I walked away from an M4 for an M235i because of size. The M4 is like a 5 series. If the M2 were available at the time I would make the same call in its favor.

I hate myself sometimes when my ‘14 M235i loses seat-time to my ‘03 325i wagon because the wagon has real steering feel.

I’ve been reading all your posts on this and I especially agree with this one. My garage recently was home to an M235i, an E46 325i touring (daily), and an all-original E30 325is.

I wish it was the slayer of the M3/4!

^^ THIS.

The current 550i is way closer to an M5 than the E60 was...just saying.

From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty minimal (see my response below). Could be wrong.

Not quite:

The M3/4 are bloated cars. If I wanted something the size of an E39 M5 I would have gotten one. There’s just no excuse for BMW not bringing the M2 up to the M3/4 power levels other than fear of revealing the flaws in their “flagship” sports car. It’s no different than Porsche in their Cayman vs. 911 decisions. You’re…

Just to be clear — I haven’t done the Dinan yet. I’ve really been on the fence. Yes there are some great upgrades as part of this package, but I think it’s pretty marginal stuff.

Thanks (seriously) for posting the technical training. Pretty interesting stuff — particularly the comparison between the cars. This hasn’t been very clear in many of the articles or even what’s been provided (in my experience) by dealers.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say “delusional” just for pointing out that the power isn’t dramatically improved — especially not given what’s possible if BMW wasn’t afraid of making the M3/4 irrelevant. That’s where I’m disappointed. That said, let’s take a look at your points:

I understand this, in theory, but the M235i isn’t a bad track car and is definitely an upgrade over the 135i — particularly in braking. Yes, the M2 will have larger brakes and beefier cooling — which will make a difference, but I wouldn’t put the M2 and M235i that far apart on a track-day, especially given the…

It's hugely under-stated. Car and Driver did 4.3 to 60 in the M235i. I'll bet this is 3.9 or 4.0 in their hands.

Granted the new camaros are better, but I have an M235i and never cross-shopped the two. Yes th performance is similar, but there's no comparison on refinement and design. They're just different kinds of speed.

Yeah. I ordered an M235i in manual and ended up with the ZF 8 speed instead. It's that much faster and my E30 (recently sold) scratched the manual itch for me.

And yes — I see the revised crankshaft, etc but this should have the S55 and BMW chickened out by not giving it to us!

Come on. This was a great article but “completely different” is hyperbole. It's the same engine and interior with a mild tune and some bolt-on parts. Suspension changes were pretty minimal too.

What’s the point? Showing off for China? NK has a pathetic excuse for an Air Force. Their Sputnik changes nothing.

Sorry, but I have an M235i and I don’t see the point and canceled my order. It’s a big premium for what Incan achieve with a Dinan chip. The rest is either appearance stuff (which is more I keeping with modern BMW trends than classic — I also have an E46 and just sold my E30 so I would know) or its a VERY marginal…