[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and I may be in the market for a new car in the next year or two. I'm obviously way early in the process. I mean, hell, I'm still pre-grieving the idea that my daily is reaching the end of his life.

My 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 has been my daily for the last (approaching) 15 years. I'm the original owner and I loved everything about that experience. At 130k miles, I'm due for some suspension overhaul that doesn't make much financial sense due to the current market value of the car. With that being said, I'm considering riding out the the car's golden years. And yes, I am pre-grieving because this was my first big post-college purchase with my own money, and I grew old with it.

My weekend car, the year 2000 Honda S2000 will stay with me. I bought that car used in 2018 when I had enough money to buy my childhood dream car, and turn it into a reality. That car, is better engineered, better built, with the tightest of quality control. At 150k miles, it drives like new.

Now, onto the prospect, the G87 M2. I'm NOT in love with it. That's not really a knock on the G87 M2. I'm just not in love with vast majority of new cars. I'm considering it purely based on the specs sheet. Spec wise, I don't see anything else competing with it in the $60-70k range. I have very little interests in cars like the Supra because I already have my S2000. (with the exception of the GT4) And it will be a daily/second dual purpose track car if purchased.

I do want to hear your ownership experience, and I have some questions:

1) Styling, both interior and exterior. This is purely subjective and I will be honest about this thing stopping traffic for all the WRONG reasons. As a matter of fact, I've already decided that if I were to purchase the car, I'd have to invest another $10k for exterior/aero bits to un-uglify it. Did any of you who shared similar sentiments about the style at the beginning, but eventually came around to it? I can almost see myself starting a car conversation about this car with "Yeahhhh... but, it makes a lot of power and it's a great driving car."

2) Reliability. I've never owned a German car, but I've heard endless horror stories about the ownership experience. I've always thought BMW motors are some of finest but their cars were always held back by something else. Both of my cars are JDM and they've never given me problems, or left me stranded, or left in-operable for any reason. The only CEL I've ever seen in either of the cars were for random sensors that started to go bad. Please be honest about the reliability of G87 M2. If purchased, it will be my daily with "some" track days.

3) Daily Driving. This car will be use for daily driving. The G87 M2 looks like it'll do daily driving just great. Decent trunk space, usable backseat. I'm not going to be concerned about gas mileage, because I know what I'm getting myself into. My Mazdaspeed 3 was horrible on the gas too so it won't be a surprise to me. However, Please comment your experiences on daily driving, the interior's build quality, etc.

4) Factory Carbon Bucket Seats. If you have a set, please comment on how comfortable they are for longer drives and just daily usage. I've seen from many media outlet saying these are the best factory bucket seats, even better than the Porsche's GT bucket seats. Sourcing and fitting aftermarket seats is a pain, not to mention the factory buckets will retain the adjustability and heating.

5) Weight. At ~3,800lbs, this thing is approximately 1,000lbs heavier than my S2000. I understand that new modern cars are just heavy by design, there's just no getting around that. Obviously, I'm biased because my current cars are from another era, and I've considered the F87 generation M2 because it's slightly lighter. However, I'm considering the G87 because it has newer tech and amenities. If the Mazdaspeed 3 ownership showed me anything, is that, nothing dates a car like old, outdated, irrelevant interior tech and amenities. So I don't want to buy another that's already a generation behind, not especially if it's going to be my daily. So, did you guys ever considered the enormous weight of the G87 M2? How did you come around that reality?

6) Feel and emotion. I've heard it all, BMW steering and shifting feel is numb and nonexistent. Please share with me your own personal take on it. It does matter to me. Both my Mazdaspeed 3 and S2000 have excellent shifters. Properly mechanical and positive engagement with each shift.

Thank you all! Appreciate your feedback.

Track photos from Gorilla Tornado Photography, credits to them.

[two_three_two]

Item 1) looks 100x better in person. stands out in a crowd, lots of compliments, and its grown on me to the point that i think haters have just never seen one IRL.

Item 3) perfect daily and mine is on snow tires for winter

Item 5) IMHO you do not feel the weight in the corners. you never would guess it is 3800 lbs. the only way it feels its weight is that it is build like a friggin bank vault with excellent NVH isolation and low road noise even on winters.

Item 6) totally wrong. my other cars are a Mk4 VW and a Z car. it lacks the raw feedback of steering but there is more than enough to figure out what the front end is doing. people are just whining for the sake of whining IMO in regards to steering because "BMW has lost its way!!!!" generates clicks. shifter is good but not great. nothing matches up to an S2K.

TLDR do not listen to the reviewers, who are largely washed up hacks or never-weres that would be reviewing restaurants if they could get the job or daddy would pay them to do it. spec sheet racing is only good up to a point. go find and drive one.

[rons e92]

Wow, quite the post. I'll do what I can to answer some of your questions.

1) looks are completely subjective. That being said, I did not like the new M2 when I saw the press photos and videos. For me it was the rear end, I hated it and was planning to keep and build my G42 M240i. Then I went on a rally and saw a G87 in person. 3 weeks later I was taking delivery. I have yet to encounter a person who doesn't say the car looks incredible in person, especially lowered a little with spacers. The same applies for the interior I was not a fan of the big screen at all. Now that I've lived with it, I love it.

2) Red Bull ran a stock bottom end and almost completely stock engine on two drift/race/show cars with aftermarket large turbos between 1,000-1,200 for two years. When they opened up the engine at the BMW factory, the bearings still had the factory lube inside of them. The engines are bulletproof. There are little issues that can happen, but if you're buying new you won't have to worry. I've owned 5 BMWs and I've never had one leave me stranded.

3) Daily driving was one of my concerns when upgrading from the M240i to the M2. My M2 in comfort mode lowered on OEM HAS is more compliant than my M240i was with the Dahler springs, even though that car had softer struts. The car is great to daily. Only thing to be concerned about is the tires. They do not function as expected below 45 degrees, and they can crack below 20 degrees. Definitely want to pay attention to that if you plan to drive over winter in a colder climate. Or swap to winter tires. I've been daily driving my M2 for almost 9k miles now and it's been great.

4) I don't have the carbon buckets, so I can't speak to this. I did sit in them before I got my car and I made a very fast decision that I didn't need then and would likely be u comfortable with them. Thats my only regret. I wish I got them, but the normal seats are still incredible.

5) this is a complete non issue. I feel like people are nitpicking because the car is so good. When driving it, you do not feel any of that weight at all 99% of the time. The car just stays flat, it doesn't bounce all over, and it corners way faster than you'd think it should be able to. If weight concerns you, buy an Arial Atom.

6) my best advice would be to go drive one or go for a ride in one. Immediately you'll realize how exciting and emotional this car can get. Especially if you do a midpipe on it. The exhaust noise is muted from the factory, but once you open it up the car gets a ton more character. It really is incredible to drive.

Here's a picture so you can see what im working with. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[Tag]

Disclaimer, I don't have a G87 yet, my plan is to get it when the LCI comes out.

1) I can see you modding the car but $10k is excessive. A drop and some spacers does a lot. Some other bits here and there will make a big difference.

2) I've driven BMWs for over 20yrs and have never had one leave me stranded. Older models had way more issues but the B58 is a solid platform, look at the Supra. The S58 is a derivative of it, you can check the M3/M4 and X3M/X4M forums for its reliability; it's been used in those cars for several years at this point. I haven't seen anything showing they are a time bomb.

3) It's got adaptative suspension unlike the F87 which was rawer but not always in a good way.

5) Check out what Chris Harris says about the weight.

6) All BMWs with EPS are numb. Yeah, the M cars are a bit better, but they don't come close to the feel of hydraulic steering. This is something that confounds me to this day. BMW has been using EPS for a decade and yet it still sucks. The M5 CS is the only BMW with EPS that I can think of that had really good steering.

[TiresAlwaysFlat]

My first time seeing the M2 in pictures, I was disgusted. Then I saw one in person and it became less ugly. The M2 in stock form is not a looker but inexpensive mods such as lowering springs, wheel spacers and a front lip solves a lot of the ugly.. at least in my eyes.

[JMcLellan]

Reinforcing what someone said earlier about taking one for a test drive as that will answer so many questions. I was able to do this and it completely changed my perception of the car. I am coming from a f series M240i RWD car and assumed the G87 would behave similarly and thought why would I buy basically a $30K more expensive version of my M240i? I was soooo wrong. The car provides an amazing level of performance for the money. The only thing that sucks is that I have to wait until February to get mine.

Also, look at this picture above of the black M2. That thing is sooo darn sexy!!

[RockCrusher]

1) "Invest" $10,000 to un-ugly the car? More like take $10,000 and throw it out the window.

And as for ugly? Well, some have offered that opinion but my M2 has received more compliments than any other car I have owned. And not one ugly or just not very good looking comment. Besides all that matters is what you think. If you like its looks, fine. Buy one. If not fine. Just don't buy the car. I liked the looks of the M2 and haven't regretted buying one at all.


2) Have not owned a BMW long enough to know how reliable they are. Or at least how reliable my BMWs will be. If they prove to be unreliable I'll dump them and buy something else. Have to mention in driving a number of cars (Ford Mustang, Porsche Boxster, VW Golf TDi, Porsche 996 Turbo) to 150K miles and beyond the engines were reliable. Transmissions (manuals) were reliable. Even the clutches were semi reliable. At around 150K miles the Mustang throw out bearing failed. At 317K miles (!) the Boxster clutch was worn out. Didn't slip but the pedal pressure required made it clear it was time to replace the clutch.

But what did go bad was water pump (Boxster/Turbo), fuel pump (Boxster/Turbo), radiator fan motor (Boxster), radiators (Turbo), rear main seal (Boxster and covered by warranty; Turbo and paid for out of pocket), wheel bearing (Boxster) front diff axle flange seals (Turbo), transmission selector shaft seal (this on the Turbo and covered under warranty), Turbo shifter, Turbo hydraulic spoiler system, O2 sensors (both cars), MAF (Boxster), Boxster air/oil separator (3 times). Oh, Boxster variable cam timing solenoid/actuator. Alternator (Turbo and VW Golf TDi). Golf also needed a set of glow plugs at around 150K miles.

All my cars received better than factory serving with 5K mile oil/filter services, coolant replacement every 4 years or so, 2 year brake fluid services, spark plugs on schedule, serpentine belt on schedule, etc.

If you track that can take a toll on the car. You have to be prepared to spend more money to show up at the track with fresh engine oil, recently flushed/bled brakes. And brake hardware will suffer accelerated wear along with of course tires.


3) I don't commute and I don't use my M2 every day. But I think it would ok. At some point I daily drove (60 miles a day) my Boxster, 2006 GTO, 996 Turbo, Hellcat and they were all fine. Some, well the Hellcat mainly, guzzled gasoline like crazy but otherwise the cars were fine.


4) My M2 doesn't have the carbon bucket seats. The seats it does have are comfortable and heated.

5) 3800lbs? Oh the horrors... Gimme a break. You aren't required to lift the car by hand. To me the car carries its weight well. Best handling car ever right up there with the Boxster and Turbo. The Boxster weighed in at around 2800lbs. The Turbo at <3500lbs. GTO was IIRC 3600lbs. The Hellcat weighed in at around 4600lbs. The Scat Pack 4400lbs. At 3800lbs the M2 feels ok to me. Admittedly I think the CF roof helps the M2. Lowers the center of gravity a bit. Was quite an improvement when I switched from a Hellcat to a Scat Pack. Both cars had sunroofs. But the Hellcat had a supercharger on top of the engine. The Scat Pack didn't. Scat Pack center of gravity lower (and the car weighed in at several hundred pounds less) and was a much better handling car in spite of its 4400lbs.

6) My M2's steering, shifting (manual gear box), braking, etc are superb. Best shifting transmission was in my Boxster. But it was mated to a 2.7l engine making 217hp and 192 lb/ft of torque. No way the M2 with 453hp and 406 lb/ft of torque will the M2 transmission shift like the Boxster. But the M2 transmission shifts very smoothly and very quickly. Better than the GTO (400hp/400 lb/ft of torque) (which was a nice shifting transmission) and ditto my 2020 Scat Pack (485hp and 475 lb/ft of torque) (which was also a nice shifting transmission). The M2 transmission has rev matching on down shifts. Only my two MINI JCWs had that feature. It was a nice feature in the MINIs. It is a nice feature in the M2.

[JABCAT]

We have a '22 X3MC for my wife's daily driver, and I just picked up my G87 on 11/28. My previous dd for the last year & change was a '22 330e. I was so impressed with the driving dynamics in the 330e that I wanted another BMW. I put 31k mi on the 330e since 6/15/22.

Background: the G87 is my 45th vehicle, I'm 47 years old. A good majority of those previous vehicles have been performance-oriented vehicles. I also mod pretty much every vehicle I own, exterior, interior, performance or all 3.

I was considering a slightly used '21-23 M3 or M4 but decided to take a look at a new M2 after seeing one in the showroom when buying my wife's X3MC a couple months ago.

I really like the looks of the G87. Even though the previous gen still looks great, it looks a little dated now next to the G87. I also almost always prefer rounded/smooth lines compared to angular lines, but feel they did a great job on the G87. I also really like the new M3/4 that many hate, so there's that.

I have only 950 miles on the vehicle but 250 of those were in one shot (I'll do another 250 tomorrow). The car drives so well. It's comfortable, but not too comfortable that you forget about the power and handling capabilities it possesses. I like the steering feel. The car goes where you point it to go. I also like the many different settings you can play with regarding engine, chassis, braking, steering, traction control, etc.

Reliability: like I said, we have 2. My wife's X3MC has 20k mi - problem free. My 330e had 31k trouble-free miles when I traded it in. My experience with all my vehicles has been if they are properly maintained, they'll be reliable. Sure, every brand has common issues, and even a few lemons get produced. The "german cars are reliability nightmares" is just a stereotype perpetuated mostly by people who don't or haven't owned one.

The dealership experience can be hit or miss. I will not use my local dealership for anything after a tech destroyed one of my tires & tpms & the manager refused to accept responsibility. Just a week prior I stopped in to see about trading my 330e, and when they offered me $24k saying that's what Kbb said - then I pulled up Kbb and showed them it clearly said $34-36k, they just looked at me dumbfounded.

I have an appointment tomorrow for my break-in service at the dealer from whom we purchased the X3MC. Their sales dept was a joke, I'm hoping their service dept is better than the other dealer. If not, not sure what I'm going to do.

Weight: like others have said, you don't really feel it. Will it feel slightly heavier than your S2000, yes, but not significantly. My weekend car is a Callaway Carbon Edition Z06 which weighs probably 32-3300 lbs. The difference is negligible.

Seats: I don't have the carbon buckets, but I really like the M sport seats. I wish I had them in my Z06.

[M2PDX]

Two words: Buy One!

My G87 came in August. It's my 9th M car and 13th BMW. e36, e46, e92, f80, F87, etc.

Hands down the best.

Don't listen to the ninnies on weight or anything wise.

Go to the internet or your local dealer and buy one.

You will not regret it.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

We have a '22 X3MC for my wife's daily driver, and I just picked up my G87 on 11/28. My previous dd for the last year & change was a '22 330e. I was so impressed with the driving dynamics in the 330e that I wanted another BMW. I put 31k mi on the 330e since 6/15/22.

Background: the G87 is my 45th vehicle, I'm 47 years old. A good majority of those previous vehicles have been performance-oriented vehicles. I also mod pretty much every vehicle I own, exterior, interior, performance or all 3.

I was considering a slightly used '21-23 M3 or M4 but decided to take a look at a new M2 after seeing one in the showroom when buying my wife's X3MC a couple months ago.

I really like the looks of the G87. Even though the previous gen still looks great, it looks a little dated now next to the G87. I also almost always prefer rounded/smooth lines compared to angular lines, but feel they did a great job on the G87. I also really like the new M3/4 that many hate, so there's that.

I have only 950 miles on the vehicle but 250 of those were in one shot (I'll do another 250 tomorrow). The car drives so well. It's comfortable, but not too comfortable that you forget about the power and handling capabilities it possesses. I like the steering feel. The car goes where you point it to go. I also like the many different settings you can play with regarding engine, chassis, braking, steering, traction control, etc.

Reliability: like I said, we have 2. My wife's X3MC has 20k mi - problem free. My 330e had 31k trouble-free miles when I traded it in. My experience with all my vehicles has been if they are properly maintained, they'll be reliable. Sure, every brand has common issues, and even a few lemons get produced. The "german cars are reliability nightmares" is just a stereotype perpetuated mostly by people who don't or haven't owned one.

The dealership experience can be hit or miss. I will not use my local dealership for anything after a tech destroyed one of my tires & tpms & the manager refused to accept responsibility. Just a week prior I stopped in to see about trading my 330e, and when they offered me $24k saying that's what Kbb said - then I pulled up Kbb and showed them it clearly said $34-36k, they just looked at me dumbfounded.

I have an appointment tomorrow for my break-in service at the dealer from whom we purchased the X3MC. Their sales dept was a joke, I'm hoping their service dept is better than the other dealer. If not, not sure what I'm going to do.

Weight: like others have said, you don't really feel it. Will it feel slightly heavier than your S2000, yes, but not significantly. My weekend car is a Callaway Carbon Edition Z06 which weighs probably 32-3300 lbs. The difference is negligible.

Seats: I don't have the carbon buckets, but I really like the M sport seats. I wish I had them in my Z06.

My BMW dealer experience (purchasing and service) has been great. First with my 2022 BMW 230i, then it serviced my 2022 MINI Cooper S, my 2023 MINI JCW, my M2, and now -- well next Wednesday -- my 2024 230i xDrive.

With the new 230i xDrive (bought it Dec. 1) I feel the alignment not quite right. Steering wheel was not centered but this was taken care of before I drove away in the car.

At any rate yesterday morning I talked to the SA and he set up an appointment to have the car to have this checked.

Then last night I drove the car over 75 miles on a variety of roads -- not just the 2 or 3 I most often drive on -- and the steering/alignment felt better. I started to doubt my belief the alignment was wonky.

So today I stopped in and spoke to the SA and told him I was not as convinced the alignment was out as I was yesterday and he could cancel the appointment. SA said he had no problem having the car in to check out the alignment. So we left the appointment alone. More than that I mentioned -- and he knows me -- I'd like to get the oil/filter service done on the new car at around 500 to 600 miles. He found an appointment slot at 3pm right after the 2pm appointment for the alignment.

Wonderful service!

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

My BMW dealer experience (purchasing and service) has been great. First with my 2022 BMW 230i, then it serviced my 2022 MINI Cooper S, my 2023 MINI JCW, my M2, and now -- well next Wednesday -- my 2024 230i xDrive.

With the new 230i xDrive (bought it Dec. 1) I feel the alignment not quite right. Steering wheel was not centered but this was taken care of before I drove away in the car.

At any rate yesterday morning I talked to the SA and he set up an appointment to have the car to have this checked.

Then last night I drove the car over 75 miles on a variety of roads -- not just the 2 or 3 I most often drive on -- and the steering/alignment felt better. I started to doubt my belief the alignment was wonky.

So today I stopped in and spoke to the SA and told him I was not as convinced the alignment was out as I was yesterday and he could cancel the appointment. SA said he had no problem having the car in to check out the alignment. So we left the appointment alone. More than that I mentioned -- and he knows me -- I'd like to get the oil/filter service done on the new car at around 500 to 600 miles. He found an appointment slot at 3pm right after the 2pm appointment for the alignment.

Wonderful service!

Would be nice if I had that same experience near me, but I'm not so lucky. 3 local dealers, 2 of which owned by the same group. Not good experiences at either from a service standpoint. The 3rd, where we bought the X3, we almost walked on it because they just kept jerking around after I had already confirmed everything via email & phone. Then they were very patronizing to my wife while she was there.

I have a 2nd residence with 2 dealers in proximity. One is a Hendricks-owned dealership and they add a $12-1,500 "dealership pkg" to every new vehicle so I won't use them out of principle. I've purchased accessories from the other one & their parts dept personnel were really nice, so I'll give them a shot if I need service when the car is down here.

[Bumpinjeep]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

1) Styling, both interior and exterior. This is purely subjective and I will be honest about this thing stopping traffic for all the WRONG reasons. As a matter of fact, I've already decided that if I were to purchase the car, I'd have to invest another $10k for exterior/aero bits to un-uglify it.

Clearly you've never seen the car in person because this is a very stupid take. The car gets compliments, thumbs ups, people taking pictures while driving, all sorts of stuff that frankly might be dangerous all of the time. People will gather around it and drool over it at car shows (I normally attend an exotics cars and coffee and they will sneak in 'normal' cars in there as well). The car has presence, much more than the F87C and F80 I've had before it. They really knocked it out of the ballpark on this car design-wise.

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

2) Reliability. I've never owned a German car, but I've heard endless horror stories about the ownership experience. I've always thought BMW motors are some of finest but their cars were always held back by something else. Both of my cars are JDM and they've never given me problems, or left me stranded, or left in-operable for any reason. The only CEL I've ever seen in either of the cars were for random sensors that started to go bad. Please be honest about the reliability of G87 M2. If purchased, it will be my daily with "some" track days.

Nobody can tell you how reliable a car that's only 7 months old is. No one has owned it for more than that. It's a brand new car.
Now the G80/82 has been around for a couple of years and so far, there haven't been any glaring issues like previous M cars have had (Crank Hub, subframe, etc.) so there's no real way for anyone to know.

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

3) Daily Driving. This car will be use for daily driving. The G87 M2 looks like it'll do daily driving just great. Decent trunk space, usable backseat. I'm not going to be concerned about gas mileage, because I know what I'm getting myself into. My Mazdaspeed 3 was horrible on the gas too so it won't be a surprise to me. However, Please comment your experiences on daily driving, the interior's build quality, etc.

Excellent daily driving. The car has a true dual purpose personality. You can easily drive it 12K miles a year and take it to the track and compete with cars costing twice as much. It's comfortable with the shocks set to 'comfort' and firms up really well when set to "sport." You can probably drive the thing in the snow with the right tires.

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

4) Factory Carbon Bucket Seats. If you have a set, please comment on how comfortable they are for longer drives and just daily usage. I've seen from many media outlet saying these are the best factory bucket seats, even better than the Porsche's GT bucket seats. Sourcing and fitting aftermarket seats is a pain, not to mention the factory buckets will retain the adjustability and heating.

The buckets are excellent. They are comfortable and will hold you in place no matter how hard you corner. I wouldn't purchase the car without them. The longest i've driven is about an hour and a half with zero issues at all. I've tracked a G87 with the normal seats, while they are comfortable and hold you in place, they simply don't compare to the buckets.

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

5) Weight. At ~3,800lbs, this thing is approximately 1,000lbs heavier than my S2000. I understand that new modern cars are just heavy by design, there's just no getting around that. Obviously, I'm biased because my current cars are from another era, and I've considered the F87 generation M2 because it's slightly lighter. However, I'm considering the G87 because it has newer tech and amenities. If the Mazdaspeed 3 ownership showed me anything, is that, nothing dates a car like old, outdated, irrelevant interior tech and amenities. So I don't want to buy another that's already a generation behind, not especially if it's going to be my daily. So, did you guys ever considered the enormous weight of the G87 M2? How did you come around that reality?

The car does not weigh 3800 lbs. A manual with carbon package is in the low to mid 36XX depending on how much gas you have in it. Throw some forged wheels on it and it weighs as much as the F87C but is substantially more comfortable and will outperform it by a large margin. Regardless, you never notice the weight. Maybe if you come out of your S2K and hop right into a G87 but performance-wise, it will blow that S2K out of the water. However if you enjoy the top down windy road experience, then you can't replicate that in a G87, no matter how good it is.

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

6) Feel and emotion. I've heard it all, BMW steering and shifting feel is numb and nonexistent. Please share with me your own personal take on it. It does matter to me. Both my Mazdaspeed 3 and S2000 have excellent shifters. Properly mechanical and positive engagement with each shift.

Steering is great, shifting is superb. You have to properly break the car in, after a few thousand miles it only gets better.
If you have the chance, go to the M School in either S. Carolina or Thermal CA, you will be blown away. The performance envelope is so high on these cars that in the right hands, you're going to be blowing exotics out of the track. I did the Driver's school and the M Driver's package last week, these cars exceed anything that I can throw at them.
Test drive one, you'll see what we all mean, this is the last ICE M car offered with a 6 speed and BMW knocked it out of the ballpark.

[SBRSCOTA]

Hello Jabcat

I am in Austin and will be ordering soon. Which dealer did you have a crappy experience with? North or South Austin?

Beautiful ride!

THanks

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Thank you all for your responses so far, please keep them coming! Please note that I am coming from cars from another era, so I will always be skewed towards that era of cars. Which is why I'm asking these questions.

1) Looks and the "$10k" aftermarket aero kit. I'm referring to the Ardo kit, if I buy the whole thing, it'll run me ~$10k. I personally like that look. I know it's "loud", but in my eyes, it slims the car more and make it look less bloated on an otherwise, already "loud" looking car. Ok regardless, I'm still on the fence about the styling of the G87 M2. And I have seen them in the wild and that didn't help its cause... haha

2) Ditto on the reliability. Yes I am familiar with the B58 and its universal praises. I'm happy to hear that the S58 shares similar praises.

3) Ditto on the daily driving, looks like I'll have nothing to worry about aside from the gas mileage... Which is a non-factor, I'm already numb to MPG with my current daily driver.

4) Hopefully someone with the carbon buckets can chime in. I can sit in one at a dealership but that won't answer its overall comfort in long drives.

5) Ditto, seems like the weight is a non-factor.

6) Feel and emotion. This is a wide range and perhaps I'll never get a concrete answer. But so far, everyone here says it's more positive than the media coverages I've seen.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Clearly you've never seen the car in person because this is a very stupid take. The car gets compliments, thumbs ups, people taking pictures while driving, all sorts of stuff that frankly might be dangerous all of the time. People will gather around it and drool over it at car shows (I normally attend an exotics cars and coffee and they will sneak in 'normal' cars in there as well). The car has presence, much more than the F87C and F80 I've had before it. They really knocked it out of the ballpark on this car design-wise.


Nobody can tell you how reliable a car that's only 7 months old is. No one has owned it for more than that. It's a brand new car.
Now the G80/82 has been around for a couple of years and so far, there haven't been any glaring issues like previous M cars have had (Crank Hub, subframe, etc.) so there's no real way for anyone to know.


Excellent daily driving. The car has a true dual purpose personality. You can easily drive it 12K miles a year and take it to the track and compete with cars costing twice as much. It's comfortable with the shocks set to 'comfort' and firms up really well when set to "sport." You can probably drive the thing in the snow with the right tires.


The buckets are excellent. They are comfortable and will hold you in place no matter how hard you corner. I wouldn't purchase the car without them. The longest i've driven is about an hour and a half with zero issues at all. I've tracked a G87 with the normal seats, while they are comfortable and hold you in place, they simply don't compare to the buckets.


The car does not weigh 3800 lbs. A manual with carbon package is in the low to mid 36XX depending on how much gas you have in it. Throw some forged wheels on it and it weighs as much as the F87C but is substantially more comfortable and will outperform it by a large margin. Regardless, you never notice the weight. Maybe if you come out of your S2K and hop right into a G87 but performance-wise, it will blow that S2K out of the water. However if you enjoy the top down windy road experience, then you can't replicate that in a G87, no matter how good it is.


Steering is great, shifting is superb. You have to properly break the car in, after a few thousand miles it only gets better.
If you have the chance, go to the M School in either S. Carolina or Thermal CA, you will be blown away. The performance envelope is so high on these cars that in the right hands, you're going to be blowing exotics out of the track. I did the Driver's school and the M Driver's package last week, these cars exceed anything that I can throw at them.
Test drive one, you'll see what we all mean, this is the last ICE M car offered with a 6 speed and BMW knocked it out of the ballpark.

Excuse me? I have seen one, and it looks like a bloated Scion tC especially the side profile. I'm also not a fan of the front GT-like squares. It makes the car look massive. And the rear of the car looks like Sid from Ice Age. And it's my opinion, if you think it's stupid, that's nice because clearly you like to ASSume I haven't seen one in real life. Keep it to yourself please. I'll be ignoring this.

Agreed with your take on the reliability, I forgot this is still a relatively new car.

The daily driving aspect you mentioned is exactly what I'm looking for in a newer car and modern tech. The dual personality on normal roads and taking it to the track on a random weekend is what I want. My current Mazdaspeed 3 is just rough all the time. Which has gotten really old after 15 years despite the motor and the drivetrain running strong.

Thanks for commenting on the buckets! Though I was hoping you've driven them longer than 1-2 hours, I'll need feedback for trips longer than 2 hours... maybe in the 3-6 hours range. But I'm glad you absolutely enjoy your buckets!

Thanks for the comment about the weight. Not desperate for going top down since I'll be keeping my S2000.

You made a good point about the M driving school! I completely forgot that'll come with the purchase. I'm happy to take as much tutoring on the track as possible.

Everything you mentioned about the performance of the car sounds like a homerun for a dual purpose daily driver/random track day car. That's great to hear! Thank you for that.

Ok, so.... haha, who's done a road trip in them buckets?

[Game]

Curious, why choose the M2 over the M240. Since you have the weekend toy (love the S2k), I think the M240 could be a viable option as well.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Game

Curious, why choose the M2 over the M240. Since you have the weekend toy (love the S2k), I think the M240 could be a viable option as well.

Because I'm curious what 400hp+ feels like... haha

[ourlee]

YW

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by ourlee

YW

Not really interested in another 10-15 years of another stiffened up FWD econobox. I know it's ultra capable on the track, but that's why I have my S2000 still.

[Rx-7ames]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

Because I'm curious what 400hp+ feels like... haha

The M240 has over 400 hp. Dyno numbers for the M2 are over 500. Dinan measured the M240 at 411 hp and the M2 at 530. The M240 is a viable alternative.

You also mentioned no competitive vehicles for the price. You can consider the Audi RS3, Cadillac CT4-V BW. I would say the Porsche 718 is not a competitor because of price, but maybe it is if you are going to drop 10k just on an aero package. Mayne a 718 isn't too much of a reach.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Rx-7ames

The M240 has over 400 hp. Dyno numbers for the M2 are over 500. Dinan measured the M240 at 411 hp and the M2 at 530. The M240 is a viable alternative.

You also mentioned no competitive vehicles for the price. You can consider the Audi RS3, Cadillac CT4-V BW. I would say the Porsche 718 is not a competitor because of price, but maybe it is if you are going to drop 10k just on an aero package. Mayne a 718 isn't too much of a reach.

Oh I forgot to mention, must be a manual so that removes the RS3 already. No CT4-V Blackwing, not that thrilled with the interior components and material.

The only 718 I'd consider would be the GT4, otherwise, feels redundant with my S2000.

[Carefree]

You wore me out.
Go for a test drive.