Another week, another M2? Not so fast. Chris Marino at Century West BMW has presented us, yet again, with another exclusive M-car. In this case, it is a car that should be relegated to a museum only to be broken out of its time capsule 40 years from now. Or, taken to the track so that it can annihilate everything on the grid because it certainly looks-the-business.
As if it needed it, Marino has dressed this M2 in everything he could from the factory including, but not limited to black kidney grills, carbon fiber front aero kit, carbon fiber mirror caps, stainless pedal set, carbon fiber and alcantara interior trim, M-illuminated door sills, performance analyzer for iOS (Apple), carbon fiber rear diffuser, carbon fiber exhaust tips to go with the M-Performance exhaust, black side-grills, M-led door projectors and BMW Motorsport striping.
The best part – purists rejoice – a manual transmission.
“This has ‘mans-game’ written all over it,”Marino says. “There’s nothing boy-racerish about four second 0-60 sprints and 1g on the skidpad.”
And the beauty of this, Marino will point out, is that there is still room for improvement should the aftermarket get involved.
“Or you can just preserve what will be a classic. Like a fine-wine, this car will only appreciate with age, if kept well.”
Munich has kept the production numbers down on the M2. Accordingly, it is a remarkably well-coveted vehicle that the likes of Porsche have helped create a market for – specialty vehicles. One need only look as far as Porsche’s GT4, GT3RS and 911R to see BMW’s agenda on the M2 and M4GTS, and the e46 M3 GTR before them: a small production of elite vehicles that present the brand and offer BMW’s motorsport DNA for daily-consumption.
“This is the modern day BMW M3 compact (Ti) that the US market never got,” Marino tells us. The M2 is a rare and exotic BMW with Motorsport underpinnings that make for a dynamic driving experience and a unique and almost impossible to come-by dealership-modified example.
