BMW M2 Coupe revealed at long last

After spending years denying it was even thinking about an M model beneath the M3, BMW has finally confirmed one of its worst-kept secrets.

The M2 Coupe is about to land, complete with a smoky burnout function Australian law enforcement authorities are bound to love, plus a lap timer and a GoPro app to film hot laps that the track-day set might be more chuffed with.

Bulging with 19-inch wheels with fat tyres and crunching out a huge 272kW of power from its turbocharged in-line six-cylinder engine, the M2 will be the pocket rocket that brings the M story to a new generation of customers.

The rear-drive coupe will be something of a throwback for BMW, boasting a six-speed manual gearbox as well as an optional seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

BMW had to walk a fine line with the M2, giving it enough of everything to sit comfortably beyond the M235i and comfortably short of its standard-bearing M3/M4 siblings.

The result is a 4.5-metre, stubby coupe that can smash its way to 100km/h in a claimed 4.3 seconds and stretch out to a limited top speed of 250km/h. That can be lifted to 270km/h with the M Driver’s Package.

While the six-speed manual version is two-tenths of a second slower to 100km/h, the three-pedal M2 is the one most likely to become a cult favourite. It doesn’t have the dual-clutch’s launch control, but it does have a clutch…

It’s visually more aggressive than anything else with this bodyshell, with its front wheel-arches bulging out 55mm and the rears pushed out 80mm, a deep front splitter with unabashed air-intakes cooling the radiators and brakes, and a small spoiler on the bootlid.

Both versions of the M2 share the 2979cc in-line six that uses a single twin-scroll turbocharger, along with variable valve timing and lift, direct fuel-injection and a 10.2:1 compression ratio. It’s also oversquare, with an 89.6mm bore and an 84mm stroke.

BMW says its torque peak of 465Nm hits from as little as 1400rpm and stays in a flat line from there to 5560rpm, while the 272kW of power peaks at 6500rpm. BMW insists it can overboost it way to 500Nm for short bursts, like overtaking, to fatten that up even more.

One of the most striking visual additions is also one of the most practical mechanically, with the four fat exhaust outlets hinting that M has lowered the back pressure on the engine as much as possible. It’s also able to be tuned by pushing a button to close the exhaust flap, making the exhaust note louder and more aggressive thanks to a shorter route for the gases. The usual Comfort, Sport and Sport + driving modes all have pre-determined levels of exhaust intensity, too.

The M2 pinches plenty of hardware and software of its bigger brothers, including taking the M3/M4 pistons, grey-cast iron liners and crankshaft main-bearing shells. It also uses the same higher-performance spark plugs, too.

It takes other indirect lessons, too, with an extra water-cooling radiator for all M2s, while the dual-clutch cars also use an extra transmission oil-cooler. The manual transmission is dry-sumped and will also use software to 'blip' the throttle on downshifts and drop the revs slightly on upshifts to help smooth out the changes.

Both transmissions are direct drive in fifth gear, though the seven-speed dual-clutch has two overdriven gears to help it to the better fuel economy figure of 7.9L/100km (versus 8.5) on the NEDC cycle. It’s not just a one-trick pony, though, because it boasts both idle-stop and brake energy recuperation, which gives it free energy to run things like the oil and water pumps. There’s also a 52-litre fuel tank.

At 1495kg, though, it’s not as light as it looks and that’s partly down to the substantial underbody stiffening and the four-seater having a significant equipment list to go with its gristle.

There is an all-aluminium multi-link rear suspension, while the front-end’s architecture is dominated by aluminium double-wishbones, control arms, wheel carriers and subframes. The struts are also aluminium and it uses hollow anti-roll bars to save another few grams.

BMW worked on both the bending and torsional rigidity of the baby coupe, fitting an aluminium reinforcing plate between the front axle’s subframe and the car’s side sills, much like it did on the M3/M4.

Most of the technical bits of the five-link rear axle are also aluminium, including forged wheel carriers and control arms that cut 3kg from the unsprung mass of the standard coupe.

The rear-axle’s subframe is steel, but is directly connected to the body, doing away with rubber bushes in favour of greater wheel accuracy.

Locked away in that subframe is M’s active differential, which uses multi-plate clutches to vary the locking between zero and 100 per cent (which is about 2500Nm of locking power), depending on the situation.

The stock wheel and tyre package includes Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/35 ZR19 tyres at the front and 265/35 ZR 19 circles at the rear, while two different settings for the electric power steering system (for Comfort and Sport/Sport+) complete the handling package.

Four-piston fixed calipers clamp the 380mm vented front discs, while two-piston units serve at the back.

Inside, the M2 gives its sports seats adjustable side bolsters for the front occupants, plus a kneepad on the console for the driver. Outside, it will only come in four colours: blue, black, silver and white (oh, OK, Long Beach Blue metallic, Alpine White, Black Sapphire and Mineral Grey).

It’s also just the thing for budding track-day stars, with the GoPro app joining a suite of optional ConnectedDrive Services, while BMW’s lap-timer app can overlap that with speed, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, gear selection, steering angle, throttle position and fuel consumption data at any given point.

Expect BMW's first ever M2 to go on sale globally – including in Australia – early next year.