To showcase its heritage, BMW brought out to Laguna Seca the spiritual predecessors of the BMW M2 – the 2002 tii Turbo and 1M. And to make things even more exciting, they put the cars on the track for a few slow-paced laps. It’s genuinely wonderful to see the brand new M2, the best of what BMW currently has to offer, side by side with some of the greatest Bavarians in the brand’s 100 year history.
The 2002 tii Turbo, painted in that gorgeous and classic racing livery, looks brilliant and reminds us of what BMWs were always supposed to be.
When looking at the 1 Series M, we get a very good look at exactly where the M2 has come from. It’s almost as if we’re looking at a before and after image when looking at the pair of them. The 1 Series M is the car that inspired the idea of the M2, as it reintroduced BMW to small, punchy and lightweight sports cars in the same air as the E46 M3.
Now that the M2 is here, we can see the lineage come together to create it. It has lessons learned from each and every performance car BMW has ever made baked into its DNA. The BMW 2002 tii Turbo and 1 Series M represent some of the best of where BMW has been and the M2 represents the best of where BMW is headed.
