BMW has officially started the countdown clock for the upcoming 2022 BMW M2, as the German carmaker has now confirmed that the car will make its official debut in October this year.
Ahead of its launch, the company brought several international media outlets over to Salzburgring to sample a pre-production prototype unit. And while we were unfortunately not invited (ahem, BMW), we do at least get some juicy information blurbs to tide us over until its world premiere.
Most importantly, we now know for a fact that the upcoming 2022 BMW M2 will be powered by the same S58 3.0 litre twin-turbocharged straight-six engine that also powers the M3 and M4, and will be paired to a six-speed manual as standard, or an eight-speed auto at no extra cost.
BMW has not disclosed the engine’s performance figures yet, but media in attendance of the test drive reported that company officials have said that it’ll be detuned slightly to somewhere around the region of 450 hp (473 hp on the standard M3/M4), or a “similar performance level” to the existing M2 CS.
Power from the engine will be delivered exclusively to the rear wheels no matter which transmission option, with power further distributed between the wheels via an active M locking differential.
The upcoming 2022 BMW M2 will also be available with adaptive dampers for even better handling and “playful” characteristics, and to stop all of that down are the brakes that have been inherited directly from the M3 and M4.
To differentiate it even more from the standard 2 Series Coupe (in addition to the significantly wider bodywork), BMW will also be offering the M2 with a carbon-fibre roof and carbon-fibre bucket seats to give it an even more sporty appearance, and shave off extra weight.
The cabin architecture will look quite similar to the existing 2 Series, although the M-badged model stands out with its M-specific steering wheel with M buttons, as well as M-specific displays on the BMW Curved Display iDrive 8 infotainment system.
October is still a long way to go, so we expect to see a lot more teasers of the upcoming 2022 BMW M2 before its world debut – especially since it might well be the last-ever pure ICE M-car.
GALLERY
