I borrowed a BMW M4 today for an extended test drive from Sutton BMW, so thanks to them for accommodating me. I am going to buy something new to replace my F10 530D at some point around Christmas, so need to drive a few options. I had 2 E46 M3's when they were current but bought an RS4 instead of an E92 M3 and though slower I felt it was the better road car. Let me start with some quite terrible pictures as I know you lot like pictures. Yes, they were taken with a potato, yes I am deaf in both eyes and no I didn't use Photoshop the make them this bad. It's talent and you simply will never have it, accept it!
First things first, this is why black cars are crap. They look fantastic when you wash them, but then you go and have a coffee, come back and they look like this. Black for me at least is not the colour for this car unless you have polish people in your boot who get out and clean it each time you stop.
Performance
It is very fast, really quick and feels quicker than both the previous generations from what I recall. I need to clarify that by saying I've not been driving quick cars for a couple of years, so it might just be me needing to reacclimatise, but I think not. The engine once over 1000rpm seems to pull like a b'stard all the way up the rev range and it pulls hard in any gear. I think this is very quick and here is a video of the previous M3 and an R8 which launch aside are similar in performance and then the new M3. Though far from scientific, it does show how ******* fast the new one is, I think this is proper quick in a straight line. Also, for a change, it has good brakes so when you need to haul it down at the end of the runway you can do it more than once without death.
Previous
New
I need coffee now but will add some more in a bit....and for me it's not all win in the garden of win...
Gearbox
Yea, OK, DCT is good and you would be stupid to select manual these days. I still miss the heel toe stuff, but frankly the DCT box is safer, quicker and more fun in most situations. It has 3 settings, the 3rd giving you an almost SMG kick in the backside with each change and a nice barp on the down changes. For me, again (god Im old) the 3 setting was pointless outside of smacking your kidneys in. 2 was the sweet spot being both quick and in most situations smooth. 1 setting is smooth as silk and though slower perfect for around town etc. Moving off is not always perfect and in some gears, mainly second, there is some transmission shunt at slow speed when you pick the throttle up but by and large the 7 speed DCT box is the way to go.
Handling/Ride
I need to start with settings as I think this is an important aspect to the car. It has comfort, sport and sport plus and that can be applied across steering, damping and gearbox. I drove the car on all sorts of roads and in dry and wet conditions and used the 2 pre-set M1/M2 settings (you can set them up with combos of the 3 bits I mentioned) and came to the following conclusion. On most roads Sport plus is a waste of time, it is too stiff and unsettles the car. Frankly the best setting is comfort and then sport on the dampers as when too stiff it moves around too much and follows the cambers a lot but worse it has an impact on traction when bumpy and braking. For me sport is for really smooth road, sport plus if really really smooth and for track use. There is this concept it would seem that stiff means hunkered down and faster when in fact on most British roads the reverse is true. In comfort I found it rode the bumps better and was simply more composed. Sure it lost some agility, but you would be able to carry more speed on more roads in comfort in my humble opinion. But I need more time in the car to formalise that. The steering is all about weight really and I felt sport was the middle ground and best.
It does have good traction in most circumstances and the back end is very nicely sorted and can be controlled with your right foot easily. I found myself able to slide it nicely within an hour of driving it and I suspect with time and confidence in the car it would be great fun for that. I of course took it sensibly but had some fun on quite roads. It is able to cover ground very quickly and well but in the wet I did find the tc light would come on quite often when you stood on the throttle for one of those 'proper' overtakes of power. I did not have long enough to really push nor would I in a road test, but carried enough speed over a nice local road (Gibbo and Tax Evader will know the superb road of which I speak out the back of where I live) to see it would be great fun!
Noise
I ******* love it! I know it's processed, I know it's not pure but I don't give a stuff. It is loud and sounds good to my ears! Windows down through local village was lovely, warp warp warp of a turbo with a subtle cylinder and induction sound from the CSL (not as pure of course) and for me it works. Nice warble on overrun too from the pipes so personally I don't get what the fuss is about. For me it works.
Interior/Toys
BMW NOOOOOOOOOOOO. For me it's not very good. The plastics look cheap, the feel is not right, the stuck on sat nav is yucky and frankly it does not feel close to a 65K cars interior. The colours for me did it no favours but frankly I felt it was not great. The seats were also poor for me and again gave the feeling of sitting on no in and I would also like to be lower. It has lots of gimmicks, the sat nav has more options and you can adjust lots of stuff but you expect that. I felt the stereo was pants, worse than my 5 series for sure and it feels like the lower, cheaper brother of the 5 and the 5 isn't perfect.
Summary
I'm not good at the micro analysis so my review is much simpler. This is a very fast modern saloon car that will eat miles and go very quickly. I average 17mpg, so it likes a drink but I was enjoying it. When I was cruising around in traffic I was seeing 30mpg but I suspect most people will be low 20's. It does not feel it's cost if that makes sense and has lost some of the bespoke feel of previous M's I feel. It does however handle well, brake well and go like stink and it doesn't feel too heavy either. I think you could use one day to day and I think it would constantly put a smile on your face. You know what though...I got back into my 5 series and realise just how good it was. Sure its MUCH slower, but it feels a much better screwed together car, bigger (of course) an much more suited for mile munching. I did however have a huge smile on my face the first time I opened up the M4 and there is little question, power of this sort is addictive and is something I have missed.
First things first, this is why black cars are crap. They look fantastic when you wash them, but then you go and have a coffee, come back and they look like this. Black for me at least is not the colour for this car unless you have polish people in your boot who get out and clean it each time you stop.
Performance
It is very fast, really quick and feels quicker than both the previous generations from what I recall. I need to clarify that by saying I've not been driving quick cars for a couple of years, so it might just be me needing to reacclimatise, but I think not. The engine once over 1000rpm seems to pull like a b'stard all the way up the rev range and it pulls hard in any gear. I think this is very quick and here is a video of the previous M3 and an R8 which launch aside are similar in performance and then the new M3. Though far from scientific, it does show how ******* fast the new one is, I think this is proper quick in a straight line. Also, for a change, it has good brakes so when you need to haul it down at the end of the runway you can do it more than once without death.
Previous
New
I need coffee now but will add some more in a bit....and for me it's not all win in the garden of win...
Gearbox
Yea, OK, DCT is good and you would be stupid to select manual these days. I still miss the heel toe stuff, but frankly the DCT box is safer, quicker and more fun in most situations. It has 3 settings, the 3rd giving you an almost SMG kick in the backside with each change and a nice barp on the down changes. For me, again (god Im old) the 3 setting was pointless outside of smacking your kidneys in. 2 was the sweet spot being both quick and in most situations smooth. 1 setting is smooth as silk and though slower perfect for around town etc. Moving off is not always perfect and in some gears, mainly second, there is some transmission shunt at slow speed when you pick the throttle up but by and large the 7 speed DCT box is the way to go.
Handling/Ride
I need to start with settings as I think this is an important aspect to the car. It has comfort, sport and sport plus and that can be applied across steering, damping and gearbox. I drove the car on all sorts of roads and in dry and wet conditions and used the 2 pre-set M1/M2 settings (you can set them up with combos of the 3 bits I mentioned) and came to the following conclusion. On most roads Sport plus is a waste of time, it is too stiff and unsettles the car. Frankly the best setting is comfort and then sport on the dampers as when too stiff it moves around too much and follows the cambers a lot but worse it has an impact on traction when bumpy and braking. For me sport is for really smooth road, sport plus if really really smooth and for track use. There is this concept it would seem that stiff means hunkered down and faster when in fact on most British roads the reverse is true. In comfort I found it rode the bumps better and was simply more composed. Sure it lost some agility, but you would be able to carry more speed on more roads in comfort in my humble opinion. But I need more time in the car to formalise that. The steering is all about weight really and I felt sport was the middle ground and best.
It does have good traction in most circumstances and the back end is very nicely sorted and can be controlled with your right foot easily. I found myself able to slide it nicely within an hour of driving it and I suspect with time and confidence in the car it would be great fun for that. I of course took it sensibly but had some fun on quite roads. It is able to cover ground very quickly and well but in the wet I did find the tc light would come on quite often when you stood on the throttle for one of those 'proper' overtakes of power. I did not have long enough to really push nor would I in a road test, but carried enough speed over a nice local road (Gibbo and Tax Evader will know the superb road of which I speak out the back of where I live) to see it would be great fun!
Noise
I ******* love it! I know it's processed, I know it's not pure but I don't give a stuff. It is loud and sounds good to my ears! Windows down through local village was lovely, warp warp warp of a turbo with a subtle cylinder and induction sound from the CSL (not as pure of course) and for me it works. Nice warble on overrun too from the pipes so personally I don't get what the fuss is about. For me it works.
Interior/Toys
BMW NOOOOOOOOOOOO. For me it's not very good. The plastics look cheap, the feel is not right, the stuck on sat nav is yucky and frankly it does not feel close to a 65K cars interior. The colours for me did it no favours but frankly I felt it was not great. The seats were also poor for me and again gave the feeling of sitting on no in and I would also like to be lower. It has lots of gimmicks, the sat nav has more options and you can adjust lots of stuff but you expect that. I felt the stereo was pants, worse than my 5 series for sure and it feels like the lower, cheaper brother of the 5 and the 5 isn't perfect.
Summary
I'm not good at the micro analysis so my review is much simpler. This is a very fast modern saloon car that will eat miles and go very quickly. I average 17mpg, so it likes a drink but I was enjoying it. When I was cruising around in traffic I was seeing 30mpg but I suspect most people will be low 20's. It does not feel it's cost if that makes sense and has lost some of the bespoke feel of previous M's I feel. It does however handle well, brake well and go like stink and it doesn't feel too heavy either. I think you could use one day to day and I think it would constantly put a smile on your face. You know what though...I got back into my 5 series and realise just how good it was. Sure its MUCH slower, but it feels a much better screwed together car, bigger (of course) an much more suited for mile munching. I did however have a huge smile on my face the first time I opened up the M4 and there is little question, power of this sort is addictive and is something I have missed.
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