PRICE OF PERFECTION

Stripped-down verison of BMW M4 coupe is the sharpest tool yet

BMW’s M4 CS is is the best drivers’ incarnation of the performance coupe ... but you pay for the privilege.

What price do you put on perfection? That’s the question BMW M4 owners will need to address before they decide which version of the sports coupe they’re signing up for.

The M4 range now launches with the Pure at $139,900, hits $151,610 for the “regular” M4, accelerates to $156,710 for the Competition variant and tops out at $211,900 for the CS.

Of the four, the CS is unquestionably the sharpest tool in the garage. Whether it’s worth $72,000 more than the Pure version will come down to how highly owners rate chasing the limits of performance or how badly they want to boast about buying the best M4 to date.

Officially, the CS delivers a 0.1 second improvement in acceleration to 100km/h over the Pure (to 3.9 seconds), while the 35kg weight saving and suspension tweaks endow the coupe with better handling approaching the limits of adhesion.

The numbers don’t convey to just how much of an improvement this car is to drive. It retains the lesser M4’s ability to pose as a daily driver in the default comfort setting but dialling up the sportier modes now delivers racecar-like levels of stability. The CS is not going to drive out of sight of the other variants on the first turn … but it is consistently and convincingly going to lead the way.

The headline act is the 7kW/50Nm boost to the twin-turbo six- cylinder engine, which ups the ante to 338kW/600Nm and is backed by revised engine mapping to deliver the torque more progressively across the rev range.

The CS is an amalgam of the Competition version and the $300,000 limited edition GTS track car.

Think carbon fibre-reinforced plastic bonnet and roof, lightweight door panels (with a fabric handle to pull the doors closed), improved aerodynamics from a front spoiler and rear “Gurney” boot lip.

All of the software _ steering, suspension and stability control _ has been recalibrated to improve the way the CS tackles turns and it transforms this M4 from entertaining to engaging.

It is a car you’ll find excuses to drive, even if it is only down to the shops, simply to enjoy the experience. That’s a trait synonymous with the M3s of old and shows BMW’s performance division is rediscovering its mojo and genuinely trying to build the “ultimate driving machine”. Available at Toowoomba BMW, the corner of Anzac Ave and James street, Toowoomba.