BMW started their journey in India back in 2007, since then we only have seen automatic transmissions for the India spec BMWs, but the BMWs that were sold overseas also had an option of a manual transmission, and we Indian enthusiasts who are suckers for those manual rear-wheel-drive BMWs, didn’t get the chance to taste the formula… until now! BMW India has finally launched the first-ever manual BMW in India today, and it is not any ordinary BMW like the X1 or the 3-series, it is a proper BMW M car, it is the G87 BMW M2 with a 6-speed manual transmission, starting at ₹98 Lakh (ex-showroom).
Powered by the BMW’s latest S58 3.0L twin-turbo straight-6 also found in the G80 M3 and G82 M4, but in the G87 M2 it has been de-tuned to 453hp @6,250rpm and 550Nm of peak torque between 2,500rpm-5,950rpm paired with an 8-speed ZF torque convertor automatic OR with a 6-speed manual transmission as an optional extra of ₹1 Lakh, and it can do 0-100km in 4.3 seconds with the manual and 4.1 seconds with the automatic, and since the F87 generation, M2 comes with rear-wheel-drive only, and this G87 generation also comes only in rear-wheel-drive, and it also has M specific adaptive suspension and steering calibrations to enhance the overall driving experience, and this news will definitely make saliva drop from every Indian enthusiast’s mouth.
Well, talking about the design of the G87 M2, it is as controversial as every BMW these days, you get a boxy-looking front facia, the kidney grill has a quadrilateral shape to it, with a big intake opening below the grill, the 2 air dams upfront have a proper square shape to them, but the kidney grill does not look like the front teeth of a beaver like on the new M3 and the M4, from the side you get traditional door handles instead of loop door handles as on the previous one, but gets M style ORVMs, has M-Sport alloys, 19” in the front and 20” on the rear also available in the diamond finish as an optional extra, and on the side you also get wider boxy fender flairs over the rear wheels, which to some people looks a bit controversial, from the rear, the rear bumper is designed to look muscular, but the rear reflectors on the bumper sticking out makes it look kinda odd from the rest of the design, the taillights are taken over from the normal G42 2-series with smoked out treatment. But as with every modern BMW this design will soon grow up to many people.
BMW has done everything to keep the cabin sportier as possible, like you get optional M-sport colours on the upholstery of the seats and you can also opt for M-carbon fibre bucket seats as well, also gets optional carbon fibre interior trim, M-sport stitching on the steering, on the gear lever cover, and on the seat belts as standard, M2 badging on the headrests, on the door panels you have M-colour gimmick to remind you that you are driving a BMW M-car, and as per the media and entertainment BMW offers a curved twin-screen setup with the M-theme, where the 12.3” setup is for driver’s display and 14.9” setup is for the infotainment display, the driver’s display shows, changing gear indicator, M-specific speedometer and odometer, with different layouts specific to the driver of the mode will choose, on the infotainment display with all the entertainment bells and whistles it also has M-Drift Analyser, which will analyse your drift and will also give you scores according to how you have performed your drift, which is I think is must for a rear-wheel-drive sports car.
With the entrance of the G87 BMW M2 with the optional 6-speed manual gearbox, with Porsche, BMW also has become the only performance car manufacturer in India, to offer both automatic and manual transmissions, but like Porsche, BMW should have kept the manual transmission as a free optional extra, but for me, this is not a con for the new M2 in India instead, it makes it special and rarer than the other performance BMWs and other of its competitors that are sold in the Indian market.
