Not as ballistic as the M2 CS but the M2 Competition is still brilliant and now remarkably affordable
The ingredients that make an iconic BMW M car are difficult to precisely define, but the M2 Competition, with the significant revisions that improved it compared to the first M2, comes close to being the four-wheeled definition, with its delicious full ‘M’ engine and involving dynamics. That they can now be had for under £30k only compounds our interest.
The BMW M2 was a car that came so close to greatness. Wit
h its pu
gnacious looks, compact dimensions and biddable rear-drive handling it had all the key ingredients to fill that 1M-sized hole in the BMW line-up. Yet while it had the measure of more traditional hatchback rivals such as the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45, the M2 never really caught the imagination like it should. Some of the shortfall could be traced to the slightly ragged on-limit handling, the rest to an engine th
at was effective enough but lacked the fizz expected of an M car.
Happily, both of these areas were addressed in the M2 Competition that replaced the M2 in 2018. For starters, the old M135i N55 3-litre straight-six was ditched in favour of the full-fat twin-turbocharged S55 version from the larger BMW M4 (and M3, of course). There were chassis tweaks that ran to extra strengthening for the bodyshell and stiffer rear axle mounts. To maximise the gains delivered by these tweaks BMW’s engineers also recalibrated both the ESP and the electronically controlled limited slip differential.
