The current BMW M2 is an excellent performance car wrapped in styling that hasn’t exactly won universal praise. An Italian company thinks it has a solution, and it’s looking to BMW’s own history for inspiration.
Riverti Automobili is developing a radically rebodied G87 M2 inspired by the legendary BMW 3.0 CSL. Instead of simply adding a retro body kit, the company appears to be replacing virtually all of the M2’s recognizable exterior styling.
The result looks like something transported directly from BMW’s 1970s touring-car era. Four round headlights, a shark-nose front end, huge fender flares, and a pair of rear spoilers make the inspiration impossible to miss.
Riverti hasn’t fully revealed the car yet, so plenty is still unknown. However, a camouflaged running prototype has already appeared at the Tutto Bene Hillclimb in Italy, giving us our best look yet at the company’s first project.
Not Resto, Retro
Riverti describes its approach rather neatly: “Not ‘resto.’ Retro.” Rather than starting with a valuable classic and modernizing it, the company is doing the opposite by taking a thoroughly modern M2 and dressing it like something much older.
Teaser images reveal an entirely redesigned front with four circular headlights, small kidney grilles, and a new hood. Finely spoked wheels add some period flavor, while boxy widened arches give the modern BMW a much more aggressive stance.
The rear is arguably where the 3.0 CSL influence becomes most obvious. There’s a large fixed wing on the trunk and another spoiler at the roofline, recalling the outrageous aerodynamic package that helped earn certain versions of the original CSL their famous “Batmobile” nickname.
The M2 Is A Surprisingly Good Starting Point
Using an M2 rather than an M4 makes sense from a proportions standpoint. The original E9-based 3.0 CSL measured around 183.5 inches long, while today’s M2 is roughly 180 inches from bumper to bumper.
The modern car is much wider and has a longer wheelbase, so Riverti still has plenty of dimensional differences to disguise. Yet its relatively compact footprint gives the designers a useful foundation for recreating the appearance of BMW’s famous homologation special.
BMW itself revisited the idea in 2023 with its own modern 3.0 CSL. That factory-built tribute was based on the M4, limited to just 50 examples and produced as an extremely exclusive celebration of BMW M’s history.
What’s Underneath Is Still A Mystery
Riverti hasn’t revealed whether it has modified the M2 mechanically. The regular 2027 M2 already offers 473 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, while BMW’s hotter M2 CS demonstrates that substantially more performance is available from the platform.
We also don’t know the finished car’s weight, transmission choices, price, or production numbers. Those details will be important, particularly when the “L” in CSL historically stands for lightweight.
For now, Riverti is keeping most of its cards hidden beneath that patterned prototype camouflage. Considering what we can already see, though, giving the M2 a 1970s wardrobe might be one makeover few BMW enthusiasts will complain about.