M2 owners.

Chris100

RMS Regular
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
Hi all,

Any M2 owners on here that can give me some buying and running advice?

Options/issues to look out for, servicing costs etc.

Cheers,
Chris
 

bigsigh

RMS Regular
Messages
6,210
Drives
BMW M2
What are you looking for @Chris100
I spent months looking for the mileage and colour I wanted at a decent price.

Jan 2018 LCI long beach blue , Bought a year ago with 1300 miles , now on just under 11,000. Haven’t had to service so no idea of costs.

Horns don’t like the wet , mine is intermittent dual tone at the minute in this wet weather. When it becomes more long term I’ll get it swapped under warranty

There is chat of headlamps fogging up , I haven’t had any bother with mine. There is also bother with rear lamp indicator LEDs playing up and throwing an error mine has done it once but goes back to normal , so will get it looked at when it’s in for service probly.

They can come with continental or Michelin from the factory , Michelin is what you want.

I have heard about people not liking the seats they are just Msport seats but they do a good enough job for me (or maybe I’m just big enough to fill them well :eyes: )
Also the seating position is very slightly offset, I don’t notice this cuz my car is DCT but possibly might be more pronounced in a manual.

The N55 engine is class , sounds class , pulls well and is super smooth , I daily the car and on the whole drive fairly conservatively with the odd spirited blast and I’m getting a regular 28/29mpg .

Love the car , haven’t had any real bother with it and have no idea what I would replace it with when I Change
 

Chris100

RMS Regular
OP
Chris100
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
Cheers @bigsigh I'm looking at a June 2018 car with about 4k on it, its white with a decent amount of extras. It's seems to be the best I can find for my budget, unfortunately there is nothing local so this would require a trip to England.
 

Chris100

RMS Regular
OP
Chris100
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
What are you looking for @Chris100
I spent months looking for the mileage and colour I wanted at a decent price.

Jan 2018 LCI long beach blue , Bought a year ago with 1300 miles , now on just under 11,000. Haven’t had to service so no idea of costs.

Horns don’t like the wet , mine is intermittent dual tone at the minute in this wet weather. When it becomes more long term I’ll get it swapped under warranty

There is chat of headlamps fogging up , I haven’t had any bother with mine. There is also bother with rear lamp indicator LEDs playing up and throwing an error mine has done it once but goes back to normal , so will get it looked at when it’s in for service probly.

They can come with continental or Michelin from the factory , Michelin is what you want.

I have heard about people not liking the seats they are just Msport seats but they do a good enough job for me (or maybe I’m just big enough to fill them well :eyes: )
Also the seating position is very slightly offset, I don’t notice this cuz my car is DCT but possibly might be more pronounced in a manual.

The N55 engine is class , sounds class , pulls well and is super smooth , I daily the car and on the whole drive fairly conservatively with the odd spirited blast and I’m getting a regular 28/29mpg .

Love the car , haven’t had any real bother with it and have no idea what I would replace it with when I Change

Are the headlights led or xenon?

I appreciate it's mostly about the drive, but the technology is a big thing for me.

What is the navigation and sound system like? Can you connect Spotify and I presume it has DAB and all the station and album art is displayed
 

bigsigh

RMS Regular
Messages
6,210
Drives
BMW M2
Navigation is great , works off voice control too which is handy , i have the HK upgrade and the sound quality is solid. Spotify/Youtube(audio) connects through bluetooth, there is an AppleCarPlay upgrade too which would be a step up i would think , but i dont have that.

DAB is good, too, signal is a bit flaky in some spots but about 99% of time i have no issues with it.
Dunno about Album art etc. have no music on my Phone , not a music fan really.
 

bigsigh

RMS Regular
Messages
6,210
Drives
BMW M2
Headlights are LED , had to go out and check 😂

43754A5F-7AF8-4446-9A1D-09506A0BA63B.jpeg
 

Conor

RMS Regular
Messages
7,910
@bigsigh has it pretty well nailed there, mine done the indicator thing a couple of times as well but went back to normal.

Servicing costs are pretty brutal if the car doesn't have the service pack. I went for the SP on mine and the running in service alone was about half the cost of the whole 3 year service pack if I remember right. 18k service intervals after that, but I put miles on the car so I'll get more than my money's worth out of the SP, already been for it's first service just over a year in.

Had to put front pads on at around 18k I think it was. £300 from Prentice retail, I got some discount but not much. I've found it to be pretty easy on tyres too.

Motorway at 70-75 I can see 34-36 MPG. A roads at a steady 60 can see 36-39. Mixed driving I generally see 320-350 miles per tank, but I do very little city or town driving. So not at all unreasonable.

In terms of driving, my own personal opinion is that Sport is only good for the odd sharp overtake with the slightly quicker gear shifts, Sport+ is utterly ***** as the DCT bangs through the gears so hard it actually upsets the rear. For hard driving, traction off and manual is best - it keeps the gearbox in a near-comfort setting, but gives you the Sport mode noise and obviously a slidey tail, which is class craic. But if you're sensible with the right foot the grip is there. I've found it can be a bit floaty at the rear over crests and dips but once you expect it it's easy enough to manage. I've tracked mine a few times and it never flinched. Just kept going lap after lap, and was a complete riot. You need to be very awake but they're a very rewarding car to drive hard, fast when you've done something right but not completely unmanageable if you've done something wrong/ silly.

Power wise, I feel like the 365 BHP figure doesn't do them much justice - it feels considerably quicker than that to me, and others who have been in and driven the car. I had my old E46 M3 and the M2 out back to back, and the M2 over the same distance would've absolutely wiped the M3, and felt 50+ BHP quicker, not 20. Dad has a Focus RS Mk3 and again, the M2 feels (And is) significantly quicker. A mate who had a E92 M3 and went to a M2 commented that he felt his M2 felt every bit as sharp as the M3. The torque and lack of lag from virtually every point in the RPM range is incredible from a single turbo engine. For normal road driving with the odd blast it's hard to imagine needing much more power in a RWD without it being too much to handle in all but ideal weather.

The interior comes in for a lot of flack and I get why, but once you spend some time in it, it's a really nice place to be. The seats are very comfy and the side bolster adjustment is great. The latest iDrive is, to me, streets ahead of the likes of Merc and Audi in terms of usability and graphic appearance. Album art does show through Spotify, and you can directly connect Spotify through BMW Connected, though I haven't set mine up properly yet as it's nearly as handy to work through bluetooth. I've spent some time in C-class Mercs over the last year or so with work and the M2s interior felt like a major step up in terms of the materials etc. Seems to be wearing pretty well too, I'm nearly 21k in and there's nothing noticeable yet. I have the H/K and it's a good system, though I would say the cabin road noise is pretty bad. I'm used to it now but sometimes when I'm in other cars, I realise there's quite a lot of it in the M2.

Look for a facelift with H/K and adaptive headlights. Most of them have the likes of electric seats, but weirdly it's not standard, so keep an eye for the basic stuff too.

Mine is on Eibach springs and 20mm spacers all round:

32281170317_b08c4d96e7_o.jpg


33356860698_159f20334e_o.jpg


Was there anything specific you were looking to know?

You're welcome to have a poke around mine if it helps any. If I can think of anything else worth mentioning I'll come back to you.
 
Last edited:

Woodcutter

RMS Regular
Messages
31,236
@bigsigh has it pretty well nailed there, mine done the indicator thing a couple of times as well but went back to normal.

Servicing costs are pretty brutal if the car doesn't have the service pack. I went for the SP on mine and the running in service alone was about half the cost of the whole 3 year service pack if I remember right. 18k service intervals after that, but I put miles on the car so I'll get more than my money's worth out of the SP, already been for it's first service just over a year in.

Had to put front pads on at around 18k I think it was. £300 from Prentice retail, I got some discount but not much. I've found it to be pretty easy on tyres too.

Motorway at 70-75 I can see 34-36 MPG. A roads at a steady 60 can see 36-39. Mixed driving I generally see 320-350 miles per tank, but I do very little city or town driving. So not at all unreasonable.

In terms of driving, my own personal opinion is that Sport is only good for the odd sharp overtake with the slightly quicker gear shifts, Sport+ is utterly ***** as the DCT bangs through the gears so hard it actually upsets the rear. For hard driving, traction off and manual is best - it keeps the gearbox in a near-comfort setting, but gives you the Sport mode noise and obviously a slidey tail, which is class craic. But if you're sensible with the right foot the grip is there. I've found it can be a bit floaty at the rear over crests and dips but once you expect it it's easy enough to manage. I've tracked mine a few times and it never flinched. Just kept going lap after lap, and was a complete riot. You need to be very awake but they're a very rewarding car to drive hard, fast when you've done something right but not completely unmanageable if you've done something wrong/ silly.

Power wise, I feel like the 365 BHP figure doesn't do them much justice - it feels considerably quicker than that to me, and others who have been in and driven the car. I had my old E46 M3 and the M2 out back to back, and the M2 over the same distance would've absolutely wiped the M3, and felt 50+ BHP quicker, not 20. Dad has a Focus RS Mk3 and again, the M2 feels (And is) significantly quicker. A mate who had a E92 M3 and went to a M2 commented that he felt his M2 felt every bit as sharp as the M3. The torque and lack of lag from virtually every point in the RPM range is incredible from a single turbo engine. For normal road driving with the odd blast it's hard to imagine needing much more power in a RWD without it being too much to handle in all but ideal weather.

The interior comes in for a lot of flack and I get why, but once you spend some time in it, it's a really nice place to be. The seats are very comfy and the side bolster adjustment is great. The latest iDrive is, to me, streets ahead of the likes of Merc and Audi in terms of usability and graphic appearance. Album art does show through Spotify, and you can directly connect Spotify through BMW Connected, though I haven't set mine up properly yet as it's nearly as handy to work through bluetooth. I've spent some time in C-class Mercs over the last year or so with work and the M2s interior felt like a major step up in terms of the materials etc. Seems to be wearing pretty well too, I'm nearly 21k in and there's nothing noticeable yet. I have the H/K and it's a good system, though I would say the cabin road noise is pretty bad. I'm used to it now but sometimes when I'm in other cars, I realise there's quite a lot of it in the M2.

Look for a facelift with H/K and adaptive headlights. Most of them have the likes of electric seats, but weirdly it's not standard, so keep an eye for the basic stuff too.

Was there anything specific you were looking to know?

You're welcome to have a poke around mine if it helps any. If I can think of anything else worth mentioning I'll come back to you.

This is enough to make a man want an M2! Nice write up, Conor. :grinning:
 

Chris100

RMS Regular
OP
Chris100
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
@bigsigh has it pretty well nailed there, mine done the indicator thing a couple of times as well but went back to normal.

Servicing costs are pretty brutal if the car doesn't have the service pack. I went for the SP on mine and the running in service alone was about half the cost of the whole 3 year service pack if I remember right. 18k service intervals after that, but I put miles on the car so I'll get more than my money's worth out of the SP, already been for it's first service just over a year in.

Had to put front pads on at around 18k I think it was. £300 from Prentice retail, I got some discount but not much. I've found it to be pretty easy on tyres too.

Motorway at 70-75 I can see 34-36 MPG. A roads at a steady 60 can see 36-39. Mixed driving I generally see 320-350 miles per tank, but I do very little city or town driving. So not at all unreasonable.

In terms of driving, my own personal opinion is that Sport is only good for the odd sharp overtake with the slightly quicker gear shifts, Sport+ is utterly ***** as the DCT bangs through the gears so hard it actually upsets the rear. For hard driving, traction off and manual is best - it keeps the gearbox in a near-comfort setting, but gives you the Sport mode noise and obviously a slidey tail, which is class craic. But if you're sensible with the right foot the grip is there. I've found it can be a bit floaty at the rear over crests and dips but once you expect it it's easy enough to manage. I've tracked mine a few times and it never flinched. Just kept going lap after lap, and was a complete riot. You need to be very awake but they're a very rewarding car to drive hard, fast when you've done something right but not completely unmanageable if you've done something wrong/ silly.

Power wise, I feel like the 365 BHP figure doesn't do them much justice - it feels considerably quicker than that to me, and others who have been in and driven the car. I had my old E46 M3 and the M2 out back to back, and the M2 over the same distance would've absolutely wiped the M3, and felt 50+ BHP quicker, not 20. Dad has a Focus RS Mk3 and again, the M2 feels (And is) significantly quicker. A mate who had a E92 M3 and went to a M2 commented that he felt his M2 felt every bit as sharp as the M3. The torque and lack of lag from virtually every point in the RPM range is incredible from a single turbo engine. For normal road driving with the odd blast it's hard to imagine needing much more power in a RWD without it being too much to handle in all but ideal weather.

The interior comes in for a lot of flack and I get why, but once you spend some time in it, it's a really nice place to be. The seats are very comfy and the side bolster adjustment is great. The latest iDrive is, to me, streets ahead of the likes of Merc and Audi in terms of usability and graphic appearance. Album art does show through Spotify, and you can directly connect Spotify through BMW Connected, though I haven't set mine up properly yet as it's nearly as handy to work through bluetooth. I've spent some time in C-class Mercs over the last year or so with work and the M2s interior felt like a major step up in terms of the materials etc. Seems to be wearing pretty well too, I'm nearly 21k in and there's nothing noticeable yet. I have the H/K and it's a good system, though I would say the cabin road noise is pretty bad. I'm used to it now but sometimes when I'm in other cars, I realise there's quite a lot of it in the M2.

Look for a facelift with H/K and adaptive headlights. Most of them have the likes of electric seats, but weirdly it's not standard, so keep an eye for the basic stuff too.

Mine is on Eibach springs and 20mm spacers all round:

View attachment 246576

View attachment 246577

Was there anything specific you were looking to know?

You're welcome to have a poke around mine if it helps any. If I can think of anything else worth mentioning I'll come back to you.

Servicing costs were concerning me to be honest, I am looking at specific car in England which has nice mileage and is well priced. It's a June 2018 car so I presume this is the facelift model, I would have preferred a long beach blue or mineral grey car, the one I am looking at is alpine white.

Would really like to get a look around one as I don't think any local dealers have one.
 

Conor

RMS Regular
Messages
7,910
Servicing costs were concerning me to be honest, I am looking at specific car in England which has nice mileage and is well priced. It's a June 2018 car so I presume this is the facelift model, I would have preferred a long beach blue or mineral grey car, the one I am looking at is alpine white.

Would really like to get a look around one as I don't think any local dealers have one.

I don't know what you're comparing to in terms of service costs, but the service intervals are 18-20k, not every 10k. I think the running-in service is around £300-350 (To correct myself earlier), first service (Inspection I) is something similar, then the big service (Inspection II, Plugs, brake fluid etc) is at around 38k and is £600-700. So depends very much on your mileage. If you buy a low miler, with say 5k on it, with the running in service done, you'll only pay £300ish for the Inspection I service in the next 30k+ of driving, excluding consumables of course.
 

Woodcutter

RMS Regular
Messages
31,236
I don't know what you're comparing to in terms of service costs, but the service intervals are 18-20k, not every 10k. I think the running-in service is around £300-350 (To correct myself earlier), first service (Inspection I) is something similar, then the big service (Inspection II, Plugs, brake fluid etc) is at around 38k and is £600-700. So depends very much on your mileage. If you buy a low miler, with say 5k on it, with the running in service done, you'll only pay £300ish for the Inspection I service in the next 30k+ of driving, excluding consumables of course.

To be fair that isn't expensive for servicing on a performance car.

Most new BMW's seem to have service packs on them anyway, so it would be worth sourcing one with that included.
 

Chris100

RMS Regular
OP
Chris100
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
I don't know what you're comparing to in terms of service costs, but the service intervals are 18-20k, not every 10k. I think the running-in service is around £300-350 (To correct myself earlier), first service (Inspection I) is something similar, then the big service (Inspection II, Plugs, brake fluid etc) is at around 38k and is £600-700. So depends very much on your mileage. If you buy a low miler, with say 5k on it, with the running in service done, you'll only pay £300ish for the Inspection I service in the next 30k+ of driving, excluding consumables of course.

Ah, no worries I was expecting more. The major service on my S3 was £600 so around the same money then.
 

e320mark

RMS Regular
Messages
1,264
Location
Ballyclare
BMW finished the service packs on new cars around June. Obviously anything registered before that which has a service pack is still valid!
Was going for a service pack on the X5 but it’s only a monthly payment plan now!
 

mk2driver

RMS Regular
Messages
6,186
Location
Coventry
Drives
Impreza Type RA
I was looking at that one earlier today, I would be concerned about buying a car like this from a non approved BMW dealership.

Genuine question - why? It’s still under manufacturers warranty so as long as it’s been serviced as per guidelines i cannot see an issue?
 

bigsigh

RMS Regular
Messages
6,210
Drives
BMW M2
Yea moglie has Lenny’s for sale was gonna say about it.

Mine might also be going shortly , but if you are looking for a dealership purchase that’s prob not much good. Warranty would be the same however as it would be covered by BMW till feb 2021
 

Chris100

RMS Regular
OP
Chris100
Messages
8,045
Drives
718 T
I was looking at that one earlier today, I would be concerned about buying a car like this from a non approved BMW dealership.

I have bought from non franchised dealers before and it wasn't a great experience, added to the fact that car is actually older, has more mileage and is more expensive than the one being sold by the BMW dealership it seems like a no brainer.
 
Top