I got rid of mine more because of BMW NAs attitude about some things other than the car itself. I had the MP HAS installed by a BMW dealer approved by BMW to put it on. Then two or so months later BMW NA calls me out of the blue and says they need to take it off because it was possibly unsafe if fully lowered (which I was never going to do). After numerous back and forth trying to keep it with calls from BMW NA and help from my dealer they still made me remove it or else I'd have to buy the car out from my lease and sign something saying I'd have no warranty. It never got to the last part, but it was intimated to me in numerous ways via my BMW NA rep and via the regional rep through my dealer contacts. Never mind the parts and clearances are the same as the variants of M3/4s and people have been installing them in Canada with zero issues etc. My dealer service department of who are track enthusiasts themselves and a really great bunch of people were dumbfounded as well. BMW NA is basically saying their designed part for their own car is potentially unsafe for all variants.
Truly bizarre back and forth in the end.
Also I was having brake fade issues within 10 laps on of track sessions with the iron brakes. I've never been interested in the CCBs for multiple reasons.
I asked for a trade assist into a M2C and they flat out said no. One line from BMW NA really pissed me off. Knowing the hit I'd take they sarcastically said "I was free to trade it in on a M2C if I liked." I took that eff you and dumped it for a truly mental 19 6MT ZL1 1LE. I won't even bother trying to compare the two as they radically different cars for different purposes. And I truly hate GM so go figure, but it is an amazing machine as many of these cars are form different manufactures. So with one line BMW essentially ended a very lucrative for them relationship with a long term fairly loyal customer. As many know here I've bought around ten BMWs over the last six years, half of them M cars or M car light. Also I've purchased many things from their M Performance catalog and had them installed by their dealers. I would think I was the type of customer they wanted to keep, but I guess not. I never expected them to kiss my ass nor agree to the trade assist, but in the end I was truly surprised how little they cared about my business and the relationship because of that. In the end after much pushing from my dealer for something they refunded me two lease payments. Of which I'm grateful for something in the end other than just a refund for parts and labor for the removal and return of the MP HAS.
So rant/whining over here is my take on having a manual M3 ZCP with MP HAS/other Dinan suspension parts installed compared to the stock M4 CS. The interior bits that were missing didn't bother me and I think the M3/4 CS are the best looking cars of all the variants. I also actually think the stereo was much better in the M4 CS than any other HK I've had in other M3/4s. I also truly liked the simplified HVAC system and thought it to worked much better than the dual systems. No CA does suck, but it is something one gets used to.
Here is my problems with the CS and BMWs decisions about the car. If you are trying to make a six figure lighter more track focused car they made some odd decisions. One why take out CA, dual climate, door pulls and the armrests but put in a leather dash and door tops (optional rear sunshade in a track focused coupe
) , especially since the door cards are recycled something or other? If you are going to make a lighter car, make a lighter car and don't go half assed about it. My M4 CS came in over 3600 pounds still and it was a base/lightest version. It really isn't/wasn't much lighter than my MT ZCP M3. Also going back to the six figure price tag a version of the MP HAS that is "approved" for the CS should be standard. So you can corner balance and obviously lower it. Stock the M4 CS looks to have more wheel gap than my stock M3 ZCP did. Also, I don't think the suspension is that great unless you have the MP HAS or something similar installed on the CS IMO. BMW even could of had camber plates standard since of course this is a six figure track focused car. And the decision to only put PSS on US cars is really a bad one as that is most of the traction advantage over the ZCP cars (Cup2s). Also as has been talked about to death, I and others don't understand why BMW refuses to allow a MT transmission in their CS/GTS versions.
I did think it felt more special than the ZCP cars overall and the extra power was noticeable and very nice IMO. Also MDM was much better calibrated and usable in the CS than civic or ZCP models also IMO. The CS also rode better either stock or with MP HAS again in my opinion.
So in the end if you want a more special feeling/faster car from the factory (no modding) and don't care about MT, I think you will really enjoy this car. It really is an awesome/fun DD. This is of course at a serious discount as I've always maintained this is in no way a six figure car. And this of course has been proven by what the market has said.
If you want a more serious track car (of which it is advertised to be), I don't think you will like it stock and will need a decent amount of mods to get it there. I was surprised by the iron brake fade problem and I really don't like CCBs as most serious track people don't (of which I'm not, just 2-3 events a year, hoping I can change that in the future though) due to cost etc (upfront and replacement parts).
Now I need to go work on my mullet, have a good day everyone and flame away. This is just one long tome BMW owners opinions and I'm sure many have a different one. Have a good weekend everyone.
Edit: In the beginning BMW offered me a MPE with CS tips for compensation or a one day track school, which wasn't bad at all. But, I told them I had no use for either as I already have two free M Schools lined up and an exhaust set up that I liked much better. So I would just end up selling the MPE/tips, which can be a pain the ass and I didn't want to deal with. They wanted to stick to that youldn't entertain anything else at all until my dealer pushed them for a couple of lease payments instead.
