BMW M2 review

However, you won’t be surprised to learn that accessing the M2’s full performance potential will make these figures slump considerably, meaning a range of fewer than 200 miles from the car’s 52-litre petrol tank isn’t an unrealistic expectation.

Depending on the transmission, the M2’s first year of VED will set you back an eye-watering £1,650 or £2,340 – although this figure will be absorbed into the list price. After that, the BMW is subject to the extra annual charge for vehicles that cost over £40,000 when new, which applies from the second time the vehicle is taxed up until it is six years old.

Business users will be equally hard hit, the M2’s high CO2 emissions resulting in a Benefit-in-Kind rating of 37%. That means owners in the higher income tax band of 40% will face an annual bill of more than £9,000 for both the automatic and manual gearbox versions.

You’ll have to continue to dig deep when it comes to insurance, with the M2 featuring a group 40 rating. Still, it benefits from all the latest anti-theft technology, so you can be reasonably confident your car will still be there when you return.

According to our experts the BMW M2 is expected to maintain 57 per cent of its resale value after three years or 36,000 miles. That’s just ahead of the equivalent 718 Cayman GTS, which is predicted to hang on to 56 per cent over the same period. Moreover, this is likely to be the last pure internal combustion-engined M2 ever, so you could consider this a possible future classic investment – although you could be waiting a long time for that to happen.

You won’t need to be a keen BMW fan to be able to spot the M2’s performance potential. Based on the standard 2 Series (which is based on the shortened version of the BMW 4 Series platform), the M2 is around 50mm wider and gets the bulging wheel arches to match. Overall, the M2 is an aggressive and purposeful machine, even if it lacks some of the style and sophistication of the low-slung Porsche Cayman.