The M4 GTS Is Proof that BMW Hasn’t Forgotten How To Make a Special Car

“This car is a mess, you’re going to hate it.” That’s what one of my fellow testers said as I hopped in the M4 GTS during our recent Performance Car of the Year testing. And I had no reason to doubt him.

See, the M4 hasn’t exactly endeared itself to us since it debuted. The artist formerly known as the M3 Coupe has too much power, not enough tire, and loses that balanced magic that has been a hallmark of the small M car since it first came out in the late 1980s. It just hasn’t wormed its way into our hearts like its predecessors.

But being told that the GTS was bad broke my heart. If BMW was going to solve the problems with the M4, the GTS was it. Resigned to being disappointed, I got in the M4, thumbed the starter, and began to tune the radio. Might as well listen to some good music if I’m going to hate the car.

Then I noticed that the radio sounded terrible, like the fader was set to the rear. So I went to adjust it and noticed that there no speakers in the doors, there are only speakers in the back, next to the roll cage. Yes, the roll cage is legal in the US. There’s no center console storage or arm rest. There are no interior door handles. The wheel is alcantara. The seats hug you and are mounted as low as possible. Everything about it feels right, and that’s before I even set off.

Richard Pardon

And when I start driving, I realize that my fellow tester was as wrong as can be. So wrong that I have to keep him anonymous to protect him from the scorn and embarrassment of being incorrect on the internet. And that’s because, even at a low speed, the GTS is special. You can hear noise from the gearbox tunnel, the cage creaks, it can buck if you aren’t assertive with the throttle. It feels like you’re pulling out of pitlane in a touring car.

And it just gets better on the road, provided you’re in the right settings. For the road, I leave the traction control on, put the steering and drivetrain in sport, and put the gearbox in its second quickest setting. That makes the steering perfectly weighted, gets rid of the bucking under light acceleration, and makes the gearshifts both smooth and fast. Yes, the traction control light flashes incessantly on corner exit, and it’s really annoying. But it’s better than having your 500 horsepower car spin the tires always.

Oh yes, that engine. The straight six has been reworked with water injection, something that I can’t really explain in technical terms, but I know it helps boost the M4’s power. Then there’s the lightweight exhaust that sounds ridiculous and wonderful, with loud pops and crackles that don’t sound terribly fake like so many exhausts these days (ahem F-Type ahem).

The whole experience is a car distinctly different than the standard M4. It’s not the best road car, but it’s not compromised in ways that are irrevocable. It’s the formula that Porsche applies to the GT3 RS, but a bit less refined, and not in a bad way. This drives like a car that is happy on the road, but would be a madman on the track.

So that’s where it needs to go.

In order to get it set for track duty, the splitter pulls out to form a small coffee table that provides real downforce. The ride height of the adjustable suspension is dropped so it sits squat over the wide tires. It looks the part. It looks at home.

But then it disappoints when I first pull out of the pits at Kentucky’s NCM Motorsports Park. It feels slow. There’s no power out of the corners. And then I notice that I didn’t turn the traction control off. I immediately hold the button down and the warnings go away.

That makes me cautious around the throttle, since the base M4 seems to step out and get squirrelly if you so much as breathe on it. But that’s not the case here. If the rear end steps out, it’s not the same feeling as the base car, which can be an “oh shit” panic moment when it gets away from you. This one communicates with you in the moment, so you can issue a preemptive correction that’ll keep the GTS facing the right direction.

It means the GTS is a challenge to learn the limits, particularly if you’re expecting the base M4. You’re going in with the expectation of one car, and every input is showing that you’re driving something else. Each corner earns you more confidence, and it makes you remember that M really knows how to tune a chassis.

The GTS is transformed. This is basically a World Challenge car with street tires. You can throw it up on curbs with reckless abandon, romp on the throttle and power out of corners with a slick slide from the rear. The steering has just the right amount of feedback, there’s no feeling that you’re driving a car engineered with Novocain.

No, the GTS was not the quickest car at NCM Motorsports Park during our Performance Car of the Year testing, not even close. But the engagement that it offered and the way it felt more than made up for it.

This is a car that started off with the most negative connotation of any we were testing, and wormed its way into my heart, right up there with the Lotus Evora 400. It’s proof that an M car can still be special and that BMW has a very good idea of how to make an amazing performance car. In fact, the more I think about the M4 GTS, the most I liked it. And the more I want one.

As someone who has really only spent quality time in newer BMW M cars, this was a revelation. Everything that I had heard about how older M cars felt was finally coming true. The M4 GTS lived up to what I had read and heard for ages.

Problem is that it costs $150,000 and just 300 are coming to America. And they’re sold out. And that’s too bad, because this should be what every M4 feels like.

Travis Okulski

Editor-at-Large

Travis is an editor at Road & Track. He was previously the Editor-in-Chief of Jalopnik.com and is a little too fond of the Mazda Miata.