In a world full of surprises, you at least know what you’re going to get with Manhart. It’s probably going to be a BMW, it’s going to be painted black and champagne, bold looks will be made even more so, and an already generous power output will be significantly pumped-up (to put it mildly). This latest M2, the MH2 700 II, is therefore a Manhart BMW bingo full house.
You want power? Manhart has it. Through nothing more than a carbon intake, new exhaust and ‘Manhart MHtronik powerbox or Manhart remapping’, the 3.0-litre turbo six is now rated at 728hp and 664lb ft. Whether or not that’s from the original 460hp or the recently revised 480hp output, we don’t know – but either way it feels like a preposterous gain with such modest modification. On standard turbos, injectors, pistons, conrods, seemingly just about everything, the BMW S58 engine is making another 250hp or so. No wonder they’re being used for those mad 1,500hp drag car builds. Manhart even has TÜV approval for the exhaust, with a 200-cell cat and 110mm pipes; those who don’t have such concerns can get a decat, OPF delete system with 100mm tailpipes.
When the tuner itself suggests it has an ‘armada’ of carbon parts for a car, there’s going to be a lot. So – deep breath – the MH2 700 II comes with: a carbon bonnet, carbon kidney grilles, carbon diffuser, carbon rear wing, carbon front apron, carbon side skirts, even carbon underbody panelling. And it’ll still probably weigh too much. Ramping up the attitude further are new wheels – up to a whopping 21-inch diameter at the rear – and KW coilovers. Or just lowering springs. Plus, finally, it wouldn’t be a Manhart BMW without some interior tweaks. Just check out the cage with rear seat delete – champagne never looked quite so good. The Schroth belts are a nice complement to the bucket seats, and there seems to be even more carbon as well.
Manhart will make just 10 of these mad M2s, and this very car is currently for sale at €135k, or £112,000 – or just about the same as a new 727hp M5 might cost. Certainly an MH2 would make any other M2, whether it was Zandvoort Blue or M Performanced to the nines, seem a little undernourished. Exactly the point of a Manhart BMW, it could well be argued. Wonder if they’d build a manual one?