2025 BMW M4 Competition Review
More power leads a subtle overhaul of BMW's potent coupe
As far as facelifts go, the 2025 BMW M4 Competition is more of a subtle Hollywood nip-and-tuck than something you’d see on Monstrous Medical Maladies.
Some might be disappointed that the M4’s Life Cycle Update – BMW-speak for facelift – didn’t include a complete facial reconstruction, as the controversial giant vertical nostrils remain. Instead, styling updates are limited to new headlights, laser taillights and new wheels that can also be had in silver.
As such, plenty will still turn their nose up – pardon the pun – at the way the new M4 looks but I’ve never had a problem with it. And guess what? Given how many BMW sells, plenty of other people don’t have a problem with it either!
Mechanical changes are similarly slight, the only real change of note being an extra 15kW from the 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six. It now develops 390kW at 6250rpm while torque remains static at 650Nm from 2750-5730rpm.
The rear-wheel drive M4 Competition has been consigned to the history books in Australia, so your only choice is all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Despite the power bump, the 0-100km/h claim remains 3.5sec and top speed is limited to 290km/h. That should be enough.
Pricing has also increased to $189,900 plus on-road costs but there are a few avenues to increasing that. Big-ticket items include the $19,000 carbon brakes and $10,000 carbon bucket seats fitted to the test car (more on which in a moment), while there’s also an exterior carbon package ($9500) and matte individual paint ($7500).
The biggest changes have occurred inside, the M4 being one of the last BMWs to score the giant curved widescreen display and Operating System 8.5. With this comes an extraordinary feature list that’s beyond the scope of my understanding, but those with a technological bent may well appreciate it.
Of possibly more importance to most folks, the screen is relatively well laid out, responsive to touch inputs and the wireless smartphone mirroring works a treat. Sadly, almost every function has been sandwiched into the infotainment and while BMW’s solution is better than most, I’d be amazed if the button count pendulum doesn’t swing back the other way somewhat in the next generation.
The driving position is low and widely adjustable, but I’d save the $10K spent on the carbon seats. They look quite cool, but the carbon bulge in the middle is a useless affectation that just bruises your legs when getting in and out. They also ditch the heating and ventilation functions.
Packaging is an M4 strength, with genuine room in the rear seats for adults as long as they aren’t particularly large or plenty of space for kids, whether they be older or still in booster seats. An M3 Touring is the true family choice, but the M4 isn’t as far behind as you might imagine.
Especially as the G82’s daily manners are impeccable, thanks to all-wheel drive traction, an engine with masses of low-end grunt, a smooth torque converter automatic and adaptive suspension.
This might all be anathema to the M-car purists out there and there’s no doubt the car seeks to isolate rather than involve when its systems are wound down, but it’s been a key part of expanding the M3/M4’s appeal with the sales figures to prove it.
But if all you want is an undemanding daily there are plenty of other offerings in a BMW dealership. The easiest way to explore the M4’s greater depths is through the red M1 and M2 buttons mounted on the steering wheel.
These allow you to configure your favoured combination of settings from the virtually endless options. The familiar engine, steering and damper options have now been joined by brake, all-wheel drive and traction control possibilities.
The ideal combinations will be dictated by personal preference but for me, if the regular Comfort mode is 2/10 on the aggression scale, I would configure M1 to be 5-6/10 and M2 to be 8-9/10.
One constant is comfort steering, as the sportier settings add only effort, the last thing you need when wrestling with the M4’s far-too-thick tiller.
Pressing the M1 button with the corresponding increase in attitude really wakes the M4 up, particularly under the bonnet. In Comfort mode the engine feels laggy and unresponsive to large throttle inputs, whereas in Sport it’s much keener to get involved and the gearbox will now select lower gears under brakes to ensure greater pace.
This is the setting I would use on a cross-country drive through sweeping back roads, using the car’s inherent abilities rather than pushing its limits. And those abilities are certainly something.
The M4 Competition is a phenomenally fast car. Even left largely to its own devices, its capacity to accrue, carry and shed speed mean it’s capable of chewing up your licence and spitting it out in short order should you allow it.
All-wheel drive not only makes the M4 much more appealing for those countries that encounter heavy rain or snow – the US is now the biggest market – but on a drive like this, when you’re focused but not riveted, it makes for easier progress.
Patches of damp or mud or dust no longer result in the wiggle of the hips that could occur in the previous F82 and in the wet third- or fourth-gear wheel spin (even if quashed by the traction control) isn’t an omnipresent threat.
Don’t think that sending drive to all four wheels has eliminated the involvement, though. Select ‘4WD Sport’ – likely to be one of your M2 parameters – and the M4 will deliver all the power oversteer you could ever wish for.
On a track it makes the car arguably too rear-biased, every application of the throttle lighting up the rears and requiring constant jabs of opposite lock. Fun, but not particularly fast.
At road speeds the lower lateral loads make it less of a handful, instead giving the M4 a steer-on-the-throttle expressiveness you wouldn’t expect. It’s a consistent and welcome trait of all-wheel drive M and M Performance products (even the old M760Li limo, for instance).
Sport Plus injects the engine with an added shot of adrenaline, endowing it with anti-lag levels of responsive and plenty of pops and burbles on the overrun to go with the straight-six growl.
Happily, selecting the same setting for the suspension doesn’t turn it into a skateboard, the chassis retaining enough compliance to soak up bumps rather than fight them.
It’s a top-tier performance car but as you attempt to dig into the final layer of the M4’s reserves one issue does raise its head – weight. The latest M4 Competition weighs 1775kg before passengers and that is a lot; as you really lean on it you start to realise there is a lot of car moving around beneath you, especially when it goes light over crests and the like.
If this starts happening, you’re going at a pace way beyond the capabilities of its predecessors, but the difference is that those cars’ – the E92, F82 and, in particular, the E46 – lower weight and grip levels means you could play with their attitude without the potential consequences the weight, size and speed of the G82 threaten.
The other point worth making is that the new car’s sheer competence make it inevitably less involving than some may wish when you’re not using every ounce of its abilities.
It’s what holds the car back from true greatness – and gave BMW M room for the CS model – but the M4 Competition is still an incredibly impressive and well-rounded machine. Incredible performance, great dynamics, a quality interior with everyday practicality, you could argue it didn’t even need a nip and a tuck.
Specifications
Body: two-door, four-seat coupe
L/W/H: 4801/1887/1398mm
Weight: 1775kg
Engine: 2993cc inline-six, DOHC, 24v, twin-turbo
Power: 390kW @ 6250rpm
Torque: 650Nm @ 2750-5730rpm
Drive: all-wheel
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Brakes: 380mm discs, six-piston calipers (f); 370mm discs, single-piston calipers (r)
Wheels: 19 x 9.5-inch (f); 20 x 10.5-inch (r)
Tyres: 275/35 (f); 285/30 (r) Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
Price: $189,900 +ORCs
Can you still do a 2WD mode with the latest-gen M cars?