Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

RPM TV Website | March 22, 2024

Scroll to top

Top

No Comments

M-Division readies true junior M-car

BMW 1M Coupé
Adam Schoeman

BMW’s performance-focused M Division, is supposedly working on a new junior M-car that will slot in below the M3 and M4.

The car will use the 2-Series coupé as a starting point, and will go much further than the current M235i – or even the previous-generation 1-Series M Coupé. Instead, this model will be a true M-car and will carry the M2 badge.

Power will come from a six-cylinder turbocharged 3,0-litre motor, but it will not be the same N55 power plant that is currently being used in the M235i and M135i, nor a detuned version of the M4’s 3,0-litre mill. Instead the M2 will use a power plant that is completely new and that will also be used by the next-generation 7-series.

BMW is keeping the details of the engine under wraps, but has indicated that the M2 could be tuned to deliver around 300 kW, eclipsing the super hatches from Audi and Mercedes-Benz, as well as offering buyers a chance to step back into a small and powerful six-cylinder BMW.

It would seem that the most difficult part of the engine has not been achieving the power but rather to keep it reigned in so that it does not compete with the M4, which produces 317 kW.

The M2 Coupé will be available in choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed M-DCT gearboxes, and will feature stop-start with brake energy recuperation, as well as a thermal energy recovery system.

With the M-DCT gearbox, early estimates have the M2 Coupé executing a 0-100km/h sprint in 4.4 seconds, 0,2 seconds slower than the M4 and a full half second faster than the 1M Coupé, the last full-blown junior M-car.

BMW will be incorporating electronic aids this time, making use of an electronically controlled limited slip differential on the rear wheels. The same system will also have a torque vectoring function built in.

Being an M car means that there will be more to the car’s performance than just a powerful engine, and BMW is working on reducing the baby M’s weight through various substitutions, such as a carbon fibre strut brace, and composite plastic body panels.

The M2 is scheduled for showrooms worldwide in 2015 after an expected public debut at next year’s Geneva Motor Show in March, and will probably be followed by a convertible model the following year.

Submit a Comment