2014 BMW M4 Coupe - The Auto Channel First Look

First Look: 2014 BMW M4 Coupe
By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
The Auto Channel

MAISACH, Germany September 24, 2013; After the introduction of the 4 Series earlier this year, it was quite obvious that also the new M-coupe based on the 3 Series was going to be called M4. And when BMW M GmbH unveiled the Concept M4 in Pebble Beach a month ago, there was no doubt about the division’s strategy with respect to the future of the iconic M3 Coupe. The new generation will get an M3 Sedan and an M4 Coupe.

When I got a ride to BMW’s Maisach location, where the Driver Experiences are organized and where we are invited every now and then to drive or see a new model, I recalled the 25th anniversary of the M3. The event was organized at the Ascari race track in Spain and I drove all generations M3, including the latest model, the M3 GTS, of which only 150 have been built. What we did not know then, was that the orange colored coupe was already a pilot car for the M4, due to hit the markets next spring.

M’s development chief Albert Biermann said that new technologies were tested in the GTS. They will be implemented in the M3/M4.

Indeed, technically the M3 Sedan and the M4 Coupe are practically identical. They share the brand new 3.0-liter TwinTurbo TwinPower engine, but the power plant will be teamed in the M3 with a stick shift, while the M4 gets a double clutch transmission (DCG).

Fans of the M3 may feel sad, as the V8 will not be continued in the M3/M4. The pair gets the new 6-cylinder in-line engine, which shall produce around 430 hp with ‘more than’ 500 Nm, or 369 pound-feet of torque. The torque will be available over a broad range and will be an important part of the character that can be expected of the new M model.

To give us already some feeling of the new M4, there were 3 prototypes available. Unfortunately not yet to drive ourselves, but to ride shotgun with the BMW race drivers, who compete in the DTM, the German Touring Car Championship.
Martin Tomczyk was my ‘driver. He won the 2011 DTM with Audi and joined the BMW team last year. During two laps on a track that had been set out with pylons on the former Maisach runway he demonstrated that the M4 is a mighty machine. The power is available from low revs and well through the mid range.

To be honest, I am not very fond of being in the passenger seat. Especially not in a slalom like the one that Tomczyk was taking vigorously with the M4. But this showed the huge potential of the new M4. The three prototypes will be going back to the Nürburgring race track, where they will be fine tuned.

But I am convinced that BMW M GmbH will not disappoint the many fans of the M3 Coupe. The only thing is that they will have to accept the number is one up.

We can expect its debut during the Detroit auto show in January and the first drive around March.

In three workshops of the M Technology Day, the engineers gave us a lot of information about the technology of the new M3 and M4. Later this week, The Auto Channel will come back with details and pictures. So please, stay tuned!

2014 BMW M4 Bottom Lines

2014 BMW M4 coupe will deliver 424 horsepower
Engine is "mostly" new twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-6 engine.
369 pound-feet of torque.
See them launched: "Press Pass Coverage" of 2014 Detroit Auto Show.