BMW M4 Competition: not for a shrinking violet

The new M4 has been one of BMW’s most hotly anticipated cars “in a generation”, said Jonathan Burn in Auto Express. And the maker has “nailed it”. The coupé’s “dramatic makeover” may be the “obvious talking point”, but this is not a case of style over substance. The car still delivers “thundering performance”, but it has also become more “manageable” to drive. The one drawback to all this? You’d better “be prepared to pay for it”. 

“This is not a car for a retiring violet,” said Andrew English in The Daily Telegraph. The M4’s new “bulging, muscly” look confirms that subtlety is no longer its bag. And that’s before you notice the “berserk radiator grilles”. There are a whopping 100 body colours on offer – not to mention the three hues for the brake calipers. The blue, black and yellow bucket seats on my model looked like “designer trainers” and were not exactly comfortable. Having said that, the interior fascia with its 10.5in central screen is nicely put together, and, compared with rivals, “a masterpiece of understatement”. The car is larger than its predecessor, which means more leg room and a spacious 480-litre boot.

The M4 is only coming to the UK with a 503bhp, twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre, six-cylinder petrol engine, said What Car? All that power “fires you up the road in an almost alarming manner”; on a cold, damp day, we managed 0-60mph in just 3.8 seconds. But the car is “far more predictable than its predecessor”, and it now has an advanced ten-stage traction control system to manage your slide, and “sure-footed yet playful” handling. This is “one of the most visceral and engaging performance cars we’ve tested to date”.