New photos of the BMW M2 CS have been leaked ahead of its official release. The swansong 2-Series is heading into its final iteration before paving the way for the new 2-Series in the next coming years.
So what’s new? First up, according to Jalopnik, power is increased to 444bhp by continuing to use the S55 3.0-litre twin-turbo unit used from the F8X M3/M4. As standard, the M2 CS comes with a six-speed manual, while a 7-speed DCT comes as an option. The numbers, again, according to Jalopnik: 0-62mph comes in at 4 seconds flat, while the DCT can do it in 3.8 seconds, making it quicker than the M3/M4. The slight increase in power isn’t enough to warrant this alone and while we have no official figures for weight, the lashings of visible carbon fibre must be doing something to shift the balance of performance in its favour.
About that carbon; the bonnet is no longer steel, in place is carbon fibre reducing the weight by half (based on M3/M4 knowledge). The front splitter is carbon, as is the spoiler, rear diffuser and wing mirrors. The roof has been replaced with a carbon fibre section as opposed to steel, again, with no choice of sunroof here, thankfully. BMW’s M division has gone to town on the M2 CS, even introducing a new carbon fibre centre transmission tunnel console to save weight further.
The exhaust is a unique dual branch system with electronically-controlled valves. For the first time on an M2, adaptive M suspension is here meaning you can select between comfort and sport modes, although exact modes are yet to be confirmed.
Just 2200 examples are expected to be built, with no word of how many are coming to the UK. The other unknown is the price tag, but with previous special editions M cars not coming in cheap, we can expect the M2 CS to be up there around the £80k mark…
We suspect with that budget in hand, you could build your own unique M2 for far less and with lashings more power. Stage 1 remaps on the S55 engine can comfortably see 500bhp, with similar downpipe and exhaust upgrades offering closer to 550bhp…
