BMW M4 Competition with M xDrive Petrol

The BMW M4 Competition is a sports car through and through, and a luxury one at that. I had the pleasure of driving it, weaving myself in and out of the tapestry of B roads that make up the Hampshire/West Sussex border. It was a thrilling week of driving, leaving me yearning for permanent ownership.

You know those days when everything clicks and flows, so you feel great? I never get these days, but when the BMW M4 Competition arrived and I opened the door, I was exhilarated, and my day immediately improved. I had this feeling the entire duration I had the car, and it has been quite some time since a vehicle has made me feel this way. Driving has become pretty mundane with all the lowering of speed limits, traffic jams, bland cars, and the lowering of driving ability among the public. I am fortunate to drive some lovely cars, but on public roads nowadays, you can drive any vehicle and feel apathetic about your journey. The BMW M4 Competition smashes the lethargy of driving, giving you an injection of adrenaline each time you climb in and have that anticipation of pressing the shiny red start/stop button.

Sit in the plush leather and carbon fibre seats, and you will be embraced and hugged in all the right places and supported. One of my sisters came out with me several times but struggled on the first trip. It led her to “It’s not made for fatties like me, and I’m not a contortionist getting in and out.” However, she did have the seat the furthest it could go, and she slipped forward in the seat so her body did not line up with the support areas. When I put the pedal down, she was impressed with the car and acclaimed, “This is better than the Aerosmith ride.”

It is a stonking car, visceral and engaging and where and when you get a chance to use the performance and handling, your senses make you feel like you have been flying in the Millennium Falcon, evading the Empire’s fleet.

The BMW M4 Competition is based on the 4 Series and is powered by a 503bhp 3.0 Litre six-cylinder engine, which provides autobahn-bashing acceleration and speed. I drove the AWD version, which has power to all four wheels and more controllable handling. The powerplant is linked to an eight-speed automatic box that can be operated manually with paddles on the steering wheel.

You have several setup options to get the car how you want it for each type of driving. If Comfort mode is selected, the M4 will provide a comfortable, refined daily drive, but most buyers will want to explore the sports modes. Sport or firmer Sport Plus are better for navigating country twisties. Both options anchor the car and give the steering weight, allowing you to gauge inputs more precisely.

With all your available power, handling has to be extremely good, and the BMW M4 Competition excels in this area. Once you learn the nuisances, you can push the car on, confident it has your back.

The driving position is highly tuneable. You can go from being low down like an F1 car, with the bottom touching the floor, to touching the car's roof like John Mclain on the lift in Die Hard. There will be a position to suit everyone, and the low-slung race position is ideal for when you do a track day and have to wear a helmet.

Technology-wise, the BMW M4 Competition is stacked. One of my favourite bits of kit is the Heads-Up Display, which provides plenty of relevant information without you having to search for it. The BMW circle controller sits in the middle of the two front seats, and you can use it to operate the 10.3 “ infotainment touchscreen centrally mounted in the dash. You get smartphone mirroring, DAB Radio, sat-nav, a 16-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, and a Wi-Fi hotspot. Particularly beneficial are the front and rear parking sensors and the rear-view camera. The car feels long and wide, and I used all the functionality in some tight parking spaces, not just my own eyes.

The BMW M4 Competition has the performance to show purebred sports cars like the Alpine A110 and Porsche 718 Cayman, its rear pipes, and the practicality of a family vehicle. The boot can take a pushchair and related items, a couple of golf bags, or lots of shopping. A trip down to southern Europe would be a breeze

You don’t buy a BMW M4 Competition looking for economy of return; more likely, you will earn lots of rewards from the petrol stations around your regular routes. The odd free Greggs pastry adds to the pleasure of driving this beauty.

All cars feature more safety equipment to aid the driver and keep all occupants safer. The BMW M4 Competition has automatic emergency braking, a lane-departure warning system, a lane-keeping assist function, an attentiveness assistant and a warning for traffic crossing behind you.

The BM4 M4 is incredibly quick in a straight line, but also one of the most dynamic, splanchnic performance cars the team at road tests and reviews has driven. Our four-wheel drive version gave confidence-boosting handling so we could power through the twisties and blast along the straights. Combine this with actual practicality for long European road trips or a dash up to Scotland to ski, and you get an outstandingly useable car.

From £87,495

For peace of mind, every BMW has a three-year unlimited mileage warranty. That matches the offering from Alfa Romeo and Mercedes but is more generous than Audi’s offering, which lasts the same duration but limits you to 60,000 miles.