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The BMW M4 debuts a new name and a twin-turbo straight-6, but is it enough to tackle the still epic 6.2-litre V8 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Edition 507? Here’s a teaser video, followed by an excerpt of Car Advice’s review and comparison:
The BMW’s steering is very accurate and nicely immediate just off the centre position. It is just like the steering in an M235i, really (and that starts to form another comparison). Unanimously, testers preferred the lightest Comfort setting as the weightier Sport and Sport Plus add heft but no extra sharpness.
If ever you need steering feel in a car, it’s when you’re attempting to manage 550Nm-plus rear-drive coupes, and if ever there are two examples of the difference it makes, it’s with these two cars. The M4 can carve 45km/h-signposted corners brilliantly, but in super-tight 25km/h bends when you need to know when the front wheels are giving up purchase, the BMW electro-mechanical steering is mute.
Cars with old-school hydraulic power assisted steering that send true road feel through to your fingertips are diminishing, but the C63 AMG Edition 507 is one of the last bastions of the breed. Its steering is sublime, its single setting perfectly mid-weighted and unbelievably crisp. It dances in your hands over road surface and camber changes, and when the front tyres start to scrub, your fingertips will get lovely little vibrations to indicate so.
The C63 is possibly the most characterful, connected new car on the market, and while it remains a mighty beast, in its final incarnation it is far from untamed. Its tight front suspension means it no longer feels heavy and lurchy at the front, but rather sharp.
The Sport stability control is as finely calibrated as the BMW’s MDM, and it allows beautiful flicks of the tail without becoming unruly. The other area where each car is a match is brakes, both equally powerful, responsive and fade-free.
There’s no denying that you still have to push further into the C63’s reserves to keep up with an M4 that hammers out pace easily, however.
Conclusion:
The BMW M4 is technically the better car, and it did indeed whip its cloak off and near-triple its original freeway fuel consumption. Compared with its older rival, it is just as fast but more efficient, has a better transmission, far more premium cabin, extra technology, superior ride comfort, it is quicker through bends and, subjectively, looks tougher.
Yet in this company it is lacking the connection and character that separates the good from truly great sports cars.
Where the M4 feels like a faster, larger version of the M235i, the C63 AMG Edition 507 is like a cut-price mini-supercar.
Every tester walked away from it enamoured by just how special it makes you feel, from its bombastic engine to every control that talks to you, wherever you’re driving it and at whatever speed. It’s exactly enough to make you forgive its old cabin and hard ride.
Where the BMW M4 is admired, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Edition 507 is adored. As far as grand finales go, this one is both epic and dangerous – the precedent for the next turbo-V8 C63 has just been set for itself…
