The rear-wheel-drive dream just cracked.
BMW finally gave in. They added xDrive to the M2. And if you think this was some brilliant engineering masterplan forged in the fires of purity… well.
Nope.
Frank van Meel, the big boss at BMW M, spilled the beans to Bimmer Today. Translated by BMW Blog. The reason is mundane. Geography.
People in New York, Jersey, and PA want to drive fast cars without switching tires for six months. They live in the snow. So do folks in Michigan and Illinois.
Rear-wheel drive isn’t feasible there. At least, not for customers who insist on keeping all-season rubber mounted through a January thaw. Van Meel says the demand was “a lot.” That’s his quote. “A lot.”
2027 BMW M2
All-season tires killed the RWD dream.
It’s Not Just America
We think the US market is the wild west. BMW agrees. We pushed them to keep manual gearboxes in the E60 and F50 M5s. We got the new M3 CS with a shifter because we asked.
But we weren’t alone.
Switzerland hates winter too. Snow piles up deep. People there want to throw a sports car at a glacier and expect traction. BMW listened to Zurich as loudly as Detroit.
The result is the 2027 BMW M2. It gets quicker. Obviously. Wheels that spin do less work than wheels that grip.
Fast Is The New Standard
The new AWD M2 hits 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. With a one-foot roll? 3.3.
The old RWD version? It did 3.9.
Three-point-six feels conservative. BMW rarely boasts. They likely sat on the numbers to manage expectations. It’ll probably hover near three flat on a real drag strip.
But here is the catch. You lose something.
If you want the automatic gearbox, you now get wheels on all four corners. There is no RWD option with the 8-speed auto anymore. The purest way to experience the S58 inline-six—manual and rear wheels—is the only manual variant left standing.
Still.
473 horsepower. 443 lb-ft of torque. The numbers haven’t moved. The engine remains the same 3.0-liter twin-turvo unit. Just more tires to move.
Euro 7 Nonsense
BMW tweaked the S58 for 2027. Euro 7 emissions. Always emissions.
They added M-Ignite pre-chambers. Fancy ignition stuff. US cars don’t strictly need it, but it’s there anyway. Supposedly. The exhaust note might get a hair louder. Fuel economy may improve. Maybe.
Why fix what wasn’t broken?
The S58 survives Euro 7 with a pulse.
It’s done now. The era of the pure RWD daily-driver M-car in North America is ending. Unless you shift by hand. Then you still get to slide a bit. But only if you’re brave. Or cold.
