Since the BMW M2’s debut, enthusiasts have lauded the car as a return to form. Some even claim the car slots right into the gap left by a swelling — in dimensions, curb weight, and features — BMW M3. And indeed, while once the gold standard for compact premium sports coupes, today the M3 and M4 feel very much premium and sporty, but perhaps not so compact. More recently, BMW announced the addition of an M Performance Track Kit for the smallest modern M car. The decision to omit the option from the M3 and M4 only serves to bolster the impression that the M2 truly has become the modern M3 in everything but name. But is that really the only reason BMW skipped bringing similar equipment to the G80 and G82?
M Performance Track Kit: Born (Partially) From the M4
In case you missed it, the M Performance Track Kit takes a variety of M Performance parts — some, ironically, lifted from the M4 GT4 itself — and turns the regular M2 into a veritable street-legal race car. It’s pricy, at €23,500 plus tax in Germany. But, for track rats looking for the OEM touch, there’s really no substitute. Doubly so considering the components are also road-legal in a country known for strict road regulations. A front splitter with diffuser, rear swan-neck wing — adjustable, offering two levels of downforce — and coilover suspension are the highlights, with the damper system being described as both “infinitely variable” and “first special motorsport damper system to also be road-legal.” Integrated aero flicks, wheel arch diffusers, and an upstream engine oil cooler all contribute even more to the car’s aerodynamics and performance in the pursuit of lap times.
That’s all well and good. But where the heck is the M Performance Track Kit for the G80 M3 and G82 M4? Considering the swan-neck spoiler comes from the GT4 car, the kit feels like a conspicuous omission from the G80/G82 M Performance catalog. The high price of installation also makes more sense on the M3 and M4. After all, both are higher MSRP cars than the M2. It’s even more confusing when you consider the M2 Racing exists. While that car isn’t road-legal — and still has quite a bit going on that sets it apart from the M Performance Track Kit — it starts to feel a bit crowded in the off-the-shelf race M2 section.
M Performance Track Kit: Did the M3 and M4 Miss Out?
Not that we’re complaining. After all, options are always good — and that’s in fact the point we’re trying to make. Why wouldn’t BMW offer a similar Track Kit for the M3 and M4, unless the M2 truly has taken up the mantle as being the accessible, toss-able, “agile” compact that the M3 was once known as? The reality is simple: being the least expensive M car, the M2 truly has become the next generation of the M3. The M2 being the sole recipient of the M Performance Track Kit is simply the latest confirmation of the car’s ascension to the M3’s throne.
Since we don’t know what the ratio looks like — vis a vis M2 track drivers and road-goers, and how the M3 and M4 stack up — we’re left to assume BMW did the research. Based on the price, the M2’s M Performance Track Kit couldn’t have been cheap to develop. We assume doing the same math for the M3 and/or M4 didn’t pencil out. That’s surprising, since the G82 has a long life still ahead of it — production shouldn’t until June 2029. Not so much on the G80 — which frankly would be a less likely candidate anyway — that leaves us June of next year. Of course, since we actually have a platform to ask these kinds of questions on, it seems silly not to take advantage. Would an M Performance Track Kit interest you as someone who’s ordering an M3 or M4?
