This BMW M140i/M2 Mash-Up Is A Present-Day M Coupe

With the new BMW 1-series taking on a rather gopping aesthetic, we’re faced with the realisation that the old one wasn’t actually particularly bad looking after all. It’s still frustrating that the related 2-series was given a much prettier front-end, however, and a few years ago we reported on one owner of the particularly awkward pre-facelift M135i who’d gone as far as giving it an M235i face transplant.

What you’re looking at here, though, goes much further. Using an M140i as a starting point, it’s been given the front bumper, front and rear wings, rear bumper and diffuser from a crash-damaged M2. Perhaps from more than one, since all four corners appear to have been donated. In the process, what could be considered a modern interpretation of the old E36/8 ‘Clown Shoe’ M Coupe has been created.

To make sure the rims aren’t lost in those widened arches, the M2’s fatter wheels and tyres have been added. It’s not clear what’s been done to the suspension, although it does seem to be riding lower than a stock M140i. An aftermarket quad-exit exhaust completes the look, fed by the standard B58 inline-six, although according to Road and Track, which stumbled upon these images first, the owner intends to extract a little more power.

This will be done by tweaking the existing engine. That makes perfect sense given the tuning potential of the single twin-scroll turbocharged six. As cool as a swap to the S55 found in the M2 Competition would be, the potentially enormous outlay makes that a poor value way to increase power.

What do you think of this modern-day M Coupe?