Six Ways The New BMW M2 Is Just Like A 20 Year-Old M3

Well in the latest episode of CarThrottle’s adventure with an E36 M3, they also got an M2 and managed to come up with six (six!) reasons to back the argument that the M2 is the ugly M3’s true successor:

After the 20 year-old M3 tries to kill itself (“If you’re still think of buying an E36 M3, don’t.”), we get to the comparison:

1. Neither the M2 nor the E36 M3 are “spikey,” meaning they’re nimble, light, and predictable, making driving them relatively easy and having the driver seem like a total badass.
2. Size-wise, the new M2 is closer to the old M3, which is funny because one is a 2 and the other is a 3!
3. Burnouts are universal.
4. Both cars will manipulate your emotions. This argument honestly is a little weak, and the video gets into something about M4s and M3s and turbos and spanking and didn’t really make sense.
5. The manual gearboxes in both cars are similar, with easy shifts helped by short shift-throws.
6. The two cars both have have similar engine and exhaust noises thanks to similar engines (and an aftermarket exhaust on the E36 M3).

So, that’s Alex’s reasons for why the M2 is a perfect successor for the E36 M3 (and any sports car, ever). He still probably should have just gotten an E46, but whatever.

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