2027 BMW M2 xDrive Adds AWD, Cuts 0-60 to 3.6 Seconds

The 2027 BMW M2 xDrive is the first all-wheel-drive version of BMW’s smallest M coupe, and it reaches 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, three-tenths quicker than the rear-drive automatic. Power is unchanged at 473 horsepower from the twin-turbo inline-six. It starts at $74,950 and goes on sale this summer.

The quicker number arrives with 121 extra pounds and one hard rule: you cannot pair the manual gearbox with all-wheel drive. BMW’s answer to the people who will hate that is a button that drops the car back into rear-drive, with stability control switched fully off.

What All-Wheel Drive Buys the M2

The M xDrive system here is lifted straight from the M3 and M4, and enthusiasts have asked for it on the M2 for years. The mechanical recipe under the hood doesn’t change. The 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six still makes 473 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque, identical to the rear-drive automatic. What changes is how that power reaches the road.

With a driven front axle now able to put the engine’s full output to use, the sprint to 60 mph drops from 3.9 to 3.6 seconds on BMW’s measure. Using the one-foot rollout method common to American testing, BMW quotes 3.3 seconds. Top speed holds at 155 mph, or 177 mph with the optional M Driver’s Package. BMW also says the xDrive car gets a model-specific transfer case control unit and its own wheel-slip tuning, so the front axle stays in the background until the rear runs out of grip.

You also get a staggered wheel and tire setup: 19-inch forged wheels up front on 275-section rubber, 20-inch wheels in the rear wrapped in 285s. Track-focused tires can be specified as an option. The full breakdown sits in BMW’s official M2 press materials.

The 0.3-Second Gain Costs 121 Pounds

All-wheel drive is never free, and the bill here is mass. A second driveshaft, the front differential and the transfer case all add up, and the scale tells the story.

• 3,988 pounds is the xDrive car’s curb weight in US trim.
• 121 pounds separates it from the rear-drive automatic M2.
• 218 pounds is the gap to the lighter, harder-edged M2 CS.

That is the trade buyers are signing up for. The xDrive car launches harder and holds traction in the rain or on a cold morning, and it carries the heft to every corner after that. For most owners on real roads, the extra grip will be worth more than the lost pounds. For anyone chasing the lightest, purest version of the car, the math points the other way and toward the rear-drive models.

BMW is also using this launch to introduce M Ignite, a pre-chamber combustion process the company developed in-house and says came out of its racing program. BMW plans to extend it across every straight-six M engine starting mid-decade, so the M2 xDrive is the leading edge of a wider engine change rather than a one-off.

Why the Manual Won’t Pair With xDrive

Here is the line that will set off the comment sections. Every M2 xDrive comes with the eight-speed automatic, full stop. The six-speed manual survives, but only behind the rear wheels. If you want three pedals, you take rear-wheel drive; if you want all-wheel drive, you take the auto.

BMW isn’t killing the stick. The rear-drive manual M2, rated at 453 horsepower in that configuration, carries on in the lineup, and the company has kept open its run of manual rear-drive M cars even as it adds electrified hardware elsewhere. The xDrive system simply wasn’t engineered to talk to a clutch pedal, and building that link for a low-volume variant was never going to happen.

So the fastest M2 you can buy is also the one you can’t row yourself. That is a real loss for the slice of buyers who bought the M2 precisely because it still offered an analog gearbox. It is also why the rear-drive cars suddenly matter more in the range, not less.

A Button That Turns the AWD Off

BMW clearly knows who it risks annoying, because the M2 xDrive ships with the same escape hatch as its bigger siblings. At the press of a control, the car switches to a pure rear-drive mode that sends every bit of torque to the back axle.

And in that mode the safety net comes down with it. Here is what the setup does:

• Disengages the front axle entirely, turning the M2 into a rear-drive car on demand.
• Forces stability control fully off whenever rear-drive mode is active, so there is no electronic intervention catching the tail.
• Leaves drifts, slides and burnouts a throttle stab away, the same party trick the M3 and M4 already offer.

It is a neat bit of having it both ways. You buy all-wheel drive for the bad-weather commute and the quicker launch, then defeat it on a dry track when you want the rear to step out. The hardware that adds 121 pounds also includes the means to pretend it isn’t there.

Where the $74,950 Sticker Sits

Full 2027 pricing for the M2 range isn’t out yet, but BMW has set the xDrive model’s starting figure at $74,950 including the destination charge. That places it carefully between the cars buyers will cross-shop it against.

• It is about $4,600 above a base 2026 M2, the premium BMW is charging for the all-wheel-drive hardware and the standard automatic.
• It comes in roughly $18,100 under an M4 Competition xDrive, the larger coupe it trails by just 0.2 second to 60 mph despite giving up 50 horsepower to the 523-hp M4 Competition.

On those numbers the xDrive M2 looks like the value play in BMW’s M coupe stack, close to the M4’s pace for a five-figure discount. Whether a BMW M car earns that kind of money is a separate question, and one worth weighing against how much real-world performance the all-wheel-drive system actually adds for the way you drive. The launch color is new too: Individual Borusan Turkish Blue, the shade BMW chose to show the car off. Production starts in August at the San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico, with US sales following in late summer. The configurator details will land on the official M2 coupe page closer to launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the 2027 BMW M2 xDrive cost?

The 2027 BMW M2 xDrive starts at $74,950, a figure that includes BMW’s destination and handling charge. That is roughly $4,600 more than a base 2026 M2 and about $18,100 less than an M4 Competition xDrive.

Can you get the BMW M2 xDrive with a manual transmission?

No. Every M2 xDrive uses the eight-speed automatic. The six-speed manual is still offered, but only on rear-wheel-drive M2 models, where it is rated at 453 horsepower.

How much quicker is the M2 xDrive than the rear-drive M2?

BMW quotes 3.6 seconds to 60 mph for the xDrive car, three-tenths quicker than the 3.9-second rear-drive automatic. By the one-foot rollout method, the xDrive figure drops to 3.3 seconds. Top speed is unchanged at 155 mph, or 177 mph with the M Driver’s Package.

Does the M2 xDrive replace the rear-drive M2?

No. The all-wheel-drive model is an addition to the lineup. Both the rear-drive automatic and the rear-drive manual continue alongside it.

When does the 2027 BMW M2 xDrive go on sale?

Production begins in August 2026 at BMW’s San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico, with US sales starting in late summer 2026.