BMW M4: PH Fleet
Poor Dan; he wanted an M3 long-termer and got lumbered with an M4 instead
The F80 M3 and F82 M4 impressed us in the Portuguese sunshine on the launch, had us a little more thoughtful under wintry British skies a few months later and got us rather worried in gut lord F83 convertible form. And then its AMG arch rival burst onto the scene, keeping its V8, gaining the inevitable turbos and looking worryingly like a cake and eat it solution. Somebody had to go first though. After that initial rush of excitement how's the M4 (no, still doesn't sound right) fairing? PH has been offered a long-termer to find out. Which is nice...
Hand on heart I'd have preferred an M3, for the dual reasons of family four-door friendliness and a preference for its more muscular styling. And the fact it's still called an M3. But an M4 it is. I can feel the waves of sympathy flooding in already...
Doesn't it look spectacular though! Dammit, a man should be excited at the prospect of a brand-new M long-termer and when I first walked out into the car park with the key in my hand it properly stopped me in my tracks. I loved that stealth-spec M3 we had in last year. But there's nothing subtle about an Austin Yellow M4 and, on visuals alone, I'm smitten. For now this is the M's trump card over the C63 too - the Merc is available as a wagon and both can be had as four-door saloons. But, traditionally, this is coupe territory. And ground the M4 can claim its own, albeit contested with the unexpectedly impressive Lexus RC F.
Although I've driven both the coupe and saloon extensively my first exploratory commute in the M4 has been my initial taste of YJ15 WHF and limited thus far to trundling along in M25 traffic. And whiling away the time reacquainting myself with the BMW infotainment systems and other toys I grew to admire in my 435i long-termer. This time around there are a lot more buttons of course. Exciting ones, relating to suspension, steering, throttle, DSC settings and more besides. Obviously the first thing to do before even tuning the radio was to configure my two M buttons... M1 is mooching mode with DSC on, Comfort Steering, Comfort dampers, mid-setting auto gearbox and Sport engine. M2 is attack mode, keeping the Comfort steering, upping the dampers to Sport, going Sport Plus for engine, M Dynamic Mode for DSC and manual shift set to full SMG-alike punch in the gut mode.
Looking at the spec sheet there's a bunch of 'connected' this and 'assist' that to be exploring too. But that can wait. Oh yes. That spec sheet. Look at the bottom line. Yes, that's an on the road price starting with a seven... This, I'm sure, will ignite the conversation before we even get anywhere near exploring the car's abilities on the road.
Of the options fitted to the car - and having driven a manual - I'd say the £2,645 for the M DCT dual-clutch is pretty much essential. I know, not very purist but the way it's integrated into the chassis and engine control systems completes the car. The £1,600 LED lights are very nice but a bit extravagant and you could probably ditch a lot of the 'assists' and not lose any sleep over it. But the £6,250 M Carbon ceramic brakes? Definite bragging points for the gold-painted bling within the wheels (even if it clashes with the Austin Yellow) but actually worth it? We got 'em glowing on track when we tested against the RC F but we'll have to see if they're genuinely an investment worth making. At least they're nicely modulated and not too grabby.
But let's get that conversation about the price out of the way first. And we can concentrate on the fun stuff later...
FACT SHEET
Car: BMW M4
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: June 2015
Mileage: 3,496
List price new: £73,870 (Basic list of £57,055 plus £1,330 for Black Merino leather, £545 for advanced parking package, £2,645 for 7-speed M DCT transmission, £6,250 for carbon ceramic brakes, £175 for 19" M Double- spoke style 437M alloy wheels/Black with mixed tyres, £265 for sun protection glass, £155 for extended storage, £140 for sliding front armrest, £440 for lane change warning system, £395 for Carbon Fibre interior trim, £1,600 for Adaptive LED headlights, £370 for driving assistant, £500 surround view, £825 Head-up display, £675 Harman/Kardon Loudspeaker system, £95 internet and £190 for online entertainment)
BMW M cars see to have lost a little of that specialness they always had, and why people question the price. I am sure a £15k discount could be easily arranged off that list price, supply probably exceeds demand.
The M3 seems so right, but at £50k'ish.
Lets just say in sound and looks the M4 does not hold a candle to the Blackpool rocket.
Speed 6 was quite loud and played a very nice tune, the M4 with eyes closed could have been any mid range turbo'd engine - very underwelming.
The previous V8 and the E46 M3, are to me far more desirable objects, despite performance and efficiency deficits.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
85k for a used C63 with 2500 miles...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
85k for a used C63 with 2500 miles...
C63 Coupe £68k
Premium Plus £2.5k
Chav tinted glass £330
Chav paint £1125
Rear diff £1745
Keyless go £665
Audio upgrade £650
AMG Performance Media £2040
So around £77k I reckon, new.
There are loads of new/nearly new ones in the classifieds in the low to mid £50s, which is probably where it should be. £70k+ is daft.
The sound is definitely not a strong point compared to the earlier generations - very muted.
My opinion of the 4 Series is that it feels it size much more than the previous E90/92/93, particularly with regard to width on narrower roads - and I say that currently owning a 4 Coupe and an E93 3 Cabrio.
And £140 for an arm rest? Seriously?
I like the 4-series in the lightish blue they do but this thing looks horrid to my eyes.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
85k for a used C63 with 2500 miles...
C63 Coupe £68k
Premium Plus £2.5k
Chav tinted glass £330
Chav paint £1125
Rear diff £1745
Keyless go £665
Audio upgrade £650
AMG Performance Media £2040
So around £77k I reckon, new.
I guess near 90k easy
I must check back when they website is working.
I recently saw an optioned A45 AMG for sale and the list price was over 52k, for an A Class
EDIT:
Not that this has anything to do with the M4 but people do comment on the options and price, its stupidly expensive I agree but no more so than its competitors [which are actually even more stupidly expensive]
I prefer the M3 to the M4 and would prefer either over the new C63 Saloon [on looks alone - but Merc has nicer engine]. Although the C63 Estate isn't bad, pity BMW never made an M3 Estate/Touring
In comparison, I just wanted to keep driving the M3 down to the south of France and too keep revving that addictive engine. The V8 M3 felt like a sports car in a business suit, the M4 felt like a fast business jet in comparison.
For driving pleasure, V8 manual vs turbo-6 DCT every day.
The inside looks too similar to the previous gen, the NAV is better but in terms of materials and general layout it's not a huge difference between this and the E9x which is a bit disappointing.
However what is more disappointing is the way it drives and sounds. I have no problem with turbo's per se but once again this makes the classic mistake of trying too hard to hide it's turboness. I'm really not sure why the German manufacturers seem OBSESSED with this but it just doesn't work as it seems to bring out all the worst traits of a turbocharged engine without letting the good bits out to play. It's laggy, not responsive, has slugs of low down torque but then runs out of ideas above 6k which just isn't fun. It also sounds artificially loud and yet muted at the same time if that makes sense. I guess this is the sound generator effect but it just doesn't sound right IMO.
It's a fully loaded convertible which means the price is even more shocking, it started with an 8! For this reason I didn't want to rain on his parade and tell him I preferred his previous gen M3 but luckily I didn't have to as he admitted to me last week that so did he....oops!
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