Welcome, M2 nice that was one of the cars I was considering before the S. The M1 I liked even better but I don't think they made them more then one year if I remember correctly. S3 really is great all around would have loved it in a manual though. But shit you're in CA no way in hell I would want a manual I had to go to LA for work.
Traffic is a nightmare. Same year as mine I see. I don't miss the dash of the 2017 I've had loners and it was distraction the map on the dash always rotating. Guess you can turn it off but more of a gimmick to me I usually know where I'm going anyway so it was just a distraction.