BMW M4 review

If the petrol bills aren't much of a concern, then the ability to cover a half-decent distance between fills should prove useful: with a 59-litre fuel tank, you're looking at an easy 300 miles between visits to the petrol station, and more if you want to play fuel-light bingo. Of course, there's a rather large caveat to that: Start using the M4's performance as the M division intended, and economy numbers tumble - our drives in the car suggest you'd be lucky to get 20mpg having fun on a twisty road. Insurance should undercut some rivals, thanks to falling well shy of the maximum group 50 rating, and while tax won't be cheap, depreciation won't be too vicious either (even if the M4 doesn't hold its value as well as a Porsche 911).

If anything is likely to cost a few bob, it's consumables, since the M4's weight and performance will have an impact on brakes and tyres. The M4 gets staggered 19 and 20-inch wheels as standard, with 275/35 and 285/30 rubber respectively - a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres in those sizes comes in at about ?300 a side at the front and ?350 a side at the rear.

Model MPGCO2Insurance groupM4 Competition28.2226g/km42M4 CS27.7232g/km47

Insurance groups

This probably won't come as an enormous surprise, but the M4 is not a cheap car to insure. You'll find the insurance groups towards the upper end of the 1-50 group scale.

Though also, not right at the top - an M4 Competition starts in group 42, and even the CS is shy of the maximum rating, at group 47. Given every single Porsche 911 sits in group 50, that's not bad going. Still, expect hefty insurance bills if your driving history isn't spotless or if you're relatively young.

Tax

First-year VED[1] will probably sting a bit.

CO2 emissions of 226g/km for the Competition and 232g/km for the CS land both M4s in the second-from-highest band, for a ?4,680 bill in year one. It drops quite a bit from year two onwards, though as both also cost well over ?40,000, you have to pay not just the standard ?190 per year, but an extra ?425 for the first five years too, meaning your bill in years two to six of registration will come to ?615 a year (pending no changes in future government budget announcements). You probably won't want to run the M4 as a company car[2] - it's in the maximum 37% band for 2025/2026, so tax will cost you thousands a year.

Advertisement - Article continues below

References

1. ^ VED (www.autoexpress.co.uk)
2. ^ company car (www.autoexpress.co.uk)