EOTR - M2 Competiton

[Rich B]

i bought my 2019 manual M2 comp (6k miles) in Nov ‘21 and have just sold it in Nov ‘24 (34k miles).

As a general all rounder car i still think it’s absolutely brilliant - very fast, lots of fun, good looking and still practical enough to do every day life. It was pretty much* faultless in terms of reliability and bodywork/paint/etc looked as good the day i sold it as it did when i got it. The sale was pretty easy in the end - a really nice guy came along, made a sensible offer and collected it a week later.

pro’s
- the way it hit its power band in second and started to light up its rears at speed never got boring
- steering/handling - very ///M car - a nice balance between comfort and precision.
- wide arches. i fucking love wide arches.
- just the general package - small, square and aggressive.
- Everyone else loved it too - lots of people commented on the car and the colour.

con’s
- i was never much of a fan of the engine or exhaust noise. the engine was always a bit tappity sounding and the exhaust just wasn’t loud enough.
- *the rear indicator issue that plagues them - i had to replace one because of it (only £250, but annoying as it’s a known fault).
- *front radiators - i went through two from stones flying up. £600 a pop.

Overall, i’d recommend one to anyone - they’re damn good cars and i can’t think of anything else i’d want for the money.

[240PP]

Sounds like a good overall ownership experience

I’ve said it to myself many times but I really want to own an M car at some point. I don’t think I’ve ever even sat in one!

[Rich B]

They’re just good cars! The fact that they are based on a normal mass produced saloon/coupe/estate means you get all the benefits of a well developed base car, then all the fun of BMWs idea of a sports car - particularly when the basic RWD architecture is already “correct”.

i’ve done over 100k miles in M cars now and never had any problem beyond the typical stuff (each model does have a little hit list of stuff to expect, but i’ve never had anything big go wrong.) Mikeage doesn’t seem to affect this experience either, as i’ve owned M cars from 6k miles to 140k miles with the same experience.

i’ll miss mine, but it’s time for me to try something different.

[Carlos]

"As a general all rounder car i still think it’s absolutely brilliant - very fast, lots of fun, good looking and still practical enough to do every day life."

That's all you need to say. Brilliant cars that are probably under appreciated in NCG world being in the shadow of the M3 moniker. My kids have been asked a couple of times why we didn't get an M3 like we have the pretend M

[integrale_evo]

Bit if a shame that emission targets chasing performance numbers and customer expectations pretty much killed off decent NA engines.

How cool would the M2 have been with an evolution of the e90 m3 v8 instead of a turbocharged 6?

You can put noisy exhausts on them, but they don’t really sound any better. Just louder.

[Rich B]

How cool would the M2 have been with an evolution of the e90 m3 v8 instead of a turbocharged 6?

The V8 was a special thing - power delivery/sound/etc.. but the 6 did answer its biggest failing - thirst!

i averaged something like 27.5mpg in the M2 (with the possibility of doing a long journey at 33/34mpg).

I was probably more like 20mpg in the M3 with 24/25 being about as economical as it would go.

However, the personality of the V8 was worth it!

[mik]

I was probably more like 20mpg in the M3 with 24/25 being about as economical as it would go.

On a run with Pete RevsRUs - his V8 needed similar refuelling to the VXR8, despite the capacity difference.

[V8Granite]

I can’t get over the lack of NA on these, which is a shame as the size is about spot on as an all rounder.
There is a petrol blue one with enormous ceramics on the way into town which stands out nicely.

It seems that the E60 M5 and E90 M3 were the only M cars which didn’t mix amazing performance with brilliant fuel economy.

Dave!

[Rich B]

I can’t get over the lack of NA on these, which is a shame as the size is about spot on as an all rounder.
There is a petrol blue one with enormous ceramics on the way into town which stands out nicely.

It seems that the E60 M5 and E90 M3 were the only M cars which didn’t mix amazing performance with brilliant fuel economy.

Dave!

The E90 V8 was the last NA engine BMW made… Another reason it was so special.

[Matty]

No deprivation figures? No MPG? (Although clarified later)...come on Rich, play the game

Anyway, no one cares about the old BMW, that's gone, it's in the past. We're all 20-pages deep into the lack of Lotus ownership at the moment!

[Rich B]

No deprivation figures? No MPG? (Although clarified later)...come on Rich, play the game

Deprivation - i’ve been deprived of precisely “1” M2.

Depreciation - bought £45k, sold £32k
MPG - average 27.5mpg

[ZedLeg]

I was probably more like 20mpg in the M3 with 24/25 being about as economical as it would go.

On a run with Pete RevsRUs - his V8 needed similar refuelling to the VXR8, despite the capacity difference.

The LS makes like a third more torque than the BMW V8.

Lazy cars sip fuel

[Marv]

End of the line for ///M cars for you then Rich?

IIRC over the years you've owned an E30 325i Sport, E46 M3, E92 M3 and this M2...can't remember if you had an E36 M3 in the past though?

The M2 you had is probably the last M car that I find desirable.

....but the 6 did answer its biggest failing - thirst!

i averaged something like 27.5mpg in the M2 (with the possibility of doing a long journey at 33/34mpg).

My CSL gets around 25 mpg with mixed driving and 30ish on a long journey, so not too different from the M2.

[Rich B]

the end for now, but i do still love M cars and having a daily practical car AND a space on the drive opens up all sorts of possibilities in the future.

[Matty]

TBH Rich I think the 2-car Van/Elise is definately the way to go. Commuting anywhere other than out in the sticks is so miserable these days that you may as well do it in something cheap and utlilitarian, rather than the wear/tear/damage of a performance car with expensive bits.....then keep something interesting in the garage for occasions.

[Ascender]

Great summary, the M2 is a fantastic car. It was by far the more fun one to be drifting-in compared to the M4.

I think that generation in particular will appreciate in value and reputation over time.

[duncs500]

How's the back for a little 'un @Rich B?

[Rich B]

How's the back for a little 'un @Rich B?

Absolutely fine - 2 isofix points with plenty of room. i put the passenger seat forward so he had a little more legroom, but that was mainly to stop him kicking the shit out of my nice seat back than anything!

[Jobbo]

Was yours Hockenheim silver, Rich? I read a thread on PH by someone who had specifically sought out that colour on an M340i Touring and the comments indicated it was particularly desirable. Not sure if that is just because it’s rare on a 3-series. It goes well with the colour of the alloys so I can see it being a selling point for an M2 as well.

[Rich B]

Was yours Hockenheim silver, Rich? I read a thread on PH by someone who had specifically sought out that colour on an M340i Touring and the comments indicated it was particularly desirable. Not sure if that is just because it’s rare on a 3-series. It goes well with the colour of the alloys so I can see it being a selling point for an M2 as well.

yep, i think it was an M specific colour, though i’ve seen a very similar colour on Minis too. It’s a really nice colour though - it looked grey, white or silver depending on the light. Even the V5 described it as “grey/silver”.

i was also impressed with how hard wearing it was - My silver CTR front end paintwork was totally fucked after 30k miles, the M2 had barely a mark