New M4 or Pre Reg/Used?

[Julian Thompson]

cerb4.5lee said:

Julian Thompson said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Julian Thompson said:

I had a 2015 manual non comp pack m4 which I’ve replaced with a new manual comp pack m4.

Observations - the early car was spikier and more fun, and actually felt faster most of the time. It was much edgier in the wet.

The new one is a wonderful car and a little easier to hustle hard - ends up with searing pace - but the earlier car was, for me, more rewarding, most of the time.

I’m not complaining about the new one but the old one was bloody exciting!

That is interesting thanks, it would be the earlier car for me then, and if I wanted easy I'd go for the RS5...I much prefer fun/edgy.

Sorry I fear I may have overstated it. The CP car is way more hardcore than the RS5 - it’s still a proper rwd beast. The difference is more subtle than that - I noticed it because I had the cars absolutely back to back but if you’d have had a six month lay off from either and then tried the other it’s possible you’d not notice it other than a “feeling it’s a bit softer” - does that help illustrate the difference a bit better?

Yes that's great cheers, I'd love either in all honesty and the M4 is a car that both me and the Mrs love a lot. Hope to get one at some stage in the future for sure.

Terrific. I have to say I read a lot and these cars attract lots of criticism but I absolutely love my M4. I’m in a bit of a petrolhead phase at the moment and I’ve got several cars including a 991 GT3, a caterham and a manual F360 and if I could keep only one of them it would be the M4.....

Edited by Julian Thompson on Tuesday 16th January 21:06

[cerb4.5lee]

Julian Thompson said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Julian Thompson said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Julian Thompson said:

I had a 2015 manual non comp pack m4 which I’ve replaced with a new manual comp pack m4.

Observations - the early car was spikier and more fun, and actually felt faster most of the time. It was much edgier in the wet.

The new one is a wonderful car and a little easier to hustle hard - ends up with searing pace - but the earlier car was, for me, more rewarding, most of the time.

I’m not complaining about the new one but the old one was bloody exciting!

That is interesting thanks, it would be the earlier car for me then, and if I wanted easy I'd go for the RS5...I much prefer fun/edgy.

Sorry I fear I may have overstated it. The CP car is way more hardcore than the RS5 - it’s still a proper rwd beast. The difference is more subtle than that - I noticed it because I had the cars absolutely back to back but if you’d have had a six month lay off from either and then tried the other it’s possible you’d not notice it other than a “feeling it’s a bit softer” - does that help illustrate the difference a bit better?

Yes that's great cheers, I'd love either in all honesty and the M4 is a car that both me and the Mrs love a lot. Hope to get one at some stage in the future for sure.

Terrific. I have to say I read a lot and these cars attract lots of criticism but I absolutely love my M4. I’m in a bit of a petrolhead phase at the moment and I’ve got several cars including a 991 GT3, a caterham and a manual F360 and if I could keep only one of them it would be the M4.....

Edited by Julian Thompson on Tuesday 16th January 21:06

Wow that is an awesome collection of motors.

Very high praise for the M4 then.

[Julian Thompson]

Yes in my opinion it’s that good - steering is a bit dead compared obviously but other than that it’s magic in my opinion. So much performance and so accessible in the real world but delivered in an old school turbo way. We’ve all gone anti turbo snob but back in the day when Porsche and Ferrari and the rally boys pumped out big boosted cars we couldn’t get enough of them. I still love the way they feel. In the GT3 I could take you out for a 10 mile drive on real roads and we’d struggle to find a thirty second bit where I could safely wind it up to 9000rpm and show you what all the fuss is about (I’ll accept that the chassis feedback on the Porsche is stellar at all speeds but nevertheless it’s difficult to make it all work on real roads) - but in the m4 the torque and ease of gently moving the back around would see us using much more of the available performance much more of the 10 Miles.

PS edited to add - all my cars are sorn right now and I’m just driving the van. Anyone else not use their cars over the winter months?

Edited by Julian Thompson on Tuesday 16th January 21:34

[squirdan]

Julian Thompson said:

Terrific. I have to say I read a lot and these cars attract lots of criticism but I absolutely love my M4. I’m in a bit of a petrolhead phase at the moment and I’ve got several cars including a 991 GT3, a caterham and a manual F360 and if I could keep only one of them it would be the M4.....

Edited by Julian Thompson on Tuesday 16th January 21:06

Are you the Elise designer?!

[interstellar]

Well, finally I had a chance to look at some cars today.

I have a problem! I need to put a roof rack on it sometimes for my mountain biking hobby I do plenty of and you can't put in on an M4 with a carbon roof!!

There are no holes for the fittings. Someone on a forum somewhere has drilled the carbon and found the thread underneath but I need to investigate it as no doubt my warranty would be void and I am not going that route.

99% of cars have this so I need one with a sunroof (only a handful available and none to my taste) so it seems an aggressive new car deal is what may be needed which is more than I wanted to spend.

Other than that may need to wait for a sunroof car to come available but could be a long wait.

[squirdan]

nice spec M3 at JKC Coleraine with sunroof that they want £50k for. or check whether a Seasucker adheres to carbon fibreeeeee?

Edited by squirdan on Wednesday 17th January 08:09

[Julian Thompson]

For the narrowing of market, cost difference and fact that a carbon roof car is more attractive used (my opinion only no substantiation) I would buy an old van for £1500 as your biking van. Do you really want to be getting in to a beautiful M4 after thrashing round a wet forest? I bought an old Hyundai terracan, chopped the arches and sat it on some big wheels for a laugh when I had a very similar dilemma a few years ago:


Worked great as a biking van and for going to the tip in! I’ve only just sold the thing it lasted years!

[Smuler]

I thought the same, get an old banger for the bike; but then thought he’d probably thought of that

Was amazed there were as many as 9 with sunroof on AUC Database. Do the M4s back windows open ?

[Julian Thompson]

Pretty certain the rear windows don’t open, no. Mine is tucked away under a cover in the depths of my cave so I can’t check. Sure someone else can help confirm that.

[interstellar]

Smuler said:

I thought the same, get an old banger for the bike; but then thought he’d probably thought of that

Was amazed there were as many as 9 with sunroof on AUC Database. Do the M4s back windows open ?

I have but a van is no good for me unless I spend a load of money on it as I travel for events.

There is no way I am driving a £1500 van from Poole to Snowdon for example.

Looks like I would have to wait or order new. the residual value doesn't change on BMW finance so I could just give it back at the end if it wasn't worth more.

[Smuler]

Julian Thompson said:

Pretty certain the rear windows don’t open, no. Mine is tucked away under a cover in the depths of my cave so I can’t check. Sure someone else can help confirm that.

No worries, I have an E46 M3 and I remember testing one with a sunroof and thinking, hmm doesn't feel right.
But with the E46's those cool tilting windows add the fresh air.
Maybe on later platforms without them, a sunroof is more appreciated.
I know on my E92 335i with no back windows to open, I liked mine.

[PorkInsider]

Smuler said:

Do the M4s back windows open ?

No.

[hertfordshire1]

interstellar said:

Smuler said:

I thought the same, get an old banger for the bike; but then thought he’d probably thought of that

Was amazed there were as many as 9 with sunroof on AUC Database. Do the M4s back windows open ?

I have but a van is no good for me unless I spend a load of money on it as I travel for events.

There is no way I am driving a £1500 van from Poole to Snowdon for example.

Looks like I would have to wait or order new. the residual value doesn't change on BMW finance so I could just give it back at the end if it wasn't worth more.

Do you need a roof rack. As a keen cyclist myself I bought a Saris Bones Bike Rack, that can be mounted to any saloon car.

I had this on the back of my old SLK AMG years ago, with my road bike safely on the back..

My current M5 has split fold seats, so that is no longer a requirement..

Other options to a roof system..

[interstellar]

A tow bar is not an option on the M4. Some guys in the states have done it but again I dont want to mess with the car as its not ap[proved by BMW and warranty is void.

I need to put 3 bikes on the top sometimes so a sunroof car it needs to be I think.

[PorkInsider]

hertfordshire1 said:

interstellar said:

Smuler said:

I thought the same, get an old banger for the bike; but then thought he’d probably thought of that

Was amazed there were as many as 9 with sunroof on AUC Database. Do the M4s back windows open ?

I have but a van is no good for me unless I spend a load of money on it as I travel for events.

There is no way I am driving a £1500 van from Poole to Snowdon for example.

Looks like I would have to wait or order new. the residual value doesn't change on BMW finance so I could just give it back at the end if it wasn't worth more.

Do you need a roof rack. As a keen cyclist myself I bought a Saris Bones Bike Rack, that can be mounted to any saloon car.

I had this on the back of my old SLK AMG years ago, with my road bike safely on the back..

My current M5 has split fold seats, so that is no longer a requirement..

Other options to a roof system..

I have a Saris Bones.

I wouldn’t bung it on an M4 though. The boot lid is carbon fibre.

Edit: if you really need a car to do those sorts of things, I wouldn’t look at an M4. They’re really not made for it.

[ftypical]

interstellar said:

A tow bar is not an option on the M4. Some guys in the states have done it but again I dont want to mess with the car as its not ap[proved by BMW and warranty is void.

I need to put 3 bikes on the top sometimes so a sunroof car it needs to be I think.

In what way is a van not ideal to transport 3 bikes to events, given that it also gives you a dry workspace, changing area and place to sleep???

[interstellar]

ftypical said:

In what way is a van not ideal to transport 3 bikes to events, given that it also gives you a dry workspace, changing area and place to sleep???

It might seem a solution to some but I would rather drive an m4 than an old van and use it not sit it on the drive, life’s for living.

[andyeds1234]

interstellar said:

ftypical said:

In what way is a van not ideal to transport 3 bikes to events, given that it also gives you a dry workspace, changing area and place to sleep???

It might seem a solution to some but I would rather drive an m4 than an old van and use it not sit it on the drive, life’s for living.

A medium sized coupe isn't a great choice for transporting bikes, and a medium sized coupe that can't accommodate a roof rack or tow bar, is even worse.
If I wanted transport for my bike kit, that also gave me a warm life affirming feeling, I'm not sure this is a car I would consider.

[Wills2]

IIRC some people in the states have retro fitted the roof fixings on their m3/4 to allow a roof rack but it involves drilling the CFRP roof I believe, if I wanted a performance car with practicality I'd go for the new RS4.

[Julian Thompson]

interstellar said:

ftypical said:

In what way is a van not ideal to transport 3 bikes to events, given that it also gives you a dry workspace, changing area and place to sleep???

It might seem a solution to some but I would rather drive an m4 than an old van and use it not sit it on the drive, life’s for living.

This is a perfectly valid approach which I’ve tried before but personally failed at. It depends on your personality - for example - I now have a van to drive to work because when it gets scraped on the marginal parking side street it doesn’t annoy me so much. Then, for going to dinner I choose a lovely car from my garage and I get pleasure from remembering the little things about that car that I forgot. And for me I garner pleasure from ownership and aesthetics as much as actually driving the cars. Also, it’s definitely possible to have an extremely reliable and useable £1500 vehicle that could get you in comfort wherever you need to go. Some decent maintenance and this really isn’t a problem.

Still, it’s all personal preference but I have to say that the lack of pressure I’ve felt since I’ve accepted that flash cars are for fun only rather than every day use has been very much noticable. I remember whacking a nice Alfa with a pedal in my “must use one car for everything it’s a servant not a master” days, as well as ruining the backs of the seats in a beautiful 3 series estate with bikes or tip rubbish because “it’s an estate it can do anything a van can”... like I say - that’s only my grey haired opinion on it looking back at what I’ve done and felt myself. But I accept I’m a bit of an oddball!