• Evolve Automotive, owned by Imran Arshad, is a well-known UK performance shop, retailer, and undisputed leader in the BMW aftermarket.
• The “OG” N55-powered M2 remains a fan favorite among BMW loyalists—including Arshad—gaining praise for its purity and analog driving feel.
• Arshad’s M2 became a demo car for Evolve Automotive, morphing into one of the industry’s most recognizable “M2 GTS” builds.

The other day, I was listening to a video interview with the founder of Loopwheeler, Satoshi Suzuki, and one thing he said stuck with me. He acknowledged that the apparel industry around him had grown leaner and faster, but neither had tempted Suzuki to sacrifice anything about his tried-and-true methods. Importantly, Suzuki sees Loopwheeler as a purveyor of an uncompromising standard. He called it “slow works” in the interview, referring to the effort of building something properly—with soul, pride, and care—so that the final product will bring joy to the customer.

After hearing that, I immediately thought of virtually every conversation I’ve had with Imran Arshad, the owner of Evolve Automotive, over the last ten years. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not claiming that all those chats were always existential—there were plenty more about Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza, family life, sneakers, and watches—but the crux of those encounters was unfalteringly purposeful. I’ve long admired Arshad’s goals and his seemingly endless supply of energy to accomplish them. Earlier in 2024, Arshad’s achievements over the last 18 years in the BMW space were finally recognized by the marque and he officially became a BMW ambassador.

Somewhere along his journey, he acquired the car you see here: an F87 M2. It’s an “OG” example, meaning instead of the full-fat S55 inline six from the M3/M4, it comes with a “standard issue” N55. The move is a bit reminiscent of the US-spec E36 M3; for whatever reason, BMW “held back” from giving us enthusiasts everything we wanted. But like the S52-equipped E36 that I adore, I’ll argue that this N55-powered M2 is the one to have. And Arshad, now one of the UK’s most recognizable BMW collectors, would probably say the same.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Arshad had originally bought the car for his wife. It was the new baby M car and thought it was the perfectly sized platform to build for her. But as these things often go, the more parts that Arshad added to it, the less practical it became. “She didn’t appreciate the roll cage and fixed buckets with two kids to carry around,” laughed Arshad. Soon enough, the M2 became part of the Evolve Automotive demo fleet where it took on a new mission: an M2 GTS tribute. The alarm bells in BMW fans’ heads are going off, and yes there was never officially an M2 GTS to tribute. The real nod was, in fact, to the M4 GTS. “I wanted to envisage what an M2 GTS would be like if BMW built one based on what they did with the M4 GTS,” Arshad confessed. He tried to meld all of that car’s special traits—the styling cues, the performance, and so on—into the M2’s form factor. The end product would have to deliver that M4 GTS feeling on the road and track.

IMMEDIATE IMPRESSION

Today, it’s not a rare thing to hear about Evolve Automotive’s builds. But this M2 was truly the company’s first go at a full project—ten years on from its founding. It was the recipient of so many firsts for the UK audience—an RKP front lip and splitter, a prototype Future Classic club sticker, a healthy smattering of GTS-style carbon fiber goodies from Edison Composites, a striking set of 6Sixty wheels, Supersprint exhaust, and naturally, an Eventuri intake and carbon fiber engine cover. Underneath, a set of Bilstein coilovers and OEM BMW carbon ceramic brake retrofit helped balance power with control.

The result made an immediate impression, and the buzz about Evolve, Eventuri, and Arshad was building all around the world. “It was our first major build and got displayed in Essen three months after we bought it,” Arshad continued. “It also got lots of press and was even featured on Top Gear website which, for us at the time, was huge.”

MARKER IN TIME

The car would go through several iterations—including Arshad’s own take on a BMW art car—before taking on the guise you see here. Its current form is perhaps the truest to Arshad’s original mission and even adopts the M4 GTS’s orange accents throughout. Despite running its course as a marketing tool for Evolve Automotive many years ago, Arshad has kept this OG M2 in his ever-growing stable of fast, rare, and exceptional cars. In fact, he’s done away with several others while this humble baby M has managed to stick around. That lasting power comes down to one very simple thing: it’s become a marker in time for Arshad’s successes, and sentimentality outranks practicality when you’ve achieved as much as he has. “Eight years in, I think it’s here to stay. It has a special place in everyone here’s hearts.”

Fortunately, during that long tenure, it’s avoided so much of the industry’s cringy trends—like widebody conversions, underglow, burble tunes, and air suspension—and as a result, this M2 has aged gracefully and remains steadfast in delivering that GTS-like experience every time he gets behind the wheel. “I love the duality of it. It looks like a track car but is perfectly happy doing a road trip to the Alps and blasting around the mountain passes.”

PRESERVING THE PASSION

I’ve had so many conversations with industry veterans about the next generation of car enthusiasts. Whereas Civics, Integras, and even a myriad of used BMW M cars were attainable as “kids”, it’s nearly impossible for a 16-year-old kid to walk into a Honda dealership with his part-time job earnings and get thrown the keys to a new Type R. That new car price swell represents a real danger for the enthusiasts of tomorrow. How can the aftermarket industry flourish if the price of entry is so high? Where a lot of those aforementioned conversations have landed is on our responsibility as old heads. We need to show young kids that old cars—the ones that they can actually afford and modify—are really cool.

Arshad’s perseverance with this OG M2 helps give young enthusiasts hope, that building something like this is actually attainable and not just reserved for rich YouTuber’s garages. I respect that immensely, and I firmly believe that more of us industry veterans need to take on that cause with similar fervor.

THE NEXT STAGE

After all, that hope is what helped push Arshad into the industry in the first place. From seeing a family photo of his dad standing next to a BMW M1 at a car show, to watching E30 M3s dominate in DTM, to buying his first M3, and starting Evolve Automotive, BMW has been at the forefront of Arshad’s life.

As I mentioned before, he’s now become a BMW ambassador, and I think of it as the next stage in taking on this lofty responsibility to inspire kids—just like he was. While some of us have turned a blind eye to some of the marque’s questionable shifts, Arshad has stayed a believer and has used his immense talent to extract the underlying beauty from every platform he touches. That “tailoring”—the ability to use a car as a canvas for self-expression and individuality—is also a skill he wants to pass on with his new influence. But that tailoring goes deeper than the skin.

“It’s not just about how it looks, it’s also about how that car makes you feel as a driver,” Arshad points out. He’ll be the first to tell you that his OG M2 makes him feel good. And whether you’re churning laps at the Nurburgring or going for a quick run to the grocery store, that’s what a car should do. They should enable us to feel good, to feel joy, and to feel ourselves.

A CHERISHED COMMUNITY

Most “non-car people” won’t even remotely understand this. But that’s what makes it all that more important to preserve this niche, and its values, for the next generation. I’ve said it before, but the car community is a small place; many of us will shift careers over the years, but more often than not, we’re just wearing another black polo with a different name on the chest. Underneath that badging, we’re all still family. Truly, that’s what makes the car community something that deserves to be cherished.

“I’ve made lifelong friends because of these cars,” Arshad confesses. “But as much as I like the cars…having that community around the cars themselves and the experiences you have—that human element—is huge.”

That amassment of experiences is yet another reason why this OG M2 will always be a part of Arshad’s stable. Even though this OG M2 build may not have started with this intent in mind, Arshad is making an important statement by keeping it. Indeed, it’s become more than a car; it’s a pillar of Arshad’s larger belief set about our industry, and the human quality that will be required to keep it going strong.

Gallery