Check out the BMW M2 'TR87 Edition'

AUTOID will convert just 10 M2s to TR87 spec - here's why you might want one

By Matt Bird / Monday, 29 July 2024 / Loading comments

Modifying M cars has become big business of late, with turbo engines relatively easily boosted and a whole host of bodykits for improving lap times (or social media following). The latest M2 is a prime candidate for tuning, given all that it shares with the M4; plus it gets plenty of attention as standard, so any visual upgrades will guarantee eyeballs…

There is more to this TR87 Edition M2, recently revealed by Essex-based AUTOID, than meets the eye, basically. Because there’s proper downforce from its V3 iteration of the TRE carbon kit - 108kg at 120mph, split 50:50 front to rear - as well as a proper racecar look. The important parts of the bodykit are a three-piece front splitter, side skirts and adjustable rear wing. The design is meant to evoke the old M2 CS, which might be a stretch despite the new bumper ducts, rear diffuser and kidney grilles; that being said, the claim of ‘unparalleled fit and a cohesive design that seamlessly integrates with the car's lines’ sounds more like it. Beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that, but pumping up every element of the unapologetic M2 does seem to work.

570hp is claimed for the TR87 edition, which seems ambitious given only a Milltek exhaust is mentioned. But then power wasn’t really lacking from the M2, and surely that extra muscle could be liberated if needed. Perhaps of more interest will be the M Performance suspension kit that’s included as part of the TR87 package, promising better cornering and body control as well as helping the punchy new look.

An optional handling package promises an even better driving M2, with Yokohama AD09 tyre and fast road geometry, adjustable camber plates, Hardrace rear toe arms, aluminium replacements for the rubber front control arm bushes and MSS adjustable springs. That’s in addition to tweaks for the eight-speed auto which are said to bring the speed of the DCT back, more slip in the MDM traction control mode, and improved steering feel. All sounds like £4,450 very well spent.

Certainly anyone wishing to modify an M2 in this fashion will have to pay handsomely. Presumably thanks to the carbon in the bodykit and using factory upgrade suspension, the TR87 Edition upgrade is £12,999. That doesn’t seem to include the stunning HRE wheels seen here, either. Add that to the handling package and it’s £17k already without thinking about rims. But it does look pretty special.

And ‘pushing the boundaries of performance and design for the G87 M2 platform’ was never going to come cheap. But with early cars now a smidge over £50k and the recently revised 480hp M2 starting at £66,000, it’s almost possible to make a TR87 for the price of a new one. Easy to see why you might.