The 2025 BMW M2 Manual Is All the Sports Car You Need | Tested

• We test the recently refreshed BMW M2 with the six-speed manual.
• With manuals so few and far between in 2025, we think this might be the best M car on sale.
• But the M2 is so much more than a powerful engine and a stick — read on to find out why.

The very green 2025 BMW M2 you see before you is as light as M-badged machinery gets in 2025. The six-speed manual our test vehicle came equipped with weighs a touch less than the eight-speed automatic, and the carbon-fiber-backed bucket seats, carbon roof, and even the carbon mirror caps all help save a little weight. And yet it still tipped our scales at a hefty 3,748 pounds.

When the smallest and lightest BMW M car on sale is spitting distance from two tons the whole "driver's car" seems like it loses a bit of its sincerity. On paper, at least. But if it doesn't feel like it when you're behind the wheel then it just plain doesn't matter. Thankfully, that's exactly the trick the recently refreshed M2 pulls off. 

The M2 a driver's car? You betcha

On the road, BMW's smallest M car manages to feel light on its feet and totally planted at the same time. It changes direction sharply without being on a knife's edge like the last M2 always was, and despite being largely bereft of feel when you're just bobbling around town, the steering starts to come to life as you pick up the pace. You get a real sense of which way the front is headed and the confidence to neatly thread this Java Green needle from corner to corner.

Even during a rare rainstorm in Southern California, the M2 always found a way to put its power down — largely thanks to some meaty 275-section front and 285-section rear Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires. In the dry, even more so. Despite being rear-driven with 473 horsepower (20 more ponies than it had in 2023 and '24) and 406 lb-ft of torque, the rear end never wants to spit you sideways. I could even feel the rear-mounted M differential shuffle power from wheel to wheel as I slithered my way out of low-speed corners on the Edmunds' handling circuit. 

That was after we strapped our testing kit to it. In our performance testing this M2 hit 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds; the last M2 Competition we tested in 2019 hit 0-60 in 4.6. It also blitzed the quarter mile in 12.2 seconds @ 117.4 mph (half a second quicker and 7 mph faster than the old M2 Comp), and pulled 1.07 average g on our skidpad. That M2 Comp managed 1.02 g.

The new M2's only weakness comes in braking, where it needed 113 feet to stop from 60 mph compared to the older, lighter car's 108 feet. The pedal itself is numb and the antilock brake system comes on too strong, and we'd have liked a pedal with more feedback so we didn't have to lean on the safety system so much. BMW also allows you to change the "brake feel" in the settings, along with the stiffness of the dampers, the response of the engine, the weight of the steering, and there is a 10-position traction control system. As nice as all that is, we found that putting the engine in angry, leaving everything else in comfy, and turning off rev matching (something you couldn't do without disabling traction control in the last M2) was the best way to go. 

As soft as it is sharp

Because even though it's quicker, faster and stickier, the new M2 is also a much more well-rounded car than the M2 that came before it. It's now a car you'll be able to learn from. If you're a novice and this is your first truly fast car — and trust me, once you get up it, this thing is every inch a proper M car — you'll be quick right out of the box. But as you spend time with it and actually put the effort in to learn the ins and outs, you'll only get better and more competent. 

And then we come to the little shifty bit in between the seats. While it is far from the nicest manual you can buy, it feels like a solid improvement over BMW manuals of the past. It feels more direct and doesn't leave you guessing as to which gate is where, like so many small fast BMWs have in the past. Thanks to both that and this car's high limits and approachable nature, it's also the first time I think the $2,500 for the M Driver's pack is a good option to specify because it grants you a day at a BMW Performance Driving Center, an experience that'll allow you to safely get a feel for just how capable this car is. 

But when you're not interested in a lap time or clipping that next apex, the M2's more mature side starts to shine through — it is a much nicer place to spend time than the last one. It doesn't quite live up to the $82,075 as-tested price, but the materials are a huge step up in quality, the sound system is nicer to listen to, and there is far less outside noise and vibrations that make their way into the cabin. The tech might be a little overwhelming, but you don't have to use all of it all of the time; just set the A/C to your desired temperature, put some Ultra Naté on the stereo and drive. 

You'll want to, not least because in addition to everything else, the M2's ride no longer feels flinty at low speed. It dials out road imperfections, somehow getting even more supple the faster you go, and the seats are both supportive and well bolstered. It's as good a road tripper as any two-door sports car this side of a Corvette. Everything about this new M2 — save for maybe the way it looks and the braking — is a bona fide upgrade.

In fact, it might be the most wantable M car on sale right now because of the way it enables you and backs you up at the same time. Plus, if you skip some of the carbon-fiber bits and bobs, go for the stick (which you absolutely should in this case), and pick a color that isn't a $3,000 option as our car came with, the whole thing can be had for less than $75,000. In 2025, that's a bargain.