2018 BMW M2 Shows Up on Nurburgring, Could Be the Rumored CS Track Beast

The test car shows the same heavy camo we've seen in the past, so the tale is still split between the 2018 facelift of the regular M2, if we may call the machine so and the rumored Club Sport incarnation of the Bavarian athlete.

We'll remind you that the M2 facelift leaked online last week (check out the pair of photos included in the image gallery). Thanks to BMW of Belgium, we were able to see the revised headlights and taillights - following BMW tradition, the mid-cycle refresh won't bring too many visual changes.

And this is where we need to enter the unofficial talk area, with the rumor mill mentioning the possibility of the facelift seeing the M2 receiving a spiced-up version of the new B58 motor animating the M240i - since the latter is already a straight line threat to the outgoing M2, the rumors could be true.

As for the even hotter, CS-related rumors, these talk about the junior M car receiving a detuned incarnation of the twin-turbo 3.0-liter straight-six animating the M3 and M4.

The move would make the more or less official battle between BMW and Porsche even closer. For one thing, an M2 with an M3/M4 hear would only mirror the scheme that has seen the Cayman GT4 borrowing the flat-six of the 911 Carrera S. Speaking of which, earlier today we showed you the first spyshots of the next GT4, which is rumored to receive a more output-modest incarnation of the 2018 GT3's naturally aspirated 4.0-liter boxer.

So yes, keeping an eye on the prototypes the do their thing on the Nordschleife brings sweet benefits now that the 2017 testing season is running at full speed.