[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

I love how now that the M2 is out, the F8x is shit in everybody's eyes. Lol.

The M2 is going to be just as fast as the M4 on short tracks, this has been proven. It won't outrun the M4 on a long track, that has been proven as well.

I'd consider an M2 but I just can't get past some of the cost cutting BMW did to the M2. I would have paid a few more thousand dollars for a CFRP roof and M-Mirrors and a set of decent seats.

Where the M4 really shines over the M2 will be in aftermarket tuning as the M2 is still using the same N55 turbo the M235i is equipped with. I'd take the S55 over the N55 any day because of its potential. The M2 will be lucky to see 420whp on the stock turbo.

So, the M2 is awesome, but the M4 is still worth the premium.

Don't knock the N55 just yet.

A larger turbo and intercooler with a flash can probably compete very nicely with tuned F8x around the track-it's how you get the power down and around that counts ultimately.

With a PPK and novice tracking skills, I was overtaking a few E9x M3s on Lime rock (personal anecdote yes); I think this M2 platform given the weight and handling can easily accomplish this.

[ZEEM3R]

Just out of curiosity, how much cheaper are M2 leases going for compared to M3/M4 leases?

[DS_BMW]

Originally Posted by ZEEM3R

Just out of curiosity, how much cheaper are M2 leases going for compared to M3/M4 leases?

There not. Its like 52% residual for M2 and 64% for M3 at 10k.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by DS_BMW

There not. Its like 52% residual for M2 and 64% for M3 at 10k.

Depends on country... residuals in Canada are the same for both cars.

[adc]

Folks, the auto blip is a non issue IMO. Would it be nice if you could enable or disable it at will regardless of the driving mode? absolutely, but ultimately it doesn't matter.

You can still blip the throttle, don't need to wait for the car to do it. If you initiate the blipping, all the car will do is ensure there is enough of it for a smooth gear change. If u get it right, all's good and you da man. If you get it wrong, the fancy rev butler will lend a discreet hand.

I drive in Sport on the street and have started doing the blip myself, it's all good.

You shouldn't let this detract from what seems to be a wonderful car...

[NOGBMW]

God why didn't I wait why God why.......
This car is going to haunt my dreams.
Great review
Never knew about the crooked seat but F it the car is bawse!

[WWM3]

This car looks awesome. I'm going to grab one in a couple years. Great video.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

Not in for $53+ K.
No M mirrors
No M seats
No carbon roof
No carbon drive shaft
No CCB option
No power dome(why? WTF) How much does it cost to stamp a crease?
No special colors to be ordered
Unless they pull something down the line, like a CSL and it can be easily obtain with out jumping through dealership hoops/loops....
I'll keep driving my nice E46s' M3's

It's funny that some people accuse modern M cars of being more about show and less about driving focus than they used to be, and then they get all hot and bothered about things like mirrors, power domes, and colors. The seats are definitely a legit complaint IF they turn out not to be satisfactory, but has anyone complaining about them actually tried them yet? The pictures compared to the M4 seats definitely suggest that the bolstering might be enough, even if the basketball leather isn't ideal. The carbon roof and carbon drive shaft technically make the car faster by reducing weight and driveline rotating weight, respectively, but if the car is still fun and fast enough for you, then is their absence really a problem? These strike me as complaints stemming more from not having enough bragging rights than from not having a fun enough car IMHO.

And CCB, really? An $8K brake option on a $50K car makes no sense at all, but then again CCBs in general don't really make any sense either unless you really value perpetually clean wheels and bling/bragging rights at $8K. That buys a lot of car washes, and if the base brakes are up to snuff, which it looks like they are with maybe a pad swap required for track work, then CCBs deliver no other meaningful benefit. All they do is save you from pad swaps, but at the cost of increasing the minimum wheel diameter you can run and creating extra risk and headache since CCB rotors are usually ruined if they get chipped, which isn't too difficult to do at the track when R&Ring a wheel or kicking up debris on an off-track excursion -- and CCB rotors are over $3K each, and even that assumes you can get away with replacing only one rather than both rotors on the axle. And even all of that doesn't consider the impact on resale because the next guy will be worried about getting stuck with a hugely expensive brake job. That's why it's not uncommon for Porsche guys who have had access to CCBs for a lot longer to go BACK to steel if they buy a used car that came with CCBs and plan to track the car.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by adc

Folks, the auto blip is a non issue IMO. Would it be nice if you could enable or disable it at will regardless of the driving mode? absolutely, but ultimately it doesn't matter.

You can still blip the throttle, don't need to wait for the car to do it. If you initiate the blipping, all the car will do is ensure there is enough of it for a smooth gear change. If u get it right, all's good and you da man. If you get it wrong, the fancy rev butler will lend a discreet hand.

I drive in Sport on the street and have started doing the blip myself, it's all good.

You shouldn't let this detract from what seems to be a wonderful car...

I agree it's not a dealbreaker, but as you say it would be nice to have the option. I do in fact use auto-blip on the track where it makes sense, but on the road I find that not having assistance makes it more fun. It's not as smooth in general, but that means that when I do nail a perfect rev-match, I feel like a total hero. Part of driving stick for me is chasing that perfectly smooth driving with each shift, like learning a craft with the reward that mastering it offers. A computer doing it for me takes some of that fun and reward away.

And as I said earlier in this thread, I have to wonder why BMW only allows this feature to be disabled when stability control is also completely disabled....

[ORIGIN M.]

Would you like some Cheese with your Whine?

Originally Posted by stvding

No M1/2 button, no M drive setting, no m mirror, no m seat

[Carnook]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

Not in for $53+ K.
No M mirrors
No M seats
No carbon roof
No carbon drive shaft
No CCB option
No power dome(why? WTF) How much does it cost to stamp a crease?
No special colors to be ordered
Unless they pull something down the line, like a CSL and it can be easily obtain with out jumping through dealership hoops/loops....
I'll keep driving my nice E46s' M3's

I agree. The CF roof and drive shaft on the E46 are amazing. You wouldn't want to get a car that didn't have CF roof and drive shaft.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

This one also.

This will actually come in handy. I went to look at my newly delivered M2 today and it really is placed in a perfect spot.

[rallybull]

Originally Posted by stvding

No M1/2 button, no M drive setting, no m mirror, no m seat

That's not just it... No hud, no front parking sensors, no cf roof, no merino leather, lesser ultimate engine tuning potential, no 4 door option, lesser space, slower straight line performance for those cheeky freeway passing, standard seats

But.... $15 cheaper, even more fun on the track than an M3/4 based on reviews and better sound.

I guess that sums it up. Did I miss anything?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by rallybull

That's not just it... No hud, no front parking sensors, no cf roof, no merino leather, lesser ultimate engine tuning potential, no 4 door option, lesser space, slower straight line performance for those cheeky freeway passing

But.... $15 cheaper, even more fun on the track than an M3/4 based on reviews and better sound.

I guess that sums it up. Did I miss anything?

No active suspension, no full leather interior, no LED headlamps (or LED tail lamps, apparently), no upgraded stereo, and probably some other stuff that's also somewhat or completely unrelated to this car's mission. Oh, and don't forget....no M mirrors!!

[Adem1534]

I hope I'm not the only one that straight up does not give a shit about the carbon fiber roof or mirrors.

Literally, upgrading to the M3/4 for that reason is like saying 'look, I know it weighs 25 pounds more, but if someone asks me I can say it would way even more if it didn't have this totally sweet carbon fiber stuff'

I just do not care

[r3dbimmer89]

This guy is sort of tool but nonetheless good review. I just can't get my head wrapped around how the steering is so much better or the suspension is so much better than the F80 when they're both the same in both cars. Shorter wheelbase may cause more nimbleness but they're acting like this car is the end of all.

I have to drive the M2 to see what the fuss is about. I'm not going to trade down my M3 because at the end of the day I do appreciate my full leather interior and carbon fiber roof. The contrast looks good with my alpine white and adds a wow factor. No matter what you get you like, it's the same reason why someone would pick an M5 over an M3.

[///M-pressed]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

I came from an E46 and E92 M3. I now have a M4. I got the chance to flog the new M2. Today being the third time in 5 days. I'm no pro driver but I have plenty of track time under my belt and can hold my own. And perhaps I need to get some seat time behind the M2 on the track but I don't get what all the fuss is about. And I work for BMW. To me, it's just a smaller, tad bit slower, slightly more nimble version of an M4.

For those who haven't driven the M2 in-person yet (let alone an F8X) which is about 98% of you, I don't see how you can have a valid argument of how it's better or worse. What's even more head scratching is how some of you guys comment how good the M2 sounds or how much better it sounds than the F8X but you've only heard it through a computer/phone speakers and not in real life. It's constant regurgitating facts and opinions from info you read from a car mags on here.

For all the praise this car is getting, you would think it came with solid gold bars in the trunk and the F8X had bags of dog shit the way this forum and auto journalists talk about them lol

I've heard both at the race track, and driven both at the race track. The M2 sounds better than the M4, so calm right down.

Maybe not in the US, but the M2 is a beast for the price you pay down here. Much, much less expensive than an M4.

So you haven't driven the M2 around the track?

[ZilberGrau ZHP]

80% of us dont track our cars? Id save up and get an M3/4 anyday- they are truly special and will "drive" just fine thank you- With those cool mirrors, carbon fiber roof, nicer looking front end (m2 fangs not for me), the glossy CF inside is just dripping with cool- the "raw" of the M2- not a fan. Seats in the M4 uh huh- seats in the M2 I have to sit in to know but maybe narrower a smidge? and the AMAZING color combinations of the F8X- not a huge fan of the color selection of this gen M2-not ugly but not great (Ill take a frozen Red with carbon fiber roof and Moreno brown interior on my M3 please) - you gets whats you pay for pretty much all the time.
Yes I wish the M3/4 were 10% smaller but they are not huge at all. But if you need small for the city- M2 all the way- but if in the city- why an M2?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by ZilberGrau ZHP

80% of us dont track our cars? Id save up and get an M3/4 anyday- they are truly special and will "drive" just fine thank you- With those cool mirrors, carbon fiber roof, nicer looking front end (m2 fangs not for me), the glossy CF inside is just dripping with cool- the "raw" of the M2- not a fan. Seats in the M4 uh huh- seats in the M2 I have to sit in to know but maybe narrower a smidge? and the AMAZING color combinations of the F8X- not a huge fan of the color selection of this gen M2-not ugly but not great (Ill take a frozen Red with carbon fiber roof and Moreno brown interior on my M3 please) - you gets whats you pay for pretty much all the time.
Yes I wish the M3/4 were 10% smaller but they are not huge at all. But if you need small for the city- M2 all the way- but if in the city- why an M2?

Everything you listed that's important to you about the M3/4 compared to the M2 is related to aesthetics. If that's your priority, then I agree that an M3/4 is a better fit. But that's not the M2's target customer, obviously. I would say that if you're mostly driving on city streets and freeways, then why an M car at all, but that's because I've seen how much fun potential is there to be tapped in these cars on the track, so I wouldn't be able to justify spending $80K on a trackworthy car that I wouldn't be tracking; to me it would be too much of a waste of money because I'd be leaving too much of the basis for its cost unexperienced. But of course there are those who buy Ferraris just to take supermodels to restaurants or even hypercars just to bubble wrap them in their collections, so I guess we should all just be grateful that BMW gives people choices, more these days than they ever have.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by r3dbimmer89

This guy is sort of tool but nonetheless good review. I just can't get my head wrapped around how the steering is so much better or the suspension is so much better than the F80 when they're both the same in both cars. Shorter wheelbase may cause more nimbleness but they're acting like this car is the end of all.

I have to drive the M2 to see what the fuss is about. I'm not going to trade down my M3 because at the end of the day I do appreciate my full leather interior and carbon fiber roof. The contrast looks good with my alpine white and adds a wow factor. No matter what you get you like, it's the same reason why someone would pick an M5 over an M3.

The steering I can understand given that all Porsche 991 cars have the same steering hardware, but different models have completely different feel due to software -- the non-GT cars were criticized for numb steering but then people loved the GT3's feel, which admittedly had different design goals and an extra 2 years of development to improve. The same could be the case here. As for handling, I too am surprised at just how big a difference people are claiming considering that the M2 has the M3/4's base suspension. Wheelbase could well be a factor, but maybe another part is just that the lower power level makes the car more fun and approachable rather than being a handful? I kind of felt that way when driving my friend's R8 V10 6MT on very twisty back roads. It was just so overpowered for that setting that it just made the experience too scary to really be fun, whereas my car was more than you needed on the road but not ridiculously so. That said, I've never tracked an M4 and haven't driven an M2 at all though, so I'm just guessing here.

[ZilberGrau ZHP]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Everything you listed that's important to you about the M3/4 compared to the M2 is related to aesthetics. If that's your priority, then I agree that an M3/4 is a better fit. That's not the M2's target customer, obviously. I would say that if you're mostly driving on city streets and freeways, then why an M car at all, but that's because I've seen how much fun potential is there to be tapped in these cars on the track, so I wouldn't be able to justify spending $80K on a trackworthy car that I wouldn't be tracking; to me it would be too much of a waste of money because I'd be leaving too much of its value on the table.

But fortunately of course BMW gives people choices, more these days than they ever have.

Agree thats why I started off by saying that most dont track our cars so an M2 will be 57k (excellent price) if you are going to burn up those expensive German parts- Id go M2 all the way as it is less. But living in San Antonio, I can take either out to the Hill country for a drive that in spots can turn very fast and windy- Ill take the M3/4 for that drive up to Austin and back. And yes- they F8X looks 30k better to me.

[swilliams]

Originally Posted by jphughan

But fortunately of course BMW gives people choices, more these days than they ever have.

More choices = more inter-brand arguing and carbon d*** measuring.