The salary you need to earn to afford BMW’s cheapest M car in South Africa

Enthusiasts looking to own a new BMW M car in South Africa will need to earn at least R173,000 per month if they plan on using a finance plan rather than purchasing one outright.

The cheapest M performance car you can get your hands on is the new M2 coupe, which will set you back between R1,570,987 and R1,581,334, depending on whether you want an automatic or manual gearbox.

The M2 received a minor update this year, leaving the visuals mostly unchanged while the spec sheet has seen a few new additions.

In terms of styling, you’ll see a new silver border on the grille badge and model lettering on the boot lid, complemented by a new set of black twin tailpipes.

There’s also an expanded range of paint colours including Fire Red, Grigio Telesto, Java Green, Portimao Blue, Sao Paulo Yellow, Skyscraper Grey, Twilight Purple, and Voodoo Blue.

The alloy wheels, which are 19 inches in diametre at the front and 20 inches at the back to emphasize the car’s rear-wheel-drive nature, boast an altered design and can now be painted silver instead of gloss black, too.

Inside, there’s a new M Sport flat-bottom leather steering with paddle shifters, a 12 o’clock marker, and two programmable M buttons for selecting custom vehicle setups.

The existing 12.3-inch driver monitor and a 14.9-inch infotainment screen have been updated to run BMW’s latest 8.5 operating system, allowing for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an intelligent voice assistant, and BMW Maps navigation.

The coupe also comes standard with keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting, cruise control with automatic braking function, front-collision warning, blind-spot detection, a rearview camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

Furthermore, owners can customize their purchase with a variety of extras such as adaptive LED headlights, an M Carbon fibre roof, performance tyres, a heated Alcantara steering wheel, M bucket seats, red-and-black Vernasca leather upholstery, a sunroof, a Harmon Kardon stereo, a heads-up display, and the BMW Live Cockpit Professional with augmented reality functions.

Of course, if you want something bearing BMW’s M credentials, you’re sure to be interested in performance, and the M2 doesn’t disappoint with its 3.0-litre, six-cylinder, twin-turbo petrol engine.

The powerplant has actually been uprated to produce an additional 15kW, bringing the total to 353kW.

Meanwhile, the torque stat varies between the two versions, as the eight-speed automatic model has 600Nm at its disposal while the six-speed manual puts out 550Nm.

Assuming you go for the auto, the coupe can sprint to 100km/h in 4.0 seconds before reaching a new top speed of 285km/h thanks to the standard inclusion of the M Driver’s Package.

Every purchase of the baby M car is completed by a 2-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a 5-year/100,000km maintenance plan.

What you need to earn

We can use the following formula to work out the monthly payments on the new M2:

• Car price – R1,570,987/R1,581,334
• Payment term – 60 terms (5 years)
• Interest – 11.50%
• Deposit – 0%
• Balloon – No balloon payment
• Extras – No optional extras

According to this, you’ll need to pay at least R34,646 per month for the auto, or R34,873 per month for the manual.

Financial experts then recommend that you do not spend more than 20% of your gross monthly salary on vehicle payments.

This means you’ll need to earn anywhere from R173,230 per month to R174,365 per month to afford a BMW M car on a finance plan in South Africa.

Note that this figure does not account for insurance, fuel, and maintenance, which must all be factored into your budget.