11-22-2022, 12:31 PM | #1 | |
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From American muscle to an M440 to an M4CX - thoughts from a first-time M owner.
Featured on BIMMERPOST.com Then Covid hit, life got...well, a bit interesting for a while, and I decided to pull the trigger on my first BMW, a 2021 M440 xDrive. You can see my thread on delivery here. (it's worth a read too, I promise). A key anecdote that I'm struggling to update to describe how it feels to progress to the M4: Quote:
At the time, the used market was insane. I was seeing M440s going for $65k-$70k, with fewer options than mine - even a 430 sitting at $68k. Naturally, I said sure, let's upgrade and order the M4. Sadly, in the time between ordering and arrival, the market tanked and normalized, but by then...well, by then I'd already rolled the numbers around in my head enough to figure I could make it work regardless. This last week, my car finally arrived, and I took delivery on 11-11-22 with 11 miles on the odometer. Note the shirt. Funny story - while at the dealership, a random other customer saw my shirt and loved it, so he came over to talk and asked where I'd gotten it and what I was here for. As it just so happened, he was there to look at another 2021 CPO M440 they had on the lot, but had gotten distracted by mine and was drooling over it while I'd been inside. He offered to do a deal right then and there, but unfortunately we couldn't get a hold of his bank or anything due to the holiday, so I took the dealer trade. It ended up being about 6 in one hand, half dozen in the other anyway, so not too big a difference to me. Maybe $40 / month on the payments. He did end up buying my M440 from the dealership in the end, just a couple days ago, so I'm happy it went to someone who fell in love with it immediately. Anyway, I digress. MORE PICTURES! Here's some side by side comparison shots between my M440 and M4CX from the parking lot. Apologies for the camera quality, I just used my iphone. Also, excuse the water spots and dirt - it was raining for the days prior to pickup, the car was sitting on the roof of the parking garage, and I asked the dealership not to touch it as it was going straight over to the detail shop for PPF and they were going to do a full paint correction anyway. I immediately dropped it off at Silicon Valley Garage for front PPF, they were able to squeeze me in same day (Friday) and finished by about mid-afternoon on Saturday. My car was in good company: On to the observations after the first week of ownership: 1. Front seats are beefier. A little less leg room for passengers. Foot room too - the bottoms basically touch the floor / vents when all the way down, whereas the M440 still had a bit of room. 2. Seat handles are in a much better ergonomic position for rear seat access. But, between the seats being bigger and the removal of the document / random item nets on the back, there’s less room / point overall to having anyone back there. 3. You feel the road more, for better and for worse. Not painful or anything but noticeable. 4. I keep accidentally shifting into 1st gear manual. M440 is a linear up/down for reverse / park. M4 is sideways zig zag, and also doesn’t automatically shift into park when turning off. M440 did. Getting used to it, but kind of liked the M440's shifter motion and center console controls more. Though I do prefer the M4's shifter itself. 5. HUD fonts and styles are different and more sporty. Sharper, angled, etc vs smooth and rounded text. Additional note: when exceeding the speed limit in the M440, your speed would change to orange text while the detected speed limit sign was still white. In the M4, they both just stay white (unless someone knows how to change this? Please tell me if you do!). This makes it a bit more difficult to tell at a glance if/when you go over the limit, whereas it was immediately obvious just from the color change in the M440. You didn't have to actually read your speed and do a quick comparison. It's a step backwards in my opinion and another point for the M440. 6. Even in comfort / efficient mode, you feel the engine braking a lot more in the M4 than the M440. 7. Cruising at 80+ is easy but hoo boy is he a thirsty beast. That “mild hybrid” system in the M440 is incredible and I have a new appreciation for it now that it’s gone. This is like being back to driving my Durango or Ram 1500 with the 5.7 HEMI V8. Gotta do 70-75 for any decent fuel economy. 8. The gloss buttons on the center console are not only fingerprint magnets but seem less elevated / less distinction between each one. They blend together more making it even more difficult to do things by feel. The matte ones in the M440 felt better. Crisper too, these feel a bit mushier if that makes sense. 9. No cup holders in the rear center fold down / pass through tunnel. Never used them anyway. Might mount a gun safe there instead. I dunno. 10. Goddamnit I get the carbon fiber obsession a bit more now. Looking at the rear the gloss black spoiler and diffuser just don’t quite hit right. 11. Braking! There is a difference in feel in braking. It's subtle, but it's noticeable to me. In the M440, I felt like the brakes would grab and hold - and continue to do so even if you started to let up a bit. I'll see if I can describe this in words vs pantomiming in person. If you were to apply braking pressure with a value of 1 with your foot, you would feel the actual brakes grabbing at maybe 1.2. If you were to then let off as you slowed, say to 0.8, you would still feel the brakes letting off to 0.9. This made it difficult to stop smoothly or modulate, though it worked very well for spirited driving in the twisties and such when you are constantly on one pedal or the other. In the M4, by contrast, if I apply 1 pressure with my foot, I feel the car only brakes with 0.9. A few times this has caused me to mash down to 1.5 to get 1.2 braking, coming in hot to red lights at offramps from the freeway. I imagine I'll adjust to where it's not so significant a feel, but I do notice it currently. 12. Driving at low speeds. The M440 just...glided. Smooth. The M4 feels like driving a car with a supercharger on it - you feel the engine dragging (I know it's not that's just the best way I can describe it at the moment) and hear a slight whine as it begs you to goooooooo. 13. Edited to add this one in - I freaked myself out when I heard something scrape on the bottom pulling into my garage. I was like "this thing isn't THAT much lower than the M440....is it?" Turns out there are rubber air channels underneath that scrape on low stuff but they're designed to be a bit flexible so I *think* it's fine. I swore I wouldn't mod it anytime soon but I've already had a couple offerings come up for sponsorship items and I'm sorely tempted. Although I'll likely at least wait till after the break-in period is done. edit: oh, and as is the way, I made a new IG account just for my car too. @emfore_650. I'm still getting the hang of posts / reels / filters but will be steadily stepping my game up so for any of you gurus / experts out there any tips and tricks / resources for learning how to make solid content would be greatly appreciated.
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The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Wheel horsepower is just crank horsepower after taxes. IG: EmFore_650 Last edited by NorCalAthlete; 11-22-2022 at 10:02 PM.. |
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11-22-2022, 12:32 PM | #2 |
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Bonus pics: a few random shots, plus a spur of the moment Cars & Coffee meetup in Mountain View the other day.
Tanzanite is a really dynamic color and I love the way it looks under different lighting. Also loving the way the seat logos light up - I wonder if you could code that to the ambient lighting...also wonder if you could code infotainment / dash color "themes" to coincide with ambient lighting selections...? Hmmm. Similar pic, but in bright daylight (no filter vs filter) No filter random daylight pic with a Maserati: Same pic, instagram filter (looks better on phone than PC screen IMO): C&C posted up with another G82 M4CX in Dravit Grey:
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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Wheel horsepower is just crank horsepower after taxes. IG: EmFore_650 Last edited by NorCalAthlete; 11-22-2022 at 09:00 PM.. |
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11-22-2022, 12:33 PM | #3 |
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Met up with another G80 dude for some golf, then went for a nice drive at sunset. Didn't quite get all the spots I wanted to hit, but got some nice pics I think. First pics are originals, 2nd are instagram w/ filters - haven't decided yet which ones I like more, so putting them side by side for you all to compare and comment on.
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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Wheel horsepower is just crank horsepower after taxes. IG: EmFore_650 Last edited by NorCalAthlete; 11-22-2022 at 07:38 PM.. |
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11-22-2022, 12:57 PM | #4 |
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Finally, congrats! I predict a couple weeks before modding begins HMU if you want to meet up and go for a cruise sometime
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she’s home! '22 M4 Comp xDrive
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11-22-2022, 12:59 PM | #5 |
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Next bay area meet is 12-3-22, location TBD but somewhere in the east bay this time. Thread will be up soon if it isn't already in the California subforum.
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11-22-2022, 01:02 PM | #6 |
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I really hate the grill on the M440 but it's a very good-looking car overall. I didn't realize the taillights are the same on both cars.
Good luck with your new M4. I love mine.
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'23 BMW M4 Competition xDrive Coupe; '11 BMW 335is Convertible (DCT) SOLD; '12 Porsche Carrera GTS Cabriolet (MT) SOLD
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11-22-2022, 01:05 PM | #7 |
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Awesome comparison of the two. Similar color specs, I like that. TBII is such a good looking color!!!!!
Congrats on the M4!! Enjoy it! And good time for the mod bug to hit, can maybe catch some Black Friday sales!
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11-22-2022, 01:14 PM | #8 | |
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Quote:
I will say that the M4 is absolute overkill and 90% of people will be VERY happy with the M440 as a daily driver even if they do track days on occasion. You really don't need the M4 unless you're doing more track days or your commute is through the twisties. That being said, I think when it comes to "needs" vs "wants", if you're shopping for a BMW you've already tossed "needs" out the window. :P
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11-22-2022, 01:19 PM | #9 |
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Haha! I bet it will come out for at least a sale or two! I said I would be good. Having had the car a month, and full ppf, ceramic, radar, mounts, etc. But I have no will power. Especially when it has been a couple of things I have been waiting for to go on sale. My wonderful SO keeps giving me the evil eye.
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11-22-2022, 01:23 PM | #10 | |
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Haha, I totally agree, I was looking at m340's and I think that is an amazing car and a great balance but figured you know what, M3 has been my dream car, fortunate enough to do it, so I did it. And the power and Merino Leather alone made it so worth it. Ha, could not have said that better myself, it is all about wants for sure!! I wonder if the guy that was into your m440 ended up buying it from the dealer.
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11-22-2022, 01:29 PM | #11 | |
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Usually if you see Tartufo at the dealership it's on a black or white car. If the car is Tanzanite it's likely got black or white interior. I will say I'm a bit annoyed that you can't get the black stripe down the seats with Tartufo like you can if you order silverstone or kyalami, but it's still really nice looking.
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11-22-2022, 01:39 PM | #12 | |
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Ya that is very true. Grey or Black cars with black interiors were always my go to, until my truck, which is black ext, and a grey/blue interior; sounds weird, looks good though. Lol. But with these you can get wild. I still went tame with my spec though. I have seen a few Tanzanite/Silverstones which look clean too! But I think Tartufo is just such a good looking color, just looks rich to me. I almost went that route, but went Dravit/Silverstone and I am very happy, but every time I see Tartufo it tugs at the heartstrings some. Enjoy the new M4 man! It's beautiful!!
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11-22-2022, 01:45 PM | #13 |
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Agree on the center console buttons. They feel like they are going to break off when you press them.
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11-22-2022, 02:23 PM | #14 |
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Congratulations OP!
In my personal opinion it takes time to fully learn your car. Your brakes also have a brake in period. There is a guy in my neighborhood who has the M440i, it's a sweet ride and sounds good. Car looks amazing! |
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11-22-2022, 02:29 PM | #15 |
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Huge congrats to you! I enjoyed and agreed w your excellent write-up.
Tartufo is so amazing. I only had my M4 2 months before going to a badass supercharged American V8, but the Tartufo M4 interior will never leave my head. I really wanted my wife to keep the M4, but she did not want it. Best interior going (pre large single screen, of course). |
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11-22-2022, 02:38 PM | #16 |
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Awesome write-up and stoked you're in a G82 now (though the M440 was badass as well)!
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11-22-2022, 02:48 PM | #17 |
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Nice ride! Looking forward to seeing you haunting the local roads.
I’ve got an M3X on order in grey. I should get my car in about 3-6 months. |
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11-22-2022, 02:55 PM | #18 |
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Not too many Tanzanite M4s floating around. I think I'm 1 of 3, Nate's got the other one but he's up closer to Sacramento, and the other one is sitting at Steven's Creek in their showroom (someone backed out of their order, so it's loaded - CCBs, Carbon buckets, everything...except no laserlights for some reason). I'm also reasonably certain I'm the only one in the bay area with Tanzanite / Tartufo, at least from what I've seen floating around and on the forums.
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11-22-2022, 03:01 PM | #19 |
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Congrats P. Now bring it out, so we can all see it.
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11-22-2022, 03:22 PM | #20 |
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Definitely! Related note: who's going to put the meet thread up once we pick a location? Or should we make a "location TBD" thread as a save the date for now?
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11-22-2022, 03:31 PM | #21 |
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Beautiful car! Glad you finally got it. Also, I love the comparison write up. The M440i and M4 Comp really are completely different cars.
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11-22-2022, 03:35 PM | #22 |
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