BMW M4 Competition xdrive

Wheel time in a very different sports coupe shows the M4 in a new light

THIS MONTH I HAD ONE OF THOSE moments where you unexpectedly find new respect for a car you thought you knew well. Presented with a new comparison, you just see the car in a different context and suddenly your perspective on it shifts slightly. That occasion came after getting back into the M4 after several days in the new Lotus Emira.

Clearly the BMW is a more luxurious place to spend time, but it was the sportiness of it that was really impressive. After a pure rear-wheel-drive sports car I wondered if the M4 xdrive might feel a little sluggish and if its extra weight might lend a certain lethargy to the experience. But not a bit of it. If anything the BMW felt the sharper tool, with a more responsive front end and a more playful nature on the first couple of empty roundabouts I encountered.

It doesn’t have the steering feel of the Lotus and, as much as the looks are growing on me, I certainly don’t gaze at it like I would the Emira, but in terms of dynamics it made for a surprising comparison. The juxtaposition of the two cars’ ride qualities is interesting as well. To be honest, the Lotus with its passive set-up (in Sport tune) confused me. It was absolutely fine in Europe and arguably more relaxed than the BMW on the motorway, where the M4 feels more tightly wound even with its adaptive dampers in Comfort. However, on some (but not all) of the UK’S bumpier B-roads the Lotus was far more unrefined than the BMW is even in its Sport Plus setting. It was odd, but overall I’d say the BMW had the better blend.

The other car that provided a fun comparison this month was an E61 M5 Touring with a manual conversion. idrive has certainly come on a long way, but the head-up display on that generation of M5 hasn’t been bettered in my opinion. The M4’s is great in its standard setting, but as soon as you bring up the M modes the graphics are too big and distracting. Obviously the three-pedal conversion by Everything M3s made me think about the M4’s ’box too. The eight-speed auto is blissfully easy to use and the shifts are certainly quick enough for fast road use, but the inherent smoothness of the torque converter does take a bit of that edge and engagement away from the experience that you might expect from an M-car.

I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker in a model like the current M4, which is clearly intended to have a huge remit and cover everything from Tesco runs to trackdays. However, when the new M4 CSL was announced, I did start wondering if the auto would be special enough for a much more focused, rear-seat-delete special. BMW has promised it will have snappier shifts than a DCT, but I hope that snappiness is a reference to tactility as well as purely speed. Time will tell – it will certainly make for an interesting comparison with the Competition.

Date acquired January 2022 Total mileage 6976 Mileage this month 1768 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 29.2