India Gets BMW M2 Turbo xDrive; US Keeps the Stick Shift

BMW is sending its all-wheel-drive M2 Turbo Edition to India while the United States keeps the manual-only run, the opposite of how the special was conceived. The 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six still produces 480 hp, but the xDrive car hits 62 mph in 3.7 seconds, besting the rear-wheel-drive manual sold in the US. BMW originally planned the M2 Turbo Design Edition for America, with production in the low hundreds, and 30 units for Mexico.

The xDrive car looks the same as the rear-wheel-drive model, apart from the missing clutch pedal and six-speed shifter. Alpine White paint, hand-painted M stripes, and a black hood power dome carry over. Reversed “turbo” script on the rear reads correctly in a rearview mirror. A carbon-fiber roof and spoiler go with gold-bronze forged wheels, 19 inches in front and 20 at the rear.

BMW

Inside, carbon bucket seats, an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, and a historic turbo badge on the cupholder cover remain. No production number for India has been released. An unconfirmed extra batch could pull on resale values of cars already on American roads, where M2 Turbo listings already exceed the roughly $96,000 top-of-options sticker.

The irony is sharp. The M2 Turbo began as a US-only edition. Buyers in snowy states, who traded the manual shifter for the 8-speed automatic and 442 lb-ft of torque on every other M2, cannot get the AWD version. That automatic gains 37 lb-ft of torque over the manual, and its quicker shifts explain the better sprint times.

Pricing for the M2 Turbo AWD in India has not been announced. US base pricing sits near $84,000, a $15,000 premium over a base M2. Whether the India-only model acquires the same collector cachet is still open.