The 405bhp BMW M2 Competition Has Been Leaked, And You Want One

You know that S55-engined BMW M2 that’s been rumoured seemingly since the dawn of time? It’s at last here for your viewing pleasure.

The M2 Competition isn’t supposed to be revealed until the Beijing Motor Show later this month, but thanks to a webcache of BMW Australia’s website picked up by BMW Blog Slovenia, we have not just images to study, but a few technical details too.

The images show a refreshed bumper with a more aggressive lower section, plus new 19-inch alloy wheels. The presence of a twin-turbo inline-six is mentioned, and although not specified, it’s almost certainly a modified version of the S55 3.0-litre unit used by the M3 and M4.

With an output of 405bhp it’s 19bhp down on the standard M3 and M4, but the torque figure of 410lb ft is identical to both. 0-62mph takes 4.2 seconds - “with M DCT,” the attached information states, so presumably a manual will be available too. That’s only a tenth quicker than the DCT-equipped version of the regular M2, but we’re more interested in the punchier delivery afforded by the S55. The twin-scroll, single-turbo N55 in the standard car can feel a little underwhelming at times, so we’ve high hopes for the Competition.

We’re expecting it to end up being the car the M2 always should have been, but a question mark remains over the price. On the one hand, the Competition packs for the M3 and M4 inflate the prices of each by about £3000, making the option a bit of a no-brainer. Then again, neither the M3 nor M4 Competitions feature a whole new damn engine, which may lead to BMW taking a different approach.

So long as pricing is kept to a sensible level (we don’t want this to be another absurdly expensive effort like the M4 CS now, do we?), what we’re looking could be the best thing to come out of M Division in many years.