The BMW M2: A Car That's Hard to Dislike, Even with Its Imperfect Styling

I recently had the chance to spend some time behind the wheel of the new BMW M2, and I have to say that despite its imperfect styling, this car is a real gem. As soon as I got behind the wheel, I was struck by how much I loved the feeling of driving it. The torquey 453 horsepower engine is a blast to drive, especially in sport mode where the chassis is set to S3 and the handling becomes more reactive and communicative.

The M2's steering system is also worth mentioning. As an EPS (Electronic Power Steering) system, it's adjustable and has a comfort setting that I found really enjoyable. The sports setting adds weight to the steering, which I have to say, added a little bit too much feedback for my taste. But overall, I was impressed by how well the M2 steers, especially when compared to some of its competitors. There's something special about feeling the front wheels of the car through the floor of the vehicle and the vibrations that come through your fingertips - it's an experience that electronic steering systems just can't replicate.

One of the things that really stood out to me while driving the M2 was how well it handles torque. With 406 pound-feet of torque at low RPM, this is a car that's capable of producing massive amounts of power, but what really sets it apart is how smoothly it builds from there. And yet, despite all that power, the M2 drives pretty well - it's not the least bit jerky or uncomfortable.

But while the driving experience of the M2 is certainly one of its strong points, I have to say that I was a little disappointed by the styling. The car does look a bit weird, especially from the front, with those big loading docks on either side of the grille. And yet, despite my initial reservations about the styling, I found myself actually growing more comfortable with it as I spent more time behind the wheel.

One thing that really stood out to me while driving the M2 was how well it handles bumpy roads. The stiffer shocks were keeping me busy, but even on rough pavement, the car felt incredibly smooth and composed. It's clear that BMW has put a lot of thought into the suspension on this car, and it shows.

The interior of the M2 is also worth mentioning. I was impressed by how comfortable and spacious it feels, especially for a car that's designed to be a performance vehicle. The Adaptive suspension is smooth and easy to live with, even when driving aggressively. And with features like Harman Kardon stereo and advanced infotainment systems, this is definitely not just a bare-bones sports car.

But despite all the technical advancements that have gone into the M2, I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic for the old days of manual transmissions. There's something special about driving a car with a stick shift, especially when it comes to performance cars like the M2. It puts this car in a class of its own, and sets it apart from other high-performance vehicles on the market.

One thing that I did appreciate about the M2 is how versatile it is as a daily driver. While it's certainly capable of handling spirited driving, it's also comfortable enough to use in everyday traffic. And with features like parking sensors and a rearview camera, this car feels like it has everything you need to get around the city.

But while I was impressed by the M2 on paper, I couldn't help but wonder if it's truly necessary - is the tech and the price worth it? With 10 devices that can connect to its mobile hotspot, this car barely fits four people. And let's be real, who needs a car that can do everything except maybe change your oil for you? But at the same time, I think BMW has done something special here - they've taken all of the tech and features that we take for granted in modern cars and turned them into an integrated driving experience.

The M2 is also a car that's deeply connected to the heritage of BMW's performance division. It continues the tradition of the E36, E46, and E92 M3 coupes in terms of size, shape, and dynamics - even if it doesn't quite live up to the style of its predecessors. And yet, despite all the changes over the years, this car still feels like a true driver's car.

So is the BMW M2 worth getting? In my opinion, absolutely. Even with its imperfect styling, this car is a real gem - it drives incredibly well, it's comfortable and versatile, and it has all of the features you'd want in a modern performance car. And as someone who's used to driving cars like the E92 M3, I have to say that this one feels like home. So if you're looking for a high-performance car that can keep up with your daily life, look no further than the BMW M2.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign the BMW M2 is an incredibly important vehicle in theory BMW is still an Enthusiast brand in the outgoing M2 was the smallest most agile car they made the two box manual shift inline six powered hot rod that stuck closest to the Bavarian automaker's Roots as they discovered newer and more plentiful ways to build SUVs it looked fantastic it went like hell and even though CS stood for comically expensive that special edition was one of my favorite cars of the last few years then BMW gave me a reason to be nervous they redesigned the two series from the ground up and it looked a little awkward the round parts and the square Parts didn't really fit together so well sure it was a nice place to be inside and both variants drove objectively well but I literally wasn't quite so holds now what would happen when they ended up you get this the all-new M2 no they haven't forgotten to take the extra cladding off the prototypes it really does look like this you might think different and that's okay but we think it looks really really weird looks weird when a car doesn't look right you'll always find yourself having to explain to people why you bought it my dad bought a first generation Cayenne Turbo which was a weird looking car when it first came out and no one understood why he got it so I took them out on the highway and tripled the speed limit they understood see I had to do some pretty risky things to show people that that was a good car when a car is pretty everyone else is safer but if it's going to be ugly it better be fast foreign fortunately it is fast with this eight-speed transmission it will do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds it pulls and pulls and those shifts are imperceptible imperceptibly quick the engine now makes 453 horsepower which is 48 more than the last car the torque number has stayed the same 406 pound-feet but it is a flat table from 2600 to 5800 RPM if you get the optional M drivers pack the top speed is raised to 177 miles per hour they had electronic limiter will grab you like a parent grabbing a five-year-old look before they head into traffic it will be aggressive and without it and keep going hey everyone I would like to give a shout out to betterhelp for sponsoring today's BMW M2 review and if you've never heard of better help you really should listen to this because betterhelp is the world's largest therapy service and it's a hundred percent online I have been in therapy for about 20 years and one of the hardest things for me about going to therapy at least in the beginning was finding the right therapist where do you even look do you ask your friends do you ask your family not everybody can do that that's why better help is so great with better help you can tap into a network of over 25 000 licensed and experienced therapists who can help you with a wide range of issues whether it's anxiety depression substance abuse overeating getting through a tough time in your life someone dies in the family and you want to talk it out whatever it is better help can help now to get started you just go to their website and answer a few questions about your needs and your preferences for a therapist that way they can match you up with the right person from their therapist Network then you can talk to that therapist however you feel comfortable whether it's text phone chat video conferencing or you can message your therapist at any time and schedule live sessions when it's convenient for you and if your therapist isn't the right fit for any reason which can totally happen then you can switch to a new therapist at no additional charge with better help you get the same level of professionalism and quality that you get from an in-person therapist but with a therapist who is custom picked for you you get more scheduling flexibility and it's a more affordable price so hit the link in the video description or go to betterhelp.com smoking tire and get 10 off your first month and thanks again to betterhelp for sponsoring today's M2 video the M2 has put on some weight it grew by 239 pounds from last generation to this for a curb weight of 3867 pounds only about 40 pounds lighter than the M4 competition with all-wheel drive how did it get so heavy it's simply bigger than before it's four inches longer than the last car and one and a half inches wider and it's not just because of the growths they've lengthened the wheelbase they've widened the track you could actually fit an e92 M3 inside the body of this car and you'd still have room on the sides now the longer wheelbase means it's more stable and you actually feel the bumps less as you go over them and then the wider track means it's even more agile in Corners like this slaloming has never been so easy the wheels got a little bit heavier as well there's 20s in the back instead of the 19s from the last car to be fair BMW has balanced the weight nearly perfectly 50 50 front and rear but like a mule headed to Ibiza most of the weight comes from what they put inside the body it has adaptive dampers now and an active differential the m-specific chassis bracing increases rigidity all contributing to the precise handling abilities of this car you now have different settings for the brake pedal feel and the variable ratio steering the new seats have more lateral bolstering and thigh support and in front of you is a monstrous curved dual screen display covered in icons that control everything from the suspension settings to throttle response even voice controlled windows looks like an Android tablet all the icons look kind of the same and they're not organized particularly well now yes you can make shortcuts to your most frequently used apps but still the layout is very very uniform and tough to find what you're looking for while you're driving unless you've had the foresight to make hotkey for it there are a lot of apps and icons when you pull up the main screen there are 24 of them it looks like your dad's desktop on his PC but there's a couple of shortcuts you can go to infotainment apps here and it presents all the things you would need for that but some of the things are built on convenience like the automated window programming that uses GPS to detect where you are and then it will automatically roll your window down that'll make it a little bit easier and more convenient to get your morning ticket on the way to work apps aside some of the tech is very helpful it's got torque vectoring and Brake factoring to help manage the weight and the power of which there is plenty of both and it's also got a suite of new passive driver safety systems in case you happen to be terrible at driving I of course turn them all off the first day because they are annoying power is explosive and in a lot of ways can easily overwhelm the rear tires especially today where the road is cold bumpy tight and it rained yesterday so it's damp in places that M Dynamic mode traction control I can feel it kicking in coming out of nearly every corner whoa it's not slow kids it is not slow but this is definitely too much car for this road unfortunately all of our very big very fast favorite roads where I would love to drive this car are still snowed in or caved in on a tight technical Road like this the M2 is an insane amount of car it's agile but it's an agile animal you gotta be ready if you're gonna turn the traction control off because it will move and that torque comes on early and hard thankfully when Zach set up our M modes he left my traction control turned on I think like any modern M car we have the programmable M modes which are activated by the two buttons on the steering wheel I love that by the way great functionality M1 I set up for Matt the engine in Sport Plus which is full Transmission in S1 slightly gentler on the shifts which is good on this cold morning when we had it set to S3 as they call it the shifts were so hard it would break traction between second and third foreign comfort as I said I prefer it and then the brakes in sport a little bit more reactive you don't have to go as deep into the pedal DSC is set to MDM we want to keep it on here we don't want to go full off it's a public road it's also wet and cold now I like things to be a little bit more aggressive than Matt so I have the transmission set to S3 and the chassis set to sport it will definitely be a little bit more reactive and uh communicative over this imperfect Road wheel spin wheel spin so much torque steering is EPS of course and it is adjustable there's a comfort setting in a sports setting the sport setting adds weight to it and a little bit of feedback I have to say I actually prefer the Comfort setting it keeps the light steering that I love so much about the 230i without having that sort of I don't know fakeness that has become really prevalent in electronic systems the really good electronic steering systems truly transmit information from the front wheels the ones that are just okay do an impression of it I I can't really feel the front wheels of the car I actually feel their grip more through the floor of the vehicle and the little vibrations that come through that then through my fingertips and that's a bummer even though the torque number is the same as the last M2 it's just a reminder that 406 pound-feet of torque at low RPM is a ton and the funny thing is it's got that big torque but it builds from there 453 horsepower so it drives pretty well and that's a good thing but has BMW gone too far with the tech is it important that you can open and close the windows or set the temperature using your voice do we need the M2 to have a mobile hotspot that 10 devices can connect to this car barely fits four people two and a half devices per person really redefining the term remote work if we're having Zoom meetings through an M2 huh speaking of work the stiffer shocks were keeping me busy now the chassis is in sport mode it's a little bit bouncier for sure but man when the corner is good and the road is smooth so much grip so much grip this thing has so much technology as evidenced by the screen in front of me I mean you have wheel sensors and speed sensors and yaw sensors and shock sensors and the Adaptive things and this and that and now you also have the edif the edif monitors slip at both Wheels perfectly Distributing power and torque when needed where needed it does Drive really well the alignment's really nice the front end is absolutely more responsive than the last one and I really liked the last car but I can feel that they have just turned up that energy a little bit you know something stiff in that whole front subframe and it all means that there's less Flex in the front transmits more of the work to the suspension which is what you want from a really good sports car we knew with the m240 that BMW could build a fast 2 Series so that this one goes even faster is not the least bit shocking bully mobs here's the thing about the M2 it is weird looking but I feel like I might be able to get over it it drives really well it's really comfortable it's really versatile and on the street as a daily driver in the city in traffic it does a pretty good impression of a luxury car as well the Adaptive suspension is smooth the inputs are easy it's not jerky the Harman Kardon stereo is good and so if I ask could I get over the styling if the other things about the M2 are good enough I have to admit that I feel like I could and you never know that 04 Cayenne Turbo was ugly when it was new but now it's just kind of fault BMW said that the front end design is necessary to maximize cooling for such a high performance car but the Supra has nearly the same engine and doesn't look like it's wearing two loading docks on its chin the M3 used to be the do everything Enthusiast Coupe that car got a little bit too big so is the M2 still that car is it still the magical vehicle that the last one was in terms of driving yes in terms of interior Comfort yes but I couldn't walk out of my door every day and look at it the naming may have changed but we've come to the conclusion that today's M2 continues the heritage of the E36 E46 and e92 M3 Coupes in terms of size shape and Dynamics if not style the fact that it still comes with a stick is a huge bonus and puts it in a class of its own the Mustang will never be a true luxury car the Camaro is dying this year and the only other fast manual cars with usable back seats are hot hatches or larger sedans like the M3 or ct4 Blackwing whether or not you can live with BMW's new styling is up to you but we'll just say this at least you don't have to see it while you're driving it and remember always fight your tickets use code tst10 on the off the Record app available in the Android and iOS store or go to offtherecord.com TSTforeign the BMW M2 is an incredibly important vehicle in theory BMW is still an Enthusiast brand in the outgoing M2 was the smallest most agile car they made the two box manual shift inline six powered hot rod that stuck closest to the Bavarian automaker's Roots as they discovered newer and more plentiful ways to build SUVs it looked fantastic it went like hell and even though CS stood for comically expensive that special edition was one of my favorite cars of the last few years then BMW gave me a reason to be nervous they redesigned the two series from the ground up and it looked a little awkward the round parts and the square Parts didn't really fit together so well sure it was a nice place to be inside and both variants drove objectively well but I literally wasn't quite so holds now what would happen when they ended up you get this the all-new M2 no they haven't forgotten to take the extra cladding off the prototypes it really does look like this you might think different and that's okay but we think it looks really really weird looks weird when a car doesn't look right you'll always find yourself having to explain to people why you bought it my dad bought a first generation Cayenne Turbo which was a weird looking car when it first came out and no one understood why he got it so I took them out on the highway and tripled the speed limit they understood see I had to do some pretty risky things to show people that that was a good car when a car is pretty everyone else is safer but if it's going to be ugly it better be fast foreign fortunately it is fast with this eight-speed transmission it will do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds it pulls and pulls and those shifts are imperceptible imperceptibly quick the engine now makes 453 horsepower which is 48 more than the last car the torque number has stayed the same 406 pound-feet but it is a flat table from 2600 to 5800 RPM if you get the optional M drivers pack the top speed is raised to 177 miles per hour they had electronic limiter will grab you like a parent grabbing a five-year-old look before they head into traffic it will be aggressive and without it and keep going hey everyone I would like to give a shout out to betterhelp for sponsoring today's BMW M2 review and if you've never heard of better help you really should listen to this because betterhelp is the world's largest therapy service and it's a hundred percent online I have been in therapy for about 20 years and one of the hardest things for me about going to therapy at least in the beginning was finding the right therapist where do you even look do you ask your friends do you ask your family not everybody can do that that's why better help is so great with better help you can tap into a network of over 25 000 licensed and experienced therapists who can help you with a wide range of issues whether it's anxiety depression substance abuse overeating getting through a tough time in your life someone dies in the family and you want to talk it out whatever it is better help can help now to get started you just go to their website and answer a few questions about your needs and your preferences for a therapist that way they can match you up with the right person from their therapist Network then you can talk to that therapist however you feel comfortable whether it's text phone chat video conferencing or you can message your therapist at any time and schedule live sessions when it's convenient for you and if your therapist isn't the right fit for any reason which can totally happen then you can switch to a new therapist at no additional charge with better help you get the same level of professionalism and quality that you get from an in-person therapist but with a therapist who is custom picked for you you get more scheduling flexibility and it's a more affordable price so hit the link in the video description or go to betterhelp.com smoking tire and get 10 off your first month and thanks again to betterhelp for sponsoring today's M2 video the M2 has put on some weight it grew by 239 pounds from last generation to this for a curb weight of 3867 pounds only about 40 pounds lighter than the M4 competition with all-wheel drive how did it get so heavy it's simply bigger than before it's four inches longer than the last car and one and a half inches wider and it's not just because of the growths they've lengthened the wheelbase they've widened the track you could actually fit an e92 M3 inside the body of this car and you'd still have room on the sides now the longer wheelbase means it's more stable and you actually feel the bumps less as you go over them and then the wider track means it's even more agile in Corners like this slaloming has never been so easy the wheels got a little bit heavier as well there's 20s in the back instead of the 19s from the last car to be fair BMW has balanced the weight nearly perfectly 50 50 front and rear but like a mule headed to Ibiza most of the weight comes from what they put inside the body it has adaptive dampers now and an active differential the m-specific chassis bracing increases rigidity all contributing to the precise handling abilities of this car you now have different settings for the brake pedal feel and the variable ratio steering the new seats have more lateral bolstering and thigh support and in front of you is a monstrous curved dual screen display covered in icons that control everything from the suspension settings to throttle response even voice controlled windows looks like an Android tablet all the icons look kind of the same and they're not organized particularly well now yes you can make shortcuts to your most frequently used apps but still the layout is very very uniform and tough to find what you're looking for while you're driving unless you've had the foresight to make hotkey for it there are a lot of apps and icons when you pull up the main screen there are 24 of them it looks like your dad's desktop on his PC but there's a couple of shortcuts you can go to infotainment apps here and it presents all the things you would need for that but some of the things are built on convenience like the automated window programming that uses GPS to detect where you are and then it will automatically roll your window down that'll make it a little bit easier and more convenient to get your morning ticket on the way to work apps aside some of the tech is very helpful it's got torque vectoring and Brake factoring to help manage the weight and the power of which there is plenty of both and it's also got a suite of new passive driver safety systems in case you happen to be terrible at driving I of course turn them all off the first day because they are annoying power is explosive and in a lot of ways can easily overwhelm the rear tires especially today where the road is cold bumpy tight and it rained yesterday so it's damp in places that M Dynamic mode traction control I can feel it kicking in coming out of nearly every corner whoa it's not slow kids it is not slow but this is definitely too much car for this road unfortunately all of our very big very fast favorite roads where I would love to drive this car are still snowed in or caved in on a tight technical Road like this the M2 is an insane amount of car it's agile but it's an agile animal you gotta be ready if you're gonna turn the traction control off because it will move and that torque comes on early and hard thankfully when Zach set up our M modes he left my traction control turned on I think like any modern M car we have the programmable M modes which are activated by the two buttons on the steering wheel I love that by the way great functionality M1 I set up for Matt the engine in Sport Plus which is full Transmission in S1 slightly gentler on the shifts which is good on this cold morning when we had it set to S3 as they call it the shifts were so hard it would break traction between second and third foreign comfort as I said I prefer it and then the brakes in sport a little bit more reactive you don't have to go as deep into the pedal DSC is set to MDM we want to keep it on here we don't want to go full off it's a public road it's also wet and cold now I like things to be a little bit more aggressive than Matt so I have the transmission set to S3 and the chassis set to sport it will definitely be a little bit more reactive and uh communicative over this imperfect Road wheel spin wheel spin so much torque steering is EPS of course and it is adjustable there's a comfort setting in a sports setting the sport setting adds weight to it and a little bit of feedback I have to say I actually prefer the Comfort setting it keeps the light steering that I love so much about the 230i without having that sort of I don't know fakeness that has become really prevalent in electronic systems the really good electronic steering systems truly transmit information from the front wheels the ones that are just okay do an impression of it I I can't really feel the front wheels of the car I actually feel their grip more through the floor of the vehicle and the little vibrations that come through that then through my fingertips and that's a bummer even though the torque number is the same as the last M2 it's just a reminder that 406 pound-feet of torque at low RPM is a ton and the funny thing is it's got that big torque but it builds from there 453 horsepower so it drives pretty well and that's a good thing but has BMW gone too far with the tech is it important that you can open and close the windows or set the temperature using your voice do we need the M2 to have a mobile hotspot that 10 devices can connect to this car barely fits four people two and a half devices per person really redefining the term remote work if we're having Zoom meetings through an M2 huh speaking of work the stiffer shocks were keeping me busy now the chassis is in sport mode it's a little bit bouncier for sure but man when the corner is good and the road is smooth so much grip so much grip this thing has so much technology as evidenced by the screen in front of me I mean you have wheel sensors and speed sensors and yaw sensors and shock sensors and the Adaptive things and this and that and now you also have the edif the edif monitors slip at both Wheels perfectly Distributing power and torque when needed where needed it does Drive really well the alignment's really nice the front end is absolutely more responsive than the last one and I really liked the last car but I can feel that they have just turned up that energy a little bit you know something stiff in that whole front subframe and it all means that there's less Flex in the front transmits more of the work to the suspension which is what you want from a really good sports car we knew with the m240 that BMW could build a fast 2 Series so that this one goes even faster is not the least bit shocking bully mobs here's the thing about the M2 it is weird looking but I feel like I might be able to get over it it drives really well it's really comfortable it's really versatile and on the street as a daily driver in the city in traffic it does a pretty good impression of a luxury car as well the Adaptive suspension is smooth the inputs are easy it's not jerky the Harman Kardon stereo is good and so if I ask could I get over the styling if the other things about the M2 are good enough I have to admit that I feel like I could and you never know that 04 Cayenne Turbo was ugly when it was new but now it's just kind of fault BMW said that the front end design is necessary to maximize cooling for such a high performance car but the Supra has nearly the same engine and doesn't look like it's wearing two loading docks on its chin the M3 used to be the do everything Enthusiast Coupe that car got a little bit too big so is the M2 still that car is it still the magical vehicle that the last one was in terms of driving yes in terms of interior Comfort yes but I couldn't walk out of my door every day and look at it the naming may have changed but we've come to the conclusion that today's M2 continues the heritage of the E36 E46 and e92 M3 Coupes in terms of size shape and Dynamics if not style the fact that it still comes with a stick is a huge bonus and puts it in a class of its own the Mustang will never be a true luxury car the Camaro is dying this year and the only other fast manual cars with usable back seats are hot hatches or larger sedans like the M3 or ct4 Blackwing whether or not you can live with BMW's new styling is up to you but we'll just say this at least you don't have to see it while you're driving it and remember always fight your tickets use code tst10 on the off the Record app available in the Android and iOS store or go to offtherecord.com TST\n"