More intense than ever
In the wildly attractive corner of car land where the power of your car determines your place in the pecking order, there is no such thing as ‘too much hp’. The naturally very beefy BMW M2 is therefore taken to a higher level. This is the BMW M2 CS!
During the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on Lake Como in Italy, BMW recently showed the very first M2 CS ever. It didn’t do more than show it. How potent the absolute top version of the 2-series Coupé is was still a mystery. Until now. As it turns out: the BMW M2 CS is wild. Very wild.
The ‘regular’ BMW M2 has a 3.0 six-in-line that produces 480 hp. The BMW M2 CS goes over that with another 50 hp and 50 Nm. The result: 530 hp and 650 Nm! This makes the BMW M2 CS just as powerful as the BMW M3 Competition Sedan xDrive and M4 Competition Coupé xDrive. The big difference: with those M3 and M4, the 530 twin-turbo horses go to all four wheels. In the BMW M2 CS they go straight to the rear wheels via the eight-speed M Steptronic automatic transmission.
Stronger and lighter
The BMW M2 CS, entirely according to Competition Sport tradition, is not only stronger, but also lighter than the car of which it is the superlative. Various components on both the exterior and interior are made of carbon fiber, which has resulted in 50 kilos of automotive fat burning. For example, the side mirror caps, the roof and the tailgate are made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Speaking of that tailgate: you will find an integrated ducktail spoiler in it.
The M2 CS punches from standstill to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, making it 0.2 seconds faster than a regular M2. The M2 CS achieves greater gains in the 0-200 sprint. The new top version completes that in 11.7 seconds, 1.2 seconds faster than the M2 without the CS addition. The top speed is electronically limited to a somewhat arbitrary sounding 302 km/h.
Harder
Furthermore, BMW has, among other things, adjusted the throttle response, the M2 CS has a new exhaust system with valves and four black exhaust end pieces, and the CS is 8 millimeters closer to the asphalt because springs and dampers have been adjusted. M Compound braking with red calipers is standard, the M Carbon ceramic braking system is optional. You can recognize the M2 CS not only by its tailgate and more exuberant spoiler work, but also by its special M wheels with Gold Bronze-colored finish. They measure 19 inches at the front and 20 inches at the rear. It comes standard with circuit rubber that is no less than 28.5 centimeters wide at the rear.
The BMW M2 CS is of course not a bargain. The BMW M2 CS has a starting price of – hold on tight – €166,700. This makes it almost €39,000 more expensive than a regular M2 and even more expensive than an M3 Competition Sedan xDrive (€160,917) or an M5, which ‘only’ costs €143,811 in the Netherlands thanks to the plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The first copies will arrive in the Netherlands around the end of the summer.