2027 BMW M2 xDrive: Goodbye Oversteer, Hello All-Weather Grip

BMW’s M cars were never the best all-weather sports cars. With rear-wheel drive and gobs of power, they tended to be three-season sports cars in most of the United States. If you wanted something fun in New England, you bought an Audi. But in recent years, BMW has been adding all-wheel drive to most of its M cars, making them friendlier all-season toys, so it was only a matter of time before it reached the little M2. Starting this summer, customers can order a BMW M2 xDrive, making it the first M2 with such an option.

Anyone who’s driven the current BMW M2 knows that grip isn’t one of its problems. With its short wheelbase, wide hips, and massive, sticky tires, the M2 can hold corners at speeds that would normally be taken sideways in previous M cars. Can it overwhelm its rear tires and become a smokey drift machine on command? Yeah, that’s only because of the mega torque on tap, but unless your right foot is heavy, it’s a tenacious little grip machine. Now adding xDrive makes it more capable when temperatures drop and roads get slippery.

In any condition, the M2’s xDrive system works just like any other M xDrive system. It uses a multi-plate clutch to engage the front axle when necessary, along with a limited-slip Active M Differential at the rear axle, splitting power between the rear wheels. Like with its older siblings, front axle grip can be turned off—but only when Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) is also turned off—for rear smokey rear tire destruction. While the M2 is normally commended for being one of the last bastions of manual transmission goodness, the M2 xDrive predictably only comes with an eight-speed auto. Power remains the same, with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo S58 engine making 473 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque.

BMW claims the M2 xDrive can hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds with the eight-speed auto, which is only 0.3 seconds faster than its claimed time for the rear-drive car. With a one-foot rollout, the time drops to 3.3 seconds. The quarter-mile happens in 12.8 seconds, but 12.5 with the same rollout. Top speed is 155 mph, or 177 mph if you spec the M Driver’s Package.

Everything else about the M2 xDrive is pretty much the same as the standard car, except for one new color option. Added to its BMW Individual color options is Borusan Turkish Blue, seen here. These photos also show the Euro-spec car. The xDrive M2s heading to the U.S. will have an xDrive badge on the trunk.

The BMW M2 already felt unstoppable on a dry back road, but the addition of xDrive will likely make it feel like the sort of road-going weapons that the M3 xDrive and M4 xDrive are. Those cars feel like they bully physics into being whatever they claim physics to be, so expect the M2 xDrive to feel similar. More importantly, customers in colder winter climates can have an M2 without worrying about the lack of grip. Production of the BMW M2 xDrive starts in August 2026 and pricing starts at $73,600 with $1350 destination.