M4 test drive today
Discussion
I am actually after an M3 but as they are supposed to be very similar to drive I took the chance to try out the M4 instead. Prior to my test I was set on an M3 with a manual box and possibly the ceramic brakes, the M4 I tested was DCT and standard brakes, in white with the black option wheels.
First impressions were it looked much better in the flesh than in any photo's I had seen, although the M3 in the showroom (not available for demo) looked better although not in the black colour. The M4 had the orange interior which is not my cup of tea but I could live with it I had to, though I would choose black.
Now onto driving the thing... the salesman drove first and went through some of the plethora of option available via the i drive and we set off. The first thing I noticed was the sound, I actually liked it and it was certainly louder than I expected after hearing some other reviews. After a couple of miles we swapped and I got behind the wheel and had my first ever experience of a DCT 'box. In full auto first as we tootled out of the city towards some pretty narrow country roads I was impressed with how smooth it was and how good the ride was even in sport plus. Now off the gridlocked road into the country, a firm press on the gas and we are away, very good throttle response and fast smooth changes using the paddles.
I was really impressed with the HUD and hardly ever looked at the actual dials. The power was very progressive and there is a huge amount of torque available from low down the rev range, corners which would normally be taken in 2nd can be easily negotiated in 4th with immense speed on the exit. The rate at which the speed piles on is impressive although the car is deceptive as it feels so planted, you don't realise how quickly you are into 3 figures and how fast you are cornering as the available grip is superb. I had everything in sport plus and the traction was lovely, just the odd flash of the TC light on exits and great feel through the steering.
The brakes were really powerful and I never needed more than a light dab to scrub speed off and the body control on cornering and braking is lovely, no nose diving or roll here!
On the way back I tried it in comfort / efficiency mode and you can feel the difference right away, it is much softer and more relaxed for tootling around or town driving.
In conclusion.. very fast, great handling, the modes and DCT auto almost give you 2 cars in one.
If I had any criticism it would be that it flatters your driving and you need to be really pushing the car to feel that you are driving it, almost too good!
I am sure once you are used to it this would soon wear off as you try to explore the limits, though this would be difficult on the road without risking sharing a room with Rolf Harris.
Yes I will be buying one, but most likely still an M3, but I will be buying it with DCT and standard brakes. Delivery will be on July 1st 2015, a long way away yet I know, but it will be worth the wait, and there may even be some discount available then.
Simply superb
Poor phone photo...
First impressions were it looked much better in the flesh than in any photo's I had seen, although the M3 in the showroom (not available for demo) looked better although not in the black colour. The M4 had the orange interior which is not my cup of tea but I could live with it I had to, though I would choose black.
Now onto driving the thing... the salesman drove first and went through some of the plethora of option available via the i drive and we set off. The first thing I noticed was the sound, I actually liked it and it was certainly louder than I expected after hearing some other reviews. After a couple of miles we swapped and I got behind the wheel and had my first ever experience of a DCT 'box. In full auto first as we tootled out of the city towards some pretty narrow country roads I was impressed with how smooth it was and how good the ride was even in sport plus. Now off the gridlocked road into the country, a firm press on the gas and we are away, very good throttle response and fast smooth changes using the paddles.
I was really impressed with the HUD and hardly ever looked at the actual dials. The power was very progressive and there is a huge amount of torque available from low down the rev range, corners which would normally be taken in 2nd can be easily negotiated in 4th with immense speed on the exit. The rate at which the speed piles on is impressive although the car is deceptive as it feels so planted, you don't realise how quickly you are into 3 figures and how fast you are cornering as the available grip is superb. I had everything in sport plus and the traction was lovely, just the odd flash of the TC light on exits and great feel through the steering.
The brakes were really powerful and I never needed more than a light dab to scrub speed off and the body control on cornering and braking is lovely, no nose diving or roll here!
On the way back I tried it in comfort / efficiency mode and you can feel the difference right away, it is much softer and more relaxed for tootling around or town driving.
In conclusion.. very fast, great handling, the modes and DCT auto almost give you 2 cars in one.
If I had any criticism it would be that it flatters your driving and you need to be really pushing the car to feel that you are driving it, almost too good!
I am sure once you are used to it this would soon wear off as you try to explore the limits, though this would be difficult on the road without risking sharing a room with Rolf Harris.
Yes I will be buying one, but most likely still an M3, but I will be buying it with DCT and standard brakes. Delivery will be on July 1st 2015, a long way away yet I know, but it will be worth the wait, and there may even be some discount available then.
Simply superb
Poor phone photo...
Edited by Rick448 on Thursday 3rd July 15:29
I don't think it looks 'horny' enough in that colour. Reminds me too much of the C63 AMG coupe which I am not a big fan of
This part looks ridiculous. It is completely massive, plain and ruins the lines of the car. Same applies to the M3 in my opinion although it is obviously not as pronounced as with the Mercedes. White ruins this car.
This part looks ridiculous. It is completely massive, plain and ruins the lines of the car. Same applies to the M3 in my opinion although it is obviously not as pronounced as with the Mercedes. White ruins this car.
I too test drove the M4 yesterday, and from coming from an e63 M6 for the last 4 years, here are my opinions...
Looks - Well f
k me it's a handsome brute, made my M6 look dated next to it and the front end is lovely and aggressive. The 4 door M3 just wins in the looks stakes for me due to the rear arch bulge that is much more pronounced, wheras the M4 has a more flowing rear quarter.
Noise - First thing to hit you on start up, it's quite noisy. In my 40 minute test drive I still couldn't work out if I liked what I was hearing or not. I know it's never going to rival the V10's high pitched howl, but it really doesn't sound like a straight 6. I also felt I could tell the sound was piped through the speakers, especially at low-ish revs under load. The dissapointing thing for me was that the exhaust note seemed to get quieter higher up the rev range and dropping into gears didn't have the same blip as I'm used to.
Ride - First thing I noticed, and bloody hell is it good. Rides lumps and bumps fantastically well even in the stiffest setting and feels sharp. I think you would have to push this car very very hard and way into licence losing teritory to see the limits of this car. The ride is the single biggest change between my car and this one, it's really very good.
Steering - Very good, but on tighter corners I kept wishing it had a quicker rack. The lock to lock felt very long. I had it in the sportiest mode I beleive, which didn't feel as stiff as reports have suggested and felt spot on to me.
Inside - The seats are perfect, no other word for it. The rest of the interioer came straight out of my mums 330, which although very nice, was a little dissapointing. The car I drove didn't have extended leather, and I think this is a must have option just to make it feel a bit more special. I think this is where the new M5/6 have got it right, the M4 just can't compete with the luxury of it's big brother. The HUD display with speed limit display was a nice step up from the HUD in my e63.
Performance - Impressive, but apparently BMW are not insured to let you switch TC off and I found it very intrustive when planting your foot in anything other than a dead straight line. The engine felt very held back when cold (understandably) and once warmed up, did pull very strongly from low revs. Thing is, where I am used all hell breaking loose, filcking the right paddle at maximum revs and straight into the next onslaught of power, the M4 just didn't feel like that. It almost felt like there was a flat spot in the power delivery, but this may well have been the way I was trying to drive my first ever experience of forced induction.
In conclusion, it didn't make me want to go and sign away the best part of 65K for a fully loaded M4. It was and is a very very capable car and the 4 door M3 really does tick every box I can think of if you are looking for a 1 car stable daily driver. I think I would miss the V10 too much, and 4 years down the line, I still haven't found a worthy replacement that doesn't cost silly money to buy. Oh and a customers M4 was in the dealer to collect in mineral grey, I nearly wet myself, best colour I've seen so far, and I've seen them all bar white now
Looks - Well f
k me it's a handsome brute, made my M6 look dated next to it and the front end is lovely and aggressive. The 4 door M3 just wins in the looks stakes for me due to the rear arch bulge that is much more pronounced, wheras the M4 has a more flowing rear quarter.Noise - First thing to hit you on start up, it's quite noisy. In my 40 minute test drive I still couldn't work out if I liked what I was hearing or not. I know it's never going to rival the V10's high pitched howl, but it really doesn't sound like a straight 6. I also felt I could tell the sound was piped through the speakers, especially at low-ish revs under load. The dissapointing thing for me was that the exhaust note seemed to get quieter higher up the rev range and dropping into gears didn't have the same blip as I'm used to.
Ride - First thing I noticed, and bloody hell is it good. Rides lumps and bumps fantastically well even in the stiffest setting and feels sharp. I think you would have to push this car very very hard and way into licence losing teritory to see the limits of this car. The ride is the single biggest change between my car and this one, it's really very good.
Steering - Very good, but on tighter corners I kept wishing it had a quicker rack. The lock to lock felt very long. I had it in the sportiest mode I beleive, which didn't feel as stiff as reports have suggested and felt spot on to me.
Inside - The seats are perfect, no other word for it. The rest of the interioer came straight out of my mums 330, which although very nice, was a little dissapointing. The car I drove didn't have extended leather, and I think this is a must have option just to make it feel a bit more special. I think this is where the new M5/6 have got it right, the M4 just can't compete with the luxury of it's big brother. The HUD display with speed limit display was a nice step up from the HUD in my e63.
Performance - Impressive, but apparently BMW are not insured to let you switch TC off and I found it very intrustive when planting your foot in anything other than a dead straight line. The engine felt very held back when cold (understandably) and once warmed up, did pull very strongly from low revs. Thing is, where I am used all hell breaking loose, filcking the right paddle at maximum revs and straight into the next onslaught of power, the M4 just didn't feel like that. It almost felt like there was a flat spot in the power delivery, but this may well have been the way I was trying to drive my first ever experience of forced induction.
In conclusion, it didn't make me want to go and sign away the best part of 65K for a fully loaded M4. It was and is a very very capable car and the 4 door M3 really does tick every box I can think of if you are looking for a 1 car stable daily driver. I think I would miss the V10 too much, and 4 years down the line, I still haven't found a worthy replacement that doesn't cost silly money to buy. Oh and a customers M4 was in the dealer to collect in mineral grey, I nearly wet myself, best colour I've seen so far, and I've seen them all bar white now
Edited by ChrisMCoupe on Friday 4th July 11:09
Schermerhorn said:
I don't think it looks 'horny' enough in that colour. Reminds me too much of the C63 AMG coupe which I am not a big fan of
This part looks ridiculous. It is completely massive, plain and ruins the lines of the car. Same applies to the M3 in my opinion although it is obviously not as pronounced as with the Mercedes. White ruins this car.
I'm glad ist not just me then. I have the same issue with this panel design on the merc and 4 series. Just too pain, needed more work to it. Makes the back wheels look small IMHO.This part looks ridiculous. It is completely massive, plain and ruins the lines of the car. Same applies to the M3 in my opinion although it is obviously not as pronounced as with the Mercedes. White ruins this car.
M4 looks a bit better with all its flared arches but the stock 4 looks quite plain at that spot in the body, not what you expect for such a cost and niche model.
I'm quite looking forward to seeing the new C Class coupe when its out (?).
EricE said:
Would buy a touring on the spot. But we all know that BMW is not too keen on filling niches.
They wouldn’t want to ruin their lean product lineup with a silly product like a fast estate.
me to! Or possibly even an M5 estate in the current version. The old V10 e61 was so compromised as as 'work horse' car by the gearbox, range and 'highly strung' engine. The new turbo v8 sounds far more viable as a 15K miles a year car, yet they won't make a touring model.They wouldn’t want to ruin their lean product lineup with a silly product like a fast estate.
I mean, it's not like Merc and Audi have shown there is significant demand for very rapid estate cars....
ChrisMCoupe said:
I too test drove the M4 yesterday, and from coming from an e63 M6 for the last 4 years, here are my opinions...
Chris how do you think the new M4 compares with the old E92 M3 and the V10's of the same era?Edited by ChrisMCoupe on Friday 4th July 11:09
To my mind, the M4 has become the 'new C63 AMG' rather than the 'NEW M3', I'm not sure why I feel like that, maybe its the burbly noise they both make.
Chipper said:
I don't understand why the M range do not have adaptive cruise as an option. It's a must for me.
Why? I only ever use cruise in motorway roadworks 50 mph sections. Adaptive would be better, but I really don't see it as a necessity. I could very happily live without any cruise control.Schermerhorn said:
Chris how do you think the new M4 compares with the old E92 M3 and the V10's of the same era?
To my mind, the M4 has become the 'new C63 AMG' rather than the 'NEW M3', I'm not sure why I feel like that, maybe its the burbly noise they both make.
I expected to come away from my test drive feeling like 10 years of development since my e63 M6 has brought some game changing differences, and I was let down tbh. Like I said, only the quality of the ride was really impressive, everything else was just ok to me. I'm sticking with what I have for now, the V10 really is a special engine.To my mind, the M4 has become the 'new C63 AMG' rather than the 'NEW M3', I'm not sure why I feel like that, maybe its the burbly noise they both make.
I know I do need to bear in mind that I only drove this car for 40 minutes, but my friendly salesman did let me do what I wanted with the car, so I was able to drive it as intended. I've never driven the C63 so can't really comment on similarities.
Edited by ChrisMCoupe on Friday 4th July 16:11
Chipper said:
I don't understand why the M range do not have adaptive cruise as an option. It's a must for me.
Just some more weight to lug around.I hate cruise control, even adaptive. The 'Limit' feature is quite good though, set it to an appropriate value when in roadworks etc. to stop you creeping over the limit, but still lets you boot it if you want.
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