New User intro /Issues to look for in an M4

[STi from DSM]

Hello Everyone!

I have been a long time admirer of BMW. My brother has had two BMW's and I have always loved the look of them.

So why is an STi owner on a BMW forum?

The M4 convertible really caught my eye. I owned a convertible in the past and have been looking at an opportunity to get back into one ever since.

One of the local BMW dealerships had a very nice white 6spd 2017 that I was able to drive but we weren't able to work out a deal so still looking. This would be my first RWD car, my first BMW so I am wondering what are the issues I should be looking for? I obviously want to stay away from vehicles that have damage reported on the carfax, but I do not have the knowledge of what to look for.

If this post should be going somewhere else I apologize.

[bsmf8x]

If there was damage, check to make sure it was repaired through a BMW facility and there was no frame damage or engine damage or anything serious.

If you're looking at 2017's, i'd recommend looking for one's with lighting package and executive package as well as adaptive suspension on 2016's if you consider those because it became standard on 2017's.

I'd get a PPI done. Also make sure the tires on the car are michelin pilot Super sport or some sort of tire close to the caliber; i've seen f82's with touring all seasons on them before on the used market. The black 19 inch rims are hard to repair to if someone curbed them and then repaired it, the outside part of the rim may not match the other 3 wheels so look out for that as mine had that issue.

Ask the owner if you go to a private party owner if the car was ever tuned; i'd stay away from those as a lot of people put e85 and up the boost on these cars like crazy and prematurely wear the engine and DCT.

Test drive the vehicle and shift through each gear and drive up to high way speeds (try to go 70-80 if you can) going through all the rpm's in every gear be as thorough as possible; look for vibrations in the suspension/steering and make sure the car isn't grinding gears (even in reverse). I've seen issues where people will only feel a vibration either at a certain RPM or certain speed.

If the dealer has a return policy, like carmax did when I bought my f82, if you buy the car, buy bimmerlink and bimmerlink (like 30 bucks) allows you to see if the car had any CEL's or serious warnings in the past. A spun crank hub or serious engine issue in the past probably means the car had some performance work done to it.


You can also look at the carfax, see where the car was serviced, and call the dealers they were serviced at saying you just bought this car and need to know what was done to it and usually they'll tell if you if there were any serious issues or anything was replaced. call numerous times, the first guy might say its private info. I found out my f82 had a speaker replaced thru this method, but that's not a big deal.

I almost bought a third party M4 that had a whole transmission replaced, I don't even think the seller would've told me had I not asked him specifics about issues. Only 22k miles were on it too.

F8x overall very very reliable, just make sure the DCT/suspension is good on the test drive and the seat bolsters aren't seriously cracked or paint isn't seriously damaged and you're good.

Lastly, I'd stay away from cars with Carbon Ceramic Brakes. They look sooo good, but they're insanely expensive to replace like over 5k up to 10k and they squeak like crazy. The cars with gold calipers have CCB, and the cars with blue calipers are base M Sport Steel Brakes which work amazing. Most cars have the blue, m sport ones as they produced less and less CCB I believe as demand went down, but I might be wrong about that. I just rarely see LCI F8x with CCB like I do pre-LCI with CCB.

[REB_TN_15]

Just bought a 2015 M4 Convertible with 40k miles. First BMW but I came from a M-B SLK. Lots depends on your driving style. You can use this to do anything from tracking it to cruising around town. Here are my observations. Like M-B the service is outrageously expensive, but there's a huge amount of information available on the web. If you aren't rich or mechanically inclined then get one with the warranty intact. If you're willing to take a chance then the engine is pretty bullet proof save the crank hub, but that's not something that will bite you on a purchase. Check out the top movement and the loading aid before you buy. Plenty of complexity there. Also I recommend getting it inspected by a BMW dealer first. You should ask them for a complete fault readout from ISTA as well. I paid $250 but they only read the key so I missed some things that would have been helpful. Fortunately the car tells you what service is needed, so you can get that pretty easily. One challenge is whether it has been tuned up and tracked to death, but I can't really help you diagnose that. I'd say that the convertibles are less likely due to the weight distribution. Obviously service history is important. Tires aren't that expensive unless you go run flats. The back seat is a bit of a joke, so don't expect anyone to ride there for long. Most are pretty well equipped but check out everything. The sound isn't that great, even with the H-K system. Lots of bright colors, so don't expect to go unnoticed. Love the car, huge amount of Hp & torque, but not quite the handling and braking of the SLK. Love it though. No buyers remorse here. Best Wishes.