M3/M4 [Official] 2021 BMW M3 and M4 [G80 & G82]

[Centurion]

Today UK showrooms reopened and I got a close up of the M4.

I will soon have to eat my shoe as the design is growing on me. In orange and without a front reg plate, it looks SUPER aggressive. This is a car that will not be mistaken for a leased 420d M-sport.

Thankfully the car was unlocked and I got to try the bucket seats. They are gorgeous, but much more so from the back, which coupe owners who don't use the back seats will rarely see.

The seating position is low. You feel properly sunken into the car but well sculptured. However movement is restricted as your shoulders are a little bit pushed forward. Exiting the car entails crawling out by pushing against the door sill with my right hand.

Overall they are great seats if you plan to drive through corners in anger or occasionally track the car. However, if GT credentials are valued then the standard sport seats might be easier to live with.

 

[dalab]

Taking into account that there will be X drive versions, I have some questions that I believe are fair and still no one asks

- Is the competition the only one that will have X drive?

- Will they leave the two already presented as they are and the X drive is launched only for the CS ?, or for the competition and the CS? which in the case of the CS would be a bit contradictory due to weight, but it would establish a big difference in performance

-The CSL will be X drive? or a pure rear-wheel drive for its purpose and "light" nature would also be even more contradictory.

It must be something they thought about a lot and the most accurate answer cannot occur

 

[domleo999]

Taking into account that there will be X drive versions, I have some questions that I believe are fair and still no one asks

- Is the competition the only one that will have X drive?

- Will they leave the two already presented as they are and the X drive is launched only for the CS ?, or for the competition and the CS? which in the case of the CS would be a bit contradictory due to weight, but it would establish a big difference in performance

-The CSL will be X drive? or a pure rear-wheel drive for its purpose and "light" nature would also be even more contradictory.

It must be something they thought about a lot and the most accurate answer cannot occur

I think the CS will be X drive with weight saving.

The CSL if produced will be RWD IMO with a higher output.

 

[Matski]

- Is the comptetion the only one that will have X drive?

I believe this has been confirmed to be the case at the G80/G82 launch.

- Will they leave the two already presented as they are and the X drive is launched only for the CS ?, or for the competition and the CS? which in the case of the CS would be a bit contradictory due to weight, but it would establish a big difference in performance

-The CSL will be X drive? or a pure rear-wheel drive for its purpose and "light" nature would also be even more contradictory.

This is just my speculation, but there's space for both CS and CSL... with M xDrive being used on the CS, and the CSL featuring RWD only. Weight redution doesn't seem to have been paramount for the CS models thus far, but if the CSL arrives and isn't the lightest of the bunch, it would go down like a lead balloon.

I would have thought the CSL would come first, then when that's sold out, they could offer the CS post LCI with a few bits off (or inspired by) the CSL, a bit cheaper, and less limited, there is precedent for that after all.

 

[David Brent]

Taking into account that there will be X drive versions, I have some questions that I believe are fair and still no one asks

- Is the competition the only one that will have X drive?

- Will they leave the two already presented as they are and the X drive is launched only for the CS ?, or for the competition and the CS? which in the case of the CS would be a bit contradictory due to weight, but it would establish a big difference in performance

-The CSL will be X drive? or a pure rear-wheel drive for its purpose and "light" nature would also be even more contradictory.

It must be something they thought about a lot and the most accurate answer cannot occur

1) xDrive will only be available on the Competition.

2) As for xDrive being contradictory for the CS; they didn't remove xDrive from the M5 CS either.

3) Seeing as the CSL hasn't existed since the E46 (albeit the E92 and F82 GTS were CSLs in all but name), it's hard to make any predictions. There's no guarantee it will even be produced, but my guess is that any CSL of the future would be RWD only.


The future G81 M3 Touring will be a Competition xDrive only when it's launched in 18 months.

 

[bmwz4coupe]

If they launch a CSL version it would surprise me a lot if this will have xDrive. In the spirit of previous CSL models this should be a basic stripped out rwd conf.

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

If they launch a CSL version it would surprise me a lot if this will have xDrive. In the spirit of previous CSL models this should be a basic stripped out rwd conf.

I think it'd be absolutely wise to do CSL very much in that manner. It'd be a swan-song of sorts of an ICE in one of the more definitive M models.

 

[Centurion]

The AWD variant of the Competition will be an absolute performance monster, both on and off track.

The CS/CSL is likely to have a performance advantage of the competition. In RWD form it's unlikely to stand a chance against the AWD variant on any track. Going forward, I think that the focus of the M3/M4 will be maximum performance while BMW will use the M2 as the platform for a classic rear wheel drive and manual M experience.

Think of it as a two pronged approach. Come LCI, BMW will probably discontinue the RWD only M3/M4 in some markets.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

In RWD form it's unlikely to stand a chance against the AWD variant on any track.

Porsche GT2 and GT3 are not so hopeless compared to the AWD Turbo S.

 

[bmwz4coupe]

Porsche GT2 and GT3 are not so hopeless compared to the AWD Turbo S.

It depends who is driving it. A profesional driver is probably equally fast in a rwd car, but I guess more than 90% of the M4 owners will be faster around a track in a xDrive version.

 

[Sunny]

Why does it have to be faster around a track? Are they all owned by professional racers, racing for a livelihood?

There is a market for a rwd, manual, preferably even NA car. Porsche is making bank on it. If BMW had any sense, they would make CSL a rwd, manual.

 

[dalab]

Thanks for the varied appreciations and points of view, I see that my concerns had a reason to be and also from what I read here we have mixed feelings between the goal that should be a lower weight in these versions opposed to the performance of the M xDrive, the same It must have been the reason for thoughts and positions found among the brand's engineers at a certain point.

I rescue excerpts of the opinions that important facts to take into account when assuming what we want / think they will do

1- The M5 CS kept the AWD with respect to the M5 compettition, lowering the weight as I saw somewhere in about 80 / 100kg if this is any indication
2 - On this example the comparison has never been made against the normal M5, neither in the media nor on the internet, so perhaps the same thing happens with the M3 / M4 CS / CSL and they are never compared against the low weight of the rear-wheel drive pure and Comp. and in a year when the CS comes out and in two years the CSL comes out (if they come with M xDrive) they will be compared against the Competition M xDrive, and they will be lighter
3- Having over 550 hp in BMW they hardly do without the AWD, but who knows, what Porsche does with the GT3 / 2 comes out very well

 

[Centurion]

Porsche GT2 and GT3 are not so hopeless compared to the AWD Turbo S.

I don't know how much downforce the new M3/M4 develop but the GT Porsche have fat tyres and impressive aero. This enables them to put alot of power down without spinning their wheels.

However there is always the possibility that a RWD M4 CS/CSL has a wider tyres and different camber angle to improve traction.

 

[Matski]

I don't know how much downforce the new M3/M4 develop but the GT Porsche have fat tyres and impressive aero. This enables them to put alot of power down without spinning their wheels.

I stand to be corrected, but surely the weight distribution also favours the Porsche in terms of simple driven wheel traction in RWD applications, with less useful traction available from the front wheels for this reason.

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

I don't know how much downforce the new M3/M4 develop but the GT Porsche have fat tyres and impressive aero. This enables them to put alot of power down without spinning their wheels.

However there is always the possibility that a RWD M4 CS/CSL has a wider tyres and different camber angle to improve traction.

+ I am sure having the engine in the back does wonder for getting traction on to the asphalt.

 

[Frankie G]

There's no guarantee it will even be produced, but my guess is that any CSL of the future would be RWD only.

I concur here. Anything right now is speculation if a CSL variant will even exist.

The AWD variant of the Competition will be an absolute performance monster, both on and off track.

I can't wait to see the numbers it will produce. However, if it was your money (and you may or may not be a track-going enthusiast) would you pluck for the AWD over the RWD?

If BMW had any sense, they would make CSL a rwd, manual.

And this was partly my point the other day. I believe a CSL to be the epitome of driver-machine involvement and a RWD manual configuration does make sense. You don't need 600 horsepower in a 2 door AWD coupe to have any sort of fun.

 

[hovabongZA]

If the CSL is coming it will definitely only be RWD without a doubt.

 

[dalab]

As they are from the same owner, it is allowed to copy a little, appendices, diffuser ......

 

[dalab]

Nurburgring.full gallery
The media continue to call it CSL, regardless of the sequence or order that has been used in the brand lately, it also looks like a CS would look ... welcome

Featherweight BMW M4 CSL Prototype Hits the Nurburgring

Next year’s 50th anniversary of BMW M will bring us a ton of four-wheeled surprises, including the resurrection of the legendary CSL nameplate

www.autoevolution.com

 

[klier]

"This useful arm that reaches the belt".

On what basis are you describing it as useful? Do you have much experience of it? I do, when I owned an F82 M4 Coupe, and it was a useless, waste of time gimmick. It often gave up waiting for it to activate and just reached for the belt, which wasn't that difficult anyway. A pointless, over-engineered solution to a problem that didn't exist, like gesture control.

Wait until you are old and fat. When you can’t even scratch your butt anymore, these features are useful. And BMW these days is for old fat people, not pointing fingers at you...