New BMW M2 spy shots

The baby M4 caught looking closer than ever to production - hurry please BMW!

The BMW M2 promises to be a fairly special car. It's indirectly a replacement for the marvellous 1 M Coupe; the M Performance 235i is already superb and there's likely to be a fair bit of M3/M4 influence too. Quite a recipe.

Thumbs up for He-Man arches

These pictures show the M2 in what is hopefully near production spec, right down to the disguised M grille badge. There are M4 wheels, some very burly brakes, nicely flared rear arches and the trademark M quartet of exhausts. Note also how wide those front tyres are and the minute gap between tyre and wheelarch; this is a very serious car, in case that was ever in doubt.

We're none the wiser on powertrain details yet, but it's expected the M2 will use a detuned version of the twin-turbo straight six from the M4. Splitting the difference between the M235i and M4 would mean 366hp and probably a similar amount of torque. If the M2 is manual only like the 1 M Coupe then we'll eat our M-branded caps; BMW will surely offer both DCT and manual options, although that's to be confirmed at this point.

Being optimistic the M2 will be seen at Frankfurt, so typically a very significant show for the German manufacturers. It's been a while since BMW has really wowed showgoers with a production model after all. Let's hope the M2 is that car. More details as they're available!