RE: New BMW M2 spy shots

[smilo996]

I wish I had designed the camo wrap. Whoever did has a monopoly on it.

Perhaps they will consider a shooting brake or clown shoe again.

The front is perfect on this and it clearly has the length.

[Ferosferio]

Ares said:

PunterCam said:

Ares said:

cerb4.5lee said:

RobM77 said:

M engines used to be an event in terms of sound and character; think of the E46 M3 or the E92 M3 for example.

Yes loads of character...the S54 sounds tinny and wasp like and the S65 is muted and sounds nothing like a V8!

I know what you are saying though!

True, but the F30 does sound a lot better in the flesh, especially on song, than the media give it credit for. It's no M5/M6 V8/V10 but it's probably the best engine note since the M3 CSL.

That can only mean it's louder than you expect in the flesh.

No. Far from. And it wasn't louder than expected. Just sounds a lot lot better. I expected, and media led us to believe it was either a slightly beefier 335i engine note or just all whoosh of induction noise. It actually sounds totally different. Gruffer, rougher, deeper, more off-beat at lower revs then bigger capacity sounding 'roar' until getting more CSL-esque raspy at very high revs when hot. (although not as 'raspy' as the CSL)

Having recently been in a passenger in an F30 M3 with the Active Sound nonsense diabled, I can tell you that it's a much more 'natural' i.e. better sounding engine with the unit disabled. Comparing both sounds, it's a mystery why BMW even bothered with it.

Anyway, loving the look of the M2.

[Monkey_boy]

I think the information in this article is rather out of date apart from the pictures. I am reasonably sure that most sources have said that the engine will not be a detuned M4 engine with twin turbos (S55), rather an uprated N55 single turbo twinscroll (N55B30T0 ?) with some parts from the S55 ..and that originally a manual only version was touted, but that recent Nurburgring videos clearly hear a DCT/ZF being used.

I too am looking fwd to this car! be great to see a shootout with the new RS3!

[aeropilot]

Monkey_boy said:

I think the information in this article is rather out of date apart from the pictures. I am reasonably sure that most sources have said that the engine will not be a detuned M4 engine with twin turbos (S55), rather an uprated N55 single turbo twinscroll (N55B30T0 ?) with some parts from the S55 ..and that originally a manual only version was touted, but that recent Nurburgring videos clearly hear a DCT/ZF being used.

Correct.
It's been 'known' for nearly a year, that the engine will be a tweeked N55, not a detuned S55 (in the same way the 1M had a tweeked N54)
Almost certainly it will have the option of DCT (rather than the ZF-8)

[Maldini35]

Looks good.
I love the idea of this car.
I only hope there is some clear space between the M4 & M2 in terms of pricing.
This car needs to be more than £10k cheaper than the M4.
If this were to match the hyper hatch prices of the A45 AMG & RS3 (i.e. c.£40k) then the car world will get a lot more interesting.
If it's nearer £50k I worry it'll be low volume irrelevance for most of us.
The popularity of the M135i showed that there is demand for a more affordable performance BMW.

[chevronb37]

I saw this testing at the Nurburgring back in April. Sounded really good and looked quick.

[RossP]

I was going to hold out for one of these but it doesn't look different enough to the M235i - I was hoping for 1M style arches.

Also, there won't be any discounts to be had initially so with current discounts on the M4, I think the prices won't actually be very far apart.

[aeropilot]

RossP said:

I was going to hold out for one of these but it doesn't look different enough to the M235i - I was hoping for 1M style arches.

The flared arches on this are more in line with the M4 because of the body styling and arch panel length.

[PHMatt]

RobM77 said:

Krikkit said:

Looks over-wheeled to me. Can't argue with a twin turbo straight six though.

oo - I could! Take the standard straight 6 and improve intake and outake, change the cam timing, lighten the flywheel and other engine internals and that'd be far better and more befitting an M car than a hum-whoosh motor from a non-M car that now makes a bit more hum and whoosh.

I'm sure the M2 will be great, and I suspect I'd absolutely love the way it drove, but in terms of the engine, I suspect it'll be a let down compared to M cars of the past. M engines used to be an event in terms of sound and character; think of the E46 M3 or the E92 M3 for example.

In the 1990's when M division were making ever increasingly powerful normally aspirated ITB's engines petrol was was about 85p a litre and the tax was the same for a 5.0 V8 E39 as it was for a 1.6 Mondeo.

The world has changed and M division has thankfully changed with it.

[MikeGoodwin]

Hope it doesnt have that fking horrible active sound. Never heard anything like it!!!!

[Ares]

Ferosferio said:

Ares said:

PunterCam said:

Ares said:

cerb4.5lee said:

RobM77 said:

M engines used to be an event in terms of sound and character; think of the E46 M3 or the E92 M3 for example.

Yes loads of character...the S54 sounds tinny and wasp like and the S65 is muted and sounds nothing like a V8!

I know what you are saying though!

True, but the F30 does sound a lot better in the flesh, especially on song, than the media give it credit for. It's no M5/M6 V8/V10 but it's probably the best engine note since the M3 CSL.

That can only mean it's louder than you expect in the flesh.

No. Far from. And it wasn't louder than expected. Just sounds a lot lot better. I expected, and media led us to believe it was either a slightly beefier 335i engine note or just all whoosh of induction noise. It actually sounds totally different. Gruffer, rougher, deeper, more off-beat at lower revs then bigger capacity sounding 'roar' until getting more CSL-esque raspy at very high revs when hot. (although not as 'raspy' as the CSL)

Having recently been in a passenger in an F30 M3 with the Active Sound nonsense diabled, I can tell you that it's a much more 'natural' i.e. better sounding engine with the unit disabled. Comparing both sounds, it's a mystery why BMW even bothered with it.

Anyway, loving the look of the M2.

I was more talking about the noise from outside. Cars never sound as good from the inside. One of the cruel facts about nice car ownership.

[cerb4.5lee]

Ares said:

I was more talking about the noise from outside. Cars never sound as good from the inside. One of the cruel facts about nice car ownership.

Unless its a diesel then it will sound better inside thanks to a different noise coming through the speakers and you certainly wouldn't want to listen to it from the outside that's for sure.

Completely agree with you regards nice cars though and they mostly tend to sound better from the outside and you miss out when driving them because of all the refinement and sound deadening.

[Nickbrapp]

At least now It's a m car over a tarted up rep mobile with a m badge stuck on

[kambites]

Assuming the M-division do their usual excellent job with the suspension calibration (to my mind the weakest point on the M135i and presumably the 235 as well) it should be a very impressive car. The engine will never be to my tastes, but that's just the nature of modern cars.