BMW M2 cabriolet pics 'leaked'

Has BMW decided to let the purists decide on convertible version of its M2 coupe?

Speculation over BMW’s plans to produce an M2 convertible has hotted up again, with a Dutch motoring site claiming to have pictures leaked from within the company.

Autoblog.nl claims the images are genuine and show the yet-to-be announced BMW M2 cabriolet.

This is despite strong denials that such a car was on the cards made earlier this year by M2 chief engineer Frank Isenberg.

In February Isenberg said he declined to go down the M2 cabriolet path because it wouldn’t match the coupe’s racetrack handling and pointed to the M235i has an appropriate open-topped cruising experience.

However everyone has a boss, so it’s possible the suits at Munich see a demand for a small hot drop-top to complement its BMW M4 and M6 convertibles.

It might offend the track-day purists, as Isenberg fears, but it’s not like they’ll stop buying the coupe in protest. And it might even bring new suitors to the M2 badge.

Going by the pictures the M2 convertible would lose the roof and the B-pillar, and gain a modified rear end to accept the roof, similar to the M4 cabriolet conversion.

Despite what the purists say it should still be a hoot to drive with the coupe’s 272kW/465Nm 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six under the bonnet, even if weighed down by bracing.

It remains to be seen if these pictures are proof of a yet to be announced M2 convertible. Even if they are genuine BMW renderings they could have placed in the reject file before Isenberg issued his emphatic denial.

BMW Australia told Wheels they didn’t have a comment regarding the story, with a spokesperson calling the images “speculation”.