[FryCookOnVenus]

Spoke to my dealer this week and their HEA arrived so of course I was up there early today to drive it. It was an automatic in BG.

Before getting to it, a little context so you can determine how many grains of salt to take with my thoughts: I've always enjoyed driving but didn't consider myself a "car guy" until pretty recently. I've owned seven cars in my life. All of them were stick. None of them were expensive, but most of them were fun (Saab 900 Turbo, Integra GS-R, OG Infiniti G35, Mk7 GTI, etc.).

In a nutshell, I thought the M2 was amazing. The engine was sonorous, smooth as butter and kicked like a mule. The steering was a little numb (and the wheel was chunky as hell) but ripping around the corners, it was easy to place it where you wanted and the car had plenty more to give, even as I pushed it. Can't wait to explore its limits with some professional coaching.

I've heard complaints about the brakes, but I thought they were firm, responsive and easily modulated. I really liked them.

I plan to buy another stick, but the automatic was a lot more fun that I expected. The paddles were neat even if the click-action wasn't as substantial as I'd like. Shifts were quick, but not lightning-quick. It was great having 8 gears so it was easy to stay in the power band. I'm not ready to jump ship, but if someone told me I had to have it in auto, I wouldn't be heartbroken.

I thought the visibility was great and as others have said, seating position was perfect. I also thought the seats were terrific. Supportive and firm, but also very comfy. I have no interest in the carbon buckets because this will be a daily and I just lost 25lbs, so I'll live with the weight penalty for the comfort.

As for the outside . . .

Previously, I was totally unenthused about BG but in person, it's a lot more interesting than in photos. It's got subtle undertones of limerock green and I thought it looked great. ZB (which I saw last week at a different dealer) is still my pick, but BG moved into second place.

I also plan to get the cognac interior. Today's M2 was black with M Highlights (looked good but not for me) but I did get to see cognac on an X3 that was on the lot. It does have a very slight orange hue, but I thought it looked good. I think it would pair better with a darker blue than ZB, but I'm sticking with it as my pick. I think it would look great with BS and good with BG. I initially thought cognac and TR would be a good combo (classic 80' Ferrari look) but given the orange hue of cognac and of TR, I'm less convinced they would work together.

One last thought on TR . . . I got to hold up samples of TR next to San Francisco Red and Melbourne Red and it's noticeably more orange than both. It's hard to quantify, but I'd put it halfway between Melbourne Red and Sunset Metallic on the Red/Orange continuum.

Oh, and I'm now a convert to the black wheels. Previously, I was philosophically anti-black wheels and thought that in M2 pictures they looked like a black hole, but in person, they had more character than I expected and that will be my choice. I think a ZB with cognac and bicolor wheels would look too much like a sporty Bentley and I'm expecting the black wheels to add a little sneer to the otherwise potentially-snooty ZB/cognac combo.

Today's car did not have the shadow line package and I think it would have benefitted from it, especially with the black wheels, but that's a minor point.

Due to my schedule, I didn't get to spend much time playing with the infotainment or interacting with the interior. Driving, I didn't find the tachometer intuitive or easy to decipher at a glance, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. With a stick, your foot and ears usually tell you enough, anyway. Inside, the car felt very comfy and high end. Totally appropriate for an entry-level luxury car and a big step up from where this car used to be.

Overall, in person, I still think it's a brutish beauty.

Driving it was like nothing I've experienced before. Maybe those of you with seat time in other sports cars can point out M2 shortcomings by comparison, but I'm also sure that if our wives let us, we'd bring home one of Derek Jeter's discarded supermodels. My point of course is that if the M2 comes up short, it's only in comparison to other exceptional cars. Next to all the cars in the universe, it's a supermodel and I am beyond excited to get the call from my dealer that my allocation is up.

However you choose to spec yours, we're all in for a treat and I feel so fortunate that we are in positions to bring these cars into ours lives. Enjoy!

[AlpineBoost]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you enjoyed it!

[LCDRJohn]

anyone who has owned a Intergra GSR is good by me!!

[wj100]

In case you haven't seen it in the flesh, here's ZB over cognac. Definitely an interesting combo. Some will like it, others won't...I'm probably in the latter camp, but I can see the appeal.

[zero21]

Originally Posted by wj100

In case you haven't seen it in the flesh, here's ZB over cognac. Definitely an interesting combo. Some will like it, others won't...I'm probably in the latter camp, but I can see the appeal.

I briefly had this spec'd but once I saw cognac against black I changed my mind.

It looks really good to me against ZB.

[FryCookOnVenus]

Originally Posted by wj100

In case you haven't seen it in the flesh, here's ZB over cognac. Definitely an interesting combo. Some will like it, others won't...I'm probably in the latter camp, but I can see the appeal.

This is great to see, thank you for sharing it.

It's definitely high-contrast, but I like it! And, after three straight cars with black leather, I need a change.

[diavliyo]

Originally Posted by wj100

In case you haven't seen it in the flesh, here's ZB over cognac. Definitely an interesting combo. Some will like it, others won't...I'm probably in the latter camp, but I can see the appeal.

More photos por favor

[snareman]

TR is definitely a very orange red. Thankfully I talked my friend who is very fond of red cars out of ordering one without seeing the color in person. You just can't tell colors based on internet pics. I'm looking forward to seeing ZB in person because it looks kinda odd in pics.

[Albator_IIII]

Originally Posted by snareman

TR is definitely a very orange red. Thankfully I talked my friend who is very fond of red cars out of ordering one without seeing the color in person. You just can't tell colors based on internet pics. I'm looking forward to seeing ZB in person because it looks kinda odd in pics.

I was all set for TR until I saw TR and ZB both in person. TR is not for me and I am glad I got to see ZB. Switching from TR to ZB.

I loved the idea of orange hue hinted at by some and in some pix for the TR. My dream color would be Fire Orange. However, when I saw TR in person, it seems to also have a hint of hot pink mixed with the orange and red. It instantly turned me a bit off but was still going to with it until I got to see ZB the next day. I didn't love ZB but it was more pleasant than expected. Also, being that it is an exclusive color for this car (al least for now), making the change for my build. Bonus is I will save $895 CAD by going non-metallic paint.

[snareman]

Originally Posted by Albator_IIII

I was all set for TR until I saw TR and ZB both in person. TR is not for me and I am glad I got to see ZB. Switching from TR to ZB.

I loved the idea of orange hue hinted at by some and in some pix for the TR. My dream color would be Fire Orange. However, when I saw TR in person, it seems to also have a hint of hot pink mixed with the orange and red. It instantly turned me a bit off but was still going to with it until I got to see ZB the next day. I didn't love ZB but it was more pleasant than expected. Also, being that it is an exclusive color for this car (al least for now), making the change for my build. Bonus is I will save $895 CAD by going non-metallic paint.

Yea, when I got my first M4 I had the mind that if I was going to get an M I was going to get one of the M only colors so I got yas marina blue. It's been my favorite color so far. People either loved or hated that color.

[cmgbk75]

Originally Posted by FryCookOnVenus

Spoke to my dealer this week and their HEA arrived so of course I was up there early today to drive it. It was an automatic in BG.

Before getting to it, a little context so you can determine how many grains of salt to take with my thoughts: I've always enjoyed driving but didn't consider myself a "car guy" until pretty recently. I've owned seven cars in my life. All of them were stick. None of them were expensive, but most of them were fun (Saab 900 Turbo, Integra GS-R, OG Infiniti G35, Mk7 GTI, etc.).

In a nutshell, I thought the M2 was amazing. The engine was sonorous, smooth as butter and kicked like a mule. The steering was a little numb (and the wheel was chunky as hell) but ripping around the corners, it was easy to place it where you wanted and the car had plenty more to give, even as I pushed it. Can't wait to explore its limits with some professional coaching.

I've heard complaints about the brakes, but I thought they were firm, responsive and easily modulated. I really liked them.

I plan to buy another stick, but the automatic was a lot more fun that I expected. The paddles were neat even if the click-action wasn't as substantial as I'd like. Shifts were quick, but not lightning-quick. It was great having 8 gears so it was easy to stay in the power band. I'm not ready to jump ship, but if someone told me I had to have it in auto, I wouldn't be heartbroken.

I thought the visibility was great and as others have said, seating position was perfect. I also thought the seats were terrific. Supportive and firm, but also very comfy. I [...]

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