BMW M2 2023 Review

Launched at $119,900, the 2023 BMW M2 has since ticked up to $121,700 plus on-road costs. That’ll give those who remember the original M2 Pure landing at less than $90,000 some sticker shock, but I’ll explain in a moment why that shouldn’t be the case.

Direct competitors are basically non-existent. The likes of the Nissan Z and Toyota Supra sing from a similar hymn sheet but aren’t nearly as potent (or expensive).

If you want a German sports car then the Porsche 718 Cayman is almost certainly on your shopping list, but while it’s a very different shape, you could make an argument the new M2’s closest competitor is the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S.

BMW’s standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty applies and a servicing package is available for $3480 which covers the first five years or 80,000km, whichever comes first.

It’s not often the case, but here is a defence of the new 2023 BMW M2’s substantially increased price tag.

It’s not really comparable to that original M2; a far better comparison is the M2 Competition that arrived in late 2018 with the proper S55 engine from the M3 and M4.

If you plug the M2 Competition’s $104,900 price tag into an inflation calculator and adjust for March 2023 it comes out as, wouldn’t you know it, $121,908.33. So in real terms, the new car is essentially the same price as its predecessor.

Except that’s not the whole story, as the new M2’s performance and specification are much more closely aligned with the limited-run BMW M2 CS and that was $140,000.

Anyway, enough preamble, BMW has stuffed the new M2 with masses of equipment including adaptive suspension, staggered wheels (19s front, 20s rear), huge brakes (380mm discs and six-piston callipers at the front, 370mm discs and single-piston callipers out back) and an active limited-slip diff.

Inside, there’s keyless entry/start, triple-zone climate control, ‘Vernasca’ leather upholstery, a Harman Kardon stereo, bulk carbon-fibre trim, a head-up display, heated seats/steering wheel, adaptive LED headlights and wireless charging.

The five paint colours – white, blue, red, black and grey – are all no-cost options, as are the pair of wheel designs and leather upholstery colours.

The only cost option is a big one, the $14,500 M Carbon Experience, which gets you the carbon seats fitted to our test car, a top speed increase from 250km/h to 285km/h and a pair of vouchers to BMW’s Level 1 and 2 driving experience courses.

There’s no official safety rating for the 2023 BMW M2 but it has plenty of active safety goodies including adaptive cruise with stop-and-go function, lane keep assist and departure warning, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and high beam assist, in addition to front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

Infotainment duties in the 2023 BMW M2 are handled by BMW’s iDrive 8 and its many, many features including 5G connectivity, app integration, voice control, live traffic and wireless smartphone mirroring for both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The 12.3-inch digital instrument display has a number of modes which include shift lights, though personally I find BMW’s mirrored hockey stick speedo and tacho displays hard to read.

A couple of other M-specific toys include the 10-stage traction control and the M Drift Analyzer which can rate your sideways driving efforts, though both are obviously intended for racetrack or skidpan use.

Unlike the original M2, which debuted with the N55 engine from series-production BMWs, the new 2023 BMW M2 has the full-house S58 3.0-litre straight-six from the M3 and M4.

It’s detuned, but only slightly, offering 338kW/550Nm compared to the 353kW/550Nm offered in the M3 and M4 manual.

The one difference is that the M2 offers the same outputs in manual and automatic guise, whereas automatic ‘Competition’ variants of its bigger brothers boast 375kW/650Nm.

Regardless, the M2 is no slouch, bolting to 100km/h in 4.1sec as an automatic or 4.3sec as a manual.

Combined fuel consumption is claimed at 9.7L/100km but this will be heavily dependent on your right foot.

On paper, a sports car with 338kW, rear-wheel drive and a manual gearbox is the perfect specimen and the reality isn’t too far away from this.

The new-generation 2023 BMW M2 is much closer genetically to the M4 than its predecessor and is a more serious proposition in terms of its performance.

It’s a bigger car with a longer wheelbase, wider tracks, more power – and subsequently bigger brakes, more cooling etc – which gives it tremendous grip and it’s capable of staggering cornering speeds without really breaking a sweat.

The downside of all this is weight and the M2 is extraordinarily porky for a ‘small’ two-door coupe at 1725kg. It doesn’t necessarily feel that heavy but nor is it particularly light on its feet.

This is, however, the only real dynamic shortcoming as M’s new baby is a fearsomely potent sports car. Breach the available grip – a challenge in the dry but far more achievable in wet or slippery conditions – and the M2 slides progressively, instilling confidence in the driver.

With so many cars now all-wheel drive, the way the rear-drive M2 squirms and wriggles under power is initially a shock to the system but it’s also a huge part of its appeal. You soon learn how much leash you can give out, though the stability control also does a good job of keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

As with all modern M cars, there is a tremendous amount of configurability within the drive modes, with a pair of favoured combinations able to be saved to the red M1 and M2 toggles on the steering wheel.

Sport Plus really wakes the engine up, providing much sharper throttle response and a throatier sound. To be really nitpicky, it could sound more aggressive (probably impossible with the latest noise and emissions regulations) but it has simply immense power all the way to 7000rpm.

Comfort steering is all you really ever need as the other modes simply add effort and the three suspension modes are all quite close. Comfort is still plenty firm – and subsequently the day-to-day ride is quite focused – while Sport Plus still offers enough compliance to be liveable. Substantial road noise is the bigger issue.

Now for something potentially contentious: the new M2 is better as an automatic. It’s great that BMW still offers the option of three pedals and those who choose it will no doubt be very happy they did so.

There’s also undoubtedly a great satisfaction in nailing the perfect up- or down-change, though make sure you turn off the gearshift assistant that matches revs for you as that’s cheating.

However, the shift action is rubbery, your elbow fouls on the centre console lid when selecting second or fourth and it introduces turbo lag the automatic disguises. To put it another way, I jumped out of the M2 manual into a Toyota Supra manual and the Toyota’s gearbox is far more precise and enjoyable.

The other issue, if you select the carbon seats, is because the pedals are offset to the right (the clutch is basically in line with the steering column), every time you push the clutch in, the carbon bulge in the centre of the seat digs into your left leg. Uncomfortable.

As you will have seen if you’ve watched the attached video, we had a short track session at the Bryant Park hillclimb circuit to get a feel for how the 2023 BMW M2 behaves at the limit and to play with its M-specific features.

The wet conditions and tight confines of the track weren’t favoured by the M2, the front-end struggling for bite, but this was easily countered with a bit of throttle and quickly established the car’s playfulness.

Even with stability control deactivated, the smooth transition between grip and slip means there’s no need for sweaty palms, though the M2 has a couple of tricks up its sleeve to help out if you’re not overly confident.

The first is the MDM mode for the stability control, which allows the car to move around and the wheels to slip slightly but retains a safety net in place.

Second is the 10-stage M Traction Control. This requires the deactivation of stability control so be aware that the car will not arrest lateral movement – if you overcook it in terms of speed, you’re on your own.

What it does do is allow progressively more wheelspin as you back the system off from 10 to 1. On 10 it has an iron grip on the rear wheels, not allowing even so much as a wiggle even on full throttle; on seven it’s similar to the MDM mode and on two the system is barely there, allowing the car to generate and hold serious slip angles. It’s a very clever bit of software.

The Drift Analyzer is also a laugh, the car judging your sideways driving attempts based on duration – in terms of time and distance – and angle. It’s quite a harsh taskmaster, too, so you’ll need to be on your game to generate the full five stars, accompanied by a little trophy symbol in the head-up display.

The new 2023 BMW M2 is as close as you’ll ever find to a practical sports car. Getting in and out of the back seats is a challenge, but its greater size means there’s enough room for smaller adults on short journeys, and older children/kid seats should fit with few dramas.

There’s a pair of USB-C ports and separate fan and temperature controls so comfort isn’t ignored, either.

Boot space is also a handy 390L, more than enough for suitcases or golf clubs or a month’s worth of shopping.

Up front the driver’s seat sinks to an almost ridiculous level but places you extremely snugly in the car.

The cabin is nice, with plenty of leather surfaces and carbon inlays, decent storage for coffees and water bottles and phones etc. It’s not the highlight of the car, but it’s an excellent workstation.

As mentioned at the top, if you’re in the market for a rear-drive coupe there aren’t a stack of options, but even if there were the new 2023 BMW M2 would be very, very high on the list.

It’s a crystal-clear reminder that though BMW M has diversified dramatically in recent times it hasn’t at all forgotten how to make a cracking sports car.

There is one caveat. If you have a previous-generation M2 Competition or CS, I’d drive the new car before making up your mind, as while it’s certainly more capable and luxurious and advanced, it won’t necessarily put a bigger smile on your face.

For everyone else, it’s a fitting end to the M division’s old-school era.

2023 BMW M2 at a glance:
Price: $121,700 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo petrol
Output: 338kW/550Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 10.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 220g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested