Motor Australia – May 2019

16 may 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

M FRONTEND.PACENOTES

NEWS / REVIEWS / LATEST TECH / MOTORSPORT

M DIVISION has been extremely busy andwill

continue to be in the foreseeable future.Its

next release is the recently revealed

X3 and X4 M, which debut the new S58 3.0-

litre twin-turbo inline-six. This is the

engine that will power the all-new G80 M3,

but that’s not expected until late 2020.

Before then there will be the M8 Coupe,

Convertible and Gran Coupe and a new X5M,

all of which will use the 4.4-litre twin-turbo

V8 from the M5. Also expected to appear

in 2019 is the new M135i, which despite

the familiar name will trade six cylinders

and rear-wheel drive for a 225kW/450Nm

2.0-litre turbo four and all-wheel drive,

a powertrain that will find another home

in the M235i Gran Coupe. Add to this the

possibility of an X7 M and an upgraded V

for the M760i and it appears annual leave

will be in short supply in Munich!

the

HOT

LIST

M CARSHEADING

OUR WAY

03

01

02

03

M8 GRAN

COUPE

X3/X4M

COMPETITION

M340i

XDRIVE

460kW/750Nm

$400,

375kW/600Nm

$140,

275kW/500Nm

$100,

door trims that eliminate virtually all

storage space. Current information

suggests that the M2 CS will have

unique interior trim, but all prototypes

spotted have had standard M2 interiors,

so it may be that any differentiation will

be cosmetic in the form of Alcantara

trim panels.

The biggest unknown, of course, is

the price. The M3 and M4 CS carry a

price premium of exactly $50,000 over

their respective Pure variants, putting

the M2 CS at $149,900. This would put

BMW’s baby hottie smack bang in the

middle of the M4 Pure ($139,529) and

M4 Competition ($156,529) variants, so

we’d expect to see the M2 CS occupy

the space left by the departure of the

M3 at around $125,000-$130,000,

though this is pure speculation.

Nevertheless, the M2 Competition has

been a revelation, elevating the already

excellent M2 to the verge of greatness,

offering a mix of performance and pure

fun many thought BMW had forgotten

how to offer. With more power, greater

grip, a more flexible suspension setup

and angrier looks, the M2 CShasthe

potential to be one of the mostexciting

performance cars of its era.

➜

➜

LEFT

No word on interior

trim yet but expect

a similar treatment

as M3 and M4 CS –

lots of Alcantara,

basically

There’s no official

word yet, but

expect to see

this in your BMW

showroom in 2020

ARTIST’S IMPRESSION