[aftercorbu]

Pics of said M with our gateway drug beside attached later in the post.

I posted recently in the old person M2 thread... causing a retrospective moment. This is going to be a bit of a different take on the journey to finally buying our M. Bear with me... My wife loves football, all sports really, knows more trivia than most. And she’s beautiful. And last year has gotten into (finally?) performance cars and auto sports. So she’s perfect in many ways. I sub texted finally because cars have been a part of my adult life, which has included her for the most part coming along for the ride at best, making conclusions about my mental health / financial judgements with some purpose.

My son and I, and two now long time friends we made due to NASIOC, built a very very fast sleeper WRX over several years. In the garage together on weekends, traveling to Atlanta for street tuning, all the stuff that comes with that. She was cool with it because family time, working with our hands and problem solving and research, and learning proper swearwords and importantly the time for them. She did NOT enjoy riding in the car. Son was preteens to early teens during that time. We are now empty nesters with him a Sergeant and crew chief at 23 in the Air Force. Smart kid, hard working, likes working with his hands and mind in concert, Eagle Scout, call to service, swears like a serviceman, very cool Toyota truck he has built, and loyal to his friends. Parent job plus plus so far. Older parents may know what I mean by that so far bit. Enough background, many similar stories out there. Cars are formative in our lives.

Back to my retrospective on our M new car. We bought the F22 N20 because wife now finally converted to the dark side, wanted to learn how to drive a manual transmission. And she said, “how can I enjoy driving sportingly and use an automatic?” Not her word “sportingly”. I certainly agreed. Slushboxes are in the minority of my cars through the years. We found Effe and bought it that same weekend using autotrader as a clue to its rarity. Made it better in a stock plus way straight away. Watching top gear, you tube influencers, forums like this, etc. has been a fun part of our journey through the years.

Learning about the compromises of these cars, particularly when money is very much a factor, blended into our life perspective has led us to the recent M Comp purchase.

I’m curious about others’ stories. And how ones age may drive this choice. Perhaps not often an impulse spur of the moment buy for older folks like my wife and I? Maybe instead a choice forged by the weight of life’s bounties and challenges. Could be many different things.

Thanks should go out to forums, moderators, and members like you that save a thoughtful buyer many headaches and missteps is a closing thought. This thread is worthless without pictures. Or TTIWWP as you youngsters say. Was I just hash tagging? J/K.

Subbie



Mods:

Engine
Blouch P&P EVO III 16g Turbo Thermo Coated
Cobb AP
Cobb DP w/ high flow cat
Cobb Inconel UP
Cobb Turbo Heatshield
DeatschWerks WRX 650cc Fuel Injectors
GPMoto silencer delete elbow
STi Air Filter
NGK Iridium Plugs - 1 step colder
OEM Exhaust Gaskets
Cusco Exhaust Hangers
JDM Genome Axleback - sick sick sick
Samco IC Hose Set
Samco Turbo Inlet
STi IC Splitter
Stromung Intermediate Pipe
Turbo XS TMIC
Walbro Fuel Pump 255Lph Kit

Transmission
Kartboy Short Shifter & Bushings

Suspension
Cobb Front + Back Sway Bars
Cusco Front + Rear strut braces
SPC Camber Bolts rear
RCE front camber plates
Ohlins Fixed Perch Struts - Adjustable
Group N top hats rear
RCE black springs

Brakes
Wilwood 6 pot BBK front
Wilwood 4 pot BBK rear
SS brake lines
Wilwood Pads
Wilwood Fluid



Interior
Subaru/Momo shifter knob

Exterior
Lightwerkz Projectors (in new OEM housing)
APR Rear Diffuser
Blue 'I' Badge
Front Bumper Plate Delete
JDM Side Rain Visors
STi Hood Scoop Painted
STi Splitters
Strake Kit
Window Tint
V-limited Style Polyurethane Front Lip
WRX Fog Light Covers
IXIZHood hood dampeners
Valeo Wiperblades

Audio & Electronics
Alpine Components + Rear Spkrs. and Amp
Alpine Digital Media Receiver iDA
Sirius Tuner
Hella Supertones

Wheels & Tires
BBS RG-R 18x7.5 - street
Goodyear F1
TRMotorsports 17x8.5 - track
Dunlop Star Specs 255 sticky meat



Here was our Z4, last gen made in Spartanburg. Pretty stock, just tires, vmr’s, and KW Var2. And DICE unit, speaker upgrades.


IMG_5317 by aftercorbu, on Flickr


IMG_5259 by aftercorbu, on Flickr


IMG_5224 by aftercorbu, on Flickr

And attached a few pics of our M and it’s gateway. We are looking forward to engaging with your knowledge and stories. And Enjoying this perhaps last generation of its kind, a car more directly created using the past formulas of an M.

[Rob495]

Congrats on your kid, our children are the source of our greatest joys but also our worse stresses My son, growing up gave me a lot of grief but is now graduating college and has joined the national guard. He still has a lot of growing up to do but we are so proud of him.

I was always a petrol fan my whole life. I’ve owned the following through the years:

1988 Ford Escort (no Ac,power steering, or windows)
1995 Honda Del Sol
1999 Mazda Miata
2001 Berlina Black Honda S2000
2003 Yellow Honda S2000
2003 Mitsu Evolution VIII (400 whp)
2003 Sebring Silver Honda S2000
2006 White Cayman S
2008 Black Ford Gt 500
2011 Silver Caddy CTS-V station wagon (6 Speed)
2006 Berlina Black Honda S2000
2019 Honda Civic Type R
2021 Sunset Orange M2C

I daily a 2017 F250 XL and my wife drove the Type R. For the past 2 years it’s pretty much been my wife and 7 year old daughter so the Civic was perfect. I got my driving fix on the weekends. The civic was a perfect daily. Tons of space, room for 4 (rear seats had enough room for my 6’1 son), incredible high speed handling, best brakes I’ve ever experienced, decent acceleration, and perfect suspension. The fatal flaw was its transmission. It rivals the AP2 tranny.....when it cooperated. I had 2nd gear grinds and daily 4th gear lockout. I could live with the 2nd gear grind but the 4th gear lockout was maddening. It would only happen during low to mid rpm shifts. So frustrating. I would have never looked at the M2C if that tranny functioned correctly. But I’m glad I did!

When I saw my Orange Sunset sitting in the show room I fell in love. To be honest, my test drive was on a rainy day with a nervous salesman so I could not get a good feel of the performance of the car. I basically bought the car based on all of the car reviews. So stoked when I was able to fit the child seat in the back with my daughter. Funny sight having 10 salesmen watching me wrangle a massive child seat into the rear of the M2 right in middle of the showroom. Once the sales guy saw that my daughter fit, he knew he had me.

The M2C is an excellent blend of acceleration, daily use, braking, and handling. I will probably track the car once a year. I love the traction control, you can push that rear end out in a controllable and safe fashion. So much fun! I look for excuses to drive. I’m about to jump into the M2 with the family, drive 40 min, just for donuts!

[aftercorbu]

Enjoyed that! And Evo. I wonder how many older m2 owners went through one of the two paths of evo or Subaru. Calling them viscerally great I think covers that modding path. Three Honda s2000’s leading to your type ‘r’ seems logical with a family! Congrats to your son and hoping the very best for you, your family, and m!

[Maynard]

I'm also doing the 228 > M2c thing, good for you! The M2c was a track-driven decision for me as well. When I started to think about modding the 228 to make it durable and faster for more track time, it ended up with it being more sensible to get the M2 that is already uprated and ready. Wife is now driving the 228 more, so perhaps she'll also develop an interest....

[Zeebrock]

Originally Posted by aftercorbu

Pics of said M with our gateway drug beside attached later in the post.

I posted recently in the old person M2 thread... causing a retrospective moment. This is going to be a bit of a different take on the journey to finally buying our M. Bear with me... My wife loves football, all sports really, knows more trivia than most. And she’s beautiful. And last year has gotten into (finally?) performance cars and auto sports. So she’s perfect in many ways. I sub texted finally because cars have been a part of my adult life, which has included her for the most part coming along for the ride at best, making conclusions about my mental health / financial judgements with some purpose.

My son and I, and two now long time friends we made due to NASIOC, built a very very fast sleeper WRX over several years. In the garage together on weekends, traveling to Atlanta for street tuning, all the stuff that comes with that. She was cool with it because family time, working with our hands and problem solving and research, and learning proper swearwords and importantly the time for them. She did NOT enjoy riding in the car. Son was preteens to early teens during that time. We are now empty nesters with him a Sergeant and crew chief at 23 in the Air Force. Smart kid, hard working, likes working with his hands and mind in concert, Eagle Scout, call to service, swears like a serviceman, very cool Toyota truck he has built, and loyal to his friends. Parent job plus plus so far. Older parents may know what I mean by that so far bit. Enough background, many similar stories out there. Cars are formative in our lives.

Back to my retrospective on our M new car. We bought the F22 N20 because wife now finally converted to the dark side, wanted to learn how to drive a manual transmission. And she said, “how can I enjoy driving sportingly and use an automatic?” Not her word “sportingly”. I certainly agreed. Slushboxes are in the minority of my cars through the years. We found Effe and bought it that same weekend using autotrader as a clue to its rarity. Made it better in a stock plus way straight away. Watching top gear, you tube influencers, forums like this, etc. has been a fun part of our journey through the years.

Learning about the compromises of these cars, particularly when money is very much a factor, blended into our life perspective has led us to the recent M Comp purchase.

I’m curious about others’ stories. And how ones age may drive this choice. Perhaps not often an impulse spur of the moment buy for older folks like my wife and I? Maybe instead a choice forged by the weight of life’s bounties and challenges. Could be many different things.

Thanks should go out to forums, moderators, and members like you that save a thoughtful buyer many headaches and missteps is a closing thought. This thread is worthless without pictures. Or TTIWWP as you youngsters say. Was I just hash tagging? J/K.

Subbie



Mods:

Engine
Blouch P&P EVO III 16g Turbo Thermo Coated
Cobb AP
Cobb DP w/ high flow cat
Cobb Inconel UP
Cobb Turbo Heatshield
DeatschWerks WRX 650cc Fuel Injectors
GPMoto silencer delete elbow
STi Air Filter
NGK Iridium Plugs - 1 step colder
OEM Exhaust Gaskets
Cusco Exhaust Hangers
JDM Genome Axleback - sick sick sick
Samco IC Hose Set
Samco Turbo Inlet
STi IC Splitter
Stromung Intermediate Pipe
Turbo XS TMIC
Walbro Fuel Pump 255Lph Kit

Transmission
Kartboy Short Shifter & Bushings

Suspension
Cobb Front + Back Sway Bars
Cusco Front + Rear strut braces
SPC Camber Bolts rear
RCE front camber plates
Ohlins Fixed Perch Struts - Adjustable
Group N top hats rear
RCE black springs

Brakes
Wilwood 6 pot BBK front
Wilwood 4 pot BBK rear
SS brake lines
Wilwood Pads
Wilwood Fluid



Interior
Subaru/Momo shifter knob

Exterior
Lightwerkz Projectors (in new OEM housing)
APR Rear Diffuser
Blue 'I' Badge
Front Bumper Plate Delete
JDM Side Rain Visors
STi Hood Scoop Painted
STi Splitters
Strake Kit
Window Tint
V-limited Style Polyurethane Front Lip
WRX Fog Light Covers
IXIZHood hood dampeners
Valeo Wiperblades

Audio & Electronics
Alpine Components + Rear Spkrs. and Amp
Alpine Digital Media Receiver iDA
Sirius Tuner
Hella Supertones

Wheels & Tires
BBS RG-R 18x7.5 - street
Goodyear F1
TRMotorsports 17x8.5 - track
Dunlop Star Specs 255 sticky meat



Here was our Z4, last gen made in Spartanburg. Pretty stock, just tires, vmr’s, and KW Var2. And DICE unit, speaker upgrades.


IMG_5317 by aftercorbu, on Flickr


IMG_5259 by aftercorbu, on Flickr


IMG_5224 by aftercorbu, on Flickr

And attached a few pics of our M and it’s gateway. We are looking forward to engaging with your knowledge and stories. And Enjoying this perhaps last generation of its kind, a car more directly created using the past formulas of an M.

A fellow NASIOC, I too will soon be a BMW M2C owner.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by Zeebrock

A fellow NASIOC, I too will soon be a BMW M2C owner.

Congrats! NASIOC is such a unique forum. Not saying better, just way way more engaging and kooky.

[aftercorbu]

And so it begins. Partners in crime headed down the path. First up ceramic tint CIR 30.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by Zeebrock

A fellow NASIOC, I too will soon be a BMW M2C owner.

Did you get your M2C?

[aftercorbu]

Finally some sun today so gave her a bath.

[aftercorbu]

Wheels next up with PS4S tire. Going with 265/285 now that Michelin has confirmed bringing the 285 to US.

Here are the two wheels I have short listed... Richland is sending some samples. I’m leaning to satin titanium. For the Titan7 leaning to the machine black. I put them side be side to help with the discussion. While similar wheels the details are differentiators.

[aftercorbu]

Opinions and experiences welcomed.

[aftercorbu]

BimmerCode ASD off. Plus a few other conveniences. Also BimmerLink to get rid of the burbles. I drove to confirm burbles and pops off and cycled the car on and off an on, burbles off stuck. Happy with that particularly because I’m too lazy to turn that off every time I get in the car. I do prefer the ASD off and burbles off for sure. Not hearing any static as some report with the coded ASD off. More connected to the car now.

[aftercorbu]

Painted the udder flat black and MODE exhaust tips.

[aftercorbu]

Researching painting the stock 788’s. Either satin black or ideally Chrome Shadow which I understand is a process. Might not be worth the cost.

[TheoIam]

Originally Posted by aftercorbu

Painted the udder flat black and MODE exhaust tips.

Looks good. Funny enough I also have the utter painted black and got those extract MODE tips in the mail yesterday. I have to stay with the stock can and down pipes living in Cali but I have the AA Equal Length mid pipe coming at the end of this month.

Cool to see them on so I get a sense of what they will look like this weekend.

[TheoIam]

Originally Posted by aftercorbu

Wheels next up with PS4S tire. Going with 265/285 now that Michelin has confirmed bringing the 285 to US.

Here are the two wheels I have short listed... Richland is sending some samples. I’m leaning to satin titanium. For the Titan7 leaning to the machine black. I put them side be side to help with the discussion. While similar wheels the details are differentiators.

Just now looked at the Richland site. Do they just do BMW knockoffs? How good are they? The prices don’t seem that much less the BMW OEM to bother.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by TheoIam

Looks good. Funny enough I also have the utter painted black and got those extract MODE tips in the mail yesterday. I have to stay with the stock can and down pipes living in Cali but I have the AA Equal Length mid pipe coming at the end of this month.

Cool to see them on so I get a sense of what they will look like this weekend.

Did you get the resonated one? Looking forward to hearing your impression. I’m thinking about the same path.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by TheoIam

Just now looked at the Richland site. Do they just do BMW knockoffs? How good are they? The prices don’t seem that much less the BMW OEM to bother.

They have been well regarded in the M3/M4 and now M2 world more recently with specific offsets for the M2 Comp. They have a good variety of finishes too.

[Davil]

Sort of off topic but how did you find the comfort with the KWV2 on the Zed? I'm thinking of getting them on my Z3. I don't want anything too firm, just looking for something compliant with better handling. Lowering springs are of course out of the question and you can no longer buy BMW sport springs so I thought this could be a reasonable option. Thanks.

[KevinC]

Age definitely factored into my decision to buy. I'm 64 in July and have both retina and cornea issues. Both are under control for now, but how much longer will I be able to drive? Time time to strike was NOW, or regret it forever. Very happy I did.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by Davil

Sort of off topic but how did you find the comfort with the KWV2 on the Zed? I'm thinking of getting them on my Z3. I don't want anything too firm, just looking for something compliant with better handling. Lowering springs are of course out of the question and you can no longer buy BMW sport springs so I thought this could be a reasonable option. Thanks.

They were firm but not harsh. Very composed and easy to dial in the height and firmness to match the chassis.

[aftercorbu]

Originally Posted by KevinC

Age definitely factored into my decision to buy. I'm 64 in July and have both retina and cornea issues. Both are under control for now, but how much longer will I be able to drive? Time time to strike was NOW, or regret it forever. Very happy I did.

Glad your vision is under control. Your post speaks volumes about what really matters, which is health and enjoying life in a way that is meaningful to each person. Really smart of you to just do it. Congrats on the M, and best wishes for continued positive outcomes.