Review: This Small M Car Proves BMW Still Knows What Enthusiasts Want

In 2005, while working in the UK, I tested the E46 BMW M3 CS (sold in North America as the M3 Competition Package), which featured many of the chassis upgrades from the seminal CSL, but without its extra power or lightweight panels. Twenty years and hundreds of test vehicles later, it remains one of the most memorable cars I’ve ever driven – something to make an average driver like me feel like a hero, thanks to its incredible steering feel and usable, linear power from the naturally aspirated, 338-hp, S54 straight-six.

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Part Performance Car, Part Video Game: Is the M2 CS the Spiritual Successor to Classic M3s?

When I tested an M235i Coupe in 2014 – the predecessor to the first M2 – I was happy to find that the spirit of the E46 lived on in the almost identically sized (and almost identically powerful) 2 Series. The M3 now had 100 more horsepower, which arguably pushed the car’s performance out of the realm of everyday enjoyment. The street cars I enjoy most have always been those whose performance is accessible at legal speeds: the Toyota GR86 and Mazda MX-5 are perhaps the best examples on sale today.

Less Weight, More Power

• Engine: 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six (S58)
• Power: ~518 hp (up from 453 hp in standard M2)
• Torque: ~479 lb-ft (manual slightly less)
• Transmission: 6-speed manual or 8-speed M Steptronic automatic
• Drivetrain: Rear-wheel drive

Complaining that the M2 CS is too wide, too heavy or too complicated is missing the point. This is what a driver’s car looks like in 2025.

Today’s BMW M2 is longer than its predecessors, or than the E46 M3, and a chunk wider and heavier, too. But the good news is, it still exists. Somehow, BMW manages to blend outstanding profitability from premium SUVs and sedans, with forward-thinking corporate environmental policy – all the while continuing to build the kind of low-volume, enthusiast-pleasing performance cars that made its reputation.

The latest of these is the M2 CS, which is 44kg (97-lb) lighter than the regular M2, but boasts 523 hp (+50) and 479 lb-ft of torque (+36), and revs to a satisfying 7,200rpm. The turbocharged six blasts it from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 302km/h (188mph). Production is extremely limited: Canada will receive only 81, for example.

Related – 2019 M2 Competition: BMW’s New 405 Horsepower Coupe

A Small BMW As Complicated As You Want it to Be

I was fortunate to get behind the wheel at a recent test day. The CS is quick to shove you in the back when you floor it and quick to communicate through the steering when you change direction, but also ridiculously quick to haul you back to a standstill, with zero drama, thanks to the optional M carbon ceramic brakes. TractionLife’s other journalist goes the distance, saying the new M2 CS is the best BMW you can buy. Bold claim.

The carbon buckets hug you into place. Bright stitching and sharp dashboard displays lift the black interior, and ‘CS’ glows gently in the carbon-fibre door panels. Meanwhile, the Alcantara wheel transported me back to the E46 CS. You probably won’t carry passengers, but I’m just under six feet and could sit behind myself in relative comfort.

Inevitably, there are more toys than you probably need or will ever use, including adjustable steering assistance, shift speed and damping, plus, of course, numerous drive modes that bundle the variables together. Whatever you pick, you’ll likely run out of ability before the car reaches its limits.

With so many electronic systems on board, it’s also inevitable that some of that immediate connection I felt with the car and the road in the E46, is lost. But that’s true of just about every car on sale today, and complaining that the M2 CS is too wide, too heavy or too complicated is missing the point. This is what a driver’s car looks like in 2025, and the world is a better place for its existence.