Wednesday 20 May 2015

They Totally GTS Us: BMW M4 GTS Is a Go for America

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2015 BMW M4 MotoGP Safety/Pace Car

By way of a purported BMW dealer employee in Las Vegas posting on Bimmerpost, the M4 GTS has magically appeared in the company’s U.S. ordering system. That means—although unconfirmed from BMW USA—that Pebble Beach-goers who witness the M4 GTS premiere this August will be able to put one in their garage sometime next year.

Unlike the 2011 M3 GTS, a roll-caged, orange flamethrower of which fewer than 150 were hand-built, the M4 GTS is coming to America. It pretty much has to, what with the arrival of cars like the Porsche Cayman GT4, an upcoming Jaguar F-type SVR, and a Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe  that will almost certainly spawn a Black Series edition. Even the Shelby GT350R is a possible competitor. Bimmerpost, posting a screenshot, claims the earliest build date for a new U.S.-spec GTS is April 2016, which suggests customer delivery sometime that summer. BMW has hinted at importing such a mighty M to the U.S. since at least February 2013, so we know there’s real corporate motivation rather than just a dealer hoping to churn demand.

A U.S. road car wouldn’t be sold with five-point harnesses and a roll cage, so we expect BMW to serve our GTS medium-rare rather than bloody raw. We would expect a water-injection system to cool the intake charge, a high-flying wing like on the M4 MotoGP pace car [pictured], and quicker, meatier everything, especially the electric power steering that still irks us in our long-term M3.



When we asked last November how the M division would improve steering feel, product head Carsten Pries told us the current rack met all customer requirements. With an M4 GTS on its way, we’ll call his bluff and hope M nails the GTS like it did four years ago, with polycarbonate windows and no audio system–generated brrrm-brrrm noises.


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