RE: BMW M4 GTS - full details

RE: BMW M4 GTS - full details

Wednesday 7th October 2015

BMW M4 GTS - official!

500hp, 7min 28sec round the 'ring, water injection, just 30 of 700 for the UK and starting price of ... £121,770



Just how far can BMW push the M4? Well, of all the many, many numbers unleashed with the new M4 GTS the £121,770 price may well be the one that grabs the most attention. What, you believed it'd remain just a concept? The previous V8 GTS introduced us to the idea of the six-figure M3 but with this new M4 version BMW really isn't mucking about.

Water injection permits more boost and 500hp
Water injection permits more boost and 500hp
Once you've digested that price - and the fact just 30 of the 700 build are due to make it to the UK - there are plenty more stats to take in. Power goes up from 431hp to 500hp, torque from 406lb ft to 442lb ft. Much of this is thanks to a water injection system that injects a fine spray into the induction system, cooling the mixture and permitting more boost and earlier spark than would otherwise be possible. At maximum attack the five-litre tank will drain at the same rate as the fuel; in more normal use you'll need to top it up every five fills or so according to BMW.

Thanks to this and a 27kg weight saving to a DIN weight of 1,510kg 0-62 drops to 3.8 seconds and top speed is now 190mph (matching the old GTS). The only transmission choice is the seven-speed DCT dual clutch and there's a purposeful looking titanium exhaust system complete with laser engraved M logos. Carbon features heavily in the bodywork and aesthetics. For all that it's a less extreme and stripped back car than the old GTS for sure, maintaining much of the configurability and gadget count of the standard M4. But by the measure of that 'ring lap time it's clearly a much, much faster one.

Not really that minimalist in here
Not really that minimalist in here
Now, given the M4 has been hacking round the Nordschleife for months now we're going to give BMW the benefit of the doubt and say the claimed 7min 28sec is a 'proper' time bagged before the speed restrictions went in place. And not a collection of best sector times like Lotus published recently. If that's the case BMW is saying it's nearly 30 seconds faster than the standard car, that time now in the serious league and comparable with GT3 911s, GT-Rs and similar.

And you'll need more than a power bump and carbon fibre dressing to achieve that. So the GTS gets standard ceramic brakes, a serious weight saving diet that loses the rear seats and much of the rest of the interior trim, manually adjustable dampers that can be tweaked for rebound and independent high- and low-speed compression. The aero is also adjustable with the front splitter adjustable between road and track settings. You'll want to adhere to those self-explanatory labels too, unless you enjoy the sound of splintering carbon fibre against speed hump.

If you want to do the full 'deep dive' into the spec you can read the full press release here. Suffice to say there are options aplenty to consider including the free Clubsport pack of harnesses and cage and a £1,090 Carbon Fibre Interior Performance Package for those lucky 30 UK customers. This includes shift lights and more on the steering wheel.

Do the extra baubles a £120K M4 make though? Over to you...









   
   
   
   
   

 

Author
Discussion

rog007

Original Poster:

5,748 posts

223 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
In those low numbers, it'll sell. Would I? Didn't stir anything in me at all (which probably tells you more about me than the car!).

Mubble

78 posts

184 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Considering stock M4s tend to produce 460-470bhp, that's a lot of money for 30bhp and fewer luxuries. There are much better ways to spend £120k on a track toy than this imo.

veevee

1,455 posts

150 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Am I just being cynical, or would a remap and some lighter seats not do pretty much the same job, and save you 60k?

mp3manager

4,254 posts

195 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
I must have missed the meeting when 1,510kg was considered lightweight. Ditching the sat-nav, air-con, parking sensors and 5 litres of water in the boot wouldn't go amiss.
Definitely one for the die-hards.

stuckmojo

2,955 posts

187 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
veevee said:
Am I just being cynical, or would a remap and some lighter seats not do pretty much the same job, and save you 60k?
Definitely.

Gus265

264 posts

132 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Twice the price of a normal M4?! Looks great and I'd love one but why would you buy this over a 911 GT3? Is it that much quicker? Not for the money

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Right... I'm sure it will sell out because of the low production run, but why?

So, £20,000 more than a really well specced 991 S Gen 2 gets you...


A car that is 2 seconds faster around an incredibly long toll road (if this GTS uses special tyres then if you fitted those to the 991...)
A car that plays its' soundtrack through the speakers (yes, a digital sound file not a trick exhaust/inlet)
A car with a much worse interior
A car that looks like it's been crashed into Halfords


I mean, the list goes on, let alone the new turbo Carrera, the Mclaren 540C, 911 Turbo, V12 Vantage S, Audi R8, all are comparable in price and more desirable in every possible way.

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
They will sell but at 60-70k more depending on Spec I think the price is about 20k over the top.
I'm pretty sure you could build pretty much the same car for around 90k including the car.

redroadster

1,729 posts

231 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
I can't help myself comparing bang for buck and this is not value makes little sense to have such a heavy car as a track special which on the road would be hardly any faster than the standard car, the new c class coupe amg is where I would park my money for this type of car .

CorvetteConvert

7,897 posts

213 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Totally ott price-wise. Just think what that money would buy you instead. A mint Ferrari 430 and a new 260 bhp Caterham, eg.
Will be bought by those who would have otherwise bought another Rolex or some more gold or 2 more cheap houses to let out.

CorvetteConvert

7,897 posts

213 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Or then again you could find yourself 505 bhp and 1450 kgs for £40,000 in top condition with low miles instead. (Corvette Z06 2005-2008.) Then for £12,000 more, give it 750 bhp.


JonoG81

384 posts

104 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
That pig-ugly piece of tat is the last thing I would blow 120k on!

No doubt they will sell out quick enough, because as the old saying goes a fool and his money are easily parted...

jonnM

1,102 posts

138 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Hilariously expensive, looks terrible and not much lighter/more powerful than the car it's based on.
Brilliant! laugh

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
The old one seems to be holding it's money.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Does anyone know how much they were new?

jonah35

3,940 posts

156 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Nice car but it makes an e60 m5 v10 for £15k or so look like a bargain as they have 500bhp too.

Both lovely cars but £124k? No thanks.

JonoG81

384 posts

104 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
The old one seems to be holding it's money.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Does anyone know how much they were new?
£115k (ish) I think

jonah35

3,940 posts

156 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Nice car but it makes an e60 m5 v10 for £15k or so look like a bargain as they have 500bhp too.

Both lovely cars but £124k? No thanks.

Civpilot

6,235 posts

239 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
That boot spoiler looks utterly horrible. The sort of thing that gets thrown on crappy old 'modded' Astra's and RX-8's quite often. As others have said... Halfords special.

If only they could have done this with an M3 CSL style kick up boot lid spoiler (or for that price an automated wing that raises at speed as seems the norm these days)

Frik

13,542 posts

242 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Almost every post about how you don't seem to get much for the money given its based on a standard car. We could have this thread every 6 years or so about the M3 couldn't we? Then another one lamenting the lack of the special M cars on the market and how well they're holding their prices...

Wizardskills

243 posts

166 months

Wednesday 7th October 2015
quotequote all
Love that it has fabric door handles for lightness but then also has a huge iPad stuck to the top of the dash rolleyes. No doubt it will sell, but it could have been so much better.