Tuesday, December 30, 2014

BMW M4 Cabriolet

2015 BMW M4 Cabriolet
A few months ago, the first ever M4 Coupe was born to succeed where the old M3 Coupes of yesteryears left off but from all the wrong and right reasons. Although the inline-6 turbo engine wasn't as better sounding as the old M3's V8 engine, the power steering is a bit vague for a car like this, and the conspiracy of why their chassis codes are different from the normal 4-Series Coupe, it's more powerful than the old M3's V8 engine, more lighter than the old M3, and overall, a lot more fun to drive.

With the arrival of the brand new M4 Cabriolet, can the open-top version be as fun as the Coupe equivalent? The answer can be a yes or a no.

First and foremost, it still comes with the same 3.0L TwinPower Turbo engine as the coupe version, producing 431PS of power output and 550Nm of torque, and it's available with either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed double clutch gearbox, but like all convertible models do, the M4 Cabriolet adds 250kg of weight and 0-100kph time has been harshly dropped to 4.6 seconds with the manual or 4.4 seconds with the DCT. Despite the added weight, thanks to added body reinforcements like all cabrios do, this car is 60kg lighter than the old M3 Cabriolet, and even though this is drastically heavier than the M4 Coupe, it still handles just like the coupe does.

Although not suitable for track use unlike the M3 Sedan and the M4 Coupe does, it still knows how to throw in a party or two when it corners and if the timing's just right, this car can drift for fun. Who doesn't want to drift a turbocharged German convertible on the open space?

And when you're not on the track and on the road, you can press a button to open or close the roof within 20 seconds. With the roof open, it engages the so-called Air Collar, which is a fan mounted between the headrest and upper seat bolster to keep everyone's necks warm while the roof is open. That sounds reasonable but there's no wind deflectors found so when you're wearing a hat, chances of getting your hats blown away is extremely likely. Of course, you can still hear the noise from the exhaust but the blowing winds hamper your hearing when approaching built speed. Gets worse, some microscopic debris in the form of flying insects, falling leaves, or pages from newspaper may flew either your windscreen or your face when going in too fast. Oh geez. This is getting to complicated for a high-performance convertible version of the 4-Series, eh?

The new M4 Cabriolet starts at 78,500 Euros, which is 6,000 Euros more than the Coupe version, and you'll have to charge more for the available extras. So, if you're interested for the M4, go for the coupe version because it's affordable and more faster than the cabriolet but despite having its downsides, this is worth adding to your garage full of cars if you have the cash to pool it in. Besides, despite its weight disadvantage, the M4 Convertible still handles like an M4 but with the roof open, that's just a different story and you'll never know what might hit you while going in too fast.

Photo: BMW AG

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