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Want a BMW M2 Convertible?

German tuner Lightweight turns standard 2 Series Cab into a full-on M car

Published: 11 May 2018

The BMW M2 Convertible doesn’t exist. Not officially, anyway. But this is no hallucination, either: a German tuner by the name of Lightweight Performance has turned a regular 2 Series Convertible into a full-on, open-topped M2. We suspect it might not be so, um, lightweight.

“Visual conversions from a 2 Series Convertible to an M2 already exist,” explains Lightweight. “So that would be no challenge for us at all.”

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Their challenge instead, then, was to insert the M2 Coupe’s exquisite list of technical content into a body it wasn’t really designed for. Naturally. This Lightweight car – nicknamed ‘Hillary’ for reasons we really don’t understand – gets M2 axles front and rear, the M2’s diff, modified rear track-rods, Bilstein clubsport suspension, and even transmission, DSC and diff software from the hardcore M4 GTS.

To that it adds the M2’s seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. And to that, it adds the party piece: a tuned version of the M2’s lovely straight-six turbo engine – which indeed, BMW pinched from the M4 – here producing 422bhp and 443lb ft of torque. It’s been treated to a titanium exhaust with carbon end pipes. Lightweight reckons on a top speed of 186mph, which really is more than enough. Especially if the roof's down.

There’s more, naturally. It sticks with the 2 Series cab’s original brakes (erm), but adds steel braided brake lines, gets the M4 GTS’s ABS alignment, sits on 20in/21in front/rear alloys, and some things on the outside that you can probably see. Things like a carbon fibre front splitter with side blades. And a lightweight carbon rear diffuser and spoiler. And the carbon kidney grille and bonnet and interior trim.

The overall result is a car that will, according to Lightweight, allow you to enjoy “country roads and mountain passes with utmost pleasure”. If you want one, Lightweight says it’ll cost €75,000 for the whole thing.

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As ever, pepper your opinions into the salad box of comments below.

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