2021 BMW M4 Competition: A true M car through and through

These are some of the greats. Not just icons amongst their peers from Munich, but legends that are fit to rub arches with the greatest drivers cars of all time. It must be intimidating, knowing that you have to follow in their tire tracks. But that's exactly what this BMW has to do. It's the new G82M for competition. With 503 brake horsepower, and 479 pounds of torque from its new s 58 closed deck twin turbo three liter straight six. It certainly has some muscle, but it also weighs a hefty 1725 kilos, [MUSIC] What's more, in the UK It is only available with an automatic gearbox, not a DCT an actual torque converter auto. And then there is the grille, which is both. So, on paper, it's not looking great for this latest generation Thankfully, we don't drive on paper.>> [SOUND] This is fantastic. For all of that extra weight, it just isn't fair enough. As soon as you turn away you can feel the lateral stiffness. The steering is not think wriggling with feel but the accuracy that you have around it is phenomenal. It feels like an M car. Thermochromic geraniums. The fundamental structure of the latest forsters was clearly a good start, but BMW is putting a lot of work to stiffen and further open the bonnet and you can see some of the extra bracing on the the lovely carbon horseshoe of old is but this is just the tip of the bracing iceberg Combined with the M specific suspension, it's certainly effective, giving you a phenomenal sense of connection and therefore confidence from behind Well, there's just a lovely torness to it and then you get to the end This Aes 58 engine. And it's turbocharged, but it is whoa linear so responsive. It's a much for the shattered. It is disappointing in that it doesn't sound brilliant. It's sort of gruff. There is, There is some BMW to the note in it. But my thing is just the way it's so creamy, smooth all the way up to its red line. [SOUND] And of course with 503 brake horsepower, that's about a 500 pounds for the tour. It shrugs off any extra weights, I can tell you that it's got a real sort of crescendo, which I suppose you Wouldn't really expect with a turbo engine anyway but if we're going to be picky, that's not that's not perhaps to the real spine tingling nature of the very best m engines but [SOUND] in terms of But what it delivers absolutely no complaints at all. [NOISE] Then there's the gearbox and obviously, I really did have my doubts. It was possibly my biggest doubt actually buying this car how could they put an HB talk about in this and still make it an And perhaps I do still have some misgivings about it because I think an improved DCT something like Porsches PDK would have made this car even better. Having said that, the shifts in this are so smooth that I actually think it's an improvement on the old systems in which you were always just a bit nervous. It could dump shifts in a way that you always thought might just unsettle the rear axle so you could feel a bit uneasy Using that old DCT whereas this you just don't have any worries about it at all. Yes, again rise to the top end. Perhaps it's a little bit soft doesn't quite have the snappiness the precision that you'd expect from an ATM card. But in terms of usability again And actually just enjoyment down the road I would rather have this than the old DCT The carbon paddles even feel quite nice but it's not the most satisfying action but they are interestingly tactile on their red box with a dimples for down and pimples for up Whereas in the old DCT, which could just feel a bit like a while, Even like a automated single clutch manual, you've never really turned it up to its full maximum attack speed in terms of changes this well down here you can just put it up to three all the time to be honest and it's so smooth even when it's giving the fast shifts. [SOUND] It's absolutely fine. And of course, you can wander all the way back and it is a talk about so you can make it a nice relaxing, everyday car and it is that bit more relaxing it's everyday car. Yes, there is quite a bit of road noise transmitted into this new round four, but the actual ride The quality is impressive. He certainly feel the bumps but never harshly so it's not uncomfortable. And if you find yourself cruising on the motorway, heading to a multi storey carpark, then this latest M4 even has a whole suite of driver assistance systems to call upon, if you'd like relinquishing a bit of control Now you can actually get a new m four with a six speed manual gearbox, just not in the UK. It's the standard for noncompetition. And for it's got 473 brake horsepower and 406 pounds for so quite a bit down particularly on the talk because the six speed gearbox can't cope. But if you're lucky enough to live in one of those markets, you can get a six speed manual. In the UK the M for competition starts at 76,000 pounds. In terms of the spec on this particular car. Well, the most eye catching thing is certainly the Sao Paolo yellow paint. Which is actually a no cost option, these wheels, 19s in the front, 20s in the rear, are 826 M style forged alloys. And if you want, they can be wrapped in [UNKNOWN] tires instead of this car's 4S rubber. The carbon roof with its new aerodynamic ridges is, of course, standard. But this car has some extra carbon at the front, on the wing mirrors, and around the back with the diffuser. And the small spoiler, these are all part of the 6750LBM carbon pack, which also includes the seats, which we'll talk about in a moment. One carbon option not on this car is carbon ceramic brakes. Had no complaints with the standard items, although admittedly I didn't encounter any big Alpine descents. But there may well be a benefit to be felt from the 15 kilos of unsprung mass saved with the golden colored items if you want to lash out of course, the big option with this is that you can have it as an M 3 competition and the great thing about this It is basically exactly the same. It's the same overall length. It's obviously a little bit higher so 14 millimeters higher. very slightly wider at 16 millimeters wider, same not 62 mile now time of 3.9 seconds same 503 brake horsepower and 479 pounds for the. You obviously get the extra practicality of some rear doors and you get a bit more boot space so it's up to 480 litres which is 40 litres more than the M for competition. I've actually driven this car and really taught him some purposes I can't see any real difference between this and the M for competition. I think this is better for one crucial reason. You see the standard three series is slightly narrower than the standard four series. So because they've got the same width tracks, you just get a bit more bit more rare arch it more haunch that more m blistering which I think looks really good Of course, we've been promised an M 3 touring in the future to which could be the most desirable of a lot and there will be extra models that will send power to the front as well as the rear wheels. Anyway, back to the M 4. Thank you. And time for look at the interior in here, well, most of it is actually standard. So all this lovely Carbon here and on the wheel that standard the Harman Kardon stereo that standard the head up display that standard to something that is an option. These rather lovely m carbon bucket seats. They're part of that carbon pack. I think they're worth the money. Partly because they save a bit of weight, so 4.8 kilos per seat, but yeah, just under 10 kilos. It's not a huge saving in a car that weighs over 1700 kilos. However, they just add to the ambience of this car. They're still electrically adjustable. There's this curious sort of calm bit down here that sort of evokes the idea that they might be set up for Six point harnesses and then there are the grab handles on the side that remind me so the a toboggan little plastic ones you can buy or even hated. What's not to like? Anyway, there are in here, a lot of buttons, and I do like buttons as opposed to just on a touchscreen But I think to show you what they do. We should go back out on the road. Let's start with the M MODE button which gives you options of robe sport and track essentially progressively reducing the distractions from the displays in track. It also turns off things like lane keep assist which is a useful shortcut to know about Next is the Setup button, which brings up a mildly perplexing plethora of things for you to adjust. But for once they are actually all useful and usable. So for engineers asking what three options And then, steering, or brakes, we've got two options. And it might sound odd to say that we'll use an old coefficient. But, sometimes in cars, will feel like they're just being put there because the engineers can, and you're always hunting around for sort of the Goldilocks setting the sweet spot in your life with. This steering comfort. That makes sense. You use that around town, your just daily driving, or sports. Yes, actually, it does make a difference, just the extra added weight is nice when you're driving more quickly. Similar with brakes. Comfort, sport, every day, when you're driving more quickly. The engine settings are pretty self-explanatory too. Comfort renders the power train relatively docile, while sports plus responds like your average [INAUDIBLE] I've actually been knocking it back to scores a lot of the time because I think on the road, it just feels a little bit nicer just takes out some of the hyper aggressiveness on the throttle. I think it really is mostly for track that setting. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me came with the chassis options. Because, yes, sport is probably the best on a bumpy road, but you can use School Class, I actually love the extra rigidity that you get from school class. Turn in and it's just instantly there to to rotate so quickly and then lean on that outside rear tire. So it's just their waste. Seem to respond to the throttle. It's so much fun. Yes, the damping is firm way does it feel like it wants to bounce you off the road like you might expect. He retains composure, and it's actually really impressive. They've complicated the DSC settings too. And they're so you still got MDM and dynamic mode, which is a really nice halfway house, Then you've got Jesse off, but you've also got 10 stages in that traction control so you can tune it. You can do it all the way off then it's amazing because for all his cars, tautness and responsiveness, actually, it's very progressive to the reason we'll call it So this car on the limit is a bit like to be like a tennis player who's capable of smashing yourself down at 130 miles an hour then sprinting to the net and then having incredibly soft hands just to volleying back. This ease with which the suspension of MDF combined makes it shatters agility in the powertrains aggression, feel approachable. It makes the whole car feel fun. One other small advantage actually of turning the DSC off, which I've noticed, is very, very simple, but I think the steering is actually slightly nicer just with all the AIDS off something just seems to release it. [SOUND] And of course, once you've worked out which settings you'll want access to most often, you can simply program the m one and m two buttons on the wheel. From its spec sheet, I was worried that this latest m four would lean too much towards the everyday end of the spectrum, that there wouldn't be enough M for motor sport in it but thankfully, that's not the case. For me the handling actually continues the aggressive pointy nose balance that started with the E92M three coupe and continue through the FAQ two. Bridging the gap to that distinctive almost dark and directness, as more polished with ages. Like it or loathe it. This girl deserves its place alongside his predecessors. I really was skeptical about this car but [MUSIC] I love it. It's not completely full frame but it's appropriate and it's fantastic to join. [MUSIC]