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M2 CS Review; A Bad Car that Changed History?

M2 CS Review; A Bad Car that Changed History?

The Smoking Tire Apr 09, 2026 106 min
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About this episode

BMW M2 CS gets a street-and-track reality check, with the hosts praising its adaptive/ceramic-brake feel and comfort-to-sport balance, but questioning whether the $30k premium truly adds fun versus a regular M2—especially given the divisive seats, numb steering, and an auto that doesn’t always “snap” like a DCT. The discussion also dives deep into dyno testing and weather correction factors, plus a detailed update on a Mercedes E500 Cabriolet conversion project. The rest is listener Q&A on quiet road-trip cars, EVs amid gas spikes, and FSD safety.

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Company

Off the Record

"Today's episode is brought to you by Off the Record. We love Off the Record. They're looking out for you. If you get a moving violation in any of the 50 U.S. states, don't plead guilty. Get Off the Record."

This sponsor helps you deal with traffic tickets. Instead of just admitting guilt, they suggest getting a lawyer to represent you for the violation.

Company

Avants

"And also this morning, welcome to Avants. You guys know Avants, right? It's a quarterly print magazine... Now they've got a new membership program allowing you to save money on things that you're buying anyway, like tires."

Avants is a car community/media company. Their membership gives you discounts—here, especially on tires.

Company

Michelin

"Avants members get 10% off a discount tire, plus an additional 10% off all Michelin and BF Goodrich."

Michelin makes tires. The sponsor says Avants members get extra savings on Michelin tires.

Company

BF Goodrich

"Avants members get 10% off a discount tire, plus an additional 10% off all Michelin and BF Goodrich."

BF Goodrich is another tire brand. The sponsor says you can get extra savings on these tires with the membership.

Car

BMW M2

"Zach and I give a thorough street and track review of the BMW M2, and I have a whole lot more details about my project E500 Cabriolet."

The BMW M2 is a small BMW performance car. They’re going to review how it feels both on the road and on a track.

Company

Dream Giveaways

"Guys, the Smoking Tire is giving away a 992.1 Turbo S in partnership with Dream Giveaways. We're giving away a $275,000 car with some slick choice mods."

Dream Giveaways is the company helping run the contest. They’re describing how to enter and that the money goes to charity.

Brand

Road and Track

"I wrote that piece for Road and Track about the income inequality. They didn't write income inequality in the headline. And they took out some of the more political stuff I put in there in the edit."

Road & Track is a car magazine/website. The host is saying they wrote an article there and the editor changed what was shown in the headline.

Concept

paywall

"[428.0s] they need to be very obvious. It's behind the paywall right now. Sorry, [435.8s] because the print magazine just came out."

A paywall is a subscription or membership barrier that restricts access to content online. In automotive media, paywalls often delay web publication until a print issue is released, which can affect when reviews and test results become publicly available.

Term

dyno

"It's wild. If your goal is to. So if you were a bad actor in the space, we'll say, and like if you if you're a dino shop that offers tuning services, your tuner could, you know, let's just say they do legitimate tuning and the graph looks good, but then they want to be like, Hey, our shop is the best tuner in town."

A dyno is a machine that measures how much power your car makes. It can test the car in a controlled way, but different dynos can give different numbers.

Concept

power curves

"I believe this image here, Zach, is all of the dino lines put onto one graph... they all showed, you know, pretty similar power curves, not exactly the same, but there is a little bit of a spread"

A power curve is basically a chart of how strong the car feels at different engine speeds. If you test a few cars on a dyno, the curves show who makes power earlier, later, or more consistently.

Term

536 horsepower

"It's, it's got quite a bit more power, 536 horsepower, 32, 36. I think it's, I think it's 523. 523?"

Horsepower is a measure of an engine’s power output. The hosts are quoting a specific horsepower figure for the BMW M2 CS and then correcting/clarifying the number as they discuss dyno results.

Term

pound feet

"...what it is is 523. 529 pound feet. Thank you. Sorry."

“Pound-feet” (lb-ft) is a unit of torque, which describes rotational twisting force. Torque is often felt as acceleration strength, especially at lower RPMs, and the hosts are comparing torque between the M2 CS and the standard M2.

Term

dampers

"Other things that are good, the dampers. Oh, yes. The, like the same great shit, like that made fucking Chris Harris and Jethro and all these guys like shit themselves with Geely about the old M5 CS."

Dampers are the parts that control how the car bounces over bumps. Good dampers make the ride comfortable without making the car feel sloppy.

Part

ceramic brakes

"And this has the ceramic brakes. They're optional. They're like nine grand, which makes this $108,000 car."

Ceramic brakes are a high-performance brake setup. They can handle repeated hard braking better without fading, but they cost a lot more than normal brakes.

Company

Jim Farley

"Guys, taking a break from the action because support is coming in fast, like Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, who's now got a podcast..."

Jim Farley is Ford’s CEO. The hosts mention his podcast as a way to talk about what car people—especially racing drivers—are into.

Brand

Ford

"like Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, who's now got a podcast... Like Formula One driver Daniel Ricardo."

Ford is the automaker being referenced here. The conversation briefly shifts to Ford’s CEO and a podcast about cars and driving.

Term

DCT

"But sometimes the downshifts are just like slower than I want them to be. Whereas a DCT is like, you know, snap a snap, a snap, a snap."

DCT means dual-clutch transmission. It tends to shift faster and feel more immediate than a traditional automatic, especially when you’re changing gears quickly.

Term

Willow Springs

"...corporate Willow Springs membership here, took it to the track had a lovely day..."

Willow Springs is a real race track where people go to drive cars hard. When they mention it, it means they tested the car’s behavior on a track, not just on normal roads.

Term

PS4s

"Do they normally snap like, you know, PS4s are known for being really progressive as are a lot of other like street sport tires."

“PS4s” refers to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, a popular street performance tire known for progressive breakaway and predictable behavior. The speaker contrasts that with how more race-oriented tires can become less progressive and more sudden when they lose grip.

Car

M2 CS

"Yeah. So that's the M2 CS. I spent today, what I spent today doing. I spent the day doing a lap around Los Angeles to visit my cars."

The BMW M2 CS is a special, more performance-oriented version of the BMW M2. The speaker is basically saying it’s the kind of car people want, so it should keep its value.

Part

end links

"news is my bill was much, much smaller this month. That's good. That's good. So these end links look so nice."

End links are small parts that connect the sway bar to the suspension. They help keep the car from leaning too much when you turn, and they’re often replaced as part of suspension work.

Part

steel fenders

"but now all the fenders are on the car and they've been blended. Whoa. Yeah. So this dude is hand, we, they're hand-making the steel fenders."

Steel fenders are the outer body panels over the wheel area, made from steel. Here they’re being custom-made and fitted so the car’s shape and lines match the intended design.

Term

English wheel

"So they do like English wheel style or whatever. Wow. Yeah. I mean, it's, I don't think it's necessarily wheel."

An English wheel is a hand/bench tool used to shape sheet metal into smooth curves. It’s a classic fabrication method for custom body panels.

Part

thigh bolstering

"...the reason I can't drive old cars without putting brand new seats in them is that my back is fucked up. He goes, okay, go sit in, in my wife's car... [2731.1s] It has like thigh bolstering and like long and like all this."

Thigh bolstering is the part of the seat that supports the sides of your upper legs. It helps you feel more secure and can reduce fatigue, especially if your current seats are worn out.

Term

wood grain

"So we have to choose exactly what we're going to do the dash inserts because we're pulling out the wood grain. Yeah. No go."

Wood grain is the fake-wood-looking trim inside the car. People sometimes remove it because they want a cleaner or more modern interior.

Term

chrome delete

"Yeah. No go. We're also doing a full chrome delete. I wonder if you can get some sort of mother of pearl panel."

A chrome delete means getting rid of the shiny chrome parts, usually by covering them or replacing them. It makes the car look more subtle and modern.

Term

clear coat

"Where they put that clear on it where it gets that real apex does that. They have like, they have a brush silver and then they have whatever the other ones call where it's got a thick layer of clear coat on it."

Clear coat is the shiny protective layer on top of paint or a finish. It helps the color look deep and glossy and protects it from damage.

Company

HRE

"It looks like a monoblock, the HRE, but we got to do it in 17s to make it like look right."

HRE makes high-end aftermarket wheels. They’re known for premium designs, and the speaker is saying the wheels they want will look similar to that kind of style.

Term

powertrain

"And then the rest of it, the complete powertrain comes out of the E 55, the gearbox, the rear end, all of it."

Powertrain is the whole set of parts that actually drive the wheels—engine and the stuff connected to it. They’re swapping the whole driving setup from one Mercedes into another.

Term

body color grill

"they did a body color grill instead of like shiny grill. My car, we have to replace the grill because it's fucked up."

That’s when the grille is painted the same color as the car instead of being shiny/chrome. They’re arguing about whether it looks good on red versus other colors.

Term

slats

"I would still want to see it with at least like, if the slats were black. Is that like red and black, really? No, I mean, every, no, the black here in the center is where the actual radiator fins are, I think."

Slats are the individual horizontal/vertical bars inside a grille. Different slat colors (like black vs silver) and shapes can dramatically alter the visual “contrast” of the front end, which is what the hosts are debating.

Car

Lamborghini Countach

"If I sold my Lamborghini Countach, I would like it to stay in Los Angeles."

The Lamborghini Countach is a legendary supercar with a very recognizable look. People love it because it’s basically a piece of car history.

Car

Lancia Stratos

"then finally he sends me a picture of a street parked Lancia Stratos. And I'm like, now we're talking now. That's the Monaco I know and love."

The Lancia Stratos is a famous rally car from the 1970s. It’s rare and has a really distinctive look, so seeing one in a place like Monaco is a big deal for car people.

Company

Car and Driver

"I would go look at a car and driver or similar magazines. Car and driver specifically does a lot of like here are 10 commuters and we're testing all of them and they do a lot of data and they will have all of the decibel readings for 70 miles per hour..."

Car and Driver is a car review publication. They test cars in a consistent way and can report how loud they are at highway speeds.

Term

twin turbocharging

"By the way, also fucking twin turbocharging and a bunch of technologies that now deliver a thousand horsepower"

Twin turbocharging means an engine uses two turbochargers to make more power. It helps the car feel quicker without needing a bigger engine.

Company

Gale-Banks method

"So maybe we'll end up with the Gale-Banks method. Yeah, stop sending all the horsepower out of the exhaust pipe or the smoke stack."

The “Gale-Banks method” appears to reference Banks Engineering’s approach to improving engine output by reducing losses and optimizing how power is delivered (the speaker jokes about not sending horsepower out the exhaust). Banks Engineering is known for performance upgrades and diesel/engine-related development, so this is likely a specific performance concept.

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