M2 Competition

[Pupp]

And for the next silly Q... tell me your views on the M Performance carbon bits. There's a few coming through presently with splitter, side skirt winglets, and either small lip spoiler or large tea tray spoiler on pylons. Looked at one of the latter yesterday and really wasn't sure about that, but the first combination, from photos, looks good to me.

Any of this stuff really functional, or is it just 80s power dressing?

[thatsprettyshady]

I have the carbon diffuser and spoiler, they are every nice but expensive when there are decent alternatives. I doubt any of it is functional.

IMG_4061 by Simon Bamber, on Flickr

[FTW]

thatsprettyshady said:

I have the carbon diffuser and spoiler, they are every nice but expensive when there are decent alternatives. I doubt any of it is functional.

IMG_4061 by Simon Bamber, on Flickr

That looks sublime! Are they 763M Wheels?

[thatsprettyshady]

FTW said:

That looks sublime! Are they 763M Wheels?

Yep, can't stand the OEM ones.

[FTW]

thatsprettyshady said:

Yep, can't stand the OEM ones.

They are dire and weigh more than the standard 437Ms. To be honest it's one of the things putting me off signing for one, the fact I'd have to buy some wheels and an exhaust to make it the car I want.

[thatsprettyshady]

FTW said:

thatsprettyshady said:

Yep, can't stand the OEM ones.

They are dire and weigh more than the standard 437Ms. To be honest it's one of the things putting me off signing for one, the fact I'd have to buy some wheels and an exhaust to make it the car I want.

I think you can spec one with 437m's if you want, not sure if this is still the case though.

Funny thing (looking art your garage) I'm trying to get into a Cayman R at the moment, have you driven the M2 comp? how does it compare?

[FTW]

thatsprettyshady said:

I think you can spec one with 437m's if you want, not sure if this is still the case though.

Funny thing (looking art your garage) I'm trying to get into a Cayman R at the moment, have you driven the M2 comp? how does it compare?

Yes, I drove a Comp last weekend. DCT with 300miles on it. I posted previously about how disappointing I thought the engine is in this latest WLTP configuration. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy the car as much as the OG M2 I did a few trackdays in a couple of years ago which really surprised me with its great Chassis and stronger motor.

I drove the R to the dealership to get a good back to back. The BMW felt bigger and heavier which it is by some 300kg. The cabin is more spacious and more modern which is nice. The R feels a bit dated now but with the fixed carbon buckets, fabric door pulls and alcantara it’s far more of an ‘event’ to sit in. Feels more purposeful and special.

The engine was a disappointment for me. I’ve driven an S55 in an M3 (pre-WLTP) and driven a N55 in the M135i & OG M2. All had more interesting and better sounding engines especially the M3. The M2 comp was not keen to rev which I put down to the limited miles on the demonstrator. It barely popped and banged and sounded very muted just like a car fitted with particulate filters. It didn’t have that lovely cold start up noise. The R in comparison is fantastically linear and loves to rev and sounds superb with the sports exhaust open. Proper sports car engine.

I liked how quick the steering was in the Comp but it was typically E-PAS numb. The R has some Chassis tweaks which make it very alert and pointy and way ahead of the M2 Comp I’d like to think with some more aggressive geo the M2 Chassis could be improved somewhat. I really liked the brake pedal of the Comp much better than the R and I’d spec the M sport brakes for trackday use.

Overall the R feels more special which I expected but it does feel a bit dated inside now. Mine is a toy not a daily so this doesn’t bother me. The M2 Comp would be a daily and a very good one at that. I’ve contacted the dealer asking for a longer test drive (one with more corners) and if they have a manual to try as so far it hasn’t quite lived up to the reviews by Harris and Catchpole.

[thatsprettyshady]

FTW said:

thatsprettyshady said:

I think you can spec one with 437m's if you want, not sure if this is still the case though.

Funny thing (looking art your garage) I'm trying to get into a Cayman R at the moment, have you driven the M2 comp? how does it compare?

Yes, I drove a Comp last weekend. DCT with 300miles on it. I posted previously about how disappointing I thought the engine is in this latest WLTP configuration. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy the car as much as the OG M2 I did a few trackdays in a couple of years ago which really surprised me with its great Chassis and stronger motor.

I drove the R to the dealership to get a good back to back. The BMW felt bigger and heavier which it is by some 300kg. The cabin is more spacious and more modern which is nice. The R feels a bit dated now but with the fixed carbon buckets, fabric door pulls and alcantara it’s far more of an ‘event’ to sit in. Feels more purposeful and special.

The engine was a disappointment for me. I’ve driven an S55 in an M3 (pre-WLTP) and driven a N55 in the M135i & OG M2. All had more interesting and better sounding engines especially the M3. The M2 comp was not keen to rev which I put down to the limited miles on the demonstrator. It barely popped and banged and sounded very muted just like a car fitted with particulate filters. It didn’t have that lovely cold start up noise. The R in comparison is fantastically linear and loves to rev and sounds superb with the sports exhaust open. Proper sports car engine.

I liked how quick the steering was in the Comp but it was typically E-PAS numb. The R has some Chassis tweaks which make it very alert and pointy and way ahead of the M2 Comp I’d like to think with some more aggressive geo the M2 Chassis could be improved somewhat. I really liked the brake pedal of the Comp much better than the R and I’d spec the M sport brakes for trackday use.

Overall the R feels more special which I expected but it does feel a bit dated inside now. Mine is a toy not a daily so this doesn’t bother me. The M2 Comp would be a daily and a very good one at that. I’ve contacted the dealer asking for a longer test drive (one with more corners) and if they have a manual to try as so far it hasn’t quite lived up to the reviews by Harris and Catchpole.

Thanks for that - I can completely relate on most of those points, I've had cars in the past which were cheaper but much more of an event to drive, the M2 is very very capable but that can seem stale unless at higher speeds which opportunities are few and far between.

I don't daily my M2 so I was able compromise the day to day usability a bit by adding Ohlins shocks, removing the OPFs and going for a more aggressive geo set up - this combined with a meaty remap (complete with added startup noise!) definitely swung the fun factor back - Porsche seems to get all this plus more, right out the box!

Thats not to say the M2 is a bad car stock but I think modern cars have gone a certain way recently and I think the Cayman is perhaps the right side of that line and the M2 just slightly on the wrong side.

[nickfrog]

Yes I agree on the Cayman vs M2 front. But the sheer fact that we are comparing both is probably a massive compliment to the BMW.
The 6 cylinder Cayman probably still have the edge, particularly a R or a GTS , but the 4 cylinder ones, I am not even sure overall.
And then of course there is the fact that you can seat 4 in the M2 and have space for large objects, like a mountain bike.

[Pupp]

Interesting insights, thanks.
The new NA 6 cylinder 718 GTS will be a tempting competitor I'm sure but at a c. £20k premium... that buys a lot of fettling for an M2C

[TheOtherMonkey]

Joining this thread as I’ve just got my deposit down on a new M2Comp.

I’d looked at a 718 as well, but to feel anything like a halo/special model you have to go for a GTS. And that works out as a lot more than a £20k premium once you’ve added a realistic level of options (even on a GTS its hard not to get heavily into the Porsche options list) and factored in the discounts available on the Comp at the moment. Whilst admittedly it would have been a lot more “special”, the GTS I specced was over £30k more! And no back seats...

On a separate note, I’m definitely going to have to do something about the exhaust on the Comp - it doesn’t even sound as good as my current B58 340i. I’m aware of the options (the new Milltek equal length system sounds good to my ears), but how legal are they in the new GPF/OPF era? Am I going to get pulled up on it at my first MoT? Is it going to void my BMW warranty?

[MellowshipSlinky]

No reason an aftermarket exhaust would be illegal - as long as all the factory filters are in place ( which they are with most, inc Milltek)
And unless regulations change about noise and it becomes part of the mot..
As for warranty, expect the BMW warranty to not cover the exhaust (stands to reason) but there shouldn’t be an issue with any other part of the car.

I was so close to selling my Comp due to the lack of sound (not just noise, but the actual sound it made) but now having the Milltek on has made me quite like it again.
Next stop, when all this world meltdown is out the way, is to have the calipers painted and be rid of the awful blue.

[cowboyengineer]

So I have an m2 competition and have an order in for a gts 4.0, obviously I’ve not driven the gts but my previous 981gts was much more of an event the. My m2.

I’ve not gelled with the m2, and I was going to sell it. But in this climate I’d take a hammering so I’m going to mod it instead. New suspension wheels, geo set up and a remap and exhaust as well as getting the padding taken of the steering wheel and it retrimmed in Alcantara

[thatsprettyshady]

cowboyengineer said:

So I have an m2 competition and have an order in for a gts 4.0, obviously I’ve not driven the gts but my previous 981gts was much more of an event the. My m2.

I’ve not gelled with the m2, and I was going to sell it. But in this climate I’d take a hammering so I’m going to mod it instead. New suspension wheels, geo set up and a remap and exhaust as well as getting the padding taken of the steering wheel and it retrimmed in Alcantara

Go for it! FYI I got hold of an M4 GTS steering wheel with the 12 o'clock mark which fitted straight on, not sure how much but the alcantara has stood up surprisingly well.

[clived]

cowboyengineer said:

So I have an m2 competition and have an order in for a gts 4.0, obviously I’ve not driven the gts but my previous 981gts was much more of an event the. My m2.

I’ve not gelled with the m2, and I was going to sell it. But in this climate I’d take a hammering so I’m going to mod it instead. New suspension wheels, geo set up and a remap and exhaust as well as getting the padding taken of the steering wheel and it retrimmed in Alcantara

What suspension are you going for? I was pretty unhappy with the ride and wet grip on mine as a daily driver and swapped to the MSS springs (chose not to lower at all) and both ride and grip are transformed. Not expensive either.

[cowboyengineer]

I was thinking about going for the ac schnitzer suspension. Think it’s about 3k fitted

[FTW]

During my decision making I've been looking through the used car adverts for M2 Comps to try and plot price vs mileage to get a rough idea of depreciation to see if the BMWFS deal was a good'un or not. Anyway I spotted this at TH Boler.

Anyone know this car? Looks a good drivers spec with manual, brakes. Lot's of top options too.

https://www.thboler.com/used-cars/11226053-bmw-2-s...

[MellowshipSlinky]

Looks to have all the options that most cars on the market have.
Good price I reckon.

[clived]

cowboyengineer said:

I was thinking about going for the ac schnitzer suspension. Think it’s about 3k fitted

Difficult to organise currently I guess, but I'd try to drive a M2C with the MSS system first and see if you can save a couple of grand.

[Steve Rance]

cowboyengineer said:

I was thinking about going for the ac schnitzer suspension. Think it’s about 3k fitted

I’m probably fitting Moton to my M2.