BMW M4 CS (2024 – ) review

If you’re the kind of person for whom Under Armour gym-wear counts as going out gear for showing off your carefully honed physique the massive premium you pay for the M4 CS’s unapologetically sporty looks will make some sort of sense. And with the bright paint colour options like the Riveria Blue seen here set against the exposed black carbon fibre, CS badges and angry red pin-striping there’s no danger of keeping a low profile, this being the road-going embodiment of the M4 GT3 racing cars seen biting chunks out of the back of Porsche 911s, Audi R8s, Aston Martins and others in top-level endurance racing. Even if it’s a little cheaper than the ultra-exclusive M4 CSL it still comes at a hefty extra cost over the standard M4 Competition, and without the limited-edition exclusivity may not guarantee the same collectability or long-term value among serious M fanatics. But why try and make a logical argument for a car like this – basically there is none, and you’ll choose the CS over the regular M4 for the sheer hell of it. And why not. But from purchase price to fuel, tax, insurance and all-round running costs there’s no escaping it’ll be an expensive decision.

Like many premium names, BMW struggles on mainstream surveys and rankings and, as a brand, doesn’t have a great showing. Saying that the M4 CS is a specialist product developed by a dedicated performance division so should, in theory, be built with increased attention to detail and quality befitting its premium price. Having tried to keep up with the engineers behind it on a race track for the launch event we can certainly vouch for the fact they test their cars to the absolute limit as well!

Being based on the latest and updated 4 series the M4 CS is loaded with clever safety tech. But it’s also an M product, meaning many and various ways to limit how much they intrude on your enjoyment of the car! If you can trust yourself the first button to press is the cruise control ‘Set’ switch on the steering wheel to silence the speed limit alerts. Beyond that you can, in varying degrees, reduce or even completely disable the various traction and stability control systems the closer you venture to the CS’s Track modes. Where the CSL was rear-wheel drive only the CS is all-wheel drive, but even this can be switched off if you want to vapourise your rear tyres in clouds of smoke. If you’re really keen you can even specify sticky track-optimised Michelin tyres, which in the (thankfully) dry conditions we drove the car on the circuit meant the CS stuck like glue even with the most aggressive throttle inputs. Back in the real world you might want to stick with the regular rubber, on the basis the track tyres might prove a bit dicey on a wet winter commute.

Like the 4 Series on which it is based the M4 CS is a two-door coupe, meaning access to the back seats is a bit of a faff. Fear not, there’s also a CS version of the saloon-based M3, with all the same goodies but with the benefit of four doors if you need them and little compromise in performance. Whichever suits your needs if you’re buying an M3 or M4 CS with comfort and refinement as your priorities you’re in the wrong place, the respective 40i versions of each offering more than respectable performance in a much more all-round package. But you don’t choose a car looking like this with any illusions it’s going to be about comfort and refinement, do you. Standard on the CS are the carbon fibre framed/leather covered seats, with figure hugging contours so extreme they force you into a compulsory man-spreading seating position. If you’re the right physique they’re supportive and cossetting, though if you’re not they may be rather less accommodating – we’d say try before you buy. Either way, our racing driver delusions meant we enjoyed how low the seats are mounted to the floor and how close you can pull the wheel to your chest. If perhaps not quite as extreme as the CSL, meanwhile, BMW’s M engineers have also tweaked settings for the adaptive suspension, steering response and more to sharpen the CS’s edge over the standard M4. There’s still no hiding the extra weight over previous M3s and M4s but the steering cuts very little slack while the stiff springs keep it flat through the corners while still being able to bounce of racing track kerbing. We’d advise against testing this theory on roundabouts and sliproads back in the real world, mind. In this electrified age die-hard petrolheads will also appreciate the angry bark of the fancy lightweight exhaust system, this providing a suitably thrilling – and authentic – soundtrack to the speed with which the horizon rushes towards you through the windscreen.

So, what are you getting for the hefty additional cost over a regular M4 Competition? Certainly, a more eye-catching fast BMW which, for many fans, will be justification enough. The exposed carbon fibre stripes on the bonnet are a visual reminder of how this still exotic material has been used both for its fancy looks and weight-saving properties, it also appearing on the mirror caps, front intakes and additional wings, spoilers and the front splitter. Just don’t grind the latter on any speed bumps… Other CS-specific features include yellow headlights inspired by those used on endurance racing cars, a frameless grille with red pin-striping and various other detail trimmings. There’s more carbon inside as well, the CS also getting the newer twin-screen interior layout introduced across the 4 Series range. Call us old-fashioned but the way it sits proud of the dashboard looks somewhat uglier than the previous design with its traditional binnacle. No arguments with the tech powering it, though, BMW’s operating system one of our favourites in the business in terms of its functionality, breadth and slickness of its graphics. There aren’t many manufacturer systems we’d default to rather than CarPlay or Android Auto but this is one of them. Beyond that pretty much all the options you could possibly add to a regular M4 are included in the CS package, along with the aforementioned styling upgrades exclusive to this model. The only real extras available are the more extrovert paint schemes or upgraded ceramic brakes. The latter are useful if, like us, you find yourself chasing BMW M’s chief test driver on track but probably overkill for most other situations.

The engine has always been the beating heart of any BMW M car and the one in the M4 CS is pretty much peak internal combustion tech. Where arch-rival AMG has controversially ditched its signature V8 engines in favour of heavily hybridised four-cylinder motors BMW has stuck with its classic six-cylinder configuration for the proven combination of power, smoothness and fan-pleasing soundtrack. It hardly needed to be but power has increased to 550 horsepower for the CS and drives all four wheels through an automatic gearbox and baffling array of configurable modes for throttle, steering, brakes, stability control, shift speeds and more besides. Thankfully your preferred combinations can be pre-set into the red M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel, ready to be called up as the situation demands. We were lucky enough to drive the car both on track and on derestricted German autobahns and in both situations the M4 CS’s acceleration at speeds that would have you locked up back home are simply breathtaking, the pull into big three-figure speeds in fourth and fifth gear especially extraordinary. But also completely irrelevant in any other environment. With our hardcore petrolheads hats on we also remain to be convinced by BMW’s switch from the fast-shifting gearboxes in previous M3s and M4s to the smoother but slower automatic in this one. It suits regular models like the brilliant Touring perfectly. But for a supposedly enthusiast-focused version like the CS the fractional pause between shifts is a rare chink in the car’s otherwise rock-solid armour. And, at this level, the kind of niggle that might just have you shrugging your shoulders and getting that Porsche 911 after all.