When the BMW M2 Competition first debuted, there was a lot of talk about its engine. Packing the S55 engine from an M3/M4, the M2 Competition finally brought a proper, bespoke M engine to the model. However, it had less power than the M3 or M4, due to the lack of frontal room for the air intakes needed for the S55 engine. So BMW says. It’s likely that BMW didn’t want the M2 eclipsing the M3, sort of how Porsche intentionally hamstrings the Cayman so as to not eclipse the legendary 911.
So BMW claims 405 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque for the M2 Competition. But Evolve Automotive, the tuning shop the bright green Project Viper M3 and the M2 GTS, put an M2 Comp on the Dyno to see how much power it really makes.
Turns out, though, that it really makes around 409 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. So BMW isn’t too far off the horsepower figure but way underrates its torque figure. That’s not too surprising, though, as when we last tested the M2 Competition, we noticed how it was extremely punchy out of corners and very capable of pushing its tail out with just a simple prod of your right foot.
This shows that the BMW M2 can easily be faster than the stock BMW M3. With that much power and torque, if BMW were to just offer a lighter version (being that the M2 Comp is actually a bit heavier than the standard car), it would stomp an M3.
Also, the Dyno map shows that BMW changed the characteristics of the S55’s powerband for M2-duty, as it comes in far more gradually. This is to aid with the traction issues that have always plagued the stock M3. It also feels less spiky and scary on corner exit than a standard M3.
So not only does the BMW M2 Competition make a ton of power, it does so more smoothly, allowing the it to be even faster.
