What You Learn After Driving the 2026 M2 CS

Nobody has accused the current M2 of being boring. The latest in a long line of small performance BMWs, the M2 takes the M3’s S58 engine and all 473 of its horsepower, and packs it into a smaller–if not much lighter–package. The result is joyful and playful, just a fun car at home in any situation. It also continues the tradition of BMW building a wonderful, small performance coupe, the thing it undoubtedly does best.

For 2026, BMW is giving the M2 the CS treatment, creating a harder-core, more driver-focused M2. Like the current M3 and M4 CS, that means more power, less weight, styling tweaks, and no manual gearbox option. Unlike those cars, the M2 stays rear-wheel drive. What does that mean for the experience? I spent a day with the CS in South Carolina at the Michelin Proving Grounds and on the surrounding roads to find out.

It’s Fast

You’re probably rolling your eyes right now. This auto-only CS weighs 100 pounds less than the base car with a manual gearbox, and has an extra 50 hp, giving it a total of 523. Of course it’s fast.

Off the line, it doesn’t really feel quicker than the base M2. That’s probably because our test was conducted on damp roads and the M2 CS doesn’t gain all-wheel drive. However, in gear acceleration, once the car is done clawing for grip, is noticeably more urgent. This thing pulls. Anyone familiar with the S58 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six will understand, but mid-range power is excellent.

There were a number of times on the short road route where I put my foot down and realized about a second later that if I didn’t take my foot off the gas, I’d be in jail. Paired with the now ubiquitous ZF 8-speed auto, it’s a great combination. On track, that broad powerband is ultra-impressive. The first hit of torque will break the rear loose when grip is low, but get through that and the S58 powers to redline without any true discernible loss of power. It’s pretty fantastic.

It Probably Wouldn’t Be Better With a Manual

I know, heresy, but let me explain. Since the F8X-gen M3s, I’ve preferred M cars equipped with a DCT or automatic. It’s more the way modern engines work, than anything, delivering a huge smack of torque across the entire rev range. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it harder to be smooth with a manual considering how these engines deliver power. They feel more natural with an automatic, like they were built for them.

And now that the ZF 8-speed has gotten so good in manual mode, so responsive, it feels engaging. You just need to be conscious of the shift speed settings, and choosing the right one. On the damp roads, putting it in its most aggressive map resulted in jarring shifts that upset the balance. And even if it wasn’t damp, they were just unpleasant on the road. The second quickest setting felt just fine and didn’t sacrifice speed. It was the same when the track was wet. The slightly less aggressive shifts in the second quickest mode kept everything in line in the rain.

When the track started drying, though, I popped it in the quickest setting. That setting needs full commitment, you need to be flat out to get the best, for it to feel natural. It bangs shifts so hard that it’ll get annoying on the road at an average pace, but it’s perfect for the track. So, for most settings, put Drivelogic in the second setting, on a dry track, put it in three.

Handles Great, Limited Feel

The complaint with modern BMWs is that the steering is quick and accurate, but lacks feel. It’s much the same in the CS. I found myself hoping for more weight and communication of what the front tires were feeling, not artificial weight depending on what mode I was in.

That said, thing thing has grip, the front end specifically. It sits lower than the standard car and has more camber. It’s pointy, and I mean that in the best way possible. It refuses to wash out unless you’re being a true idiot. Once Michelin’s larger handling track started to dry for our lead-follow sessions, the CS was easily quicker than the lead M3 Competitions. The more aggressive front end lets me turn in harder and get back to power sooner on tighter corners than the instructor in the M3. That didn’t impact it in high speed corners, where it was stable and predictable. There were times where you can feel it start to dance at higher speeds, the rear moving away before the front, but it wasn’t sudden or uncontrollable. Just a signal from the rear end that grip was wearing thin.

Outstanding Traction Control

On track, I left the car in M Dynamic Mode (MDM), which gives you a safety net but lets the car move around. It keeps traction and stability control activated, just in a more permissive setting. It could slide on corner exit with a tiny bit of slip, but it surely wouldn’t let you get into trouble. Kind of the perfect setting for a damp or drying track.

But on the autocross course, which was also damp and drying, we were told to play with the 10-setting traction control. This is a much more granular control, but basically ESC is turned off and then the rear wheels are given 10 different levels of allowable slip to the rear wheels, with 10 being the least permissive and 0 meaning it’s all up to you.

I dropped down through the levels on the course, seeing just how dumb the car would allow me to be. Turns out, I could be pretty dumb starting in level four. It’s an intuitive system that I turned down on each run until I turned it all the way off. I was expecting the car to bite me at that moment and become uncontrollable. It didn’t.

I think that’s partly because running down through the modes earned my trust in the chassis and steering, and just how much power was needed to slide it around. Turns out this is a delightful car without any aids on, easy to slide and look like a hero in without much effort or skill. I had a blast.

Too Many Modes

BMW does have a mode problem these days. This car has so many different settings and modes that it’s nearly impossible to get through all of them in a day of driving. There are modes for everything from the traction control to the steering feel, setups for street or track, shift speed and sound. It’s too much.

While I appreciate the idea of giving the driver granular control over every aspect of the car, sometimes it’s better to just pre-determine a setup and make that the default.

It Looks Great

When the M2 debuted, it received immediate backlash. Nothing new for BMW designs, of course. Even if the car looks great, the one that came before it get lauded for how elegant it was and the new car derided for being hideous.

This G87-generation M2 went all in on angles. It’s supposed to be inspired by box flares, and it shows. The CS continues that theme and features updates to the grilles along with a new splitter, one that isn’t made of carbon fiber because they don’t want it scraping along the ground. It also gets a bespoke set of forged gold wheels, a different design than the accessory wheels you can get on the base M2.

The most obvious change is the carbon fiber trunk with the ducktail spoiler, which is tall enough that you can see it in the rearview mirror. It looks interesting, a true differentiator to the base M2.

It’s also the main new carbon panel on the car, as the hood on this CS remains stock. It also doesn’t get the yellow running lights of the other CS cars. BMW says these choices were made because of cost. They wanted it to be under $100,000, and that’s what had to be done to maintain that.

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Now, is this the M2 to buy? The additional power is nice, but the handling is the real highlight. It feels more nimble and lithe than the base car, more connected, and the conditions meant I sampled it with the Pilot Sport 4S tires, not the Cup 2 or Cup 2 R. On a more aggressive tire, I bet it’s even more impressive.

If you’re in the market for an M2 and have the budget to stretch to the CS, I’d do it. It retains everything I like about the base car and sharpens it, and it looks even better. Seems like a win.

Look for many more thoughts on the M2 CS in the next issue of Roundel.