BMW M4: PH Fleet
Back from the bodyshop and back to (mostly) brilliant for the M4
Crucially it feels special and has both the visual impact and driving experience to put clear ground between this and regular BMWs, like the 435i I ran as a previous long-termer. Many might wear the same badge, seemingly confirming the 'M for marketing' fears. But park the M4 alongside a regular 4 Series or, better still, drive it and it's heartening to realise it does still stand for something more.
But driving it is something denied to me for much of the car's initial period on fleet. Demands from colleagues for participation in photoshoots have seen it loaned out. But the biggest imposition was the extended period in Berry Heathrow's bodyshop as wrangles continued over the repair to the rear bumper after it got driven into by a bus. As previously reported Abellio said 'not us, guv' and then dobbed in London United as the culprits, complete with registration and route details of 'our' single decker. No honour among bus companies it would seem; we're following this up and await a response that hopefully involves coughing up for the repair.
Anyway, enough about that. I've actually been able to rack up some miles in the M4 and jolly good fun it has been too. Mainly. I'll have a couple of moans first, mainly to do with noise. There's a lot of tyre roar on rough surfaces, which is about the only real compromise for long-distance use because it's otherwise a very nice place to spend time. And then there's the engine noise. I need to get to the bottom of whether or not there actually is any speaker-based enhancement to the sound like the M5. Because reading another of those excellent technical articles on BMW M-Power.com there's a lot of detail about the various ways the exhaust is routed in different driver modes, suggesting the additional noise in Sport and Sport Plus is 'natural'.
Frankly I have my suspicions though. There's something very synthetic - and unpleasantly intrusive - about the noise that erupts around the cabin when in Sport and Sport Plus that doesn't seem entirely in sync with engine revs or load. The connection between throttle pedal and noise produced just seems a bit false, which makes BMW's claims that the M4's acoustic feedback is (rightly) intended to reinforce the connection between car and driver seem a little suspect. I need to get a definitive answer but it's disappointing because from the outside it sounds brilliant. Very different from the traditional normally aspirated straight-sixes of old but savage, high-tech and very potent. On cold start-up in particular it's a properly purposeful sound.
It seems to be a bit of an insecurity BMW has at the moment. It's like the development teams are desperately trying to make new-school turbo engines sound like old-school normally aspirated ones, which seems to me a hiding to nothing. There's the well documented M5 speaker-enhanced noise and the weirdness when the petrol engine fires up in the i8. Both actually sound really good from the outside but BMW seems determined to contrive a false impression in the cabin. Same with the M3/M4 engine.
I think someone at BMW M needs to spend some time in a RB26DETT-engined R32, R33 or R34 Skyline and realise that twin-turbo straight-sixes can sound fabulous in their own right and there's no need to hide the forced induction. As it's such a dominant characteristic of this car why not celebrate it?
Maybe the GTS, revealed in concept form, spied hacking round the 'ring in very real looking pre-production spec, will unleash a bit more of this character. I know not everyone is won over by the Halfords look but as an M4 convert I'm liking the sound of it.
Meanwhile I'll continue to enjoy 'my' car and nurse the tyres through to that threatened send-off on track. The roads are dry at the moment but even so it's turning into a proper handful. Fun in a way but new rubber definitely needs fitting sooner rather than later.
FACT SHEET
Car: BMW M4
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: June 2015
Mileage: 6,313
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)
Last month at a glance: Finally back driving the M4, and there's a lot to like
Previous reports
Dan wanted an M3, gets an M4 instead - what to do?!
It started so well... and now the M4 is in the bodyshop
[Sources: BMW M-Power]
The risk with M cars with DCT is that the only real fun is complete hyperspace, foot nailed to the board, pulling the paddle at the rev limiter followed by mashing the brake pedal and then back to full throttle and paddle pulling. All manual M cars have given me much more opportunity for involvement and fun at less than complete flat to the board rev limiter every gear everywhere full on hyperspace. I sold my Previous DCT M3 as I found myself going everywhere at the speed limiter, or bored (read, not as involved as previous manual M cars) entirely.
RW
You should be applauding Abellio in the article. I'm frankly a bit disgusted with the insinuation that Abellio should be helping their own to avoid the law.
The risk with M cars with DCT is that the only real fun is complete hyperspace, foot nailed to the board, pulling the paddle at the rev limiter followed by mashing the brake pedal and then back to full throttle and paddle pulling. All manual M cars have given me much more opportunity for involvement and fun at less than complete flat to the board rev limiter every gear everywhere full on hyperspace. I sold my Previous DCT M3 as I found myself going everywhere at the speed limiter, or bored (read, not as involved as previous manual M cars) entirely.
RW
I'm lucky enough to have driven 3 different M4s (and 2 F30 M3s), both on road and on track in anger. I don't know if the sound was organic or tweaked. Nor did I give a st. I was enjoying the drive too much.
If in-cabin exhaust note is all there is to car enjoyment, buy a diesel and spend the rest on a stereo to play an audio file of a 1967 Shelby GT500 VERY loud
The risk with M cars with DCT is that the only real fun is complete hyperspace, foot nailed to the board, pulling the paddle at the rev limiter followed by mashing the brake pedal and then back to full throttle and paddle pulling. All manual M cars have given me much more opportunity for involvement and fun at less than complete flat to the board rev limiter every gear everywhere full on hyperspace. I sold my Previous DCT M3 as I found myself going everywhere at the speed limiter, or bored (read, not as involved as previous manual M cars) entirely.
RW
The risk with M cars with DCT is that the only real fun is complete hyperspace, foot nailed to the board, pulling the paddle at the rev limiter followed by mashing the brake pedal and then back to full throttle and paddle pulling. All manual M cars have given me much more opportunity for involvement and fun at less than complete flat to the board rev limiter every gear everywhere full on hyperspace. I sold my Previous DCT M3 as I found myself going everywhere at the speed limiter, or bored (read, not as involved as previous manual M cars) entirely.
RW
And why devote a whole month to blathering on about the noise? Beauty of long-term tests that you have the chance to really drill down on the details of the car and, speaking personally, if I were weighing up M4/M3 against C63 given this experience of the M4 it'd be close to being a deal breaker I hate it that much. Clearly, Ares, doesn't matter as much to you and that's fine. Just seems such a shame given the engine actually sounds great! Each to their own though.
I'd have been able to say more about the driving of it if it hadn't spent so much time in the damned bodyshop too. But I've been making up for that so more on the actual driving impressions next time.
And given the amount of time I've spent chasing bus companies and the runaround given by everyone I've had to deal with my charity has been long exhausted. Funny how much more helpful Abellio suddenly got when they realised they could pin it on someone else!
Cheers,
Dan
This one, however, is 'just' a regular press car and long-term loan in the usual sense.
Hope that makes sense!
Dan
My take on piping noise in is that, assuming it's done right, it is a good way to appease the nanny brigade that want refinement out of their £60k 3-series' whilst still giving the 'purist' the experience. The average punter demands refinement within the car which is bound to muffle the exhaust note. For me, piped noise, done right, is an acceptable compromise. The alternative is a plethora of aftermarket exhausts which adds £X,000 and risks the return of the cherry bomb 'zorst.
This one, however, is 'just' a regular press car and long-term loan in the usual sense.
Hope that makes sense!
Dan
Also wholeheartedly agree about the amazing sound of the RB26 in the previous GT-R's. It chuffs, sucks and blows away in a brilliant symphony of sound and the noise at 8000rpm will literally raise the hairs on the back of your neck. They really need to stop trying to disguise the fact that cars are turbocharged and just let them sing. They used to be able to do it 20 years ago, strange that with all the developments in "acoustic tuning" they seem to have lost the art of making a decent sounding turbo engine, Mercedes seem to be the only exception at the moment.
As for DCT vs Manual I have been driving a DCT equipped car for nearly 2 years now and while it is absolutely fantastic at the day to day stuff, when you want to have fun it is less accomplished. It's too easy, just click, click, click and the changes are so smooth, the only way you can tell you've changed gear is the change in engine note\revs. The interaction is so muted that you soon just give up and let the auto mode takeover as there is very little satisfaction to be gained. I jumped in a friends Astra recently which despite having less than half the power of my car, actually gave me greater enjoyment from the physical act of driving as it had a manual gearbox.
My next car will be a manual, yes you loose some of ease-of-use especially in stop start traffic but modern manual gearboxes aren't exactly a chore to use in these scenarios either and I know when I do want to let my hair down, I may be slightly slower but I'll be having much more fun. The only problem I can see is that it is getting harder and harder to find a modern performance coupe\saloon with a manual option.
And I'm torn on the manual/DCT thing as you can tell. Interesting to hear the debate!
Thanks,
Dan
Thanks,
Dan
On track, no contest, DCT was epic. On the road, the DCT was still seamless and instantaneous at non-10/10ths, but was less intuitive and natural....but as with the M6 we had, I found myself just using the full auto mode for the times when the DCT was a bit overkill.
On track, no contest, DCT was epic. On the road, the DCT was still seamless and instantaneous at non-10/10ths, but was less intuitive and natural....but as with the M6 we had, I found myself just using the full auto mode for the times when the DCT was a bit overkill.
On the road using DCT is even more pointless, the only time it get's semi-interesting is in maximum attack mode but doing that on public roads isn't really clever so you just tend to leave it in auto mode all the time which defeats the purpose IMO.
I'm not a Luddite, I love technology but I've tried DCT extensively and come to the conclusion that for me, it's a step too far in removing my involvement.
On track, no contest, DCT was epic. On the road, the DCT was still seamless and instantaneous at non-10/10ths, but was less intuitive and natural....but as with the M6 we had, I found myself just using the full auto mode for the times when the DCT was a bit overkill.
On the road using DCT is even more pointless, the only time it get's semi-interesting is in maximum attack mode but doing that on public roads isn't really clever so you just tend to leave it in auto mode all the time which defeats the purpose IMO.
I'm not a Luddite, I love technology but I've tried DCT extensively and come to the conclusion that for me, it's a step too far in removing my involvement.
In the M4 I would argue it increases the involvement and increases the experience, on track at least.
Having used the DCT, then climbed into a manual, I couldn't wait to get back in the DCT. The DCT is infinitely more fun. Clutch peddles are becoming redundant for everything other than wistful memories of yore. It's a bit like preferring manual window winders so that you feel connected to the car.
The F10 M5's hot v turbos use twinscroll turbos I believe which again probably reduces exhaust noise. So getting the old school I6 turbo noise with their very unrestricted piping and non-EU6 regulated electronic control probably is rather hard to achieve.
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