BMW keeps testing its M3 and M4 sports cars. Both will ship with two drive versions (rear and full) and two transmission types (manual and automatic). However, not all combinations will be available.
Both the M3 and M4 will benefit from the same AWD system as the M5, meaning that they will feature a dedicated Drift Mode that will feed the entire torque to the rear axle. Technically, this AWD design supports manual gear switching, but BMW will only offer it with the eight-speed automatic.
As rumors predicted, fans of ‘pure’ BMWs will be able to opt for the RWD version of their favorite sedan or coupe, but it will come with the drive locked to the rear axle. Furthermore, the odds are there that both the M3 and M4 will suffer a performance penalty from the manual shift. Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M, said earlier that unleashing the full potential of the Bavaria-made engines was only possible in conjunction with a state-of the-art automatic transmission. He went on to emphasize that driving the stick with too much horsepower at the rear axle may lead to sad consequences unless proper care is taken to control that power at all times.
The full engine specs of the BMW M3 and M4 haven’t been disclosed yet, but industry pros expect both to ship with the 3.0-liter, six-cylinder BMW S58 engine rated at 480 hp (358 kW) in its regular implementation and 510 hp (380 kW) in the Competition variant. A range-topping CSL edition might also emerge sometime in the future.