From £59,5809
Mould-making M-car special feels more like a familiar M4 perfected than one reinvented, but it’s better than an M4 Competition and more usable than a GTS

What is it?

The BMW M4 CS is the BMW Motorsport Division’s definitive take on the performance 4 Series Coupe. Maybe. And if so, only at the fifth time of asking if we include the late ‘DTM Champion Edition’ in the list of M4s we’ve been treated to already. Well, it’s no more cynical than Porsche’s profiteering with the ‘991’-generation 911 GT3, is it? Where desirable performance derivatives are concerned, it seems anything goes.

The M4 CS comes to market about a year after the even more expensive and specialized M4 GTS. It will be in production for the thick end of two years and officially it’s not a limited-series car: BMW M says it will simply make as many as it can within the time it has to make them. About 1000 a year, he says. And M boss Frank van Meel also says there’s sufficient global demand for the car to sell every one they’ll make.

Perhaps most interesting of all, the M4 CS is the start of something new and interesting from the M Division. Cars in this mould, with ‘CS’ badging, will be a constant feature of BMW M’s model range from this point onwards – or so say company insiders. In light of that fact, Munich certainly wouldn’t want to undershoot against expectations with the first one.

No danger of that last time around, you may remember. The M4 GTS was an incredible car, but one that stretched the margins of acceptability for a BMW M-car in all sorts of ways: most notably on usability and value. It cost £120,000, it had a relatively high-maintenance water-injected engine, it had manually adjustable coilover suspension, it had no back seats and – much too firmly suspended for mixed road driving in the state in which it was supplied for the test – it finished towards the bottom of our final order in last year’s Britain’s Best Driver’s Car shootout. BMW said it would built 700 of them and, a year on from the car’s appearance in UK showrooms, the word is that you can still get a brand new one without looking too hard or waiting too long. Not exactly a smash hit, then.

So if Porsche 911 GT3 RS-level mechanical execution and BMW outlay turned out to be a bit rich for an M4, what happens when BMW M takes some of the GTS’ more trick ingredients, halves that car’s price premium and keeps everyday road suitability front of mind during the dynamic tuning process? The new M4 CS is the answer: a car with plenty of the special track-ready flavour of the GTS, but whose engine and suspension don’t require a ready supply of distilled water and a garage with a hydraulic lift to get the best out of.

M4cs081

Back to top

What's it like?

The CS uses the lightweight carbonfibre-reinforced plastic bonnet and rear diffuser of the GTS and adds its own new fixed-height front splitter and rear gurney spoiler both made out of the same stuff, keeping BMW the carbon roof of the regular M4 Coupe. Inside it’s got the weight-saving lightweight door skins and centre console of the GTS as well as the special pared-down stereo. But it’s also got back seats.

Unlike the GTS it doesn’t get lightweight carbon buckets up front or BMW M’s carbon-ceramic brakes as standard. Also, instead of the GTS’ mind-bogglingly complicated coilover suspension, the CS uses a retuned version of the M4 Competition’s suspension fitted out with new forged wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.

The upshot is that the new M4 CS goes only some of the way towards matching the weight saving of the GTS. It’s 35kg lighter than an M4 Competition (before you add those optional carbon stoppers) while the GTS enjoyed about twice that advantage.

But that’s only half the picture. The M4 CS’ engine makes a sizeable improvement to the real-world performance of the even the M4 Competition mostly by matching the peak torque of the GTS – 442lb ft – without the need for that water injection system. Amazingly, the engine’s internals are the same as those of the Competition Package car but its software management is new and simply works its twin monoscroll turbos harder at middling revs.

Peak power increases to 454bhp, which remains a distance behind what the likes of the Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio saloon make. But BMW M will be trusting CS owners to realise that the combination of 10 per cent more torque, 35kg less weight and some additional Cup-tyre-derived traction delivers this new M4 a 0-62mph claim of under four seconds: 3.9- to be exact. Which is just a tenth off that of an M4 GTS, and exactly what’s claimed for both the Mercedes-AMG and the Alfa: another box ticked.

You install yourself into what seems like the same comfortable, thickly bolstered sports seat of the M4 Competition when you first get into the CS, identical but for an illuminated logo on the backrest, a change to the upholstery theme and manual rather than motorised adjustment. The lightweight door skins and centre console on either side of you immediately bring the GTS to mind, conjuring a pleasing extra layer of performance purpose for the cabin that the ‘alcantara’ suede trims for the fascia, transmission tunnel, roof and door consoles echo. The manual, single-zone climate control system, slightly thin-sounding but respectable hifi and ‘Professional Media’ infotainment system combine to strike just the right balance between a sense of apparent hardcore purpose and pragmatic real-world usability. This is a car you’d happily drive every day, that has the convenience features you want of a modern German performance machine, but that’s deliciously light on the luxury trimmings.

Back to top

Stereo aside, it’s also much better to listen to than a ‘normal’ M4. The car’s quad exhaust system is the same as the one on the M4 Competition but, shorn of some sound deadening and with the CS’s new engine management in play (and a redline extended to 7600rpm) the CS sounds much more gritty and real than a standard M4. Not as angry as the titanium-piped GTS, granted; not even close. But the improvement in the appeal of the car’s sonic character is plain. And it helps no end that BMW M’s lightweight door skins remove the stereo system’s door speakers that might otherwise broadcast the ‘engine sound modulation’ so many object to in the normal M4. You still get some electronic augmentation of the engine sound but, at low and medium revs and under load, the perfectly synthesized digital warble of a normal M4 is replaced by a much more detailed, spikey and authentic engine rumble that you’ll instantly warm to on digging into the accelerator pedal travel.

BMW gave us a couple of hours only in its new car, on roads around the Nürburgring Nordschleife made busy by crowds gathered for the annual ‘N24’ endurance race. But even here, with no opportunity to really test the car up to the limit of its dynamic abilities, two things were clear: that the additional performance served up by the CS’s engine is probably even greater than BMW’s claims suggest, and that the extra grip and body control created by its chassis not only makes the CS a more composed and precise handling car than a normal M4, but also one very at home on the road.

As in any other M4, the CS allows you to select from ‘Comfort’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Sport+’ modes for its adaptive dampers, power steering and engine calibration; to choose between three shift modes on the standard seven-speed ‘M DCT’ twin-clutch gearbox; and between two dynamic stability control modes besides the obligatory ‘DSC off’ setting. Whichever mode you’re in, there’s a small but tangible improvement in contact patch feel through the car’s steering and a perceptibly sharper initial handling response as you feed the wheel through about 45 degrees either side of dead-centre.

I’d defy anyone who didn’t know as much to believe it after a drive in the CS, but the car’s extra steering feedback and body control come entirely from its new forged wheels and ‘cup’ tyres (the former an inch smaller in diameter up front, the latter getting a widened section at the rear, just like the GTS) and from redeveloped software calibrations for its dampers, power steering and active differential. There are no hardware changes to the M4 Competition’s springs, dampers or anti-roll bars here. And yet back-to-back testing against an M4 Competition revealed that the ‘CS’ turns in even more instantly and keeps its body more level during hard cornering, with better vertical body control and less float over really testing lumps and bumps, but without any greater harshness of ride, shortage of compliance or evidence of bump-steer.

Back to top

The CS’s handling balance is similar to that of its sister car. Where the engine’s greater mid-range torque allows you to give the driven axle more to do as you unwind the steering and exit a bend, those cup tyres reply with BMW even greater adhesion, stability and traction than a regular M4 has. The CS enters bends flat and fast, then, and exits them even quicker with a composure unknown to the Competition Package car. You’d never believe a set of rims and tyres and a new adaptive damper tune could achieve so much. I suspect both a Mercedes-AMG C63 S and an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio have more adjustable handling; but I also suspect neither would produce the same needle-threading sense of handling accuracy as the CS has, which is its own reward on the road.

And I’d be very interested to compare the torque curve of the CS’ 3.0-litre straight six to that of the M4 Competition because the new car feels much stronger through the middle of the rev range. This is probably where the M4 most needed attention, the standard car just beginning to feel a touch weedy compared to the very quickest of its rivals - at least until its motor starts spinning beyond 5000rpm.

But the CS doesn’t feel weedy. At all. That extra torque has a big impact on its in-gear pace between 3000- and 5000rpm, and there’s quite a lot more acceleration on tap where you really need it as you power away from corners and along slip roads.

M4cs087

Back to top

 

Should I buy one?

When you stand back and digest the car’s abilities, you’re likely to conclude that the M4 CS feels more like a refined and perfected M4 than a radically altered one. It handles better, sounds better, goes harder and still works very well on the road. But it feels familiar - and in that respect it’s probably notionally closer to a ‘Competition Package Plus’ than a ‘mini-GTS’ because its dynamic character and handling balance are broadly unchanged.

BMW That’s good news is you like the regular M4, of course. For others, it’s probably too early to say whether BMW’s £28,000 premium for the M4 CS will be worth paying; for £89k, the floating voter should accept nothing less than the best sports coupe in the class.

So this could be the car to put the M4 back on the top of its particular performance niche – and it’s been absent from that habitual spot in our class rankings for quite a while now – but it’ll take a meeting with an AMG and an Alfa to establish it for certain. Don't ask me where my money would go: it feels too close to call.

BMW M4 CS  Location Nürburging, Germany; On sale July; Price £89,130 Engine 6 cyls in line, 2979cc, twin-turbocharged petrol; Power 454bhp at 6250rpm; Torque 442lb ft at 4000-5380rpm Gearbox 7-spd twin-clutch automatic; Kerbweight 1580kg; 0-62mph 3.9sec; Top speed 174mph; Economy 33.6mpg; CO2/tax band 197g/km, 37% Rivals: Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe, Audi RS5M4cs082

 

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.

Join the debate

Comments
15
Add a comment…
david RS 9 June 2017

They should rather make a

They should rather make a small M4 with a NA L6.
Brecks 5 June 2017

M4 CS review

I have the M3 CP 2017 model, and the power is really good, I can't justify the price tag of this M4 CS, the sum of parts to price do not add up. Sorry BMW your just using Marketing again to gain sales.
ralphsmall 5 June 2017

M3 tweaking

If you could possibly want a quicker M3 just get DMS to tweak the ECU THEN I GUESS LEARN TO DRIVE IT !!