  We present the results of the 2-dimensional XMM-Newton Group Survey (2dXGS),
an archival study of nearby galaxy groups. In this paper we consider eleven
nearby systems (z<0.012) in Mulchaey et al. (2003), which span a broad range in
X-ray luminosity from 10^40 to 10^43 ergs/s. We measure the iron abundance and
temperature distribution in these systems and derive pressure and entropy maps.
We find statistically significant evidence for structure in the entropy and
pressure of the gas component of seven groups on the 10-20% level. The
XMM-Newton data for the three groups with best statistics also suggest patchy
metalicity distributions within the central 20--50 kpc of the brightest group
galaxy, probed with 2-10 kpc resolution. This provides insights into the
processes associated with thermalization of the stellar mass loss. Analysis of
the global properties of the groups reveals a subclass of X-ray faint groups,
which are characterized by both higher entropy and lower pressure. We suggest
that the merger history of the central elliptical is responsible for both the
source and the observed thermodynamical properties of the hot gas of the X-ray
faint groups.
