Viewer don't adjust your set; this is the second time PH has discussed a used BMW M4 GTS in as many years - we know. However, the first occasion was a very different time, with the uber M4 still a six-figure prospect; now, with the world - and especially the automotive one - a very, very different place, the M4 GTS is for sale at a lot less than that. An awful lot less. Specifically, it's on offer at £72,990, with just 5,000 miles on the odometer. For a car that launched in excess of £120,000, and had speculators trying to attract offers of more than £150,000, that's fairly remarkable. Perhaps the new normal isn't so bad after all.
The M4 GTS was a tricky car to get a gauge on. Aimed at rivals like the 911 GT3, it was always going to have a tough job on its hands. Not only because the 991 generation found the GT3 in exceptional form, but also since the M4 (and, before that, the M3) has typically struggled to justify a more expensive price point. The cheapest 911 is £80k and is billed very much as a sports car; building from that is therefore more logical from both an engineering and marketing perspective. The cheapest 4 Series is about £30k, and its foundations are impossible to ignore when asking four times the price. However much water injection, ceramic brake and KW suspension you throw at it, there's still going to be some 4 Series remaining. And, for some, that's an insurmountable problem.
The mixed reception given to the GTS didn't help, either. On PH, we loved the intensity the GTS overhaul delivered to the M4, elevating it to a level of ability - especially on track - that we never imagined the F82 would be capable of. It was rewarding, exhilarating and, surprisingly for a BMW, able to lap continuously without tiring. Others who reviewed it (driving an entirely different car, it should be said) thought the M4 unworthy of the premium, not sharp enough to cut it with the track-focused opposition on offer from Porsche and AMG.
With the level of adjustability available in the M4 GTS set up - dampers for rebound plus high- and low-speed compression, as well as the aero - you'd have to hope that a setting that suits your personal preference could be found eventually. And, sure, a 1,500kg, 3.0-litre M4 might not have the delicacy of a 911 or the punch of a AMG GT R, but neither of those are homing in on £70,000, either...
Even seven years after launch, the 991 GT3 commands £90k for an example with three times the mileage of the BMW - often more, going from what's on offer in the classifieds. An AMG GT R with a three-figure mileage is £40,000 more than the M4; one that's a similar sort of age still tips over into six-figure territory. And while the BMW might not be quite the track-ready sports car those two are, it's mighty close - you don't get to a 7:28 around the Nordschleife - or about half a minute faster than standard - with just a remap and some sticky tyres.
There's rarity in the M4's favour, too, with just 30 of the 700-car GTS production run allocated to the UK market. To give that figure some context, there are currently 127 991 GT3s listed for sale in the PH classifieds. Though clearly the current climate and the perhaps indifferent reception to the GTS - plus mounting excitement for the new M3 and M4 - might have impacted the car's residuals right now, you would have to hope that the rarity and status would secure its value further down the line.
But there are no guarantees, are there? Once upon a time CSLs were £20k and E36 M3 GTs were pocket change, and the GTS could well fall with the more humdrum F80s and F82s. It shouldn't, of course, but it also wouldn't be the first car to undeservedly fall victim to severe depreciation. Our advice? Well, for what it's worth, this is an M4 GTS for about the same money as a Cayman GTS or M2 CS; go out and enjoy it as you would those, as one of the best road and track coupes of the past few years - one quite a lot more thrilling than those two, in fact. Just don't go telling everyone straightaway, it might push the values back up...
SPECIFICATION | BMW M4 GTS
Engine: 2,979cc, twin-turbo straight-six
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 500@6,250rpm
Torque (lb ft): 442@4,000-5,500rpm
MPG: 33
CO2: 199g/km
First registered: 2016
Recorded mileage: 4,550
Price new: £121,280
Yours for: £72,990
1 / 4