Once the undisputed king of accessible performance, the BMW M3/M4 has gotten lumpier and more complicated with every generation. Add to that stellar competition from the likes of the Cadillac ATS-V and Mercedes-AMG C63 S, and BMW?s long-held place as the alpha dog of the sports-car pack has been under threat. But from deep within BMW M, a new favorite child has risen? the BMW M2 ? a car that?s poised to assume its place alongside the limited-run 1 Series M as one of BMW?s most treasured M models of the modern era.
The progenitor of the M2 was the BMW M235i, a car we named an Automobile All-Star in 2015 and later evaluated thoroughly during a Four Seasons test. It handily earned a glowing five-star rating, with editors hailing it as the E46 M3 reborn. (The E46 M3, for its own part, earned a five-star Four Seasons rating in April 2003.) We were thrilled to later learn that the M235i would spawn an even beefier model, and after finally getting a chance to rip the M2 around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Pacific Coast Highway during its media launch, our initial impressions did not disappoint. Of course, we wanted to see if the M2?s charms were powerful enough to stick for the long haul, so we opted to find out the best way we know how: 12 months in the Four Seasons fleet.
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