't much to get worked up about climbing into the M2 after breakfast - the minimally massaged generic 2-series interior is comfortable,
well-designed, nicely made and easy to see out of - it's starting to work a little magic now, though somewhat against type. With its well documented love of drifting locked out by the traction and stability electronics and my desire not to drop it before a single photo has been taken, a degree of dimensionality and the more nuanced aspects of its chassis' dynamic make-up have dropped away. But not its appetite for speed across the ground, even in these filthy conditions. This will become a recurring theme throughout eCoty 2016, but the bolshie wunderkind from M makes it clear from the outset that it won't be pushed around by the big hitters. Its default position is dogged tenacity, a distillation of grip and efficient use of available grunt that remains effective come what may.
When we park up, a slightly fazed Adam Towler steps out of the M4 GTS that the M2 has just kept such close company with. He gets to the point: 'I genuinely thought the GTS wanted to deposit me in the hedge. The combination of wet roads, dry-biased tyres, that chassis with very quick steering, and the huge initial torque delivery of the engine made it almost undriveable at times, and while scary can be fun, this was just too scary.' Given the quasi-race car setup of the GTS, it would be overstating it to call this a bombshell, but it seems that on a far from smooth and evenly cambered road in slippery conditions, the on-paper £76k and 128bhp gap between the M Division's A game and its entry-level representative can be ripped up. Can't say the M2 was fun, much less a finely layered feast for the senses, but driven purely to exploit its seemingly inexhaustible ability to scavenge grip without obviously favouring the purchase of either end, and to mine the last ounce of effort from its brawny but curiously atonal motor, well, it worked a treat."

"A perfect illustration of how big a difference it can make driving a car on domestic roads in Blighty weather is made by the BMW M4 GTS. As you'll see in the final scores, this is a car that widely split opinion. Many of us hadn't driven the car before, but Henry and Dan had both experienced it on smooth and fast Iberian roads that were baked crisp by hot sun. Both came back in love with the car. My first drive in the GTS was along a wet, undulating, twisty, crusty and very challenging B-road. Turning off the traction control would have resulted in disaster and a terribly embarrassing phone call to BMW. The car, so magnificent on dry, smooth roads, was a liability or these ones."

M4 GTS and TopGear:

"And in the wet?
Bloody liability. No rear end traction whatsoever. The tyres don’t help, but the big-torque, rapid delivery engine and low-grip-commitment rear axle are a spiteful pairing. You need to be properly on your game if you’re to disable the stability control, which you sort of need to, because even if placed in M Dynamic mode, it’s a bit too keen to get involved, and it does so rather abruptly. I don’t think I’ve ever driven a car with a bigger discrepancy between dry and wet weather behavior.
Bottom line: it’s nearly the same money as a Porsche GT3 RS. Which would you have?
The Porsche every single time, but you’re talking the wrong rival. If Merc does a Black Series C63 Coupe, or even GT Coupe, that’s where this sits. It’s a burlier car than the Porsche. That’s a surgical instrument, a car for picking apart apexes (apices?), this is more of the just-wanna-have-a-good-time type machine."

[ryem3]

Originally Posted by MR.

Nobody is...

Get a second hand GT3 RS and you drive circles around that thing. IMO the M4 GTS is one of the biggest fails in the history of BMW M.

MR

Got that right. You can find one in the US for $90k asking. Of course the second hand gt3rs is still $200k, but that market is very soft.

[mtoosexy]

Originally Posted by ryem3

Got that right. You can find one in the US for $90k asking. Of course the second hand gt3rs is still $200k, but that market is very soft.

indeed it is

[Karmic Man]

Originally Posted by Franzino

Who in his right mind is going to pay 189.000euro for this M4 GTS?
[PICTURE]

They should have allowed for a 6MT to be optional.

Same mistake they did on the M3 CSL with the SMG.

6MT on a sports car is akin to a self-winding movement in a fine watch. It never gets old with time and will be highly sought after in the not too distant future where fully digital and do it all for you is the norm.

[JustChris]

The M2 GTS/CSL enthusiast in me hates the way the M4GTS worked out

[Cavpilot2k]

Originally Posted by Franzino

Who in his right mind is going to pay 189.000euro for this M4 GTS?

Not me, but I might pony up for those wheels!

[Blackfield]

Many of the parts have been around for a while. While it is unlikely to get discount on the car itself, how much of
a discount do you plan to negotiate for the M perf parts?

Trying to figure out whether it would be more cost effective to purchase the parts (that can be installed on our own) ourselves vs. order them along with car.

[MR.]

Originally Posted by Blackfield

Many of the parts have been around for a while. While it is unlikely to get discount on the car itself, how much of
a discount do you plan to negotiate for the M perf parts?

Trying to figure out whether it would be more cost effective to purchase the parts (that can be installed on our own) ourselves vs. order them along with car.

Maybe for you guys a pity, but we Europeans do get discounts on cars and on the parts. Else I would buy something else hahahah

MR

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by Blackfield

Many of the parts have been around for a while. While it is unlikely to get discount on the car itself, how much of
a discount do you plan to negotiate for the M perf parts?

Trying to figure out whether it would be more cost effective to purchase the parts (that can be installed on our own) ourselves vs. order them along with car.

How much of a discount can you justify?