Yahoo Autos Here's How Our BMW M2 Is Doing After More Than 30,000 Hard Miles
WHAT WE LIKE: The power and agility. Words like "zippy" and "nimble" pepper the BMW M2's logbook. The combination of compact size and outsize power make this a perfect car for threading through traffic. Picking through a moderate rush hour is as much care-free fun as dancing through the crowds toward the stage at a music festival-just be careful not to elbow anybody. Left-lane dawdlers are less of a pain when it's so easy to make getting around them into a game. And with the M2 packing 365 horsepower, the would-be blockers had better have some serious firepower of their own.
WHAT WE DON'T LIKE: Changing our minds. As the M2 nears the end of its stay, most staffers have made up theirs on the little BMW. Words like "stiff" and "ouch" also litter the logbook, with some people having concluded that the M2's brittle ride is a deal-breaker. The model is being replaced for 2019 by the M2 Competition, which will stiffen things up a little further with a carbon-fiber strut-tower brace. It'll also have more power from a different engine, but who wants to hit the bumps faster if they're just going to hurt? Our advice to potential buyers: Make sure you try before you buy. And toughen up, because staffers in the other camp are equally convinced that the M2's stiff ride is worth it.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Other than some staff members being too coddled as children, nothing. We finally got the rear bumper repaired after being rear-ended (which we recounted in the last update); unfortunately, the bumper beam was damaged and the fix cost more than twice what the dealer initially told us to expect. Total: $2061. And then new windshield wipers cost us-gasp!-$49. At least we've nobody to blame for those but Mother Nature, that fickle wench.
WHERE WE WENT: The presence in our fleet of so many other excellent road trippers means that the M2 has been largely confined to local trips. The farthest it has strayed recently has still been within a few hours of the office. We're not sure why, but we took the BMW to Michigan's Upper Peninsula as a support vehicle for a snowmobile excursion last winter, where we found ourselves repeatedly stuck in driveways, parking lots, and sometimes on flat ground. Although maybe that has something to do with the fact that when we pulled the winter tires off and stuck them on the storage rack, you could see the cupping from 10 feet away. Public service reminder: Winter rubber wears quickly in seasons other than winter-remember to take your winter tires off as soon as it gets warm and be careful not to put them on too early!
Months in Fleet: 18 months Current Mileage: 33,862 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 23 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 13.7 gal Observed Fuel Range: 310 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $49
Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $2061
('You Might Also Like',)
