[MooMooM2]

Did an M track day yesterday in Monticello NY. It was a pretty great day, I had never been out on a track snd I think was a pretty incredible intro. Super well organized, got to drive all the cars for 5 or 6 laps each around the track and then hot laps with a pro driver (which was bananas). Also auto cross with the m2 comp. Monticello track is beautiful, specially in October.

I loved driving all the cars but in the end, I walked away with the fact that I made the right decision and the M2 was my favorite. Felt the most analog, the most tossable (and lightest) and above all the most fun.

Interior is definitely the least nice but in a way I kind of prefer it, less cluttered and minimal amount of buttons. Old tack is nice, no need for digital stuff (The digital stuff is nice though and heads up display is cool). Seating position on the M3 is superior to the M2, the M2 you really do sit a bit too high.

The only thing I would give the m3/5 is the carbon ceramics. I have never tried them and they are excellent, incredible brake performance and lap after lap zero fade. When I took the m2 on the last lap, it wasn't so much fade since lets be honest, this newbie was not pushing this car as much as it could, but brake consistency seemed different.

Also the new bucket seats on the m3 are amazing. Would be impossible for me as a big guy on a daily but on the track, next level.

In the end I am glad I left the place and already had my favorite car and got to experience a little bit what the car can do.


Oh, also I was not the only one saying this, a few people commented on how they loved the m2 and it was their favorite car from the lineup so maybe my biased opinion has some merit ahha

[Enabled]

We wouldn't accept any other opinion anyways!


Glad to hear it!
Did you get any pics of the track area/cars?

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by Enabled

We wouldn't accept any other opinion anyways!


Glad to hear it!
Did you get any pics of the track area/cars?

Not too many because it was a busy day but I did get a few, I will dump em here later today. I also got some good videos. I did take my go pro but all the footage sucks because my camera was way too high (not that yall would like to see my terrible driving skills)

[JV973]

I went to M Track days this past July here in Austin. Got to drive all of them, what an experience. Love the launch control on the M8, but just like you, the M2 was favorite. It's the best one all around and I'm not saying that because I have one. It feels so connected to the track especially entering and exiting the corners.

[buckybadger]

Thanks, looks like M2C is a keeper.
M3C has high potential but it looks like M2C is definitely more connected and fun on street roads at legal limits.

[phriz]

Many of the instructors at the Performance Center in Greer, SC told me the M2C was also their favorite when I went for M School, and later for PCD. Having never driven one before M school, I knew immediately I picked the right car when I hopped in one for the agility course.

[IcewaterPete]

Glad you had a great time. It is a lot of fun and the only way to experience all the best BMW has to offer. And you get to thrash their vehicles and not worry about buying new brakes and tires!

Many do complain about the sitting position, but let’s not forget what this car is and is not. At the end of the day there are options to lower the position with after market bits. I am one of those that is tempted to go that route, but it still doesn’t ruin the car for me being a bit high up.

[MooMooM2]

I think for street driving seating position is fine but if I was tracking the car a lot, lower would be better. The m3 felt that much better just sitting a little lower.

[MooMooM2]

Some pictures

[Capt Canuck]

Very cool :-)
I'm off to one at Laguna Seca in a couple weeks - really looking forward to the comparison.
Won't get the same autumnalness which is always cool this time of year back East/North.

[BigKutta]

Seems like fun. Once I tried to sign up for M Track Day and when I got to the bottom of signing up, it said the car would be an M440xi!?!?! Like why would I want that? How do I make sure i get to drive the Ms like you?

[wjones14]

Awesome! Fantastic weather for a track day in Oct too! Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions on the other M cars.

To your points:

• I like the M2C interior, but probably would prefer the more upscale interiors of the other M models
• Would prefer more customizable digital gauges like my Camaro had
• Would love the Head-Up Display
• I actually prefer the relatively high seating in the M2 as it makes for easy ingress/egress

I had the Performance Center Delivery in 2015 for my M235i, so got to experience a BMW mini road course, slalom, skid pad, and braking lessons as well. Also got to experience a hot lap with a BMW pro driver in an M5 - like you said, Bananas! Definitely a great experience for anyone, and especially drivers who have never been on a track before.

If you want to take it one step further, there is no substitute for open lapping at HPDE events. Especially for you being in NY, Watkins Glen is an epic, world class track. I have done track days at multiple tracks in the Northeast, and the Glen is easily my favorite. Lime Rock in CT is like a mini version of Watkins Glen and is also great.

Any thoughts of taking yours to an HPDE event now that you've had a taste?

[baege]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Seems like fun. Once I tried to sign up for M Track Day and when I got to the bottom of signing up, it said the car would be an M440xi!?!?! Like why would I want that? How do I make sure i get to drive the Ms like you?

I second this question, how did you get into this gig?

I once went to an intro for the 135i back in 2009 which had a short driving course, but never have gotten an invite to this kind of an M event

[BMW 16 5-0]

I did a M track day at the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina a few months ago and got to drive the M2C, M4C and the M5C. My favorite all around was the M2C!! The M5C was a beast!!

[happyjack]

Originally Posted by baege

I second this question, how did you get into this gig?

I once went to an intro for the 135i back in 2009 which had a short driving course, but never have gotten an invite to this kind of an M event

my understanding is that many of these events are dealership sponsored. BMW NA does some (like UDE and M Town tour), but i think they still likely pull names from the regional dealership marketing lists. bottom line, get on some websites and sign up for spam. you probably need to occasionally buy a car from one of these dealers to stay on this list.

[KevinC]

Nice review. I suspect I would have come to similar conclusions.

I don't mind the M2c interior at all. I don't need for it to are a luxury car like the M3/M4 have become. Dakota leather is a lower grade, but a decade ago, that's what they put in the 3-series and many other models. It's a has a bit more of a textured surface that grips better than Merino or Nappa leathers, and it wears extremely well. The cry carbon fiber trim is a bit lower-rent than the glossy CF in the other cars, but again, it's fine with me at this price point and still looks good.

The one place in the interior that's a big miss for me is the door panels. Hard plastic on the tops? Really? That's Hyundai/Kia stuff. The rest of the door panels are fine - CF handles & some alcantara, but even though it's "just" a 2-series, those hard tops under the windows is really low rent.

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by Capt Canuck

Very cool :-)
I'm off to one at Laguna Seca in a couple weeks - really looking forward to the comparison.
Won't get the same autumnalness which is always cool this time of year back East/North.

Enjoy! I know you will. West coast is beautiful most of the year, we in the East take fall though, it really is amazing here in fall, for like a week and a half

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Seems like fun. Once I tried to sign up for M Track Day and when I got to the bottom of signing up, it said the car would be an M440xi!?!?! Like why would I want that? How do I make sure i get to drive the Ms like you?

Look for M track days - https://mtrackdays.bmwusa.com/

You will only drive M cars at this event, there are a few places you can go and do the M track days. And you can also do the M schools which i think are only avail in NC and CA, also seem really good for a little bit more money but will probably learn a little more.

Originally Posted by wjones14

Awesome! Fantastic weather for a track day in Oct too! Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions on the other M cars.

To your points:

• I like the M2C interior, but probably would prefer the more upscale interiors of the other M models
• Would prefer more customizable digital gauges like my Camaro had
• Would love the Head-Up Display
• I actually prefer the relatively high seating in the M2 as it makes for easy ingress/egress

I had the Performance Center Delivery in 2015 for my M235i, so got to experience a BMW mini road course, slalom, skid pad, and braking lessons as well. Also got to experience a hot lap with a BMW pro driver in an M5 - like you said, Bananas! Definitely a great experience for anyone, and especially drivers who have never been on a track before.

If you want to take it one step further, there is no substitute for open lapping at HPDE events. Especially for you being in NY, Watkins Glen is an epic, world class track. I have done track days at multiple tracks in the Northeast, and the Glen is easily my favorite. Lime Rock in CT is like a mini version of Watkins Glen and is also great.

Any thoughts of taking yours to an HPDE event now that you've had a taste?

I would love to do it next season. Going here was a little appetizer to start tracking my car. Something I have wanted to do for a loooonnnng time but just never did. Going to try to do some days at Limerock next year hopefully. My only problem is seeing how much the cars got beat up at the track, some of those cars had less than 2000 miles (maybe even most but the couple I looked had 1600-1800 miles on them and they looked beat). A car is just a car to me but this is my only car right now and still paying it off so not sure it is smart to track it. So what do I do? Already started looking for a track car. Maybe a bmw 128? ahha or maybe just miata. That said I will definitely take the M2 to the track a few times, but I will probably take more care of it and not go as crazy as I probably should (not that I even pushed the car to 50% of what it can do, maybe even less).

Originally Posted by baege

I second this question, how did you get into this gig?

I once went to an intro for the 135i back in 2009 which had a short driving course, but never have gotten an invite to this kind of an M event

check out M track days here - https://mtrackdays.bmwusa.com/

Originally Posted by KevinC

Nice review. I suspect I would have come to similar conclusions.

I don't mind the M2c interior at all. I don't need for it to are a luxury car like the M3/M4 have become. Dakota leather is a lower grade, but a decade ago, that's what they put in the 3-series and many other models. It's a has a bit more of a textured surface that grips better than Merino or Nappa leathers, and it wears extremely well. The cry carbon fiber trim is a bit lower-rent than the glossy CF in the other cars, but again, it's fine with me at this price point and still looks good.

The one place in the interior that's a big miss for me is the door panels. Hard plastic on the tops? Really? That's Hyundai/Kia stuff. The rest of the door panels are fine - CF handles & some alcantara, but even though it's "just" a 2-series, those hard tops under the windows is really low rent.

I came from a vw, the interior of the M2 looks totally good to me. Its until you get into an M3 or M5 that you notice it feels a bit cheap but again, I am not bothered by it. The car does have nice little touches like a bit of alcantara, the CF (which I actually prefer to the wet stuff just because wet cf is played out) but then there are some things that I think feel cheap (the doors like you mention), steering wheel feels meh, the shift knob, e brake and a few other things. Then again, if they put all nicer stuff, less people would buy the M3s or their performance upgraded parts.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by r3awak3n

Look for M track days - https://mtrackdays.bmwusa.com/

You will only drive M cars at this event, there are a few places you can go and do the M track days. And you can also do the M schools which i think are only avail in NC and CA, also seem really good for a little bit more money but will probably learn a little more.

This is where I went and what I'm talking about.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by r3awak3n

I came from a vw, the interior of the M2 looks totally good to me. Its until you get into an M3 or M5 that you notice it feels a bit cheap but again, I am not bothered by it. The car does have nice little touches like a bit of alcantara, the CF (which I actually prefer to the wet stuff just because wet cf is played out) but then there are some things that I think feel cheap (the doors like you mention), steering wheel feels meh, the shift knob, e brake and a few other things. Then again, if they put all nicer stuff, less people would buy the M3s or their performance upgraded parts.

People think 2 series is just smaller 3/5/7 series, wrong. The whole quality level is lower and cheaper down the series by a long way, they make more profit from a 2 series than a 3 etc.

I came from an M6GC to my M2C, like half the price and 1/10th the interior and gadget quality. Still the M2C is 10x the car to drive than the M6 and that's what I wanted.

I love the basic interior. Plain black, orange stitch, that's it. No crazy leather and ally/wood trims etc. Just black.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by r3awak3n

I would love to do it next season. Going here was a little appetizer to start tracking my car. Something I have wanted to do for a loooonnnng time but just never did. Going to try to do some days at Limerock next year hopefully. My only problem is seeing how much the cars got beat up at the track, some of those cars had less than 2000 miles (maybe even most but the couple I looked had 1600-1800 miles on them and they looked beat). A car is just a car to me but this is my only car right now and still paying it off so not sure it is smart to track it. So what do I do? Already started looking for a track car. Maybe a bmw 128? ahha or maybe just miata. That said I will definitely take the M2 to the track a few times, but I will probably take more care of it and not go as crazy as I probably should (not that I even pushed the car to 50% of what it can do, maybe even less).

The M cars at the event you saw are doing that every day. With all kinds of people who aren't being careful at all, because they're not their cars. They're like rental cars, only getting beat on a LOT worse! Not a surprise that they looked beat up.

I know guys who track their cars 6 times a year or more, but many only do 1 or 2 days a year. That's me. I do one track day a year. I've done 14 since 2007 and that is just right for me. Just enough to get that need for speed out of my system. Like you, I want my car pristine, and in the 14 times I've been, I've never gotten so much as a scratch on my car. (You'll get a lot of rubber on the car, but nothing that won't wash off.)

You'll have a blast with your M2C at Lime Rock. You could get it up to 120 mph or more while running in the Novice group. Good luck!

[MooMooM2]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

This is where I went and what I'm talking about.

that is weird. Although I bet a 440 would still be fun at the track, its not what we want. Well if you do the M track days at Monticello NY I can guarantee you that you wont be on a 440. It will be m3. 5, 2 and then you get to drag race a M8, X6M and X5M

Originally Posted by wjones14

The M cars at the event you saw are doing that every day. With all kinds of people who aren't being careful at all, because they're not their cars. They're like rental cars, only getting beat on a LOT worse! Not a surprise that they looked beat up.

I know guys who track their cars 6 times a year or more, but many only do 1 or 2 days a year. That's me. I do one track day a year. I've done 14 since 2007 and that is just right for me. Just enough to get that need for speed out of my system. Like you, I want my car pristine, and in the 14 times I've been, I've never gotten so much as a scratch on my car. (You'll get a lot of rubber on the car, but nothing that won't wash off.)

You'll have a blast with your M2C at Lime Rock. You could get it up to 120 mph or more while running in the Novice group. Good luck!

That is good to hear. I would definitely do some track wrap in the front because of chips. I definitely will take the car to the track next year but I also might try to build something cheaper so I can do most days with the cheaper car and then treat myself a couple days on the M2. I have heard nothing but amazing things about limerock, I can't wait to check it out. Also they have some great prices for some special days which is great, tires and brake pads are expensive enough.

When you take your car to the track the few days, do you get track insurance?

[munja]

Great review, This made me little bit less worried that I will like M3 and will have to spend extra 30k for it. I will be in Monticello on Sunday, if anyone else is going see you there!