Comparison tests AutoBild Sportscars: BMW M4 DKG vs M4 CS vs M4 GTS (Comparison chart)
hovabongZA
Tire Trailblazer
The M4CS is really the sweet spot...Althoigh I’d be perfectly happy with the M3CP. You get what you pay for.
Personally, I think this test ably demonstrates the problem that people aren't getting enough for what they're paying. A real world 12kg difference to the GTS from the normal M4? That is not what's yielding the 4 second difference in lap time. And it's not the extra 69hp either, because the CS does without most of those and gets much closer to the GTS. The additional torque and power of the special models is also slightly compromised from being in a narrower rev range... given they all have the same gear ratios you can see how that hampers the special cars in the elasticity tests.
The difference, IMHO, is as always, the tyres.... put that standard M4 on semi-slick cup 2's, and most of that lap-time difference would disappear, I'd say it would get to the 1:35's... which makes the CS and GTS cases of really not getting much for paying a lot more.
I'd take any of them in a heartbeat if they were offered, so I'm not hating on them, but given the CS doesn't really demonstrate it's tangible increase in cost, I can see why people are complaining that the CS is what the M4 should always have been.
Not when you're actually putting your hands in your pocket and paying real money for it.
The CS also has suspension changes compared to the standard M4 which make it more precise and less spiky on the limit as well as improving the ride quality. In terms of ability it is the best model in the M4 range and makes the GTS seem way over priced, but then again it also is considerably more expensive that the regular M4. I would be more than happy even with the regular model. All of them are stunning cars
Whilst true, the suspension itself is comprised of the same major components as the standard cars (with M Adaptive Suspension), so again - it might achieve what it needs to achieve to be better than a standard M4, but it does it with mostly the same physical pieces. Substituting one set of springs for another doesn't warrant the price-hike in my opinion, and if it's that much better why not fit these springs to the standard M4 and make everyone happy?
I only find it frustrating because the competition has very much closed the gap to the classic M formula, and if BMW has a way if noticeably improving their product, for not much more cost, they should be using that knowledge to improve the core product, not charging a hefty premium for it. I'd understand if it used lots of different bits and pieces underneath, but it doesn't seem to. Higher boost, stickier tyres... away they go.
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
It looks like BMW calculated the price to be slightly under what one would pay to upgrade to this level of performance his already purchased standard M4. But in that case the customer pays one time for the standard parts and second time for the superior ones. When you buy the car upgraded from the factory you should pay only for the difference between the standard and the upgraded parts, but with the M4 CS that is not the case (having in mind what you already mentioned, that they are on the same basis and for the factory most probably they are on almost the same cost)
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
I'm curious whether BMW has improved the M4 CS on the base of the experience collected with the standard M4, or the standard M4 was downgraded from the beginning, so that later BMW could charge its customers more for the upgraded versions
klier
Premium
They have been doing this for literally decades.
Why do you think they don't make a supercar?
If they were mentally ill they could have done that, yes.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
This is just a speculation of mine, but BMW changed their chassis code designation from E to F to signify design changes and new technologies that were included in development. Compared to the E-coded chassis era that spanned a long period (from the early 1970's until the late 2000's) which gave BMW a good portion of time to enhance and optimize the chassis to the maximum point possible, the F-coded chassis is short lived for the core products to be refined to the same level, which I believe is the reason that many people (like auto journalists) complained / still complain that BMW cars are not like what they used to be. For me, the reaction was a bit exaggerated, as it is not easy to maintain certain qualities that were gained by working on improving them for a long time, in a product that is young and newly developed.
To connect what I said above with the discussion here, it could be that BMW was forced to refine the performance of the F8X chassis in a relatively short time to bring the M4 to the expected level from BMW, and they decided to present the updates through special editions to cover the challenges they faced during the original development, and the CS represents the optimum level of what the M4 was originally intended to be (the GTS was a testing prototype exercise that happened to be sold to the public to gain feedback, and the Competition Pack is an effective enhancement requested by the customers). The development costs were repaid through the increased prices of these packages (CP, GTS, CS).
Or none of the above is correct, and the true potential of the M4's chassis was handicapped from the start, as the GTS did not provide much of an advantage compared to what the CS is capable of, which is what BMW originally intended for the M4 to be, and this is a marketing stunt done for a higher profit margin.
To connect what I said above with the discussion here, it could be that BMW was forced to refine the performance of the F8X chassis in a relatively short time to bring the M4 to the expected level from BMW, and they decided to present the updates through special editions to cover the challenges they faced during the original development, and the CS represents the optimum level of what the M4 was originally intended to be (the GTS was a testing prototype exercise that happened to be sold to the public to gain feedback, and the Competition Pack is an effective enhancement requested by the customers). The development costs were repaid through the increased prices of these packages (CP, GTS, CS).
Or none of the above is correct, and the true potential of the M4's chassis was handicapped from the start, as the GTS did not provide much of an advantage compared to what the CS is capable of, which is what BMW originally intended for the M4 to be, and this is a marketing stunt done for a higher profit margin.
