Quote:
Originally Posted by afwares
It's interesting to look back and read all of that now. Last year when I joined the forum I was coming out of a long 10+ year automotive hibernation, getting to know BMW again, but never saw this thread and all the negativity around the N55. So I wasn't influenced by any of that. All I saw was 370hp, 60mph in under 5 seconds, countless YouTube videos with guys thrashing M2's around tracks all over the world, and I knew the N55 had won Ward's Best Engines 3 years in a row and I figured what more could I need? If I had seen this thread, would I have bought into the idea of M cars having S engines but not N engines and been influenced, and would I have shifted course? Hard to know. I don't know that one could call the naysayers wrong, because it's all subjective, and opinions are opinions. Now that production of that car has ended and the dust has settled, the only objective way to judge is the sales data and I'm sure BMW would say it all worked out nicely. For me personally, I can only say that I'd rather have this than not have this...
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100% This.
I was in pretty much the same position as you. I had a big hiatus from the car scene for several years. I had my E36 M3 that stayed garaged and my work/business car. I was heavy into the car scene back when I first got my 95 M3, but got into other things and life just went on. I had that car for 13 years. It's funny reading this thread because it may have influenced me also. I didn't get back into cars until 2014 and had went a whole other direction with an Evo X. I was so caught up with that car and didn't follow anything about BMW, until I started hearing whispers of an M2. I knew about the M3/M4 from watching Youtube videos, mainly from Nick Murray and Matt Moreman of Obsessed Garage.
A member from one of the the Evo X forums traded his Evo in for a M235i Xdrive. This is where I learned more of the 2 series, while still hearing whispers on that forum about an M2. The old BMW forum that I used to visit was pretty dead and didn't talk much about the newer BMW's. I came across this forum and when I saw pictures of the M2 when it was announced, I thought to myself
" wow, this is the car I should have got". By that time however, I was already late to the party as far as getting an allocation, at least that's what I thought at the time. Knowing what I know now, I realize I wasn't that late and could have got one, maybe not as soon as some, but much sooner than I eventually did.