M2 Diaries

March 2021: it's how much!?

How quickly does six months fly by indeed. I’ve had the pleasure of owning this BMW M2 Competition for half a year already, and in that time, I’ve put barely 3,000 miles on the car. As much as I claim I want to drive more and take the car out on long road adventures, perhaps this is just who I am? I love cars deeply, but putting many miles on them isn’t my thing, at least during this phase in life. 

3,000 mile in six months is consistent with the 6,000 or so I put on the 911 GT3 during its first year of ownership. It’s also consistent with the 14,000 or so miles I put on the MX-5 Miata in the three years I owned that car. Maybe it’s time to face facts: I get more enjoyment out of having the car parked out front than actually putting massive amounts of mileage on it. I mean, here I am on a Saturday morning typing this out, instead of taking the M2 out for a drive in the mountains. 

I am a homebody that happens to love cars. 

Which also explains why it was rather foolish of me to take stewardship of my brother’s MX-5 Miata. I can’t even drive my own car enough, what makes me think I would make the time and effort necessary to drive two? Never mind the fact I now have yet another car to take care of in terms of maintenance and keeping it clean. The parts of car ownership I really don’t like doing. I just like to drive, and it turns out I don’t do enough of that either. 

At least now I know I’m not the type of car enthusiast to have more than one car. 

I’m pretty sure I put more miles on my brother’s Miata than my own M2 during the month I’ve had both. This is not an indictment on the BMW, mind you. The sheer power advantage and the luxurious accoutrements of the M2 makes it the choice over the one-track minded Mazda roadster. However, the MX-5 trumps the BMW with having a manual transmission. On weekends where traffic isn’t an issue, it’s way more fun to row my own gears. 

I still think I’ve made the right decision to get the M2 with the dual-clutch automatic gearbox instead of the manual. Of course, being a decision that costs ~$3,000 dollars extra, I’m biased to defend that position. A great dual-clutch transmission offers the tractility of a manual, combined with the effortless smooth of a traditional automatic. For a car that is to be my only vehicle, going DCT in the M2 makes sense. 

The ability to pop the gearbox into fully automatic mode soon as I hit a bit of traffic is quite awesome. 

It’s a decision I probably have to live with for a very long time to come. The BMW M2 just might be the last internal-combustion car I buy. Headwinds in the automotive world are blowing heavily towards electrification, both consumer demand (thank you, Tesla) and extremely prohibitive emission regulations (thank you, Euro 7). All my friends have either bought electric vehicles, or their next car will have some form of electrification, if not fully. As much as I love the combustion engine, I’m not going to be the old man yelling at the clouds of rapid change.

I’ve had enough seat time now in fully electric cars to understand how awesome they are. The rapid acceleration from the torque of the motor is fantastic, and simply cannot be matched by any gasoline engine. Combined with a low center of gravity, electric vehicles are darty and fun to drive. There isn’t a gap in traffic that you can’t exploit with a quick push of the accelerator pedal. Lastly, the interiors of electric cars are just really pleasant places to be, quiet and refined. No loud engine noises, only the quiet, futuristic whoosh of the motor.

The next daily-driver I buy, if I ever do need to drive to work again, will be an electric vehicle. That time has arrived, and it’s okay with this car enthusiast. 

And I’m okay with the BMW M2 being the final fun car I buy that burns petrol for motivation – the unintended forever car. I don’t really aspire for anything better or different, not at my current income level anyways. I’ve tasted the pinnacle of sports car already, having owned the 991 generation Porsche 911 GT3, so to that end I’m quite satisfied and satiated. I wouldn’t mind having the latest Honda Civic Type R in the stable, but going back to what I wrote earlier, I’m not cut out to own more than one car at a time.  

There’s no way I am replacing a pure real-wheel drive sports car with anything that’s front-wheel drive, even for a Civic Type R that’s been dubbed the GT3 of its kind. 

Six months with the M2 means insurance renewal time! It was to my great surprise and dissatisfaction to find premiums have increased nearly $500 dollars for the next six-month period. This isn’t Progressive being screwy with me, either: I’ve checked quotes from other insurance companies, and their premiums are even worst. It looks like the costs of insuring a BMW in San Francisco have gone quite a ways up. 

What have you other BMW drivers been doing? Crashing into things? Being naughty with the law? I certainly haven’t contributed to the problem. I’ve made zero claims on my insurance, and the only ticket I got in the last six months is for not having a front license plate, which I have since fixed. Nevertheless, BMW drivers really have to get it together, because I am dangerously close to paying the same premiums as I did for the 911 GT3 – a car that costs twice as much.

Data and demographics can be such a bitch. I take commiseration in knowing that owners of Tesla cars and Dodge Chargers/Challengers have got it worse.  

But that means I really should try to put more miles on the M2. I am paying way too much in insurance to have it only do 6,000 miles a year. But there’s another problem: with the pandemic nearing its end, gasoline prices have gone up tremendously. With a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon on a good day, it’s rather painful at the fuel pump these days with the M2. It’s not Porsche GT3 levels of horrible, but it’s barely better.  

See what I mean about my next car being electric? Things have changed rapidly. See you all next month. 

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Date acquired: October 2019
Total mileage: 3,011
Mileage this month: 219
Costs this month: $1,589.77 (insurance renewal)
MPG this month: 20.42

February 2021: old habits

When driving a BMW M2 Competition, who do you give the “enthusiasts wave” to? The obvious answer is fellow M2 drivers, but anybody else? What about lesser models of the 2 Series lineup? Other M-badged cars? Or sporting BMW cars in general? 

It was far easier to determine who to wave to (or give the thumbs up) in my previous cars. In the Porsche 911, I only waved to other Porsche sports cars – the 911, Cayman, and Boxster. In the Mazda Miata, it was any other MX-5 on the road, no matter the generation. In the Subaru WRX STI, it was any other WRX, no matter the vintage. It’s simple, really: I wave to cars that were nearly identical to the one I was driving. 

The BMW range of cars is more vast than the previous marques I’ve owned, and many of those cars carry sporting intentions. It isn’t like the M2 is the only game in the Bavarian portfolio. There’s the venerable M3/M4, the M5 sports sedan, the big M8 coupe, the M SUVs, and a whole host of slightly lesser variants that nonetheless can be considered as enthusiast cars (the M340i, for example). Therefore, the conundrum: how to differentiate between who’s an enthusiast who isn’t? Who to give the wave to? 

The fast BMW SUVs are automatically eliminated. I don’t think any card-carrying petrol head would actually buy one of those for spirted driving. The X3M and X5M are great cars, but more of a transportation device – that happens to be super rapid – than a road carving machine. I don’t wave to those drivers. Back when I had the 911, I didn’t wave to Porsche Macan and Cayenne owners either. 

The rule I came up with for the M2 is this: when I’m driving in the mountains, I wave to any other BMW on the road that isn’t an SUV. Most of them are M cars anyways, so there’s no risk of encountering a 230i convertible and confusing that driver. In everyday driving, I only wave to other M2 drivers, plus our close platform siblings the M3 and M4. Something about the kinship of having the same engine and drivetrain.

All of this seems trivial, but it’s a comradery between shared interests and shared vehicles. In a market with so many options, another person and I ended up picking the same car. If the pandemic isn’t still very much going on, I rather like to attend a few BMW-specific car gatherings. 

Primarily to show off just how much of a careless klutz I am. Barely four months since I bought the M2 brand new, I’ve already curbed both passenger side wheels, and reversed the car onto another parked car. Thankfully, said parked car belonged to my brother, and the damage was minimal – one measly paint chip on the M2’s rear bumper.  

All the assistive technologies in the world could not save me from my clumsy. The M2 has a backup camera and parking sensors, yet I still managed to back it onto another vehicle. The passenger side mirrors automatically dips when the transmission is in reverse, so the driver can directly see where the wheels are in relation to the curb when parallel parking. That didn’t stop me from scraping both curb-side wheels on the concrete. 

Not sure if it’s hubris or brain issues: I can’t help but to carelessly damage that cars that I own. On the second day of owning the 911 GT3, I ran the front lip over a parking curb. Thankfully, that unpainted piece of plastic is meant to be bashed, band over the course of ownership I’ve scraped and bump it an embarrassing number of times. I too have backed the GT3 onto something, though fortunately it was a soft block of wood backstopping a parking stall, and I was going at a crawl. No damage. 

It was a miracle I somehow did not curb any of the wheels on the 911. 

My ND Miata suffered the least from my stupidity, though that’s because it’s so physically small that even my adverse powers couldn’t affect it. The only thing I can remember is scraping (again) the front lip on a driveway that I underestimated the steepness of. In hindsight, perhaps that MX-5 was a good luck charm, and I never should have sold it. 

The WRX STI suffered the most. All four wheels have had curb damage, which is an incredible achievement. The bottom of the front bumper has been scraped to hell, and I’ve bumped it on quite a few times on quite a few things. I reversed the car into a concrete column at the school parking lot, leaving a peppering of paint chips on the rear bumper. One time on the highway I ran over a steel piece of debris, and it tore a gash off the paint on the left rear door. There’s a slight bend to the right front fender, from the time I switched lanes onto another car. 

I was very surprised when CarMax quote as high a number as they did when I sold the WRX STI. The (lack of) depreciation on Subaru cars is indeed legendary. 

It seems age and experience hasn’t stopped me from these stupid mistakes. Short of having a fully self-driving car, I’m afraid I can’t help myself. Not even 3,000 miles from new, and the M2 is already looking worse for the wear in certain areas of the car. I fully understand the virtue of not being precious with your cars, and that ultimately these material things won’t stay perfect forever. However, it still hurts because it’s me being clumsy, rather than the regular deterioration that comes with age and use. Easily preventable stuff, if I’d just paid complete attention to what I was doing. 

At least I’m far less obsessive compulsive as I used to be. Something like curbing a wheel used to ruin my whole week. Nowadays, I can forget about something like that almost immediately, though not without some mental self-flagellation first. Cars are meant to be driven and used, and with that comes the inevitable scars and chips. I would just like for them to occur naturally, rather than due to my clumsiness and stupidity. 

Nothing much to report on the M2 this month. February is short, and because (again) of the pandemic, opportunities to drive and hang out is minimal. 413 miles this month, under these circumstances, is a testament to how fun the M2 is to drive. It wasn’t my initial infatuation with something new that colored my feelings: this pugnacious BMW coupe remains as ensnaring as those first moments. I just want to keep driving, and hopefully not back the bumper into any more stationary objects. 

See you next month!  

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Date acquired: October 2019
Total mileage: 2,792
Mileage this month: 413
Costs this month: $235.81
MPG this month: 20.21

January 2021: comfortable, useable speed

The surprise this month is how on earth did I manage to put over 500 miles on the M2? During a month with the stay-at-home orders were still very much in effect. And I also made a point to not drive the car unnecessarily.

It really shows just how fun the little BMW is to drive. It’s too easy during the grocery run to take a circuitous detour, to go the longer way. Even if the route isn’t full of bends and corners, it’s joyful enough to simply cruise on the highway. I guess that’s how I did half a thousand miles last month. A trip to Costco? Let’s take a route through the mountains to get there.

It certainly helps to have a car that’s comfortable and easy to live with. The M2 is the latest in an illustrious line of sports sedans from BMW (yes, even though it’s got two doors, the M2 is underpinned by a sedan platform). That means alongside its sporting credentials, it also has to function as a normal, everyday car. This isn’t the hardcore track-ready machine like the Porsche GT3 I had previously. 

Let’s start with tires. January was the typically rainy for us, and the factory-fitted Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on the M2 handled the water competently. You still have to be careful with the throttle, but at least I’m not constantly terrified of the backend stepping out at any moment. Such as the case in the 911 GT3, equipped with Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Wet surface with cold tires was not a fun time in the Porsche.  

Neither is the GT3’s super low ground clearance. Tackling driveways at extreme angles to clear them without scraping the front bumper gets tiring after the 10th time. In the mountains, I couldn’t pull over on just any turnout, because the Porsche will surely bottom out on half of them. Not-so-paved roads into the wilderness? Forget about it. 

It’s so nice to have semi-decent clearance again with the M2 Competition. The ability to take it practically anywhere without having to think about whether it’ll scrape puts the mind at ease. I’m surprised I haven’t yet hit the bottom of the aggressively styled front bumper on a driveway. Knocking on wood tremendously, of course. 

Then there’s the comfort amenities. Backup camera and sensors make parking super easy (still managed to ding a wheel, sadly). Power everything makes ingress and egress effortless. Press one button to fold in the mirrors! Seat memory that remembers my preferred position! Features I previously thought superfluous in a car, I am now finding them to be indispensable. 

The inside of the M2 is just a nice place to be. Enthusiasts love hardcore sports cars and talk all the time about driving purity, but when it comes down to it: luxury and comfort count for something as well. Stiff ride, loud cabin, and uncomfortable seats become rather annoying as the miles pile on. What I really want is a solid sounding stereo, steering wheel and seats that warms me on a cold morning, and proper interior storage space.

I suppose I should turn in my enthusiast card now. Then again, Youtuber Savagegeese sold his Ariel Atom for a Lexus LC500. I am definitely not alone in unwilling to sacrifice comfort for every last bit of driving feel. 

The modern turbocharged engine is a marvel, and the S55 unit in the M2 is one of the best. There’s so much useable torque throughout the rev-range that it makes city driving superbly fun. The way I can dart in and out of traffic with mere squirt of the throttle is intoxicating, and bit of a hooligan. The power shove is quite similar to that of an electric vehicle. There’s really no need to chase the tach needle all the way to the 7,500 RPM redline. Second and third gear between 2,000 and 5,000 is where the M2 comes alive.  

Turbo lag is minimal enough to not be annoying. Absent is the old-school turbo punch that I’ve experienced in my old Subaru WRX STI. It’s never going to match a naturally aspirated motor for response, but turbocharging has come quite a long way with modern technologies. The deficiencies have effectively been engineered out. I absolutely believe people who say the turbocharged V8 in a Ferrari 488 feels exactly like an atmospheric motor. 

The S55 isn’t quite like that, but it’s really good. While I will forever miss the 9,000 RPM howl of the flat-six engine in the GT3, I am not one bit disappointed with the M2’s turbo inline-six. 

Honestly, I reckon that around 400 horsepower is the sweet spot of balance between speed and jail time. The M2’s rated 406 horsepower is more than adequate for some naughtiness on the streets, but it isn’t so much that by the end of second gear, it’s time for a trip to the police impound yard. Ultimately, what I want is useable power for driving around town and in the mountains.

The latest cars with more than 600 horsepower seem to be for measuring contests than actual driving pleasure. How much of that power can you exploit on public roads – legally? You need a racing circuit to utilize every bit of such a car’s immense capability. Being able to access more of a car’s performance on the streets is where the thrill is. This is why the Mazda Miata remains the answer to every enthusiast question. 

It’s also why I get more excited about a Toyota GR Yaris than the latest hyper exotica from Italy. We’ve reached a point where sports cars are by and large fast enough. How to make a car fun and pure to drive on everyday roads is the question to tackle, not adding ever more horsepower. The first manufacturer to move in this direct is going to win the enthusiasts dollars. 

Sadly, it’s not BMW. The forthcoming M3/M4 has gained power and weight, more cruise missile than a scything sports car. The upper trim levels has even got all-wheel drive! No one ever complained about the last generation car to be slow, though it could definitely use more steering feel. BMW seems to have ignore this, and instead kept on chasing ever better performance numbers on a spec-sheet. 

Biased as I am, this F87-generation M2 Competition could be the final version of a breed of fun, sweet driving BMW sports sedans.   

See you next month. 

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Date acquired: October 2019
Total mileage: 2,379
Mileage this month: 512
Costs this month: $238.61
MPG this month: 20.82

December 2020: luxurious surprise

Should I have gotten the manual instead? 

In these times of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, most of my driving is done for leisure. Therefore, the slog of sitting in traffic is not a common event these days. With the only advantage of an automatic gearbox negated - not having to use the clutch a thousand times in traffic - I’m having second thoughts about the wisdom of paying nearly $3,000 more for the optional dual-clutch gearbox in my M2 Competition.

I had a choice! Did I make the wrong one?

A few years ago, when buying the 911 GT3, the decision was made for me: it only came with an automatic PDK. Model year 2018 had an optional six-speed manual, but a 2015 was as new a GT3 as I could afford. The PDK gearbox is as advertised: immensely responsive, with super quick shifts. That transmission is matched so well with the 3.8-liter flat-six engine that I didn’t bemoan the lack of a clutch pedal. If automatics come as good as the PDK, I’ll be quite okay with never buying a stick-shift car again.

It’s with that ethos that I chose to buy an M2 Competition with the optional 7-speed DCT, instead of the manual. The transition from the Porsche to the BMW should be seamless.

After a couple months of driving, I can say the dual-clutch gearbox in the M2 is equally as good as the vaunted PDK. In the “Sport Plus” setting, shifts are immediate and snappy, no matter which direction. In my opinion, the true test of how good an automatic transmission is how quick it is on downshifts; the BMW DCT answers my commands without hesitation or fuss. It’s smooth, too: you can risk a gear change mid corner without upsetting the chassis. 

Obviously, when moving from a stop the dual-clutch gearbox isn’t going have the innate smoothness of a traditional torque-converter. The M2 will jerk ever slightly as the clutch and flywheel does its mating dance. There’s also a delay when reversing the car: often times the gearbox will hesitate a moment to react after I had selected ‘R’ and prodded the throttle. 

All are minor shortcomings that absolutely do not detract from the brilliance of BMW’s DCT. It’s really strange that the M2 will be the last car to utilize that gearbox. New fast BMWs have all switched to the ZF 8-speed traditional automatic, no doubt for cost effective reasons. The next generation M2 is sure to follow suit. 

With that in mind, I should be happy with my transmission choice in the M2. It’s fantastic, and the very last of the breed. Indeed, most of the time I am quite satisfied. However, the grass-is-greener syndrome is strong, and there are times I wonder if the M2 would be ever more fun with the stick. BMW manual gearboxes don’t have the sterling reputation of, say, Honda, but from all accounts it’s definitely serviceable. I certainly haven’t read of owners regretting getting the standard manual in their M2s. 

Perhaps I’m simply yearning for a manual car to play with. Nevertheless, I’m sure this bit of pining will abate soon as the pandemic is over, and traffic levels are back to normal. I still wouldn’t want to be stuck in traffic with a stick and a clutch pedal. 

In my haste in acquiring the car, I hadn’t realized the M2 comes with this many luxurious features. It’s a BMW after all, but as a car enthusiast I was more focused on the 406-horsepower engine and drive to the rear wheels. Coming from relatively barebones interiors of a 911 GT3 and an MX-5 Miata, a feature-packed cabin space is not something I was focused on. They are nice-to-have, though something I wouldn’t have paid for, if I had to pay for it.

Last month, I wrote how awesome it was to have heated seats and heated steering wheel as we head into the cold of winter. This month it finally started to rain in earnest, and that’s when I discovered another premium feature: automatic sensing wipers. Toggle the stalk into the “auto” position, and the computers will take care of the rest. Even though I’m perfectly capable of turning on and off the windshield wipers and making adjustments, since the auto sensing feature is there, I’m going to use that instead. 

During a drive at night, I also noticed the M2 comes with automatic dimming mirrors. Rear-view mirror with this feature is quite common, even in non-luxury cars; I was surprised to find the M2’s side mirrors dim automatically as well! How nice it is to not be blinded by the multitude of high-riding SUVs strafing up the back of me.

Fully power adjusting seats with memory is another welcomed feature. Not only can I set my driving position easily should another person drive the M2, but the memory function also aids in ingress and egress. Whenever I park the car, I slide the seat backwards so I can get out through the door aperture easier. Upon returning to the car, I simply press the memory button and the seat will return to its ideal position. It’s pretty magical, I have to say. Surely it saves a bit of wear on the seat side bolsters as well. 

With the San Francisco Bay Area back in lockdown conditions, I resisted taking the M2 out for drives unless it was absolutely necessary. However, the car is so much fun that anytime I’ve taken it out, I always make sure to go the longer route. Taking circuitous detours on purpose is how I managed to rack up over 500 miles this month, even though I’ve only done “essential travel”. 

As I’ve said, the M2 Competition is more fun to drive than the 911 GT3 (the latter is more special). Unlike the flashy Porsche, I can blend it perfectly with background traffic, too. So long as loud exhaust mode isn’t activated. 

Earlier in December, the M2 was due for its initial break-in service. Triggered after 1,200 miles, the service entails an engine oil change and a standard checklist of items. This is the first new car I’ve owned that calls for such an early return to the dealership. Apparently, this initial 1,200-mile service is innate to all BMWs, not just the super special M products. It’s kind of weird: if I remember correctly, even the highly technical 911 GT3 didn’t ask for this sort of initial break-in check.

I guess BMW likes to get the crud from a brand-new engine out of the system before owners seriously romp on their cars. Until this 1,200-mile service is done, the owner’s manual warns to not go beyond 5,000 RPM, and never go wide open throttle. 

I may or may not have followed those guidelines. 

The initial service was of course free. Partly why I bought a brand-new BMW is because all new BMWs come with free maintenance for the first three years, or 36,000 miles, whichever arrives first. After paying through the nose for the “Porsche tax” in servicing the GT3, not having to pay for maintenance for the next three years was a very attractive proposition. Obviously, the purchase price of the car notwithstanding. It all evens out at the end, but psychologically it’s nice to not have to think about servicing costs for the immediate future.

I took the M2 back to my purchasing dealer – BMW of San Francisco – for the service. It’s a good test of the servicing department. I have to say they did a superb job. Just like my previous Porsche dealership, my service advisor at BMW of SF asked whether or not I’d like the car to be washed. It’s a sign of attention to detail when the customer doesn’t have to prompt for such things. The advisor then took a walk-around video of my M2, to document the current condition of the car for any potential posterities.

Being a luxury brand, I was of course provided with a service loaner. I was expecting a poverty-spec 1 Series, but instead I was surprisingly given a brand-new M340i sedan with less than 50 miles on the clock. 380-horsepower turbocharged inline-six engine, ZF 8-speed automatic gearbox, and rear-wheel drive: sounds like a lot of fun. Indeed, the M340i is a smooth and capable operator, effortlessly fast. Sadly, it was a workday, so I didn’t get a chance to take it on an extended drive. 

I’ll say this: the ZF 8-speed is wonderful, but I’m glad the 7-speed DCT is fitted to my M2. The ZF is missing just that last bit of crispness. It’ll be interesting to see how it does duty in the forthcoming M3/M4. 

With the turn to a new year comes renewed possibilities. Armed with the vaccine, I sincerely hope the world returns to normal as soon as possible. Until such a time, the M2 Competition will remain largely static, parked. Let’s see how many miles I can manage during January. See you then. 

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Date acquired: October 2019
Total mileage: 1,867
Mileage this month: 525
Costs this month: $290.02
MPG this month: 20.88

November 2020: love at first drive

“I love this car.”

That’s the main sentiment I take from the first month of owning the BMW M2 Competition. It’s a really fun car to drive, in some ways more so than my previous Porsche 911. The 991 GT3 is always going to be a tough act to follow, but the junior M car has done the job admirably. With the M2, I’ve rediscovered the joy of driving. Every chance I get, I am eager to put miles on the car, taking the long way towards a destination.

Not to say the GT3 wasn’t special – it’s one of the unique driving experiences in motoring existence. However, the Porsche’s limits are so high that the exploitable fun is rather scarce on public roads. By the end of second gear, you’re already beyond the highest speed limits in California. The Michelin Cup 2 tires on the GT3 also takes a bit of warming up before they start working at all. In contrast, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on the M2 are immediately reactive at ambient temperatures.

The 911 is an event; the M2 is a normal, fun sports car. Because of that, I can hop into the BMW and just go. The car from Bavaria also blends into traffic far easier than the shouty, be-winged spectacle from Stuttgart. Driving the M2, I am anonymous to everyone but the few enthusiasts who know how special this M car is.

Of course, all of this could simply be the honeymoon period talking. I did indeed give up the Porsche because I cannot afford to own it any longer. Fawning over the M2 this quickly is probably just me subconsciously making justifications to hide the regret. I do miss the 911 GT3 from time to time, but as far as consolation prizes go, the M2 Competition is not a bad place to be. 

I can’t stop driving it! With over 750 miles logged this month, it’s the most I’ve put onto a car this year (COVID edition, obviously) by some margin. The increased seat time reveals a glaring contrast to the 911 – the fuel-tank in the M2 is way too small. The car’s 406 horsepower turbocharged inline-six gets roughly the same gas mileage as the atmospheric flat-six in the GT3, but the advantage in the Porsche is its 26-gallon tank (optional, mind) in comparison to the M2’s paltry 13.7 gallons. Under spirited driving, the M2 will reach empty before the trip counter hits 200 miles.

Driving the M2, I am visiting the gas station twice as often than the GT3, though each fill-up obviously costs equally half as much.

Long stints in the car also reveals a welcomed confirmation: the M2’s seats are comfortable (for me) on journeys of extended hours. No butt-cramps in these M seats taken straight from the M3/M4 siblings. While I do wish the seats would go lower, the overall seating adjustment is spot on. No part of my body is compromised to get into the proper driving position. The seats also have a memory function in conjunction with the side mirror adjustments, which is a nice-to-have for situations when someone else drives the M2 and fiddles with the settings. 

The seats are heated as well, a luxurious feature I’ve not had since the Subaru WRX STI – three cars ago. The warmers are definitely welcomed during those mid 40s San Francisco mornings. Same with the heated steering wheel, one of those things I didn’t know I needed it until I have it. With chronically poor blood circulation, a warm steering wheel in the morning is a godsend for me.

An amenity I am really glad to have is the backup camera. Strangely absent in the six-figure Porsche, parking the GT3 was an adventure in reversing slowly and getting out of the car multiple times to check. Don’t have to do that anymore in the BMW. Not only does the M2 have the federally mandated backup camera, but it also comes standard with parking sensors. Never before have I had such electronic assistance, and it makes parking an absolute breeze. No more starring out of the back of the rear glass and having a giant spoiler obstructing my view.

Another luxurious, nice-to-have feature: wireless Apple CarPlay. I am going to groan in complaint whenever I get into a car that doesn’t have that. At the moment, that means any car that isn’t a BMW or some Hyundai models. 

So how is the M2 Competition to drive? First month’s impressions are very positive. The turbocharged inline-six motor has plenty of torque throughout the rev-range, a contrast to the high-strung character of the GT3’s atmospheric flat-six. While I do miss the pin-sharp throttle response of the Porsche, the sheer availability of grunt down low in the BMW makes squirting around town easier and more pleasurable. 

The 911’s famous steering feel absolutely puts the rack on the M2 to shame. It’s not utterly devoid of feel (looking at you, Audi products), but I definitely would like more feedback through the fingers. Under trail-braking I cannot sense the front tires increasing in grip through the wheel rim, even though physically they are. The M2 is a sort of car you point and go, rather than coaxing it through a corner with finesse. There isn’t enough feel in the steering for that type of driving.

But at least the steering is direct and darty. In combination with the relatively short wheelbase and the 50/50 weight distribution, the M2 is quick to change direction and super agile. In my decidedly amateurish hands, the M2 is faster up a winding mountain road than the vaunted GT3. Stay in second gear and use all that torque to rocket the car from one corner to the next. The M2’s perfect weight balance means I’m not constantly worried about the back-end doing something funny. In the 911 – where the engine is behind the rear-axle, the fear of the rear coming around is always on the back of my mind.

On a race track there is no doubt the GT3 will demolish the M2. However, track driving is not something I like or want to do.

Some initial negatives about the BMW: the brakes are super grabby. For a company notoriously stingy on braking power, the M2 Competition is outfitted with surprisingly beefy stoppers. The 400mm front rotors are larger in diameter than even the units on the GT3. It also shares with the Porsche the same six-piston front and four-piston rear fixed caliper setup, supplied by Brembo. The system hauls the porky ~3,600-pound weight of the M2 to a stop nicely, though the brake pedal is spiky and difficult to modulate. After over a thousand miles, it is still hard to judge the level of pedal input for the amount of braking I want.

Another sore spot is the exhaust tuning. For emission reasons, upon starting the engine, the computer dumps fuel into the exhaust to fire up the catalytic converters. However, this creates a loud bark that is rather intrusive in a residential neighborhood. On weekend mornings when I am sneaking out to the mountains for a drive, I always say a silent apology to the still-sleeping neighbors when I turn on the M2.

With the engine in Sport Plus mode, it also dumps fuel into the exhaust to create fake burble sounds when the driver lifts off the gas. Made popular by the Jaguar F-type V8, it’s a noisy gimmick that manufacturers engineer into their cars to make them sound more “sporty”. I absolutely hate fake stuff like this (looking at you as well, generated fake engine noise in the cabin). Coming from a 911 GT3 that is too pure to have such artificial silliness, the “burble tune” of the M2 Competition is rather annoying.

On one of many drives in the mountains this month, I was pulled over for speeding. The officer was nice enough to let me off the hook by giving me a fix-it ticket instead. The offense to be fixed is the lack of front license plate. The dealership did not drill holes in the front bumper to affix one, and I wasn’t about to do it – unless I get pulled over. After nearly two years of driving without a front plate – the GT3 didn’t have one either – I finally get my comeuppance. As I’ve written before, I don’t mind holes in the bumper and running a front plate, so that’s exactly what I did to the M2. Now I just need to get the ticket signed off by an officer of the law and pay the small fee to the court.

Coming up next month is the break-in service, due at 1,200 miles for the M2. It’ll be the first opportunity to test the quality of servicing provided by my selling dealer – BMW of San Francisco. After experiencing a premium brand like Porsche for the past year, I have high expectations from a fellow German luxury automaker. Maintenance is free (outside of wear items) for the first three years on all new BMWs, so this break-in service will cost me zero dollars. 

We’ll see if I am able to put as many miles on the car next month. COVID cases are once again increasing wildly, and as of this writing, much of the San Francisco Bay Area is scheduled to return to lockdown. While leisurely drives in a personal car isn’t high on the danger list of contracting the coronavirus, I definitely want to limit the potential of having an accident. Adding to the already crowded situation at the hospitals would be awful. 

I’ll see you next month.

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Date acquired: October 2019
Total mileage: 1,342
Mileage this month: 758
Costs this month: $343.32
MPG this month: 21.34