BMW M2 2024 long-term test

In most EVs, I would attempt the former. In the M2, my mind was made up as soon as I pressed the start button and the engine revved into life.

Even though it meant familiarising myself with yet another forecourt, I didn't regret my decision.

Love it

Raspy roar 

The M2’s S58 engine is slightly detuned from its application in the M4, but it still sounds great.

Loathe it

Petrol stations They’re cold and windswept and the M2 makes me visit them rather too often.

Mileage: 6287

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Life with a BMW M2: Month 3

Practicality? No issue... 17 July

I’d always thought people with BMW M2s spent their weekends devouring the UK’s finest B-roads, yet here I am with tidying to do at home and piles of unwanted belongings to take to the charity shop. Thankfully, the M2’s boot is large for this type of car and, big load lip aside, really quite practical. And I can always take a detour on the return journey… 

Mileage: 5867

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The M2 has grown over the years... - 3 July

I’ve generally become accustomed to the size of the M2, but a chance encounter with an early 4 Series in a car park recently was an eyeopening reminder that it’s no longer a small car. The two machines were essentially identical in length – and the beefed-up grille of the M2 meant it looked the bulkier of the two. Progress of a sort, I guess.

Mileage: 5213

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Life with a BMW M2: Month 2

Is this a flat-track bully that shrinks in the face of rush-hour traffic and heavy rainfall? - 19 June

It’s very easy to criticise the new BMW M2. To say that it has a harsh ride, or that it looks ugly compared with the last one, or that it’s really heavy. And while it’s 119mm longer and 230kg heavier than the car it replaced, BMW has achieved exactly what it should have: the M2 is fundamentally improved over the last one.

As for how it looks, if you remove all subjectivity from the equation and judge it as a successful or unsuccessful piece of automotive design, I’d say this is more a case of the former. It is well proportioned, undoubtedly looks like a BMW and, while it might be fussy in places, I believe it will stand up to the test of time much better than its key rivals.

BMW could have played it safe, evolved the formula and given us a car that, apart from slimmer front and rear lights and maybe wider haunches, would have looked the same as its predecessor. But it didn’t, and so here we are today.

So what’s it like to live with? I borrowed the car from regular custodian James Attwood with as much eagerness as trepidation, because I was about to take this 453bhp, rear-drive ’bahnstormer on a 270-mile round trip to Donington Park circuit through both London and Birmingham’s rush-hour traffic, during two huge rainstorms and around one very tight car park.

My agitation turned out to be mostly unnecessary, because on the move the M2 was a peach. It swallowed every journey like water, was comfortable enough on the motorway and, despite filling up just outside of London on the way back, it would have done both legs on one tank.

At the end of my time with it, I came away with 29.0mpg. For a car with vast performance potential, most of which will rarely be reached on the public road, touching 30.0mpg is a welcome achievement, especially if you don’t want to drive like you’re on an economy run.

When I didn’t, the M2’s 3.0-litre straight six bellowed and howled as it tore through each of the ZF’s eight ratios, with ample torque (406lb ft) delivered throughout a healthy rev range (from 2650-5870rpm).

A special mention also to how planted it felt everywhere: it’s so composed and unruffled by anything that you wonder why anyone would need any more car. Even during two separate thunderstorms that brought rain and hail, reducing my vision to about 10 metres, at no point did it feel as skittish or tail-happy as one might have thought.

This makes sense, given the M2 shares its CLAR underpinnings with the larger M3 and M4, which makes it dynamically more mature and frees up space inside.

Even with two passengers on board plus all of their baggage, equipment and clothing for an overnight stay, we were never left wanting for room. It’s hardly an M3 Touring in the back, but up front you don’t really notice any lack of space.

The increase in size isn’t always welcome, though, partly because of how big the car feels on the road. In tight car parks, it’s quite hard to place, because the front end seems so distant. I suspect that many front alloys will be at the mercy of kerbs.

Aside from the size, though, the M2’s surplus of space, impressive rolling refinement, raspy six-pot and standout looks made it a companion that I hated giving back.

Love it:

Business class 

The textured materials on the dashboard and door cards are very attractive and have a built-to-last feel. Oh, and the M Drift Analyser is a welcome gimmick.

Loathe it:

Excess baggage

The screen is wide to the point of obstruction, its icons are fiddly to use on the move and, as for the HVAC controls, there are too many clicks for comfort.

Mileage: 4800

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Our driver has become a noisy neighbour... - 5 June

I’ve had a lot of early starts lately. Good news for my neighbours: the M2 has a mode that quietens the glorious sports exhaust note. Bad news for my neighbours: it defaults to loud when you turn on the car and there’s an automatic theatrical engine rev when you press the start button. It sounds lovely but makes me feel like a hooligan. 

Mileage: 4713

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Life with a BMW M2: Month 1

Welcoming the BMW M2 to the fleet 

Is it possible for a car to be at once gloriously minimalist and excessive and overgrown? Because somehow the BMW M2 that I will be running for the next few months feels like both.

In an age when the BMW range has expanded to 17 models and is headlined by brash Teutonic titans such as the iX and XM, there's real throwback charm to the simplicity of a small two-door coupé. And yet this second-generation M2 isn't as small or simple as its predecessor.

It has grown notably in size and stance, such that it now feels more like a mini M3 than a descendant of the 1M Coupé - which in a way it is.

A quick recap: the previous 2 Series Coupé shared a rear-wheel-drive platform with the 1 Series hatchback. But when the latter switched to front-wheel drive for commercial reasons, the only way the 2 Series Coupé could survive with a driven back axle was to switch to a specially shortened version of the CLAR platform used by the 3 Series saloon.

Power still comes from a blown straight six, but it's a newer, twin-turbocharged unit tuned for 453bhp - a hefty chunk more than the 405bhp in the previous M2. The result is a model that's bigger and beefier in almost every aspect.

However, the fact that the 2 Series Coupé - and by extension the M2 - survived at all is a testament to BMW's continued passion for driver's cars. There's a reason why both the standard and M ranges are full of big SUVs, after all.

And, as regular Autocar readers will know, those engineers have nailed it: the M2 scored four and a half stars in our road test and has topped a group test of old-school, real-driven, manual-shift sports cars.

It's good, then. So my mission here is to find out what it's like to live with over an extended period. After all, this is the sort of machine that really can serve as both a weekend sports car and a daily driver, especially now that it has grown a bit. The rear seats are actually just about usable and there's plenty of room in the boot.

The base price of the M2 is now £62,420, which isn't exactly cheap. But then you would pay nearly double that for an XM, and if you did, you would have to deal with me questioning your life choices.

And while M cars don't feature separate trim levels, you can get a bit lost adding on the various option packs. I plumped for the £730 Comfort Pack, which adds heated seats and the like, the £1100 Driving Assistant package, the £2305 M Driver's Pack and M alloy wheels (19in at the front, 20in at the back) at £330.

After ticking the box for Brooklyn Grey paint (which is lovely, although its connection to the New York borough remains a total mystery), I was done. I did make one controversial spec choice, though: the automatic gearbox. It was very tempting to go for the stick shift, given that manual 'boxes are an increasingly endangered species and so we should enjoy them while we can.

But our previous experience with the M2 has been mostly of manuals, and the auto is more popular with buyers - and, frankly, an auto is generally easier to live with. In terms of styling, you certainly wouldn't mistake the M2 for a regular 2 Series Coupé - not even an M240i in M Sport guise.

BMW has given it a comprehensive and functional makeover, with styling that has proven a bit divisive among my friends so far. Some quite like the aggressive stance, while others feel it's trying far too hard and a bit ugly.

One culprit for that could be the kidney grille at the front, which is just a little too in-your-face. Still, it's a paragon of restraint compared with other current M models.

Inside, of course, that styling isn't an issue, while the cabin really shines. The sports seats are comfy and deep, the driving position is low and cosseting, and it features a version of BMW's infotainment that still features a rotary dial.

First impressions, then? Well, after a few months running Honda SUVs, the overriding initial one was a realisation of just how bad the UK's pothole crisis is. What would have appeared to be minor imperfections behind the wheel of my ZR-V or e:Ny1 suddenly seemed like craters, given the firm suspension of the M2. There has been a fair amount of jostling at slower speeds as a result.