The BMW M2 30 Years Marks A Milestone With Matt Paint And A Manual

This is the BMW M2 30 Years Edition. If you’re suddenly grappling with the ever-quickening passage of time and wondering how on earth 2016 – the year the M2 debuted – was 30 years ago, then worry not.

No, the 30 Years Edition doesn’t celebrate 30 years of the M2, because that would be impossible. Instead, it marks 30 years since BMW set up shop to build cars in the Mexican city of San Luis Potosí. It’s at this plant that BMW builds every example of the current G87 M2, as well as the more pedestrian 2-series coupe and, for some markets, the 3-series.

Just 30 of these special editions will be built, and they’re all destined for the Mexican market, naturally. What makes them particularly noteworthy is that they’re only being offered with the M2’s six-speed manual gearbox, complete with its ‘Gear Shift Assistant’ auto-blip feature.

They also come in a choice of two special colours, both ‘Frozen’ matt paints taken from BMW’s Individual catalogue – Portimao Blue or Pure Grey. Inside, they get M’s hardcore carbon bucket seats, trimmed in black and red leather, and various bits of carbon fibre trim.

Mechanically, though, there are no changes from the regular M2. The 30 Years Edition is based on the recently updated car, which means it has the newly uprated 474bhp version of the car’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, although because it’s manual-only, torque is still pinned at 406lb ft, compared to the updated automatic’s 442lb ft. All that means 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds, and – of course – a 155mph top speed.

In Mexico, the M2 30 Years Edition will cost MX$2,149,000 – that’s around £83,700, and equivalent to over £15,000 more than a standard M2 will cost there. That seems rather steep for what essentially boils down to some matt paint, but then again, this is a matter of national pride.