As you may have gathered, today was collection day for the new M car. The day started at 6am (ish) as I wasn't really able to sleep all that well. Jumped in the G22 at 7:45am and headed on down to Cheltenham to swap the cars over. The drive down was very uneventful, had the car in Sport Individual just to get myself prepared for the firmer set up on the G87. The G22 is such a capable car, had a blast driving it down, I was still wondering if I was making the right decision, as an all round car it really is superb. Arrived with ten mins to spare before the collection time, deleted my account on both the app and the car so that none of my personal information went with the car. Took one final photo: I was greeted by Mark, the salesperson, ordered a lovely (expensive!) free coffee and sat down to do a few bits and pieces. He took the keys to my car and checked it all over, all fine and happy with that. I will keep an eye out on their used cars to see when the G22 comes up for sale. He then showed me the M2 before we sorted the rest of the paperwork, checked the valet, the condition etc. A little disappointed that it wasn't covered with a big reveal etc, but I was more keen on seeing the car to be fair. This is how it was presented to me in the undercover part of their outdoor showroom: Looking respondent in its shiny Brooklyn greyness. Then back inside to sort the tax, transfer of the old car etc. All sorted within 15 mins, most of the paperwork had been done remotely, so only a few final jobs to do. He, his manager and myself then had a decent chat about all things car related, interesting to hear their perspective as to the car market. They commented that the vast majority of their sales are to people like me, they have done their research and know what they want, so their job is relatively easy. They were honest enough to say that the new M5 is a bit of a head scratcher for them, they don't quite see where it sits in the market. All done and signed, hands shaken, and off I went! A nice touch, he had put half a tank of petrol in that morning, so I didn't need to stop. I'd transferred my BMW account to the new car, so many of my preferences had already been set to the car, clever tech indeed. I paused to take a snapshot of the car against the dealership wall: The grin on my face just grew and grew. What an amazing piece of machinery. Being somewhat aware of what was under my right foot I took some care, didn't give it the full beans for a few miles. When I did, and as described so well by @mystic sport . and the revs rose above 4k, the intensity of the power delivery was like nothing I have experienced before. And all the more remarkable as the car was so planted and up for it, not once has it felt that the power and control are mismatched. Managed a few decent pulls on the way home, utilised the previously pre-set M1 settings, that firmed everything up another notch, and gave the engine/gearbox a real sense of additional purpose. I felt at home, and almost immediately at one with the car. The seats are excellent, well, for me and my frame I find them to be incredibly comfortable and supportive. Arrived home, still grinning like an idiot, grabbed a cuppa, then took the car out for a 25 mile round trip to a designer outlet type place, Mrs W wanted to buy some clothes for Xmas presents. It was a good test of how the car performs and a day-to-day machine. The seats aren't her favourites, but I think she is beginning to settle into them. Obviously the car is a firmer ride that the G22, however, in Efficient/Comfort setting it is actually very good as a daily. It manages the ruts, bumps and rubbish road surfaces really well. When M1 is pressed, it can become a tad harsh over some of the worse surfaces, but nothing that jars or makes the ride uncomfortable. When we got back I spent some time in the car fine tuning some of the settings. I need to do a bit of research as to how to turn off the speed "bongs". I believe there is a shortcut via the account/app, so will get that sorted. First upgrade already done, paid for the BMW speed camera app! £25 well spent I think. Tomorrow I will fit the dashcam as that is on the insurance list, so needed. Will use the same fitment as I had in the G22, that worked really well. A nice touch on the dash, when you get in and the user account is recognised, the display does a 360 of the car: So, the M2 is home, parked on the drive. I keep looking out of the window and grinning, the carbon roof really sets off the grey of the paintwork. You probably know me by now, I was interested in the relative economy, so I reset the trip this morning, so far it is showing 30.2mpg, that surprised me, sure it won't stay that way, but shows it can be vaguely economical. Certainly when Mrs W is in the car, no M buttons being used there! The exhaust note is fruitier than I was expecting, some internal piped noise, but the external sound is pleasing enough considering it is strangled by the noise pollution police. Lots more updates to come in the future, these are just my initial thoughts after a few hours of ownership. There is no sense, no rhyme nor reason to buy such a thing other than because I can so I did. The icing on the cake? I'm only paying an extra £35 a month over the cost of the G22 to own this. Man maths at its finest I'd say. A few more photos form today, unfortunately we have had a properly miserable afternoon, dank and drizzly. And finally, me on the drive at home, first picture is how I present to the world, the second is how I am really feeling about it!!
There we go, fun aren’t they. You have to work the S58 to get it to perform. When I had the f10 m5 I found the power was spread very linearly from just 1500rpm which made it very accessible and not hard work to extract it, but with the S58 it is pretty average from 1500 but then get to 2500 and things start to happen - fast, then over 4000 and the fun button really gets whacked and it is a bloody riot and so so quick. Was out in the M3 today and had a few moments of fun and as I have said before, luckily for me my wife just sits there as if nothing has happened as she has become more than used to my antics Enjoy it, you have been wanting one for years and now it is here
Forgot the add, the adaptive cruise is brilliant. Used this on the M5 when I was in the 50mph roadworks, it adapts to the traffic and spacing so well, definitely a feature I am glad it has. This will be used on Monday, driving the car to Barnsley for work, the M1 is pretty much one long run of average camera speed limits. Found the shortcut to switch off the speed alert bongs, press SET once in the car. Sorted.
Cracking looking car! I’m sure you’re gonna love it! Seeing that you’ve found a long hold of the SET button turns off the speed alert, I’d guess you maybe have the same lane correction as I have in my car. If you do and find it as intrusive as I do then I was able to set a shortcut that switches it off with a click up on the iDrive controller, click and the click again. I find it horribly over intrusive when I forget to switch off!
It sounds like a great hand over and an even better car definitely looks the business very much reminds me of my favourite M car the original E30 M3. Enjoy, very much looking forward to the updates on this.
Congratulations again on the new car! It certainly sounds like everything you wanted it to be and more. A real life achievement - so good when we get to realise our dreams, especially when they make no rational sense and they are just that - dreams to be fulfilled. Enjoy the ownership experience and I, like the others, can’t wait to hear about it.
I've been out for a bit more of a set up this morning. Set the M1 button so that I can have more of a response with the throttle, a sharper suspension tune and the brakes with a bit more power: The M2 will be set up in the Spring, I need to get more of a feel for the car, and I need the weather to be a little warmer. I went out for a drive earlier, purely to reset the tyre pressures of course, and found the M1 button utterly hilarious on the damp roads. 5 degree temps certainly kept me alert. And that is the difference in a sentence, it keeps me alert. The G22, as brilliant as it was, didn't give that feeling at all, it was so planted in all circumstances that I was left to feel "meh". Fitted the dash cam, pretty much the same set up as in the G22, ran the USB C cable from the centre console under the console trim, under the glove box and then up the pillar rubber trim. Not a truly invisible fitment, but I managed to live with this in the last car, didn't bother me as I couldn't see the cable from the drivers side. The tech in this is a step up from the previous car, will take some getting used to the widgets and feel for it. I've customised the displays to my liking, altered the height and view of the HUD etc. Set CarPlay wallpaper to black so that it matches the rest of the display. So much customisation! The SET button works a treat to cancel the irritating bongs, just have to remembered to do it each time I get in, at least there is a shortcut. I can't find the climate options that the G22 had, that gave the option to set the heated seats and steering wheel to come on when the temp dropped below a certain level, doesn't seem to have that option on this. Not the end of the world, I will just have to press a button (physical button on the steering wheel thankfully) and ask the car to turn the seats on. And finally, here is the money shot.....
Huge congrats! Looks awesome, nothing like getting your first proper M car. What mileage has it done? Inspired me to get my own M5 out the garage for a short spin.
Certainly sounds like that special car that you've been hankering for. Looking forward to the ownership reports
Lovely car. The interior quality is a huge step up from the previous gen M2C. Nice to have things like adaptive cruise too!
A grand (work) day out in the M2 today. Not really the point of buying the car, but I felt I had to use it today, just to see how it faired as a work car.... Home to Barnsley and back via the A38/M1, some horrific traffic this morning, 2 hours 20 mins to get there. The seats are excellent, felt totally relaxed and fresh when I got to Barnsley, and then the same for the return journey, albeit a bit quicker at 2 hours. A great test for the practicality of the car, a test it passed with flying colours. I was very pleased with the (relative) economy as well: That is with quite a bit of adaptive cruise on the M1, also the second part of the journey after I had stopped to buy a coffee and make a call at the services. This is a brilliant feature that saves so much grief with the slowing down and speeding up of traffic, so happy it has this feature. One thing I did notice, with a speed of 52mph set, the gearbox didn't want to change up to 8th, it seemed to stay in 7th, even when I manually selected 8th it would change back down quickly. Different to the ZF8 in the G22, this would sit at very low revs in 8th quite happily. Thanks to @boylucifer I've managed to set a shortcut to switch off the steering intervention with lane assist, such an annoying feature. Two clicks and it is switched off, still have the lane assist warning, flashing triangles in the mirrors, just without the random steering wheel wobble. In the book pack there is a leaflet from a company called TrackStar, a security tracking company that installs third party hardware. I emailed them to see if this was actually fitted, or just a leaflet advertising. Turns out the car does have an additional tracker fitted, one that is S7 Thatcham approved, so I've paid for a years subscription, loaded the app to my phone and set up a geofence etc. I will contact my insurance company to see if there is any further discount once I share the certificate with them. Trying to justify going to Cambridge in it tomorrow, but the weather looks rank, so I feel the Alfa is due an outing. So, so happy with the car!
Glad to see you using it. Enjoy it in good and bad weather Mine is happy to stay in 8th over 48mph in manual mode. In fact I have only used auto probably 5 times in total as it just doesn’t suit the cars nature and I hate the constant dropping of gears as soon as you touch the accelerator. By the way, I daily drove an E60 M5 for work for 2.5 years. Put some big miles on it and my fuel bill was utterly horrific , be interesting what you get mpg wise because my g80 cannot seem to get over 23mpg, my f10 was more economical which is nuts. Enjoy every mile in all weathers, use it, thrash it, enjoy it - just means it will need a wash more often lol
I've got a feeling that the active cruise isn't available when in manual mode. Might need to read the actual handbook.... Fair play for driving an E60 as a daily! I'd imagine you built up some decent Tesco club card points!
Thanks Adie, that is really interesting. I've got myself lost in the thread for the past 15 mins..! Thought my regen issues were only with the DPF in the Alfa. What a PITA. Suspect that the car needs a good run, and then a recheck as to the 8th gear at sensible motorway speeds. Not using the car tomorrow or Wednesday, but will take it to Banbury on Thursday, some motorway and some great A road. Will give it an Italian tune on the way there, then check to see the cruise/low speeds in 8th on the way back. Appreciate the input, really helpful. Worst case scenario is the car needs a forced regen, and/or new filters. Thank goodness for a warranty.
Stunning car. Well done for following your heart. We have all experienced the reminders of life sometimes being too short. Like others on here I look forward to hearing about your experiences and in particular how it compares with a non M top of the range car like you had before.
