FOR ALL THE WILD NEW ADDITIONS BMW HAS MADE to the M division range for its 50th year, I've suddenly got a feeling it could have saved itself some graft. Right here, right now, I've a suspicion that all we ever really needed wears bright orange paint and is pointed almost perilously uphill at a fourway stop in San Francisco's undulating Nob Hill district.
The Americans have clung on to stick-shift M-cars much longer than we have, a manual M5 surviving two additional generations in the States. So while UK dealers opted for the new M4 only in punchier-powered, auto-only Competition trim, our Stateside pals, just like our European friends in Germany, have been able to save a chunk of cash and go for a DIY base car since the G82's 2021 launch. Somewhat inevitably, it's priced in a way that taunts us, too. Starting at $74,700 ($400 less if you'd prefer an M3), the base M4 converts to a mite over £60,000. Which is where my own innate Rolodex of performance car pricing still places a car like this. The lucky blighters will also get the new M2, of course, costing another ten grand less.
This Fire Orange coupe also happens to be my personal epiphany for not only ceasing to care about the brash styling of the M4's second coming, but genuinely warming to the way it looks. Perhaps it's the grilles' piffling size beside those of the Peterbilt trucks roaming Northern California, but I reckon it's more the full commitment of a lurid colour and lack of front licence plate. With the kidneys allowed their full glory, I think they begin to make sense. Or maybe I'm just a bit delirious from all the Mountain Dew.
This story is from the April 2023 edition of Evo UK.
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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Evo UK.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
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