The BMW M2 Turbo Design Edition Looks Backwards In More Ways Than One

Trace a line back from the present-day BMW M2, back through several other small, boosty coupes from Munich, and you end up at the 2002 Turbo. Launched in 1973, this was the first turbocharged road car from a European manufacturer, and boy, did it want you to know about it.

As well as wearing a set of lurid stripes bearing the BMW Motorsport blue, violet and red, it came with decals on the front bumper that spelled out the word ‘turbo’ backwards, so that when the driver of whatever underpowered nonsense people were kicking about in in 1973 spotted it in their rear view, they knew the car behind them was liable to dispatch them in a shower of wastegate noise at any moment.

Fast forward over 50 years, and every combustion car BMW makes is turbocharged, let alone its performance cars, so there’s not much point in the company shouting about it. We all love a bit of nostalgia, though, which is why BMW’s just launched the M2 Turbo Design Edition in the US.

Available only in Alpine White, it comes with a series of hand-painted stripes in those same signature M colours, along with a partially black bonnet with ‘odrut’ written across the power bulge, echoing the very same graphic on the bumper of the 2002 Turbo.

Elsewhere, you get a carbon lip spoiler on the bootlid, and BMW’s latest M dual-spoke wheels. They’re black as standard, but can be optioned in gold, like the ones in these pics. On the inside, it’s usual special edition fare, with lots of ‘Turbo’ badging and some M colour trimmings on the seats.

You also get an extra pedal and a strange lever sprouting from the centre console, because the M2 Turbo Design Edition only comes as a manual. That’s paired with its standard 473bhp, 406lb ft twin-turbo straight-six, capable of sending the M2 to 62mph in 4.1 seconds and on to a limited 155mph. As with the standard car, though, you can tick a box for the M Driver’s Package and raise that to 177mph.

It’s only been confirmed for the US so far, and for what’s basically some extra paint and badges, it’s not cheap. The Turbo Design Edition starts at $84,075 (around £63,000), or around $20,000 more than the entry point of a regular M2.