Seven new M4s for Oz this year
Up to 40 BMW M4 CS coupes for Australia, priced under $200KBy the end of this year BMW Australia will offer no fewer than seven different versions of its M4 sports car, headlined by the new M4 CS Coupe we drove this week in Germany.
Up to 40 examples of the top-shelf M4 CS are expected to arrive Down Under from October, each priced at up to $200,000, and by then BMW Australia will have released upgraded 2017 versions of the standard, Pure and Competition-spec M4 Coupe.
Joining the recently facelifted M3, M3 Pure and M3 Competition, the M4 and M4 Competition will also be available in convertible form, and the range will be topped by the ultra-rare M4 DTM Champion Edition, which we’re driving in Europe later this week.
Ten examples of the M4 DTM were confirmed for Australia late last year and are now being delivered to dealers, equating to five per cent of a global production run of just 200 cars.
Aussies who missed out on the limited-edition M4 GTS — all 25 Australian examples of which were snapped up last year – will get first dibs.
Designed to celebrate Marco Wittman’s 2016 German touring car championship victory, the DTM is based on the GTS and shares its 368kW twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six, water-injection, adjustable suspension, carbon brakes, Cup tyres and high $295,000 price tag, but not its adjustable aero package.
While the M4 CS is also based around the hard-core GTS -- BMW’s quickest production car -- it will be much cheaper at between $180,000 and $200,000, as well as more user-friendly and more road-focussed, but less powerful at 338kW (although it will offer the same 600Nm torque output).
Further down the M4 family tree is the new M4 Pure, which at $139,900 is $10,000 cheaper than the upgraded standard M4 ($149,900) on which it’s based, despite offering more power (331 v 317kW, but the same 550Nm of torque), upgraded suspension (15 per cent stiffer springs, stiffer damper settings and a Comfort mode that equates to Sport mode in the standard M4).
That’s because the M4 Pure is essentially an M4 Competition minus some high-end luxuries, lightweight seats and 20-inch Competition wheels, while the fully-specified M4 comes with full leather, high-end audio and smaller wheels.
The M4 Competition, meantime, is also a full-time member of the M4 range, priced at $154,900 and accounting for 87 per cent of all M4 sales since its introduction.
Apart from its 331kW turbo six, it rides on upgraded suspension as per the Pure but with the high-end equipment of the standard M4, plus 20-inch wheels, lightweight (but still full leather) seats, specific black badging and a louder exhaust.
BMW’s 2017 M3 sedan line-up takes a similar approach, minus the M4 coupe’s CS and DTM limited-editions, which are a direct result of the leadership of BMW M boss Frank van Meel.
The M3 sedan entry price is now $15,000 cheaper than before at $129,900, thanks to the addition of a new M3 Pure variant.
Arriving from July, the base model gets the more powerful 331kW tune of the flagship M3 Competition, and is available with either a dual-clutch automatic or no-cost six-speed manual.
Smaller 19-inch alloy wheels, head-up display, carbon-fibre roof, comfort access, sat-nav, tyre pressure monitoring, cloth/leather upholstery, LED headlights and a nine-speaker sound system are included.
The cut-price M3 misses out on leather trim, adaptive LED headlights with high-beam assist, heated seats, Haman/Kardon sound system and rear sunblinds of the regular M3 sedan, which offers ‘just’ 317kW but costs $10,000 more at $139,900.
Like the M4 Competition, the racy M3 Competition ($144,900 plus on-road costs) adds firmer adaptive M suspension, re-worked stability control, M Sport front seats and more aggressive aesthetics.
As part of a midlife makeover, all BMW M3 and M4 models to arrive there this year will come with new LED headlights and tail-lights, revised trims and BMW’s latest iDrive 6 infotainment system with 8.8-inch display.
BMW M3 and M4 pricing (plus ORCs):
M3 Pure — $129,900
M3 sedan — $139,900
M3 Competition — $144,900
M4 Pure — $139,900
M4 coupe — $149,900
M4 Competition coupe — $154,900
M4 convertible — $161,900
M4 Competition convertible — $165,900
M4 CS — $195,000 (estimated)
M4 DTM — $295,000
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