I thought about maybe buying the M2 as well if the 4BW purchase didn't pan out. Luckily for me, there are over 200. manuals all over the country to choose from right now.
As someone that plans to track the 4BW regularly, I found that GM made the 4BW a trackable street car with little to no gimmickry. 18 inch wheels, 2 piece blank rotors, cooling for everything, physical buttons, every ride mode or PTM setting has a meaningful and noticeable change. Even without CF, there is still functional aero on the car as well. I guess pops and burble could be considered gimmicky, but there are worse gimmicks out there.
The new M2(and all M products to be honest) are fine machines, but they're just so full of needless gimmickry. Like, yea, we get that the true M cars are fast and badass, but do they really need drift mode? 20/21 inch wheels? Interior made out of screens? Where the hell am I going to be able to use drift mode anyway? Road courses don't allow drifting. I guess a drift event? Not my thing either.
The new M2's looks have actually grown on me. I wouldn't call it classic or pretty, but it looks mean. The side profile is its best angle. Where the M2 fails for me is the uninspired interior. I am fine with screens for gauges and infotainment, BUT only if they are well integrated in to the design. BMW just tacked on some screens and called it a day. I loathe, loathe, loathe it. So much. Plus the M2 is clearly catering to the type of people that would put M badges on their non-M car, seeing the amount of M badging and M color patterns in the interior itself. It's an exercise in excess, and it's kind of off putting. 19/20 inch cast wheels are lifted from the M3/M4. Fun fact, previous gen M2 wheels were forged, so this is a downgrade. Cross drilled(or dimpled) in this case does nothing besides look gimmicky. And it has gained quite a bit of weight. The 4BW isn't light by any means, but neither was the ATS-V which preceded it. The M2 went from 3500-3600 lbs to 3800. The 4BW gained like what? Less than a hundred pounds from the ATS-V?
I know it drives well. Like an M car should. But IMO, in this segment, there's a lot more to making a great car than putting a powerful motor and making it handle well. The interior of the M2 is the biggest dealbreaker for me. And since the interiors on all BMWs are practically identical now, I would never consider a new BMW. Unless it were a Supra. But even then, I'd wait until BMW can design and tune a better BMW than Toyota can. And judging with how things are going with BMW nowadays, I don't think that it'll ever happen again.
