Taking a Step Back in Time with the 2024 BMW M2

After nearly 80,000 miles on my 2016 Porsche Boxster it was time for a change up with a 2024 BMW M2. I loved my Boxster, but warranties do end and the UV rays do pile up so I started investigating a next car last year and finally picked up my new ride. Curious how I ended back in a BMW after my somewhat lackluster first try? Read on!

This All Sounds Familiar – Any Updated Requirements?

Ha – well – that’s true. If you have read my other car posts, this is a repeating article every 6-10 years. Crazy to think I’ve been active on here for that long, but that’s off topic. I loved my Boxster. Hands down best car I have ever driven, but things do change. A very good friend of mine died from skin cancer and he blamed a lifetime of convertible driving. That’s been weighing on my mind. Paranoid? Maybe. Combined with the aging of the Boxster interior and lack of modern technology, like blind spot protection, I decided to make a change.

I’ve spent over a year looking at what to do. The reality of the Porsche product line is that you can’t get a car for under $135K that I would be happy with. Ridiculous cost. Just couldn’t do it. My car requirements will sound familiar:

• Manual transmission is highly preferred
• Sunroof, but not a convertible
• Sporty, but not silly crazy performance
• Decent sound at the tailpipe
• Smaller car, no SUV crap
• Nice interior, decent stereo, good tech package
• Black on black colors
• Full load of safety systems with blind spot protection being the most important.

Many people ask, why not electric? Well – I’m still not convinced that electric is overall beneficial given that most electricity in this country is produced by burning coal and oil. Combined with the toxic waste of battery production and disposal, I’d rather just stick with gasoline. Or maybe that’s all just an excuse and I just like gasoline.

How I Landed on a 2024 BMW M2

I have really loved driving my Boxster as my daily year round commuter car. Rain, snow, cold, and hot it is an awesome year round daily driver. It has been an amazing car however there are some issues. The interior is aging and there are no plans for updating this in new cars. A new car is essentially a 10 year old design and implementation inside. Other critical tech that comes standard on new cars is also missing: backup camera? No. Blind spot protection? No. These can be configured, but the cost is crazy.

My list of potential new cars was short. First of all I wanted a new car. The Boxster was used. I wanted a new car to pick exactly the setup I wanted. The list is pretty short:

• Mercedes AMG CLA45S
• Porsche Cayman GTS4.0
• BMW M2
• Audi RS3

Porsche Cayman

The oddball in this bunch is the Cayman. It is also nearly 2x the cost of the others. There’s also that old interior and the aging tech stack. Between the two, I had to say goodbye to Porsche. 🙁

Audi RS3

The RS3 looks great, although there is no manual option. The 5 cylinder engine and the look of the car guaranteed a unique experience. I spoke to a couple of local dealers. It was pretty surprising to hear that a 2 year wait would be required, no test drives, and pretty much that’s it. The rude attitude was surprising and pretty much turned me off of both local dealers I spoke with. Bye, Audi.

Mercedes AMG CLA45S

I got a similar story, but much less rudely delivered from the Mercedes team. This car looks really great. I checked out the 35S, but the 45S was delayed in manufacturing and could not be ordered. The interior of this car I especially like. The round AC vents, the graphic treatment on the dash, and the instrument cluster screens are especially nice and blend tradition with modern esthetic.

The Mercedes has a huge sunroof so I was quite impressed with that. There’s no manual option. Four wheel drive is a plus. I definitely liked the interior. The exterior black is also a true block with no metal flake.

One thing to note is that the Porsche and BMW are rear wheel drive cars while the Merc and the Audi are four wheel. Porsche and BMW are also manuals and the other two are automatic only.

Going with the BMW M2

I’ll point out that all of these car’s are amazing automobiles. There’s no wrong choice. I went with the BMW for the following reasons:

• HP wins – 453HP is the most of all of these cars.
• Manual – yep I do like the manual transmission.
• Tech – great tech with safety, Android Auto, and Harmann Kardon in the mix.
• Look – yes, some people hate it, but I like the look of this model.
• People – between the dealership and the active BMWCCA in the area. This is my 3rd BMW with this dealership.
• Availability – it will take a few months, but I can order one configured to my specs.

Going in I knew there were going to be a few negatives:

• Paint: it is not a true black exterior paint. It has metallic flake and I am not going to like that.
• The gas tank is really small.

A Decision Leads to More Decisions

I went with a black on black car, got the sunroof, shadowline trim, pretty much a fully loaded car, but I did not get the heated steering wheel. LOL – global warming and all.

The sport seats have a strange bump between your legs. Many reviews point to this as strange and uncomfortable for daily driving, especially with the manual. For that reason, I selected the standard seats.

The carbon fiber interior trim looked pretty nice so I picked that. I wish there was an option for painted interior trim rather than the silver/chrome stuff in there.

Prepaid maintenance also seemed like a good deal so I got the 4 year package. I ordered the car and then it was about 3 months for it to arrive and get thru customs.

Selecting a Protection Scheme

Final decisions were all about protection – UV and paint. The standard windows come with no tint, which is strange these days. I did quite a bit of research on tint and paint protection films (PPF). In the end I decided on XPEL as the brand. Reputation, reviews, local installers, and my dealership recommendation built the case for XPEL. For window tint I selected XR Pro and 70% on the front and 50% on the back and rear windshield. The Ultimate Fusion PPF product was applied to the entire front of the car up past the A pillar and just short of the sunroof.

M2 is a Throwback to BMW of the Early 1990s

This is the 4th BMW I’ve owned, starting with a 1976 2002. The 2024 M2 is definitely a throwback to the 2002 and the M3 cars of old. It definitely has the feel of cars from that time, sporty, small, ready to go at any time. I really like the position of the shifter and the throw is fairly short. The clutch action is tight and firm, yes you need a bit of leg, but that’s ok by me.

Visibility out of the car on all four sides is excellent. The hood is fairly high, which is quite different from my Boxster so I will have to get used to that. Fantastic high resolution backup camera!

Overall the car is fun to drive, it is definitely powerful. The ride is tight, but not jarring. It is actually a bit less jarring than my Boxster with its summer wheels on. I only have about 50 miles on it so I will have to do an update later on. The look, feel, and driving experience is more akin to that 2002 and early cars of the ’80’s and 90’s, than the BMWs I’ve been around in recent years. So far I am super excited!

We’ll end with a gallery and a thanks to Thompson BMW for a great buying experience.

Motor Trend seems to agree that the car is cool!