M4 GTS Tested by Jeremy Clarkson on The Grand Tour

[M-Pilot]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

He compared it to GT3 RS and of course I didn't expect GTS to win the competition but quite honestly I also didn't expect to hear those horrible words Jeremy said about the GTS. He pretty much hated it. Here are some of his words:

"... Now, at this point, I would normally use the word 'however' and start talking about the car's good points. However, I can't because I'm struggling to find any. The engine for instance has water-injection which sounds cool but it means that every third time you fill the car with fuel, you have to fill the water tank in the boot. I don't know but I'm not sure this is very high-tech."

"And then there is the steering, which in comfort mode is horrid, and in sport setting is even more horrid."

"This is not a car that responds well to my rather brutal driving style. The problem is it doesn't respond well to delicacy either."

"This competition here between these two cars is like a boxing match between an actual boxer and someone who thinks they're a boxer because they're wearing satin shorts."

"How did BMW get this thing so wrong?... It's twitchy, it's unpredictable. And in the rain it's somewhere between spiteful and undriveable."

[schnell325]

Every one has an opinion :/

[schnell325]

I'd love a link to the video. I've yet to get amazon prime

[M-Pilot]

Originally Posted by schnell325

I'd love a link to the video. I've yet to get amazon prime

The quality is not very good but enjoy before it's removed.

[schnell325]

Originally Posted by cntzl

The quality is not very good but enjoy before it's removed.

Thank YOU

[DieGrüneHölle]

The media in general hasn't been kind to this car.

I am sure owners are very much enjoying their cars despite that.

[M-Pilot]

Originally Posted by Blipit_

The media in general hasn't been kind to this car.

I am sure owners are very much enjoying their cars despite that.

I have no doubt owners are enjoying their cars but honestly I don't think this review has anything to do with being kind to the car. He was actually very very "kind" to 1M and M2. Both of these little Ms offer an outstanding performance compared to what you would expect from a car at that price range. However, my guess is that, at the price point of the GTS, Jeremy, like everyone else, expected a lot more from this car and basically GTS didn't meet his expectations.

[Captain Unknown GT4]

No one seems to get their tools out to get some aero effect on the car. No one (not many ) seems to get it down to low track setting on these kind of test. Cant blame them, they just drive it the way it sitt, street mode no aero.

The splitter and wing is adjustable not for show, its due to a reason. As the rear wing / front splitter is set here it hardly give no downforce. Its also very grippy in rain if Max aero is set front/rear. I did almost 2 days on SPA in rain Max aero and low tracksetting and was surprised how grippy it was.

(Edit, did not se whole vid. and now realize they might did adjust it, not sure, hope to look later on, some seems to find the time to do it and some dont, not sure here how it was)
Hard to tell how they drove it, whats intressing is that it differ big between the settings so I would like if mags and testers told how they test it (high street setting would not be god on this track, and no aero no god.)

Anyway its very intressing how different we see on cars, I for instant drove my car 1500km to Nurburgring and if all attackmode is off cars is very nice to drive on a long trip. Very comfy, best part is consiglier free service call and they fix my hotel stay etc. along the way.

GT4 is less comfy, engine right behind you and not comfy on long trips.

But man the AMG GT-R gets al my attention these days, to bad its not coming with cage inside?! That thing is faster than even a 918 Porsche. I want one...bad

[schnell325]

Originally Posted by Captain Unknown GT4

No one seems to get their tools out to get some aero effect on the car. No one (not many ) seems to get it down to low track setting on these kind of test. Cant blame them, they just drive it the way it sitt, street mode no aero.

The splitter and wing is adjustable not for show, its due to a reason. As the rear wing / front splitter is set here it give hardly no downforce at al. Its also very grippy in rain if Max aero, I did almost 2 days on SPA in rain Max aero and low tracksetting and was surprised how grippy it.

(Edit, did not se al vid and now see they might did adjust it, not sure, hope to look later on, some seems to find the time to do it and some dont, not sure here how it was)
Har to tell how they drove it, whats intressing its differ big between then settings so I would like if mags and testers told how they test it(high street setting would not be god on this track, and no aero no god.
Anyway it very intressing how different we see on cars, I for instant drove my car 1500km to Nurburgring and in if all attackmode is off cars is very nice to drive long, very comfort, best part consiglier free service call and they fix my stay etc along the way. GT4 is way less comfy, engine right behind you and not comfy on long drive at al.
But man the AMG GT-R gets al my attention these days, to bad its not coming with cage inside?! That thing is faster than even a 918 Porsche. I want one...bad

The fact you own a GTS and track it is worth far more than any hack journalist

[Eddien123]

Clarkson has always been kinda a goof but he's been honest. He admits when cars are good. He liked the standard m4 a lot and he's liked BMWs in the past even though he's a merc fan. Honestly he has commented on the steering before in the M4. The torque is this car is as good as it is bad. It's hard to control that much torque in a moderately light car. Especially when that torque comes in at such a low rpm and when the car is just RWD. It's kind of uncontrollable. At least he said it sounds good. Which I disagree with but hey...

[mvigod]

Sounds like I made the right decision to buy a GT3 RS and not try to get the M4 GTS!!!

[kevinlevrone]

I wish BMW would offer the water injection kit as a BMW Performance accessory. The GTS is definitely not a very good overall package, but it does have nice bits (like the water injection) that could be better used in other, much cheaper M cars.

[hockey21]

Originally Posted by Blipit_

The media in general hasn't been kind to this car.

I am sure owners are very much enjoying their cars despite that.

i really don't get why anyone would ever buy the m4 GTS. it has almost zero sex appeal to people outside the uber bmw community. i could absolutely never justify paying ( EVEN THE BASE MSRP) for this thing over something like a 997 gt3, lightly used 911 turbo S, Ferrari 360, or even an m4 and 50 grand in my pocket.

I think it's cool BMW made this car and hopefully some things will come into the newer M4's from this car, but honestly i would not ever pay for this car.... even if they removed that stupid fast and the furious spoiler.

[ONEOF40 FS M3]

Originally Posted by cntzl

He compared it to GT3 RS and of course I didn't expect GTS to win the competition but quite honestly I also didn't expect to hear those horrible words Jeremy said about the GTS. He pretty much hated it. Here are some of his words:

"... Now, at this point, I would normally use the word 'however' and start talking about the car's good points. However, I can't because I'm struggling to find any. The engine for instance has water-injection which sounds cool but it means that every third time you fill the car with fuel, you have to fill the water tank in the boot. I don't know but I'm not sure this is very high-tech."

"And then there is the steering, which in comfort mode is horrid, and in sport setting is even more horrid."

"This is not a car that responds well to my rather brutal driving style. The problem is it doesn't respond well to delicacy either."

"This competition here between these two cars is like a boxing match between an actual boxer and someone who thinks they're a boxer because they're wearing satin shorts."

"How did BMW get this thing so wrong?... It's twitchy, it's unpredictable. And in the rain it's somewhere between spiteful and undriveable."

BMW is lost...

[RPChan]

Originally Posted by hockey21

i really don't get why anyone would ever buy the m4 GTS. it has almost zero sex appeal to people outside the uber bmw community. i could absolutely never justify paying ( EVEN THE BASE MSRP) for this thing over something like a 997 gt3, lightly used 911 turbo S, Ferrari 360, or even an m4 and 50 grand in my pocket.

I think it's cool BMW made this car and hopefully some things will come into the newer M4's from this car, but honestly i would not ever pay for this car.... even if they removed that stupid fast and the furious spoiler.

Fortunately the car industry has not followed the original desire of Henry Ford and made one similar car in all black. I am quite the opposite of your perspective which is why there are so many cool choices. Every 997 GT3 has been sold twice. The ride is unbearable. TurboS or Ferrari 360? Yawn. I thoroughly enjoy my GTS. Tired of people taking pictures of it while they are driving though. I own every version of M3 ever made. I own a 1M. I enjoy them all and they are all different. The M4GTS is scary fast but not unpredictable like the 1M. I don't know why Jeremy lacked control in the car as it feels ultra precise to me. It is rough riding but I took a thousand mile trip in it two weeks ago and I was no worse for the wear afterward. Actually it was no less comfortable than the same trip in my Porsche C4S and the GTS has a bigger trunk for luggage. Is it a bargain price? Unknown. Lots of people thought the Z8 wasn't either. If you want a bargain, a car that you will never pass on the road and drives like a race car, then buy a Alfa Romeo 4C. It is a smile a minute.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by RPChan

Fortunately the car industry has not followed the original desire of Henry Ford and made one similar car in all black. I am quite the opposite of your perspective which is why there are so many cool choices. Every 997 GT3 has been sold twice. The ride is unbearable. TurboS or Ferrari 360? Yawn. I thoroughly enjoy my GTS. Tired of people taking pictures of it while they are driving though. I own every version of M3 ever made. I own a 1M. I enjoy them all and they are all different. The M4GTS is scary fast but not unpredictable like the 1M. I don't know why Jeremy lacked control in the car as it feels ultra precise to me. It is rough riding but I took a thousand mile trip in it two weeks ago and I was no worse for the wear afterward. Actually it was no less comfortable than the same trip in my Porsche C4S and the GTS has a bigger trunk for luggage. Is it a bargain price? Unknown. Lots of people thought the Z8 wasn't either. If you want a bargain, a car that you will never pass on the road and drives like a race car, then buy a Alfa Romeo 4C. It is a smile a minute.

I think the take home point here is that the M4 GTS is more #racecar than most cars because it does require setup. Front and rear aero must be set properly before driving it and I doubt many car mags really fiddle with it much.

A local owner of an M4 GTS brought his to COTA and didn't have any setup time. One of the fellows that got to drive it did say that it wasn't set up well out of the box however the owner had not had time to adjust the ride height of course.

In comparison to the Gt3- RS which will pretty much dominate out of the box, the M4 GTS is indeed rather fussy. It's also much rarer and owners won't see one every day.

I did note that in the grand tour video the M4 GTS was nearly 2 seconds quicker than a regular M4 on their track. Unfortunately it was also only about a second quicker than the new boxster S ...


VERY impressed that you took tours on a 1k mile trip... I wouldn't have expected it to be that streetable after all the videos. Now that I think about it .... the motor trend video with Jason cammisa basically knocked it in the same fashion.. ,

[RizOne]

The only review I need is from actual owners and my test drive. I was very impressed when I drove it I have and have had several GT3's ,1M, RS', M3's, R8, etc. I think if you don't have a Gt3 already, in this price range, then get the GT3 first because it is an incredible machine. The GTS is really for the enthusiast that already has a GT3 or RS who then can add this car. I think they are missing the point that people lucky enough to get this car already have some form of a GT3.

[Benzima]

Thank god BMW only made 800 of them!!!

[overcoil]

The Grand Tour is unwatchable.
The M4 GTS is wild.

[BMWFanatic2008]

Print this review and bring it with you to the dealership when negotiating a price

[Killramos]

This is the same Clarkson who thinks the competition pack makes the M3 worse. What did we expect?

[DCG]

Man I miss these guys and the show.

BMW time for M xDrive!!!

And I thought that electric raising of the suspension of the front portion of the car was pretty sweet and very smart just like my Ducati Multistrada's electronic suspension, well done Porsche. I had no knowledge that you had to stop and fill the M4 GTS up with water in the trunk, to me that's going backwards technology wise.

I definitely stick with the M4 Competition Package but I feel they should offer it right from the start.