BMW’s next M2 CS was spotted out testing recently at the Nürburgring clad in a camouflage wrap and sporting black wheels. It seems late in the day for track testing if BMW is revealing the 2026 M2 CS at Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, but we do have an answer to a question. Black wheels on an M2 CS is just plain wrong, but a few days later, it was spotted wearing gold wheels like an M4 CS, so it looks like customers will have an option. The similar color used on the previous 2020 BMW M2 CS was called Gold Matte, and looked amazing with Misano Blue Metallic paint, although some F87 buyers still chose black.
M2 CS Rumors And Leaks
According to rumors from typically solid unnamed sources, the 2026 BMW M2 CS will arrive with 525 horsepower, making it the most powerful M2 CS yet. While that might not seem like insane power from a BMW, this is a small rear-wheel-drive coupe the size of an E46 generation 3 Series.
When we last drove an M2 CS, back in 2021, its turbocharged straight-six engine made 444 horsepower with 406 lb-ft of torque, and could hit 60 mph from a standing start in 3.8 seconds using the automatic transmission. It was so good and sized so perfectly that we declared the M2 CS to be BMW’s best M3 yet. We expect similar attention to detail this time, and the signs are good.
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Expect Copious Amounts Of Carbon Fiber
While there will be the usual carbon-fiber overload, rumor has it that the 2025 M2 CS will only shed 66 pounds over the standard M2. However, with all the extra horsepower and just 3,679 pounds of curb weight, it should be phenomenally fast. We can also see the more aggressive bumpers and the ducktail-style spoiler of the M4 CSL, but another rumor is that the M2 CS will arrive with yellow daytime running lights instead of pure white. We hope not, as that would be a move to follow trends harking back to the European yellow fog lights of the 1980s. Whether you like that look or not, it will date the CS M2 as the yellow light trend fades away again. Then again, the F90 M5 CS still looks decent, and with the gold wheels, perhaps it makes more sense.
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If the M2 does pack the same 523 hp as the M4 Competition xDrive, the fact that the M2 CS is smaller and rear-wheel-drive rather than all-wheel-drive should make it more entertaining to drive. Our only solid criticism of the last one was the steering having an un-BMW-like numbness to it, but even then, the performance was so overwhelmingly good that you had to concentrate to notice. If BMW fixes that and makes improvements to an already incredibly good-performance car, the 2026 M2 CS will be an absolute legend of a car.
Like the previous M2 CS and other CS versions of BMW M cars, we expect a similar 2,000-unit, one-year, limited production run, and the allocations to be snapped up quickly. We were incredibly lucky to spend a week with the last one, and understand just how lucky anyone who’s able to reserve and pay around $100,000 for a small performance coupe this time around will be. For now, we’ll just skip to 9:30 in the video below and live vicariously.
H/T: BMW Blog
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