Visitors to the Los Angeles Auto Show this week saw the new BMW M4 GTS in person. Eventually, if we’re lucky, we’ll see one at the track, since for the first time, BMW will make a limited number of the cars available for sale in the U.S. market.
Until then, we will have to settle for videos of the M4 GTS in action, one of which is available below.
But before you watch that, why not take a fond look in the rearview mirror at the M4 GTS’ predecessor, the E92 M3 GTS. You know, the one we didn’t get on this side of the Atlantic.
The E92 M3 GTS was officially revealed exactly six years ago this month. It was the last of the normally aspirated M3s, with a 4.4-liter V8 engine pushing out 444 horsepower. It weighed 300 pounds less than a standard M3. The car could do zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds, and zero to 100 mph in 8.5 seconds. A total of 135 M3 GTS were built, with deliveries in Germany starting in May 2010, followed by sales to other countries, but not the U.S. At the time, the car sold for about €115,000, which is $123,000 in today’s dollars.
Here it is in action:
Now we have the replacement for the M3 GTS. By “we,” we mean the U.S. market, and by replacement, we mean the F82 2016 BMW M4 GTS. It has more power: 493 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque from the M TwinPower Turbo three-liter, six-cylinder engine with water injection, and more performance: zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The 2016 M4 GTS lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7 minutes 28 seconds, which puts it in the same performance level as the Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari 458 Italia, and McLaren MP4-12C, although those cars did their 7:28 laps before the track imposed speed limits on the longest straights.
BMW will only make 700 of the special-edition M4 GTS for the whole world, but the U.S. will get 300 of those. The fortunate 300 early adopters will pay at least $134,200—the base price that includes destination and handling—with the first deliveries starting in the spring of 2016.
Here is the new 2016 M4 GTS launch video to see how the new kid compares to its elder predecessor E92 M3 GTS:
None of us in the U.S. can have the M3 GTS, and only 300 well-heeled Americans will get the new M4 GTS, so the rest of us will have to make do with these videos—and the hope of one day spotting an F82 M4 GTS in the wild—on road or track.—Scott Blazey
[Photos and videos courtesy of BMW.]
