2026 BMW M2 CS review: how to be gently underwhelmed

My father had a CS BMW. It was from the E9 generation, and it dated from around 1972. It was beautiful and I loved going in it as a child but really he knew what we all knew: it was the wrong car. Its 3-litre straight-six engine made a lovely noise but it was fed by a couple of carburettors which limited its power to around 180bhp. I knew there was no way we could ever afford the one we really wanted, the ultra-rare lightweight 3.0 CSL homologation special, but why did he not just get its fuel-injected, 200bhp sister, the 3.0 CSi? Shamefully I never thought to ask. But I do remember thundering through France in it, him desperately trying to make it even indicate 130mph and it just wouldn’t. He sold it soon after.

More recent experience has taught me that ‘CS’ BMWs these days are actually the best. The M4 CS is an astonishing improvement over the standard car and the CS version of the previous M5 (the current car has not yet had the treatment) is the best M5 since the E34 of the early 1990s.

Now consider that the M2 is far and away my favourite current BMW and imagine my hopes when its spanking new CS version rolled up outside.

The CS formula is familiar and pleasing for its subtlety: a little more power, a little less weight and a lot more attention paid to things that really matter, like suspension set-up. In more recent times the effect it has had has been transformative. It is less so here.

The usual formula has been applied. A lightweight boot lid, carbon-fibre roof and forged rims contrive to calve some 30kg from the standard M2’s mass, which is not much when you consider it still weighs over 1700kg. You can make it lighter by fitting ceramic brakes and a titanium exhaust but at £92,495 this is already a heart-stoppingly expensive car for something based on a 2 Series shell, not to mention over £20,000 more expensive than the normal M2. It has another 50bhp and a comprehensive suite of chassis modifications including firmer springs, a lowered ride height, reprogrammed adaptive dampers, stiffer engine mounts, a new set-up for the differential and a fresh tune for the power steering. The usual comprehensive job.

There’s also a bodykit that goes with the car – the familiar blend of spoilers and a probably scarcely functional rear diffuser and that actually works well visually, because the 2 Series is not a exactly a looker and the M2 even more so. But at least in dark colours the M2 CS looks, well, let’s call it respectable.

I’m still trying to figure out why I found it just a tiny bit disappointing to drive. Because if you really look into it, there’s not much to point at. Yes the car is too heavy and, no, it is not improved by its conventional automatic gearbox with no choice of a manual, but both these are in the standard car of which I am a big fan. The power delivery is beyond reproach, particularly given how much energy is being generated by a small engine with no hybrid assistance, and while you’re not going to see Porsche Cayman levels of steering feel and poise, for the money it’s probably the next best thing, and it had rear seats and a capacious boot.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most natural, instinctive thing to get in and drive”

It is a car which grows on you. I wouldn’t say it’s the most natural, instinctive thing just to get in and drive, but once you’ve done enough miles it becomes more appealing.

And yet, when you get to that point when you feel you’ve learned as much as you’re likely to without renting a race track, I still felt slightly short-changed.

So what’s going on? My conclusion is that it’s the fault of the donor vehicle. An M4 is a flawed proposition and it is the way the CS version polishes out those flaws and makes it the car you’d rather hoped to have encountered all along that makes it so memorable. And, simply put, the M2 has less material with which to work so the transformation is less dramatic. Indeed I’d go so far as to say there’s not really been any real transformation at all: the car feels pleasantly honed, but it’s not as if the M2 felt like it needed finishing, whereas the M4 always did. So that 20-plus grand that BMW is asking to upgrade an already pretty good car doesn’t look like anything close to the value seen when the M4 was subjected to the same treatment.

The irony is, as previously stated, the M2 was my favourite M of the present day and the CS is better still, but not to the extent I had hoped. So here am I writing a slightly glum report about a BMW while having to concede that it is now the best sporting BMW on sale and a lot better than others about which I have written in more glowing terms. Such are the vagaries of this job.

But I guess the question that matters is whether I’d recommend spending extra on the CS. And in this case I would not. But I still wish my dad had bought that CSI.

BMW M2 CS

• Price £92,495
• Engine 3 litres, six cylinders, petrol, turbocharged
• Power 523bhp
• Torque 479lb ft
• Weight 1700kg (DIN)
• Power to weight 308bhp per tonne
• Transmission Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
• 0-62mph 3.8sec
• Top speed 188mph
• Economy 28.26mpg l CO2 226g/km
• Verdict Faintly disappointing.

The entry-level lookalike

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Show-stopping Project v

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Skye’s the limit

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