The 2020 BMW M2 CS is a victory lap for BMW, and a well-deserved one at that. After 5 years of creating the beautiful M2 and subsequent M2 Competitors, BMW has each proper to pat itself on the again. It is a masterpiece. And though we’re somewhat late to the get together, lastly getting our likelihood behind the wheel simply because the final ones depart sellers, at the least we get the prospect so as to add our fingers to the refrain of applause.
Spiritually, the M2 has change into the successor to BMW’s first few generations of M3, because the M3/M4 pair develop in each measurement and weight with every passing iteration. The M2 managed to fit in under these stalwarts as a refreshingly small and squat little coupe with hardly any house for backseat passengers. It’s lighter than an M4, crammed with fewer luxuries and facilities, and drives just like the small automobile it’s. That makes the M2 a basically higher place to begin from if fun-to-drive efficiency is precedence primary. However as efficiency hierarchies go, the M2 has at all times had a “however” when in comparison with BMW’s flagship M3/M4.
The M2 handles extremely nicely, however you may’t have adaptive dampers. The M2 is fast and makes an important noise, however it’s down on energy and slower than an M4. I may go on, however! This M2 CS mannequin is what occurs when you take away the however from the equation. Lastly.
From the spec sheet, the CS is strictly what a BMW fanatic with limitless pocketbooks would piece collectively to create the last word M2. You don’t even must put wheels and tires on the automobile, as a result of you may spec probably the most beautiful, light-gold, solid wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, the stickiest road authorized rubber on the market.
The laundry record of scorching rodding goes on. The M2 CS inherited the previous-generation M3/M4 engine. There’s no leash holding this S55 energy plant again both, because it makes the complete 444 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque produced by the last-generation M3/M4. It’s mainly the engine swap each M2 proprietor has wished for years. To it, BMW bolted an exhaust that sounds ripped straight off the Loud Pipes ‘R Us chopping room flooring — I promise, there’s no want for something aftermarket right here.
In fact, the record continues. BMW lastly suits its adaptive dampers to the M2 CS after solely providing fastened dampers to each earlier M2. The carbon ceramic brakes are additionally optionally available on an M2 for the primary time. And no want to the touch the outside styling. It’s outfitted with all of the carbon fiber extras you may presumably need — hood, roof, mirrors, splitter, spoiler and diffuser. Plus, you may and will spec it in Misano Blue Metallic. Imagine me, when these inevitably begin displaying up for public sale, the white and black ones will not be commanding the identical premium.
Moving into the driving force’s seat, although, I’m barely miffed by the questionably selective lightweighting. BMW scrapped keyless entry for the CS (how a lot weight does that actually save?), and once I go to relaxation my elbow on the armrest, I discover that’s been eliminated, too. The entire console is wrapped in Alcantara with pink stitching, however apparently taking out 6 kilos price of armrest was a distinction maker? No less than it doesn’t have the “pure fibers” changing the door armrest just like the M4 CS had.
The M2 CS inside is from a bygone period of BMWs, too. That’s solely as a result of it’s nonetheless based mostly on the outdated 2 Collection chassis being changed this 12 months. As a result of it’s outdated BMW, although, meaning extra analog controls, plus smaller (and fewer) screens. An intricate “CS” sample on the sprint is there to indicate this automobile’s superstar, and it’s solely this plus a 12 o’clock racing stripe on the steering wheel, CS sill plates and “CS” embroidered on the headrests that separate it from the usual M2 Competitors. The entire above is nice for simplicity’s sake, however don’t count on to get the identical stage of tech and luxurious facilities on this $96,545 M2 CS as you get in a comparably priced M4. The CS is all concerning the drive.
And by golly it’s an excellent one. I faucet the BMW gear shifter to the appropriate into “Drive” — sure, this one has the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, not the handbook — and rock off with a slight jolt and a jerk. This uncooked and barely tough DCT is being phased out of BMW M vehicles as they transition to the ZF eight-speed torque converter field. It’s a disgrace, as a result of the immediacy and crispness of its shifts are misplaced with it.
Even with the adaptive dampers set to full Consolation, the CS by no means permits you to overlook the place its priorities lie. Each street crevice and pothole will get transmitted by way of the seat again to the driving force. The steering at low and better speeds is weighted naturally. Plus, it’s successfully speaking what’s happening with the tires, a rarity for contemporary BMWs. Chilly Cup 2s are slick, and I can sense that lack of adhesion by way of the wheel on a cold summer season morning. It’s loud contained in the cabin, too. Rocks and pebbles are slung up by these broad Michelins and clang towards the fender wells. The exhaust isn’t neighbor-friendly, even with the lively valves closed, and the cacophony goes even additional with M Carbon Ceramic brakes that squeak and squeal 100% of the time.
It’s all sensory overload for what I’m accustomed to in in the present day’s numb-but-technically-excellent BMWs. That is the BMW everyone desires and yearns for, I feel to myself. I’m solely cruising to the grocery retailer, however there’s an additional layer of liveliness and intimacy to the machine that’s missing in different M vehicles, even in comparison with the lesser M2 Competitors.
Quick ahead to a twisty street the place this automobile belongs, and the M2 CS reveals why it’s the last word M2. Now, it’s essential to take a step again and notice that this automobile’s magical feeling on the street is basically attributable to the M2 household on the whole, and never the CS mannequin particularly. That is excellent news for you, too, as a result of whereas the CS is finished with the 2020 mannequin 12 months, you may nonetheless decide up a 2021 M2 Competitors.
What makes the M2s drive like they do is the super-short wheelbase and compact measurement that make it a nonstop tail-happy-driving automobile. Begin making use of throttle mid-corner, and the M2 CS is glad to oblige with a fast facet step or full slide, seller’s alternative. The best way it squirts from nook to nook is addictively enjoyable. It calls for driver involvement and deal with the duty at hand, however might be tamed with a correctly guided hand. That is good, as a result of full-throttle acceleration can have you gently see-sawing on the wheel.
The purpose is greatest made with an M4 comparability. Identical to the M2, an M4 is mega-powerful, handles with nice precision and is usually unbelievable to drive. However the two vehicles have fully completely different characters and supply up distinct experiences behind the wheel. The place the M4 is sort of a well-trained and predictable Olympic leaping horse, the M2 CS is sort of a mechanical bull continuously attempting to throw you off — what makes it particular is that BMW makes you are feeling like an expert bull rider from the driving force’s seat.
Past the inherent goodness of the M2’s primary chassis, the CS bits are very welcome additions. With the ability to swap the dampers right into a extra forgiving setting on a poor, bumpy backroad is nice information in your backbone, and swapping to full Sport Plus ends in the very best physique management and roll resistance. The optionally available carbon ceramics don’t appear to care about how laborious you employ them — they’re undoubtedly prepared for probably the most intense of lapping classes straight out of the manufacturing unit. These Pilot Sport Cup 2s maintain on for expensive life in corners, too, extending the boundaries of the place you assume lateral grip would possibly in any other case cease.
And naturally, there’s that {powerful} engine. The additional giddyup does precisely what you’d count on. It simply makes the automobile faster — 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds with the DCT — so no complaints there. Each rip and burble you hear from that inline-six is muscular and imply. It’s easy and tuneful all the way in which as much as the 7,600 rpm redline, then awards with a pointy snarl and tasteful crackling on the overrun. Higher than the usual M2 Competitors? You betcha.
This seven-speed dual-clutch is snappy and exact in its responses to paddle pulls and encourages handbook mode use. The CS additionally makes use of BMW’s outdated, bigger paddle shifters, that are exponentially higher than the chintzy plastic paddles used on each different recently-new M automobile.
You might be questioning if BMW screwed something up with the CS, and I promise, there are just a few sore factors. There isn’t any blind spot warning system accessible. The burden distinction is not that nice in comparison with a normal M2 Competitors (solely 55 kilos lighter when evaluating DCT equivalents), even with all of the carbon fiber and M.I.A. armrest. And lastly, there’s the exorbitant value premium over the M2 Competitors — we’re speaking $24,700 extra for the CS.
In fact, that value is educational at this level contemplating that each one however one of many 500 BMW introduced right here appears to have been offered on the time of this writing. That rarity is a disgrace as a result of that is really the M2 the world deserved all alongside. Anyone who was fortunate sufficient to snap one up is in for an absolute deal with. Even with the DCT, it’s probably the most enjoyable I’ve had in any new BMW, bar none. The entire components used to scorching rod this M2 sum as much as a sports activities coupe from Munich we’ll look again on for years with a twinkle in our eye, maybe with the identical vaunted standing because the uncommon BMW 1 Collection M Coupe. The stirring noise. The depraved seems to be. The rousing drive. It provides as much as M automobile perfection, and there’s little question this M2 CS is an immediate M automobile basic. Now, who do we have to name at BMW to greenlight 500 extra?
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