[Sphygmomanometer]

Chris Bangle had a point. Some cars do look better 'in person' than on pictures. Like the Portimao Blue M4 Competition that is waiting for me on the parking lot of Zurich's BMW Group Experience Center. Its spec sheet is quite serious: gold calipers, carbon buckets and PS4Ss marked with a star. It is maybe not exactly pretty to my taste ... but it is ... better, somehow.

As somebody who grew up during the era of the E36 and E46 M3s I have not been getting overly excited in recent years. Neither the F-series nor the G-series M-cars tickled my fancy. My biggest gripe: the tingle! That special noise the engine makes when approaching the limiter. Yes, I have not been able to move on from naturally aspirated engines, even less so from BMWs (it's in the name for God's sake: Bayerische Motorenwerke).

All that is not made easier by the fact I just recently sold my E61 M5 Touring. What a machine. I sold it because I went for what felt to me like my last naturally aspirated, manual hurrah (a 991.2 911 GT3 btw.). And: The M2 Competition, a car that makes much more sense to this dinosaur.

So there stands the M4 Competition, purposefully, awaiting to be let off the leash. Actually, no, it could not be more sedate. The start-up is not what lots of people would call anti-social. Gearbox into D and off we go without a racket or smoking tyres.

The ride is form but not back-breaking, not even with the carbon buckets. Now: I am bit 'wide' (and not the muscular sort of wide) and the seats probably fit like they were painted on or whatever the equivalent of that is. My advice: Before ticking that box make sure you fit in them, maybe organise a longer drive to make sure.

As expected the ZF 8-speeder works well when cruising around town. Yes, I wish it was manual or even a single clutch automated manual or even a dual clutch one for the sake of drama ... and yes, technically even the SMG cars could have had slush boxes because apparently people don't know anyway (95% of 1-series drivers didn't know their car was RWD? &#129320. So, ok, I sort of get the automatic.

When leaving town I realise, the rear tyres might need replacing rather often. The software doesn't muck about, when stomping on the accelerator you will get the lowest-possible gear and an easily controllable wiggle. Huh, there is the drama.

If you've been in Switzerland you might have seen BMW ads proclaiming our alps to be xDrive country. Which is rubbish of course, it's sDrive country. 😉 But our alpine passes are possibly among the best driving roads in the world, so my brothers and I decide to tackle Susten Pass. We the aforementioned M2 Competition along and a Tesla Model 3 on winter tyres.

The journey there is relaxed, again, a bit surprising in the carbon buckets, but they do seem to be comfortable enough. Then: the ascent begins and I immediately realise the gearbox and I are not really in sync. I push it in manual, and yes, much better. And yes, the shifts are quick and smooth. No drama.

The soundtrack is not bad, much more vocal (on the outside) than the M2 Competition, and then there is the engine: the S58 is nuclear. I'm always sad to see revs go (from 7600 to 7200 rpm) but that torque is mind-boggling. I have no trouble believing those power figures people get on dynos from stock engines.

But the engine - as brilliant as it is - wasn't my highlight. It is the chassis and the tyres. The front axle never feels like it is being loaded up in corners, it just grips and grips and doesn't let go. In a world where you can never go beyond 80 kph it is practically impossible to end up in understeer. Speaking of the steering: It feels very direct but not nervous. I checked the spec sheet for the steering ration, expecting an increase over the previous model but nuh, it's 12:1, just like the previous one or the M2C.

With that mighty frontend and even mightier torque, safely reducing the rear wheels to a thin film of rubber on a tight hairpin bend of Susten Pass is quite possible.

Filming done (review up soon), driving home, I thought about my weekend with the M4. It is undoubtedly very capable, and I have to concede that Garching has done a tremendous job.

But I have a bit of a problem. I felt that the M5 Touring was already too fast a car to enjoy in Switzerland (and unfortunately top speed runs on the autobahn are no fix for me) even though it had a nat asp engine which means a flatter torque curve and thus more time to stand on the accelerator pedal. In the M4 50 kph to 80 kph (when driving out of a village) happens in the blink of an eye and that's it. It was frustrating to a certain degree. Don't get me wrong. My manual M2 Competition is also sort of too fast but there's a manual gearbox to distract me from that.

In other countries or for people tracking the car this might not be an issue. For me it's a bit too much. What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading.

Here a little teaser from the top: https://www.instagram.com/stories/hi...6989106499959/

[LuvMyE92]

Here in the good old* USofA we have the option of properly configuring our M3/4 with a manual transmission.

However, I will admit that there are times when I find myself - in just a matter of seconds - going way too fast. All I meant to do was go around someone, and I'm already 30 MPH over the speed limit?

So, yes, the cars have too much power. Am I going to give any of it back? No.


*-For those of you in Europe, please note that I am well aware that you have literally thousands of roads, bridges and buildings that are older than our little country.

.

[vetteflier]

The power is still amazing to me, and I've driven high performance cars since I was 20--last 15 years, Corvettes. If you stand on it, 1st is gone immediately and suddenly you're in 3rd at about 80 mph--I'm at 7000' and part of the credit goes to turbocharging which loses nothing at altitude--unlike the ~ 100 hp a Vette loses. Plenty of sparsely driven roads east of me, so pushing it for a quick blast to 110-115 is easy. But, even 1/3 throttle from around 45 is incredible. And this in a luxury car. Too much power? Logically yes; emotionally--NFW!

[bri1042]

OP, I struggled with the "is this too fast to be enjoyable on public roads" question as well with my M2C DCT. The manual has helped on the M3. I can slow my own shifting down to extend the experience, and run lower throttle settings to drive my fast car a bit slower. On the M2 DCT, efficient mode and slower shift settings made the car unpleasant, so the car was always essentially an on/off prospect. I hope that those of you with auto G8x's have found a better balance in them.

[Scorp!on]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

Here in the good old* USofA we have the option of properly configuring our M3/4 with a manual transmission.



.

We get that option in Switzerland too

[Salespunk]

I too agree with the thoughts on speed with the G8x. It is a challenge with almost any new performance car on the road. An exercise in frustration most days.

[beachBmmr]

Originally Posted by Salespunk

I too agree with the thoughts on speed with the G8x. It is a challenge with almost any new performance car on the road. An exercise in frustration most days.

Scca Track night in america friends.