As a result of the M car's popularity locally, BMW decided to host an M Festival, which took place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit recently and, at the time of writing, was set to be the biggest BMW M Festival on the planet with over 10 000 people expected to pass through the gates on both the Saturday and Sunday.
New models galore
The M Festival wasn't just an opportunity for BMW to showcase its M and M Performance brands, it was also an opportunity to unveil and even launch a few new models to both the motoring media and general public.
There were many tasty performance machines, some from yesteryear, but there were really three main attractions for show goers to admire. These included the M4 CS, the all-new M5 and the soon-to-be-produced in South Africa X3, in M40i guise.
Driving M4 CS
The press were privileged to have many M cars at their disposal for a few hot laps during the media day. I decided to start off slowly with an M240i before working my way up to an X5 M, then the M3 Competition Pack followed by two very special M4 models, the DTM Champion Edition and the new CS.
The M4 CS is aimed at filling the gap, which I didn't know existed, between the likes of the M4 GTS, DTM Champion Edition and the 'regular' M4 Competition Pack.
It features slightly more power than Competition Pack with 338kW/600Nm, is 32kg lighter with the use of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) and special lightweight wheels. It also gets sticky Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tyres and is available in two new colours which include a new dark blue and a grey hue.
Driving the CS along with the other M4 models allowed me to see exactly how different each car felt and strangely, it revealed something unexpected from the CS. You see, the Competition Pack and DTM versions both felt quite planted (for high-power rear-wheel drive cars), whereas the CS moved quite a bit with the rear end wanting to rotate constantly. The car just felt a bit unsettled, although I'm no racing driver, so perhaps it was my driving style that caused this sensation.
New M5 and X3
The two other stars of the show weren't available for test drives, but we could sit and fiddle inside and out as much as we wanted to. The first car I gravitated towards was the new M5, obviously. It's the first M5 to feature all-wheel drive, which is sorely needed when you have 441kW/750Nm from a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8.
The good news is that there is a rear-wheel drive mode if you're interested in burnouts and drifting. The M5 that was on display is a 'First Edition' model finished in Frozen Red, only five of these are coming to South Africa.
We then moved over to the new X3, which is to replace the 3-series as the only BMW to be built in South Africa when production commences at the Rosslyn plant. The model on display was the first M Performance X3, the M40i.
It gets the same B58 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder motor as many other M Performance models, and in this guise, produces 265kW/500Nm, which is channelled through an eight-speed Steptronic gearbox and features an xDrive all-wheel drive system.
We'll be driving the X3 next month so keep an eye on your weekly Autodealer or check out our website for local pricing driving impressions and all of the latest automotive news.
M4 CS Price: R1 838 500
