2019 BMW M2 Competition M Performance Parts review

The BMW M2 Competition is a car with few faults. You don’t come runner-up at PCOTY – and within a hair’s breadth of beating a $750K 911 GT2 RS – without being an exceptional motor car. But no car is perfect. The M2C’s ride is pretty firm but arguably its biggest downfall is that it looks a bit plain.

BMW clearly spent the entire development budget on the mechanicals – which is how it should be – and had precious little left over to jazz up the exterior and/or interior. If you find yourself in the camp of wishing your new sports coupe stood out a bit more, help is at hand courtesy of BMW’s M Performance Parts package.

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It consists of carbon, carbon and more carbon with a dash of Alcantara and hint of aluminium. There’s a carbon front splitter, bonnet, grille, rear lip spoiler, diffuser, side bars (for the front guard vents), sill attachments, mirror caps, entrance sills and interior trim, while aluminium pedals and an Alcantara-shod steering wheel completes the set.

It isn’t a cheap exercise. The complete package costs $15,990 (fitted) but when you take into account the fact that selected individually the bits would set you back $23,470 the value proposition strengthens. Our Sunset Orange test car had the works and certainly turned heads, but you can pick and choose the bits you like. Least appealing is the steering wheel, primarily due to BMW M’s propensity to design their wheels for gorillas. The rim is way too fat and oddly shaped to be comfortable for human hands.

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It’s impossible to make a recommendation on the exterior bits as it’ll be purely subjective: how much do you want to stand out? Personally, I’d take the carbon bonnet as it adds an M3-style bonnet bulge, the rear lip spoiler and subtler parts like the side bars and front grille. For my taste the front splitter and sill attachments are a little Fast and the Furious, though topped off with a nice GT wing it would certainly make a statement.

All the carbon bits might shave a few kilograms off the standard car, but effectively they have no effect on how the M2 Competition drives. It’s not a car that really needs improving. For those who prefer to drive with finesse, the ultimate 2 is maybe not for you, though it’s certainly capable of going unbelievably quickly when driven neatly.

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It’s a hoon at heart, and feels happiest when the driver is working up a sweat, flinging the car in to test the grippy front end before using the throttle to point it towards corner exit, the rear tyres over-rotating on the way out. It’s playful without being edgy, adjustable without being nervous, you just want to drive and drive until the fuel tank is dry (which doesn’t take very long).

2019 BMW M2 COMPETITION w\ PERFORMANCE PARTS PACKAGE SPECS:
Engine: 2979cc inline-6cyl, DOHC, 24v, twin-turbo
Power: 302kW @ 5250-7000rpm
Torque: 550Nm @ 2350-5200rpm
Weight: 1575kg
0-100km/h: 4.2sec (claimed)
Price: $123,890 (as tested)

Likes: Makes your M2 Competition stand out
Dislikes: Upgrades aren’t cheap

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars