We live in an interesting era where high performance cars have to be multifaceted. They not only have to deliver in areas such as luxury and technology but they have to cover a much broader spectrum in terms of appeal. For manufacturers such as Porsche, the need to retain the identity and thoroughbred nature of their more extreme road cars has resulted in a diversified portfolio i.e. there seems to be a model for everyone of the worlds most iconic sports car each with different degrees of compromise. The pendulum has been allowed to swing from the extremes of luxury with the base 911 carrera, through the middle ground of the GTS to the extreme end of performance with the maniacal GT2 RS.

For more mainstream manufacturers the luxury of splitting up their sole performance flagships in each respective tier isn’t a viable option. Thus in order to cater for the growing demand of their high performance cars and broaden their appeal some compromises have been made. While the compromises have been mostly welcome as they have made high performance cars not only more practical but also approachable they have stolen away a certain degree of purity that high performance cars need. A focus without which their identities become lost.

Enter the BMW M2. BMW’s M-division is a victim of its past successes and industry bench marks such as the E46 generation BMW M3 and the F60 BMW M5 cast exceedingly long shadows over their successors. These two legends seem to be the measuring rods against which each M product is measured against by the current crop of car enthusiasts. BMW’s entry level high performance coupé has been updated and is now being offered with a competition pack.

The BMW M2 with the competition pack comes equipped with a new 3.0 litre turbo charged straight six cylinder engine. The power plant has been endowed with two monoscroll turbos for rapid response and features a new cooling system inherited from the M4 with the competition pack. Power output is up to 410 hp(302 kw) between 5250-7000 rpm and peak torque is 550 Nm torque between 2350-5230 rpm. This trumps Audi’s RS3’s 292 kw of power and 480 Nm of torque.

The exhaust has also been revised and features electronically switchable flaps accessed by a button in the center console for a sportier sound.

Coupled to the engine is either a six speed manual gear box or an optionally available 7 speed dual clutch transmission. The manual gearbox still features the auto blip function present in the last generation car which can be switched off by turning off the stability control. Sprint times to 100 kph from a standstill are 4.4 s and 4.2 s respectively. Aiding in putting down all this new potency from the engine is an entirely new electronic limited slip differential which can transition from being fully open to fully locked in 150 ms.

Other changes include the addition of a carbon fibre engine strut inherited from the M4. This has helped to improve the rigidity at the front end which should help the car turn in better than its predecessor. The electrically assisted power steering has also been revised.

The interior has also been updated. There is a new instrument binnacle and the steering wheel features the M1 and M2 buttons. These are in effect two short cut buttons which can be reprogrammed to house the driver’s ultimate set up. This helps to avoid the need to dive into menus and sub-menus to change various aspects of the powertrain.

While the BMW M2 has always been in a class of one in its respective market segment, the changes and updates will further set it apart as the driver’s choice. While the Audi RS3 and A45 AMG remain strictly all wheel drive the M2 has retained its trump card, its rear wheel drive set up. However, only time will tell if the parts inherited from its larger sibling(M4)will endow it with the m-magic of old.