BMW revealed the M2 coupe less than two months ago, and it’s already entered production. The automaker has announced that the high-powered two-door will start rolling off the assembly line at its San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico. It is the fourth BMW factory to build M cars, joining Munich, Dingolfing and Spartanburg.
Mexico is home to 77 suppliers supplying parts to the new M2. Twenty-six of them developed new components for the car, including the exhaust system, fender covers, side skirts, axles and headlights.
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The M2 is all new for the 2023 model year. It packs the automaker’s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged S58 engine. It delivers 453 horsepower (333 kilowatts) and 406 pound-feet (550 Newton-meters) of torque to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. An eight-speed M Steptronic automatic transmission is available as an option.
With a manual transmission, all that power translates into a time of 4.1 seconds zero to 60 (96 kilometers per hour). That figure drops to 3.9 seconds on the auto-equipped model. BMW electronically limits the M2’s top speed to 155 mph (250 kph), but the M Driver’s Package increases that to 177 mph (284 kph). The car is also larger than the one it replaces, at 4.1 inches long and 1.3 inches wide. BMW has also increased the wheelbase by 2.1 inches, but 0.3 inches less than before.
The 2023 M2 is scheduled to go on sale in the US in April 2023. That same month BMW plans to add a second shift at the factory, adding 500 jobs. Upon arrival, the M2 will have an initial price of $63,194 (all prices include a $995 destination fee). Cars can cost upwards of $77,000, and that’s before adding the M Performance parts available for the coupe, which are abundant for the new model.
The BMW M2 will be launched with five available exterior colors. The company will also include the Adaptive M Suspension and Active M Differential as standard equipment, with 19- and 20-inch light-mixed jet-black wheels on the corners.
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