[JRF]

i'm so stupid because I waited this long.

i'm also so stupid because I was actually considering waiting for an M2C and paying a huge premium for it.

I have never owned or driven a BMW before (any BMW). i bought the car without test driving it. I lusted after the E30 M3. I lusted after the 1M. And i have lusted after the M2 since it was released.

I loved my '17 and '18 STI's, but there is absolutely no comparison. Different animals all together.

I was very fortunate to find a mineral grey 6MT with sunroof delete.... which is exactly how I would have spec'd the car if custom ordered. got a screaming deal on it.

Getting in the car for the first time, the most wonderful surprises were the engine/exhaust note and the seats.

Coming out of an STI where you need to drive it at 5-7k RPM to get the most out of the car, I still can't believe the low-end torque on the M2 and even power delivery across the revband.

For street driving, I would NOT want any more power in this car. Especially since I need to re-learn driving a fast RWD car.

Love everything about the M2 except for the rev match, hill assist, light and long clutch travel and high take-up. I am also struggling with the usability of all the electronics..... not at all intuitive for a first time BMW owner.

I have been devouring info from this forum for the last 48 hours.... really very helpful. Thank you.

PS-
I was about to buy the OEM carbon fiber exhaust tips and then I realized the price was for just one (1) of them!

[tranck]

I came from a WRX - yeah, no comparison.

[bobert]

Curious why you list the hill assist as unloved...

The rest of the stuff I can understand, even if I think it's ok, as it's not what you are used to and ppl have different opinions/perceptions of things.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by JRF

i'm so stupid because I waited this long.

i'm also so stupid because I was actually considering waiting for an M2C and paying a huge premium for it.

I have never owned or driven a BMW before (any BMW). i bought the car without test driving it. I lusted after the E30 M3. I lusted after the 1M. And i have lusted after the M2 since it was released.

I loved my '17 and '18 STI's, but there is absolutely no comparison. Different animals all together.

I was very fortunate to find a mineral grey 6MT with sunroof delete.... which is exactly how I would have spec'd the car if custom ordered. got a screaming deal on it.

Getting in the car for the first time, the most wonderful surprises were the engine/exhaust note and the seats.

Coming out of an STI where you need to drive it at 5-7k RPM to get the most out of the car, I still can't believe the low-end torque on the M2 and even power delivery across the revband.

For street driving, I would NOT want any more power in this car. Especially since I need to re-learn driving a fast RWD car.

Love everything about the M2 except for the rev match, hill assist, light and long clutch travel and high take-up. I am also struggling with the usability of all the electronics..... not at all intuitive for a first time BMW owner.

I have been devouring info from this forum for the last 48 hours.... really very helpful. Thank you.

PS-
I was about to buy the OEM carbon fiber exhaust tips and then I realized the price was for just one (1) of them!

Get a BMS clutch stop. That will help with the clutch travel.

[M2PDX]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Get a BMS clutch stop. That will help with the clutch travel.

Your first two essential mods:

BMS Clutch stop: http://www.burgertuning.com/clutch_stop_BMW.html

ASD Bypass Harness (Gets rid of the ridiculous, fake V8 noise piped through your speakers): https://technicpnp.com/product/asd-bypass-harness/

Enjoy!

[JRF]

i understand the clutch stop, but what is the harness bypass for???... obviously a newbie question. thx again

[No Boost]

Originally Posted by JRF

For street driving, I would NOT want any more power in this car. Especially since I need to re-learn driving a fast RWD car.

You'll relearn fast and want more power. It happens all too often.

Great title by the way. You'll be getting a lot of clicks.

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by JRF

i understand the clutch stop, but what is the harness bypass for???... obviously a newbie question. thx again

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1253955

[Beakster]

Add me to your club...I am with you on the transition from WRX's to the M2. I have only had my M2 for 2 days now and the difference is crazy.

My old collection...

[JRF]

[QUOTE=Beakster;23676215]Add me to your club...I am with you on the transition from WRX's to the M2. I have only had my M2 for 2 days now and the difference is crazy.

My old collection...

NICE!!!!!! VERY NICE!!!! I will always love the STI's. Will be interested to see if Subaru goes partial hybrid in 2020 and ruins them completely.

[six-n-twins53]

I have always owned a combination of sti/wrx and M cars. While there is no real comparison, my wrx is pretty fun to drive and looks great especially considering it costs almost half as much. And when the snow flies, that's when the subies are at their best.

[JRF]

if I had the garage space i'd definitely go out and find a super low mileage bone stock '14 STI hatch. i'm quite sure it will be worth more than my M2 in 5 years.

[DC2RtoCT9Atof87]

Same! Well, except I went from '15 STi to '17 RS to M2.

The RS was a superior car to the STi in every way. The M2 is a step up (although not as big) from the RS. They're different animals though...

[pruettfan]

Congrats on the M2, I have had mine for 22 months and driven 33,000 miles and have not regretted it in the least. If you want to fully enjoy it I suggest taking it to the track where it is a ton of fun.

[akkando]

ASD bypass harness removes the game engine noise.

You can also use a phone app or computer hooked up to the obd reader in the car to turn off ASD and the auto rev match. Bimmercode is the most popular app to do this. I forget if it removes hill assist too. The setting to change is something like clutch in on start, which is unintuitive but it removes rev match.

[F87_LCI]

Actually...you sound like a genius.

Welcome...and don't let the M2C guys bait you into debates about this, that or the other, both are great iterations.

Check out the Bimmercode thread (70+pages, but worth it for the most part), cheap way to make the car even better before you start with "real" mods...ASD delete is in there.

Rev match - fine once you get used to it.
Hill assist - most newer cars have this feature now.
Electronics - less than an M4, again give it time, no big deal

Have fun!!

[akkando]

You can get Chinese made carbon tips that are knock offs for a fraction of the price on Alibaba. I believe people say they have held up well. I have oem chrome black.

Kemir is the seller

https://m.alibaba.com/product/605368...p-for-BMW.html

[twboy1999]

Rev match to turn it off just turn off the dsc button by holding more than 3 sec

[mr_lab_rat]

The Bimmercode app is worth it just for the iDrive legal nag screen removal.
I also turned off ASD and changed some minor things in iDrive and locking behaviour.

[GoneIn4Secs]

Originally Posted by mr_lab_rat

The Bimmercode app is worth it just for the iDrive legal nag screen removal.
I also turned off ASD and changed some minor things in iDrive and locking behaviour.

what do you mean by this? what is legal nag screen?

[dcmac]

You think it's good now.. wait until you put a tune on it

I also came from a couple of WRX hatches ('12 & 13)... loved my subies, they were rough and rowdy.

But like you said, they don't compare to the M2.

[mr_lab_rat]

Originally Posted by GoneIn4Secs

what do you mean by this? what is legal nag screen?

Everytime I start the car a message pops up on the iDrive with some dumb legal warning. That requires the iDrive button to be pushed before it would go away. Very Annoying.
So I disabled it on both my cars.