2015 BMW M4

21 May, 2015   By: Alex Forrest

When the fifth generation BMW M3 and its newly renamed two-door sibling, the M4, were launched in Australia in June 2014, the improvements were many.

However, its number of cylinders, that very old-school measure of engine capability, had gone down by two.

In almost 30 years of BMW 3 Series M-cars this has never happened, but last year that high-revving 4.0-litre V8 was turfed in exchange for a 3.0-litre straight six.

Once the hyperventilating from enthusiasts had subsided and the smelling salts had been administered, BMW was able to tell them that this wasn’t just any old ‘six’.

Yes, it’s 25 per cent smaller than the old V8, but it also utilises some of the most advanced engine technology available to consumers, including a couple of very active turbochargers.

That contributes to the car using 25 per cent less fuel and emitting 25 per cent less CO2 than its bigger-engined predecessor.

That’s good, but most convincingly the new engine also makes a whopping 550Nm of torque, which equates to an almost 40 per cent increase over the old V8.

You don’t have to rev it to the heavens to get that torque either – all of it is available across a huge rev range spanning 1,850rpm to 5,500rpm.

The M3 and M4 were developed by two German racing car drivers on what is widely agreed to be the world’s most punishing race track, the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Given its development to such extraordinary levels of performance, on public roads the M4 feels like caged lion. So we took it to the RAC Driver Training and Education Centre to stretch its legs.

Though the tight DTEC road circuit is a driveway compared to the Nürburgring, it nonetheless gave a glimpse of the extraordinary work BMW’s engineers.

The M4’s acceleration is like being strapped to a rocketship. The experience is heightened by a feature called Active Sound, which amplifies the engine’s induction noises and plays them through the audio system in real time for added thrills.

Safety features on the M4 include six airbags, an advanced ESC system, and an optional heads-up display which shows speed, engine revs, gear selection and navigation directions.