A true driving lover feels his or her pulse pick up and their eyes get a little wider when terms like “BMW M Series” get tossed around the convention hall at CES 2016. The special unveiling of the new M2 here in Detroit has this automotive writer looking forward to whatever media driving event gets my hands on the car the soonest.
The M Series tuning engineers take already well-built BMW cars and amps up their suspension, power, handling, etc. The results are some of the most iconic driving cars every built, including the legendary M3, the newer M4 and the crazy X6 M.
The brand new 2017 BMW M2 says “Happy Birthday” to the world with that same signature M Series tuning. It puts to work a newly engineered M TwinPower Turbo 3 liter, 6 cylinder engine that puts out 365 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds. The top speed 155 mph will no doubt feel blazing in a coupe smaller than the already efficient M3.
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In keeping with the German automaker’s M Series traditions, the standard 2 Series (in this case, the already fun 235i) undergoes improvements in suspension, fuel injection and other features designed to produce a car that’s at home on a track as it would be heading home along streets and freeways. Meanwhile, its performance numbers, size and price set it just a tick below both the M3 and M4.
The 2016 BMW M2 will start with an MSRP of $51,700, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she sells a little higher than that with waiting lists around the block at dealerships. We’ll know for sure come April 2016.