In this BMW M2 2023 video, Dirk Hacker, BMW M Head of Engineering, shares with us all the secrets of the BMW M2 G87 generation. We take a close look at its design, interior options, carbon bucket seats, manual transmission and much more.
Hey guys welcome to bmw blog and welcome to salisbury ring as you can see i have a very special car behind me but before we get into that i wanted to introduce you to dirk hacker he’s the vice president of bmw m engineering and he knows everything about this car so what’s this car you might have guessed immediately but i’m going to let you take a quick look before
We jump in dark okay so what do we have here want to just tell them yes here we have the second generation of the m2 the first pre-drive here it’s a volksburg ring we want to show the performance of the drivetrain but also of the chassis first impression of the driving dynamics and i’m very interested and what is your impression sure so before i tell you mine a
Little bit let’s talk about the car first right so maybe let’s start with the design a little bit or maybe the dimensions the proportions then we jump into the technical specs so how is it different than the current m2 i think we used the technique and the design in some cases from the m3 and m4 so we have the same powertrain the same drivetrain we have the same
Axles chassis components in the car we use the performance of the m3 and m4 to translate into the new m2 so the car has a shorter wheelbase the track width on the front and the three is the same one we use also the same tires and wheels so we used the good i think very surprising performance of the m3 and m4 for the transformation into the m2 dimension so before
We jump into that basically what i saw from behind when we looked at the car that it’s quite wide it looks really wide massive really nice shoulders and in some way it reminds me of the 1m so i feel like the transformation has been so radical that it’s really wide and it’s got a nice stance from the back so maybe can you tell me a little bit about the wheelbase
Like in the back or the width a little bit has that been the same as the m3 and m4 basically it’s very near to that it’s very near to that it’s much bigger than the normal two series i think you can compare it from the impression um also to the predecessor m2 i think it’s a statement it’s a bold statement of its own on the roads and we want to copy that also
For the new generation of the m2 perfect so since we talked about wheels a little bit can tell me what options people have when it comes to wheels tires we use the same entire sizes like the m3 and m4 so it’s 19 inch on the front 275 millimeters and on the rear 20 inch wheels with 285 millimeters and there’s no additional option besides a cup to offer but no
Different in the dimension of the tires understood and because the car is quite powerful i can tell you that because i was on the track it needs some proper brakes wanna tell us about the brakes we have the same brakes like in the m3 and m4 we will not offer the m carbon brakes we have no decision to do that but we have the same performance like in the m3 and
M4 for the handling of the car for the brake performance of the car sure and since we’re on the design and the exterior a little bit carbon fiber roof would be that available so it would be an option yes okay bmw individual colors maybe in the future it could be an option could be a good idea and performance parts yes we will also offer that but i will not go
Into detail what our will offer right fair enough and when it comes to the sound there will be a european version of the car basically with the opa filter and a us one same as the current generation yes yes we have to do that for the regulation all over the world so you will have an eu version but also s version but i think you can also compare it to the m3 and
M4 because it’s the same legislation the same homologation of the cars okay sure so now let’s talk about specs a little bit about the energy maybe the transmission choices so so let’s start with the engine which one is it it’s a six cylinder inline we have also in the m3 and m4 the internal code i think you know that it’s s58 and we will have an option uh power
About like the predecessor m2 cs around that and we will combine it with a manual gearbox or with the m steptronic so you can choose between both drive frame options with the same power so same power for both cars there is no differentiation in between the m3 manual like we have right now and the m3 uh auto basically okay and when it comes to the transmission is
It imported from the m3 and m4 both of them yes most it’s it’s important um we have only a different setup but not a mechanical one it’s more a software parameter set up especially for the m2 but the technique is the same one okay so now if we compare to the f87m to the outgoing generation can you walk me through some of the mechanical changes maybe suspension
Steering dampers can you outline the differences i think the most important difference if we take a look on the m2 and the predecessor is the change the difference to the m3 and m4 so in this car we have smaller differences nearly no differences to the technique of the m3 and m4 with the predecessor we have also the axles the steering from the m3 and m4 but a
Complete different wheel and tire dimension so in these days we can also use the performance of the m3 and m4 to transport into the m2 in the predecessor we have elder generation of tire dimension and therefore we have with a new car also a bigger impact for a better performance on the racetrack okay and when it comes to the variable dampers it’s not going to
Be available in this car it’s standard in this car that is also a bit different beside the m2cs from the predecessor active damper system it’s now standard in the new m2 and of course all the m customers and fans they always care about the steering input they always want more more precision there any work that you’ve done there yes when we when we take the same
Technology of the m3 and m4 to the m2 so we take a look also on the shorter wheelbase we want to get a more agile car in the m family than the m3 and m4 we use the same steering rack but we do a different setup in the parameters to get this very precise and agile the steering characteristic okay i understood and when it comes to the driving modes i guess i can
Share a little bit what i’ve noticed that there is a wider gap in between the driving mode so it feels like the comfort it’s a lot more comfortable but sport plus it’s a lot sportier is that a true statement yes that’s right that’s right so that’s the difference also from the f-87 m2 basically that’s that is a big difference because you need this um this option
Of the adjustable damper control if you don’t have that you can not so differ between the comfort and the sport plus feature in this car we can use that understood and this was based on the feedback maybe from customers that they want to have like a more comfortable daily driver i don’t think so they don’t they say if they choose a m2 the comfort is not the most
Impressive characteristic but i think on the other side if you can unexpected fulfill this requirement you get a comfort car for everyday driving on one side on the aussie side a very well performed car on the racetrack i think that’s the best offer and the best surprise all right sounds good i guess is there any other difference from the current fm2 or maybe
The ref matching so in the in the past we have the combination of traction control system stability control system and rev match in this car we have it completely different because it’s up to you to choose the option with or without rough matching um independent from other functions of the car okay sure of course seats are equally important what are the options
In this car so we have the standard the m sport site i think you know also very from the m3 and m4 but we also will offer the m carbon seat in this car and i think especially for the m2 it’s an additional offer of performance or feeling in the car feeling combined with the car integrated in the car so we will also offer the m carbon seat from the m3 and m4 into
The m2 we’re not going to talk much about the design but i can maybe share this that the the slats look a little bit different than on the m240i so maybe that’s a way to differentiate the two cars when it comes to engine cooling and things like that has have you done any additional work maybe compared to the m3 and m4 or maybe even compared to the previous m2
No we take the same system from the m3 and m4 and we test the car in similar surroundings and we want to get this performance of the car to the points of cooling system but with the m3 and m4 technology we are very good pre-conditioned okay so now a personal question if it was up to you and you can only buy one m2 would you get the six-speed manual or you’ll go
In for the auto um it’s a good question it depends a little bit i think the more characteristic traditional one is the six-speed manual could be my favorite for the private car and mine too because i have a feeling that no manuals are not gonna be here long enough and uh this might be the chance for a lot of people to actually you know jump into an empty with
A six-speed manual so before i let you go i also noticed the anniversary 50 years of m badge can you tell me more about that yes for the 50th anniversary into 2022 we will offer this batch for all m and empower cars and performance cars only in this year so they will have the possibility to get an m2 to the end of the year perhaps with this batch okay and also
On other cars speaking about the m anniversary and all of that you know tell me what’s exciting about this year for m and things that we might expect maybe you want to tease something that people are you know excited to see or might see so we will have a lot of different new launches m2 m4 csl you know the touring we also announced that we get with the m3 touring
Zxm you can drive later motorsports is very important for us we are very happy with the launch of the m4 gt3 we hope to get a lot of victories in these years okay well dirk thank you so much for all the details i appreciate the insight i look forward to seeing the car in you know without the camera on it and maybe drive the final production car and for now thanks
For having me and we’ll see you soon guys thanks for watching i appreciate it and we’ll see you in the next one you
Transcribed from video
BMW M2 2023 – All the Technical Specs By BMWBLOG