Friday I made the 3 hour drive from the Indy metroplex area thinking I would beat the crowds.
Everything went smoothly until I got to Lake Shore Dr. where the parking snarl finally hit. Fortunately, my GPS took me past everyone parking in the closer lots to the parking lot right off of Lake Michigan (think it was lot D), where there was a sea of parking spaces available.
Only issues were it was then a hoof 'n a half to get to the main Concourse, and the $23 (gulp) for parking.
I'm not in the market for an M2 as I am quite happy with my current slice of M heaven, but possibly in the market to replace the R32 and wanted to scope out the Focus ST & RS and VW GTI & R, plus it had been like 20 years since I last went to the Chi-town show which I think bills itself as the largest auto show in the world housing more than 1,000 vehicles. I walked around for 4 hours and scoped out almost everything, but can neither confirm or dispute that contention.
But I did spend a lot of time eyeballing the M2 since it's the new M kid on the block and overall I liked it.
It definitely looks better in-vivo than it presents using modern media and cyberspace.
Stuff I liked:
(1) Long Beach blue - the teal greenish tones in some of the pics concerned me, and that might actually play out under real life ambient conditions. I'd truly prefer a more proven blue such as Le Mans, but until another color of blue is offered (if ever) it's not a bad shade of blue.
(2) The front air curtain, aka Fangs - they actually integrate well into the front bumper so they aren't as pronounced as I originally surmised.
(3) The E46 like size - I'm one of those types that think smaller and lighter is the intersection where real SAG fun starts, and although like many wish the M2 were lighter, it's still the smallest tool in the shed. The 1 M and M2 are both scalpels in that regards, whereas the E92 & F82 are more blunt instruments.
(4) Protective film placed just forward of the lower rear quarterpanels - nice, practical idea as this is an area on the 1 M where stone chips seem to be problematic.
Now, as to those things I found a bit less appealing:
(1) The rear bumper - it doesn't integrate as well as I'd hoped with the rest of the vehicle. There's like a 3 stage transition going on from the end of the flared hips, to the scalloped part that begins around the tail lights, then finally to the rest of the rear bumper that houses the SAV like rear reflectors. Admittedly, it's a very interesting design aspect, but it's just a bit too busy in my humble opinion. Those infernal reflectors just seem to be at odds with the rest of the bumper.
(2) The black plastic M2 emblem on the front fenders - why bother? Just has a tacked on appearance.
(3) The I drive screen - would be better if it could be retracted into the dash when not wanted/needed (definitely not an M2 thing, but since I'm a minimalist would be even better if it were an ala carte option and not standard).
(4) Not a fan of the black 437 style wheels - not as heinous looking as I originally thought, but give them the silver finished version or even better the 359 CSL style wheels and I think it would transform the car visually.
I won't comment about the mirrors, other than to confirm, yes, the M2 has them and they are just as functional (albeit a heck of lot more pedestrian looking) as the bespoke ones on the M3 just behind it.
And even though I'm not in the market at this time I'd still like to score a test drive it if I can arrange it at the local dealer, if just to get a real comparison of the steering and handling between the two baby M's.
Bar that I'll have to live vicariously through you folks that will be blessed to have both the M2 and 1 M in the stable.
And since it's now the entry level M in the family I'll henceforth try not to be too critical of it.
I will say if they ever get the numbness of EPS worked out, and especially offer a M2 GC variant down the line all of the above sins will definitely be forgiven.
