BMW splits M2 in two

BMW Group Australia will dish up its most affordable purebred M machine in two tasty turbo flavours – M2 and M2 Pure – when the spicy coupe arrives in Australia in the second quarter of 2016.

While the M2 will be priced at $98,900 plus on-road costs – in line with its spiritual successor, 2011’s limited-edition 1M – the M2 Pure can be had for a more affordable $89,900 (plus on-road costs), which is a neat $50,000 cheaper than the M3 sedan and a sizeable $60,000 under the M4 coupe.

But both M2 variants are substantially more expensive than the closest small-car rivals from BMW’s German competitors, the $75,800 Mercedes-AMG A45 five-door hatch and $78,900 Audi RS3 Sportback.

So far, BMW is tight-lipped about the possibility of a convertible M2, but judging on past history, drop-top fans should not rule it out.

The M2 coupe twins get the M Division’s macho body treatment, including bulging mudguards to house the fat 19-inch wheels, a sharp-edged front fascia with enlarged air openings and a unique kidney grille. At the back, the M2 gets quad exhaust pipes embedded in a black diffuser, as well as a rear lip spoiler.

The M2 and M2 Pure coupes are both armed with BMW’s turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine that channels 272kW of power and 465Nm of torque to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (a six-speed manual gearbox is a no cost option).

In automatic guise, the M2 siblings can both dash from zero to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds, matching the sprint time of Audi’s 270kW/465Nm five-cylinder turbo RS3 but coming up one tenth short of the 4.2-second dash of the recently upgraded 280kW/475Nm four-cylinder turbo AMG A45.

The 0-100km/h sprint time for the manual M2 is slightly slower, at 4.5 seconds.

BMW Australia expects the M2 pair to open up the M brand to a new audience who have not been able to afford such a machine.

BMW Group Australia head of product and market planning Shawn Ticehurst said the new BMW M2 was the modern day successor to the likes of the BMW 2002 turbo and E30-era M3, available from 1985 until 1992.

“The M2 follows BMW’s long tradition of producing high-performance compact sports cars,” he said.

“With impressive performance, powerful styling, extensive standard equipment and an attractive price point, the M2 presents a compelling value proposition.

“Australia is already one of the leading markets per capita for BMW M vehicles, and given dealers are already reporting significant levels of interest, we are confident this status will only be enhanced with the M2.” Although the M2 Pure owes its cheaper price tag to fewer features than the M2, it still gets most of what many buyers will consider the essentials for such a car, including the full-blown engine and dual-clutch transmission, Active M differential, M compound brakes, leather interior, lane-departure warning, city autonomous braking, pedestrian warning, tyre pressure monitor, rear-parking assistant with rearview camera, bi-Xenon headlights, DAB+ digital radio, auto air-conditioning, sat-nav and carbon-fibre interior trim.

For their extra dosh, M2 buyers get Drivelogic in their dual-clutch transmission, theft alarm, keyless entry, automatic headlights with high-beam assist, electric-adjustable heated seats and high-end harman/kardon audio.

According to BMW, the M2’s Drivelogic settings provide a variety of modes such as launch control, “creep on demand” and “slight rear-wheel slip function”.

The manual gearbox comes with carbon-fibre friction lining and a throttle blip function for slick down-changes. It even reduces engine revs on up-changes too.

2016 BMW M2 pricing*

M2 Pure (a)	$89,900
M2 (a)	$98,900

*Excludes on-road costs