The BMW M4 Competition follows the trend set by the rest of the range and receives its restyle

If yesterday BMW unveiled the restyle that the 4 Series has undergone, now the more performance-oriented version does the same: the M4 Competition, which, as you know, is also available as a Coupé and as a Cabrio. The changes, like those across the rest of the range, will be subtle, and you will need a very sharp eye to spot them, although we will break them down for you below.

To differentiate it as an BMW M model, the M4 Competition’s distinctive and massive grille features double horizontal slats which, together with the oversized wheel arches, the newly designed alloy wheels, and the side skirts, front and rear valance painted in gloss black, give it a unique identity. On either side of the grille sits the redesigned front light unit with standard LED technology, and as an option, buyers can choose adaptive LED headlights with anti-glare matrix high beams, as with the rest of the range, which also adds the rear LED laser lights inherited from the M4 CSL.

Another detail unique to the BMW M4 Competition is the BMW M logo, which has been redesigned to incorporate a base in high-gloss black finish. Other unique details are the optional M design graphics for both the bonnet and the boot, and if you choose the electric sunroof on the Coupé version, its metal section is finished in high-gloss black. For those who want to go further and enhance its sporty character, BMW offers the M Carbon package, which adds inserts for the front and rear diffuser, mirror caps and, on the Coupé, a rear area in CFRP. In addition, there is the M Race Track package, which includes ceramic brakes and M Carbon seats that reduce the weight of the set by 25 kg, along with M Performance Parts.

Inside the M4 Competition, the German brand has sought to further heighten the sense of sportiness, first with a new M steering wheel in leather as standard, whose M buttons and gearshift paddles help enhance that feeling. Its design is flattened at the bottom and uses a central ring and concisely modified spokes, without forgetting the traditional marker at twelve o’clock. If we prefer another type of steering wheel upholstery, for the first time it will be available in Alcantara, keeping the same design and functions.

As standard, the dashboard inserts, the instrument panel and the glovebox lid are now in Dark Graphite Matt, although optionally you can order them in anthracite rhomboid aluminium or in the new polished aluminium variant, as well as the instrument cluster upholstered in Sensatec with a refined surface structure. The M sport seats come as standard with electric adjustment and heating, while ventilation is optional, as with the M Carbon lightweight seats. In the Cabrio version, they can also be optionally specified with a neck-level air system that provides pleasant warmth when driving with the roof down.

On the technology side, the new BMW M4 Competition also incorporates every single innovation applied to the 4 Series, many of them centred on the curved display made up of a 12.3-inch screen for the instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch screen for the infotainment system, based on the BMW ID8.5 operating system, from which you can also activate, for each vehicle configuration, a wide range of driver’s cockpit functions, displays and driver assistance systems. Assistance and aids that, incidentally, also follow the line of the rest of the 4 Series range.

Mechanically, the BMW M4 Competition continues to use the excellent 3,000 cc, six-cylinder in-line M TwinPower Turbo engine, but with a modification to the control system, which raises its power by 20 CV to a spectacular 530 CV, together with 650 Nm of torque, sent primarily to the rear axle, although we will have the invaluable help of the intelligent M xDrive system in case things get complicated. In any case, we can select between 4WD modes for all-wheel drive, 4WD Sport, in which the greater proportion of torque goes to the rear axle, or, with DSC switched off, we can select 2WD mode, where drive is exclusively to the rear axle.

Obviously, we do not yet have prices for the new BMW M4 Competition, but, as with the rest of the range, we will not have to wait long to know them, since its arrival on the market will also take place from next March.