[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Lups

Wow, you went really down and dirty to hunt flaws! I agree about the visual points, and approve the term American

I try my best to be thorough, as you know.

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

great review, and means a lot coming from you (owner of merc, skeptical of m3 and highly focused on new merc c63).

what options did the car you drove have? how was the power delivery at the top of the RPM band? what was the ride quality / body roll like? standard or adaptive suspension?

thanks for the review, and congrats on the incoming m4

Edit : did this car feel any lighter than the e9x? Or was it not noticeable?

Also, if you had to list the worst parts of the car, what would they be?

Thanks KP! Glad you enjoyed the review! As I've said before, I always withhold my final verdict until after I have been provided an opportunity to really put a given car through its paces. And I really do love ///M cars just as much as I do AMG cars.

As far as options are concerned, I know the car had the Executive Package and 19" wheels. The M HUD was absolutely fantastic. I loved being able to see the digital tachometer. That will be very useful for spirited driving.

Compared to the C63's M156, the M4's motor had a tendency to run out of breath a bit (just a bit) at the top end. It didn't feel like, from a power perspective, that it pulled as hard as the C63 does from 5,500 rpm on. The C63 will quite happily wind out to about 7,200 rpm.

That said, by no means did the motor feel "weak" in the top end, either.
When merging onto the highway, I hit 80 pretty damn quickly.

However, as I mentioned in my OP, the M4 actually felt like it had more torque than the C63 off the line. No joke. With its NA motor, the C63's torque builds gradually past 2k rpm whereas the M4 just hits you with a wall of it right from idle. I absolutely loved that characteristic of the motor.

The car had the Adaptive M Suspension and wow was it stellar. I had the pleasure of attacking a few roundabouts and the car remained very, very flat. As I mentioned previously, there is very little to no body roll. As far as the chassis/suspension is concerned, the car felt vastly different (i.e., significantly better) from my old F30. The seats hug you very tightly during cornering.

The ride quality was excellent. The suspension soaked up road imperfections with ease. As a matter of fact, the car rode quite a bit "softer" than my C63 (the LCI C63s have very firm rides with quality damping). This ability to handle crappy pavement pleasantly surprised me, as the car was equipped with 19" wheels whereas my C63 only has 18s.

The rear tires squirmed a bit at times but I was carrying some serious speed through a few of the roundabouts. Keep in mind the new Michelin PSS are still pretty slick. The Continental ExtremeContact DWs I just installed on my C63 a few weeks ago felt the same for the first few hundred miles.

If I was forced to list the worst features, I would have to mention the following: 1) the car's rear end doesn't have the same menace as the front (although the M4's integrated trunk spoiler looks very sporty/well done in person); 2) some of the hard plastics from the F30's interior were carried over into the F80/F82; 3) the exhaust tips could look more special (for example, I love that my AMG's exhaust tips have the AMG logo embossed/imprinted on top of each tip).

These are all pretty minor gripes, to be honest. At least 2 of the gripes can be easily addressed by either BMW M Performance or the aftermarket. There isn't a lot about this car I would change. The overall package is very cohesive.

I will think more on this topic and get back to you. Those were just a few that came to mind.

Furthermore, I'll update my OP with more thoughts about the interior later. I loved the carbon fiber interior trim. It both looked and felt very high-quality.

Originally Posted by fusionchicken

My thoughts as well, after hearing the car in person. It sounds like a very angry, high-strung pissed off euro beast with a golf club up its ass. It's very different from the typical "powerful" exhaust notes (if that makes sense), but awesome in its own way.

Your analogies are way better than mine! But I agree. The exhaust has its own unique sound, which fits the character of the M3/M4 very well.

Originally Posted by sparkyg

Great review ybbiz, I know you have had a ton of cars and experience so I am glad you found the car in a positive way.

Thank you very much, sparkyg. Truly appreciate it. It's great to hear from you man! It's been a while. Hope all is well with you my friend.