Decided on an M4 as the summer car. Some thoughts

Decided on an M4 as the summer car. Some thoughts

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HannsG

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

149 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
Harsh ride (I'm 41 and maybe getting old), not much low down torque. Punchy engine and loud on cold start. Was very close to buying a R8 V8 but the 4 seats swayed me on a whim with the M4. Also the kids wanted a convertible.

Went yesterday to view one and bought it that evening.

I preferred my E46 M3 for sure. I pick the M4 up in a week's time after the BMW service. Hoping to keep it for a year maybe. Was never looking for a mineral white car but I liked the contrast with the carbon fibre.

It seems to have more tech than the M140i I had.. Adaptive suspension, pop up speed display and ICON lights...360 camera thingy for parking.

Looking at tuning options. Potentially Simon from Emaps as usual or this Bootmod3 malarkey.





Edited by HannsG on Thursday 12th May 01:41

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
I thought that too! Compared to an E46 M3/E92 M3/Z4M...it has loads of low down torque.

I test drove one of these back in 2016 and I really liked it. I also got the opportunity to drive it roof down on the test drive too. cool

I'd personally take the S55 engine in these over the S54(E46 M3/Z4M) and S65(E92 M3) engines all day everyday.

s m

23,860 posts

218 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Cerb4.5Lee? Is that you? wink

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
s m said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Cerb4.5Lee? Is that you? wink
biggrin

Not much low down torque...when I was talking about the E92 M3 was definitely me s m! beer

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
Jasey_ said:
But at no point have I thought this needs more power no matter what is happening - press the loud pedal and you are in licence losing territory pdq if you aren't paying attention smile.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I'm also happy with the performance of my F82 M4 Coupe as standard. It is quick enough for me for the road for sure. The challenge is keeping it under the speed limits to be fair. driving

MikeM6

5,518 posts

117 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Was he not referring to the R8 he was considering?

Court_S

14,312 posts

192 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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MikeM6 said:
Was he not referring to the R8 he was considering?
That’s how I read it too.

Personally I’d think I’d have found it hard not to but the R8 which I’m a fan off., not that there is our wrong with the M4. The R8 just looks a bit more special to my eyes, albeit less practical.

Edited by Court_S on Thursday 12th May 09:01

Leon R

3,437 posts

111 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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s m said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Cerb4.5Lee? Is that you? wink
Pretty sure if he was taken up in the space shuttle he would be complaining that it just didn't have as much thrust as he was expecting.

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
Court_S said:
MikeM6 said:
Was he not referring to the R8 he was considering?
That’s how I read it too.

Personally I’d think I’d have found it hard not to but the R8 which I’m a fan off., not that there is our wrong with the M4. The R8 just looks a bit more special to my eyes, albeit less practical.

Edited by Court_S on Thursday 12th May 09:01
That would make sense now(regarding the R8) as you both say.

I'm another one that really likes the sense of occasion that the R8 offers, and I reckon that if I had one I'd spend most of my time just staring at the engine. cloud9

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
Leon R said:
s m said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Cerb4.5Lee? Is that you? wink
Pretty sure if he was taken up in the space shuttle he would be complaining that it just didn't have as much thrust as he was expecting.
Don't be like that! biggrin

I'm not always critical of the cars I've had, and I've been well happy with the majority of them that I've experienced. smile

I've been smitten with both the 370Z(even with its tiny torque figure! hehe) and the M4 for definite. thumbup

T1berious

2,509 posts

170 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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I never found the S55 lacking in torque.

In the M2C it felt massively over powered! But Pistonheads, so too much power is never enough!

Ultrafunkula

1,012 posts

120 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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I've been considering a convertible M4 comp as a possible next car, the reviews mentioned a more supple ride than the coupe (good!) but scuttle shake (bad!). The added weight makes it more of a GT in my eyes. They look good (I'd avoid the pale blue colour though personally).

J4CKO

44,397 posts

215 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
I think when looking at figures on paper and buying a new car, its easy to assume it will need a remap, but these things are properly rapid out of the box, and can be a bit challenging at standard power if you take liberties, or so I have read.

Did come close to buying one last year, but ended up with a Fiesta ST in my possession and decided to run that for a bit, now heavily tuned, one of these was the only thing to pull past it.

Might still do it in the future, but she wants a Mustang, I think these will blitz the Ford but after a certain point, a car is quick enough and best not to fixate on numbers and what is quicker, and just enjoy it.

Looks lovely in white, enjoy !

HannsG

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

149 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
Court_S said:
That’s how I read it too.

Personally I’d think I’d have found it hard not to but the R8 which I’m a fan off., not that there is our wrong with the M4. The R8 just looks a bit more special to my eyes, albeit less practical.

Edited by Court_S on Thursday 12th May 09:01
I wanted to hold out for a V10, but the 2 seats was always going to be an issue.

I agree it's a great car. The M4 just seemed a good compromise for family versus top down summer fun. Unsure if it's special enough as a weekend car..

Something which I don't think is the case but looking forward to enjoying. Hopefuly it kick-starts my kids into becoming petrol heads.

cerb4.5lee

37,278 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
quotequote all
HannsG said:
Hopefuly it kick-starts my kids into becoming petrol heads.
I can guarantee that it will! beer

thumbup

Inspectorclueso

753 posts

267 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
HannsG said:
Harsh ride (I'm 41 and maybe getting old), not much low down torque. Punchy engine and loud on cold start. Was very close to buying a R8 V8 but the 4 seats swayed me on a whim with the M4. Also the kids wanted a convertible.

Went yesterday to view one and bought it that evening.

I preferred my E46 M3 for sure. I pick the M4 up in a week's time after the BMW service. Hoping to keep it for a year maybe. Was never looking for a mineral white car but I liked the contrast with the carbon fibre.

It seems to have more tech than the M140i I had.. Adaptive suspension, pop up speed display and ICON lights...360 camera thingy for parking.

Looking at tuning options. Potentially Simon from Emaps as usual or this Bootmod3 malarkey.





Edited by HannsG on Thursday 12th May 01:41
Nice choice, I bought one 14 months ago and use as my daily, done around 10k miles now in that period. I've loved it and can't really think of anything to replace it without putting in lots more funds. I was a little sceptical of the hard top (weight / complexity) before buying but having had a few soft top convertibles, I now know this is so much easier to keep looking nice. Very comfortable seats as well though I may be showing my age by mentioning the seats ! And...I've not once thought, this needs more power or torque, it pulls very well, even at low speeds will pull 6th / 7th gear if you're pootling....


finmac

1,638 posts

253 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
M4 is a brilliant all rounder/daily drive. Loved my old one. I’m no tuning expert but mine always seems to have enough go as stock. My wife’s Mini Cooper works used to get serviced at a local BMW specialist who always had an M4 or two in for engine rebuilds - they were always tuned ones. Not sure what that says other than be careful on that front wink.

HannsG

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

149 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
finmac said:
M4 is a brilliant all rounder/daily drive. Loved my old one. I’m no tuning expert but mine always seems to have enough go as stock. My wife’s Mini Cooper works used to get serviced at a local BMW specialist who always had an M4 or two in for engine rebuilds - they were always tuned ones. Not sure what that says other than be careful on that front wink.
Hiya

Yes I spoke with Simon from emaps. He does all my cars and advised I be conservative if I decided to tune.

He said 500bhp max given the issues they have on bearings? I can't remember to be honest. But will probably pass on tuning as I'll keep the motor 12 to 18 months max and move it on.

He remapped my X5 30d and did a great job... Albeit its a 2011 E70.

Was surprised at the issues some of the M4s have with a Stage 1. Think one needs to be Conservative
..

juggernaut

26 posts

260 months

Monday 16th May 2022
quotequote all
HannsG said:
Hiya

Yes I spoke with Simon from emaps. He does all my cars and advised I be conservative if I decided to tune.

He said 500bhp max given the issues they have on bearings? I can't remember to be honest. But will probably pass on tuning as I'll keep the motor 12 to 18 months max and move it on.

He remapped my X5 30d and did a great job... Albeit its a 2011 E70.

Was surprised at the issues some of the M4s have with a Stage 1. Think one needs to be Conservative
..
The thing is though if you're not buying a new car you won't be able to tell if it's been remapped by a previous owner with the diy Boot Mod 3 software.

It appears it's very easy to remap these cars with BM3 for a few hundred pounds, rag it to death during your ownership then remap it back to standard and then remove all evidence of the BM3 software and sell it on as a standard unmodified car.

If its more than a one owner car then the person you buy it from might say, in all honesty, that the car has never been modified as whoever they bought the car from might have BM 3'd it and not told them about it.

I don't know for sure but I think even BMW have trouble finding out if a car has been remapped in this way but I'm happy to be corrected if anyone knows for sure if it's possible to detect BM3 being previously installed.


Edited by juggernaut on Monday 16th May 04:02

ChrisW.

7,600 posts

270 months

Monday 16th May 2022
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Would you buy a car from you ?