BMW has been extending its M brand for an awfully long time, adding fast SUVs, luxury convertibles and even the fully bespoke XM.
Yet when you imagine an M car, it's a compact, rear-wheel-drive coupé. 'E30' M3, 'E9' CSL 'Batmobile', 2002 Turbo: these are cars with a stature that demands a modern inheritor. And the M2 CS feels fully up to the job.
It's a car defined by the little details, which come together to amount to something very special indeed. And that's why I picked it as my favourite car of 2025.
The shortened, stiffened suspension springs, and recalibrated wider running gear; the stiffened engine mounts, for a straight six boosted beyond 500bhp; the forged wheels, the carbonfibre brakes and the wider weight-saving programme that has resulted in it tipping the scales at 150kg less than the four-wheel-drive M4 Competition.
At every turn, you can feel the benefit of each little tweak and tune-up that it has received.
Like everything in the car is rowing in perfect time, and all in the same direction. It's not often a modern performance car feels quite that way- and more seldom still one for which you can pay less than £100,000.
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I've only ever driven an E46 M3 with a manual gearbox and I thought it was great,does that make it the best M3?, no it doesn't,well, this CS isn't everyone's cup of Tea, yes the question was for less than £100K,well that might be true,so, come on folks, start putting up your choices.
According to evo's tester Richard Meaden, the M2 CS is "the biggest letdown" of 2025. Opinions are often a matter of nuance.
The rest of the Evo writers rated the M2 CS highly in EVO's '2025 best performance cars of the year' and the CS was in their overall top 5. So, I guess Meaden is in a minority.
I suspect that, if only I had the chance to drive one, I'd find the M2 CS a great car. However, since I've never driven one, I can't say whether Meaden or Saunders is right, and to what extent. I was simply noting that among automotive journalists —and not only in this case— there are often large discrepancies in their opinions on the same product. Different premises and a focus on one aspect rather than another can easily shift the final judgment. In the end, it's all about nuances.
Road testing cars is a highly subjective matter. Objectively they are all pretty good. Manufactures spend hours benchmarking their products against the opposition, so the choice is mostly down to individual choice and priorities. Still it all makes for an interesting read and a good subject of conversation!