Thoughts on an M4 Convertible

[jjdw33]

SELON said:

russy01 said:

Yes its a great car - not fantastic, but recommend me a better modern convertible that can happily seat 4 whilst moving along at warp speed?

I wanted a 911 or V6 Exige, but with 2 small little ones I decided a 4 seater drop top would be more fun for all the family. We could load up and go to the beach for the day, whilst still possessing enough sass to excite on a Sunday morning.

There is a severe lack of proper information and good reviews of the cab online - so I'll try and give you a good honest report.


Looks - from the front it looks typical M4. From the rear its not perfect with the roof up, but it still looks pretty menacing with big arches, tyres and 4 pipes. With the roof down however the rear looks pretty decent and works well.
I have the OEM carbon splitter upfront and rear diffuser, this makes the car look much more aggressive and sets it apart from all the 440i's. If you can get a car with this on it, then do - its expensive to retrofit.


Sound - lets get this out of the way as its a common complaint about the M4. HOWEVER, when people refer to the M4 they are never speaking about the convertible. I will happily admit that M3/M4 sounds pretty meh in coupe form from the inside, its a big let down. The convertible however is an entirely different proposition, with the roof down its pretty rude and you can hear all sorts of noises.

In efficient mode the car sounds relatively beefy, but is sedate and doesnt pop and burble away. With the roof down it sounds nice and smooth and grown up. Stick the car into Sport Plus and it all changes, you have a louder drone during all acceleration, huge exhaust barks as you come off throttle when boost has built (the sort that scares kids and grannies) and pretty ridiculous burbles off throttle at lower speeds.

Personally I think the burbles at low speeds sound absolutely stupid and I try my hardest to keep my foot on the throttle slightly so it doesnt engage.
Roof down, Sport Plus, full acceleration through the gears and it sounds pretty decent, its nothing spectacular but everybody who has been in the car has commented that it sounds good.


Grunt - as you are aware the cab has >200kg more to shift than the coupe. However on the road I dont think you really notice this through acceleration, the car feels extremely fast at all speeds. Infact with the roof down Id go as far as saying the Convertible feels faster than a coupe as you have a more visceral experience. The engine is happy to be revved out or you can just rely on the torque and make rapid progress whilst short shifting. The only place where the weight can be felt is through continual hard braking, but this is to be expected - it's physics right? The brakes whilst not spectacular are plenty good for road use.
My car is DCT and the box fits the car perfectly, the manual feels slow and outdated by comparison (and I like a manual.)


Handling - IMO this is 100% down to the driver. The car has a reputation of being a handful and from reading many forums it sounds like the majority of owners are absolutely terrified of their car.
The car handles very well, but requires a confident driver who understands traction!! If you drive the car properly its brilliant, sharp turn in and plenty of traction from the rears. However to extract the best from the car you have to remove some of the aids - the systems cut the power too early too often.
If you set the car to the middle mode of (MDM) the car is great, you can drive well whilst retaining a small safety net.
If you switch it all off, you find another level of performance and realise how even the "sporty" MDM mode calls play on the power when you dont even realise. The car feels quicker in a straight line and no power is held back on corner exit - but its down to you to drive properly and control that throttle properly!
But be aware, if you switch it all off and go drive like a tt you WILL end up in a hedge.

I personally love a car with an edge like this, it makes the driving experience exciting and makes you respect the car. Sure, a stage 1 Golf R driven by a 17yr old will likely get you from A-B quicker - but thats boring and easy.

Interior - Meh, typical BMW 4 Series affair. Cars with full black interiors are very plain and boring, look for a car with coloured leather and/or extended leather packages that make the dash more exciting/plush. My car is Azurite Black and has the Sakhir orange (red) leather and it works nicely.


Practicality - Its bloody good for what it is. 4 adults fit nicely with the roof down, although rear is cramped on longer journeys. We use the car with 2 child seats and its OK. I wouldnt want to use it daily as its a pain to strap them in, but its perfectly usable. We can also squeeze a pram in the boot with the roof down...
If there are just two of you using the car you can fit the wind deflector. This works a treat and really helps reduce wind in the cabin - I have done 3hr motorway journeys with the roof down whilst making calls with the deflector in place.


Running - I do a lot of short journeys and drive the car hard, I average 17/18mpg. Although it can do 25-30 if you want it to.


Compared to the E92 the M4 is on another level performance wise. The E92 is brilliant when pushing towards red line in 2nd and 3rd, but in my opinion thats its only benefit - the F80/2 moves the game on in all other areas. Whilst the V8 in the E92 is lovely, it does have its issues and I still think it feels overworked in the M3 - this engine would be magic in a 1100-1200kg car.
The F83 M4 convertible has the same and possibly even further progression over its predecessor. Back to back, the E93 will feel considerably slower than the M4 and the torque makes the car more enjoyable to cruise about in.

My car is a 2017 Comp pack and I bought outright, used with just 5k on the clock at >25k less than list price - I would NOT buy new this late in the cars life unless its a silly deal. My car is Azurite Black with Sakhir Orange interior, Carbon bits, HK Stereo, HUD, Air collar etc. Id recommend the HK, HUD and Air collar - these are good and desirable options for resale too.

Few pics...

Dealer pics when purchased. (no front lip)





With the family bus at home. (no front lip)



With a local mineral Grey M4 Comp (now with front lip)



Having no roof makes it good for DIY/tip runs!

Edited by russy01 on Friday 9th August 06:57

I’ve a CP Convertible and the above is spot on from my perspective as well. Need 4 seats? Want a convertible? Want a hoot to drive? Want it to also be docile when you need it? Looks great, goes great. Very happy with it, no plans to switch any time soon.

Only difference I would say is that I’ve got the white/black interior, with a few flashes of carbon in the interior. I think it looks and feels great.

Hello guys, my first post here. So let me try my best not to mess that one up:-)
Being stuck in quarantine down under, plenty of time to read some things where never found the time before.
Loved those 2 up, which i quoted.
And even more, when i saw the azurith black!
Have an cp convertible in that color since 2018 and do 15.000miles per year in it. Love that color in the sun,
where it looks like a very dark, shiny blue.
After testing both, the coupe and the roofless one and both on track as well.
Agree with nearly everything that you write and like to add, that on track you feel too much weight.
Not so much on normal roads, where you can get close to the limits of the car without putting others in some kind of danger.
At least not with my driving skills. But on track the coupe is better, without full convincing(still too much weight).
As i prefer drive top down, even in winter it was an easy choice. Took it as a manual, as it might be bit slower,
but for sure more fun. And with the heavier convertible anyway its not about last 2% of performance.
On track again i smashed on a full day there the breaks of the car(wife not happy with bill), with been carried away
and kept going bit too long... Ceramics would have been good choice, but didnt think on buying i d go that much on track...
Last comment for all british folks here, that dont see german autobahns a lot.
This one is big fun for quick long distance trips.
Mine is open and it goes 290km/h what might be 180MPH..?(didnt go more yet) and the car is calm and heavy on the road.
Not scary!
And you can do longer trips on open roads easy with 220km/h so maybe 135mph?, when not too many car around.
Throttle then should be on comfort, as its quite loud on sport+, which is fun on short trips :-)
So for me its not the perfect car, but close to a perfect compromise.