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AUTO REVIEW
2017 BMW M2
By Steve Schutz, MD
The 2000-2006 BMW M3, known as the
E46 to BMW insiders, is widely considered
to be the best M3 ever. Athletic and won-
derful to drive (unlike its just-OK E36 M3
predecessor), accessible and easy to drive
quickly (unlike the expensive and peaky
first-gen E30 M3), and not completely over
the top (unlike the loud and untamed V8
E92 M3), the E46 M3 was pretty wonder-
ful. For the record, the new M3/M4 siblings ble, eager, and fast were the adjectives that
are pretty wonderful too, but with average
transaction prices approaching $80,000,
those cars’ wonderfulness can’t really be
called accessible.
Anyway, the oh-so-sweet E46 M3 of
many years ago has been missed, and it is
nice to see BMW — the company that now
sells nearly as many SUVs as cars — choos-
ing to give enthusiasts a car they can em-
44 San Antonio Medicine • June 2017
brace, the new M2.
Based on the 2-series coupe, the M2 is in-
deed embraceable. Fun to look at but with a
naughtiness lurking just below the surface,
the M2 really reminds me of the aforemen-
tioned E46 M3.
It certainly drives a lot like that car. Nim- ward explaining why, for the time being any-
first came to mind when I drove the M2. I
headed out to a windy mountain road as
soon as I could, and the M2 gobbled up the
tarmac with an enthusiasm that made me
smile. Wow, is this car great from behind the
steering wheel: hold revs through the apex
of a tight turn, accelerate carefully, and then your deposit and fill out the forms for you,
assertively as you hit a straighter stretch of
road, then brake hard and downshift, taking
care to match revs, of course, then hit the
next apex, and do it all over again. (The M2
is made for a manual transmission, by the
way. If you insist on ordering one with pad-
dle shifters please don’t tell me, it’ll just make
me sad.)
On the highway, the M2 is also good, but
it’s on windy back roads where it soars. In
fact, its amazing goodness goes a long way to-
way, the M2 is sold out. Everywhere, not just
in the U.S. A long time surgeon/car enthusi-
ast friend of mine — and current Porsche 911
driver who’s owned numerous BMWs includ-
ing an E46 M3 — drove my test car and
promptly called her BMW salesman asking
to buy one. Nope was his reply. We’ll take
but you’re going to have to wait, even if you
do European delivery. Ugh. She’s going with
a new manual 911 instead. Fair enough.