BMW’s M2 CS was hailed as a return to form for the M division, but how does it stack up against its purebred predecessors?
Hopping from the sparse cockpit of the E30 into the much more stylish but similarly sparse interior of the E46 is a massive shift. The E30 felt tall and narrow, with its upright screen and thin pillars, but you drop low into the fixed-back bucket of the wider E46 and it feels like the window line is much higher.
Initially the fixed bucket feels a fraction too upright and the steering a tad heavy, but once we’re rowing along they both seem fine, and even the SMG is doing a decent job in auto. I still reckon the stumpy, oddly padded lever looks like the handle of a kitchen tool for juicing limes, but once you’ve told yourself you need to finesse the upshifts if you go manual with the lever or paddles, things are a lot less frustrating and a lot smoother.
Closer inspection reveals that the CS and CSL are on almost identical-size tyres, but there’s something very different sitting behind the slender spokes of the CS’s lightweight alloys: huge carbon discs. They look as big as the E30’s rims and are a £6250 option. Standard carbonfibre kit includes the roof and bonnet , front splitter, door mirrors, rear spoiler and diffuser.
It’s not all about the power, though. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the CS is that it sounds like it has a proper, gutsy, naturally aspirated straight-six. Not as raucous and visceral as the CSL’s but blessed with a character-laden drawl, and it’s coupled to a great manual shift that allows you to access the performance – and sound – in the way you want. There is also general tailoring, of course, with three-position throttle, steering and damper settings.
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