This weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance will also be the site of the BMW M4 Concept’s debut. The M4 is expected to bow in production form in September at the Frankfurt Auto Show – this concept version should be very close to it.
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1978 Ford Mustang Stallion |
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1952 Mercury Custom Sedan |
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1990 Buick Reatta |
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1981 Toyota Corona Wagon |
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1994 Volvo 960 Sedan |
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1991 Dodge Shadow Convertible |
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1987 Volkswagen Fox |
“What advantages does this motorcar have over, say, an M3? Which I could also afford.”
In douche baggerydom, 4 is better than 3. Need I say more?
LOL ++
M3 is no more – the coupes are now 2 series (1 series coupe) and 4 series (3 series coupe). Why? I haven’t got the foggiest idea. Something about setting the coupes apart from the more plebeian sedans, I suppose.
I always thought that was done by removing the doors…
You just know that in about 5 years time, some wizard in the marketing department will deem a 4 series 4 door “coupe” a necessity into order to charge $10k more for the privilege of owning a more stylized 3 series. People will be writing checks left and right.
Pretty car. But Zeus Almighty that’s a hideous colour. It only looks acceptable because of the dramatic lighting. Put it in the bright open sunlight and let’s see how awesome it looks.
The BMW Accessory catalog lists the car cover at $349. It’s brown, folds up, and says “Whole Foods” on the side.
Remember when they introduced the E46 M3 in a similar (or maybe even the same) color? Remember how few you actually saw on the road in that color?
Good point. And a part of me silently retched every time I did.
I like the color.
This and Laguna Seca Blue.
They should call it “Baby Shit Yellow”.
Soy milk. And I had to help change ’em.
Thanks, Sis.
This is quite possibly the ugliest color I have ever seen on a concept car. What would you even call it? Smog Yellow? Maybe Greasy Lemon?
Greasy Lemon is my vote.
And it being a German car, the electrics are sure to…..
KIDDING, KIDDING!! :)
Citron Melange is more likely.
dtremit – – –
Yeah. After a late-night beer party, I think I had thrown up prettier colors than that….
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Can’t wait to hear this thing clear its throat.
So, the M4 engine will be a further derivative of the N54?
Ooooo, I like the color. It’ll make me stand out. My personality has never done the trick.
I never did like ostentatious performance cars. I’ve always been a bigger fan of sleepers…cars that look ordinary, but will pounce on you in no time flat. That’s why I was particularly impressed with the Pontiac G8 GT and GXP, for example. So if I were to get one of these new M4s, it certainly wouldn’t be in *this* color.
Color is odd, but the back looks nice. The side profile of the front with that big dip down still looks off.
What’s up with this? Today we have the new Cadillac Elmiraj on the same page as the new BMW M4, and the Cadillac is winning the design comparo?
Holy putrid puce, Batman, the world has gone topsy-turvy!
So now 2-door M3 = M4 and M3 = sedan only. Right?
Yes. 3-series will be sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks (err, “Gran Turismo”). 4-series is coupes, convertibles, and 4-door coupes (ie “Gran Coupe,” and honestly I have no problem with the whole 4-door coupe thing). Based on history the only M3 will be a sedan, while all 4-series variants will get a corresponding M4.
Great so 3 = 4 doors while 4 = 2 doors and/or “gran coupe.” It’s a more is less philosophy.
I’d hate to see how BM would interpret the Quattroporte. It’d end up as a sailing boat or something.
Meh, doesn’t bother me at all. With the 6 Gran Coupe at least, it’s not merely a question of looks. Compared to a 5 the roofline is more cut back, the seating position is lower, and there’s no B pillar. Regardless of number of doors, structurally it really is more closely related to the 6 coupe than the 5 sedan, and I’m pretty sure MB gives the CLS and Audi the A7 the same treatment. There’s way more to a car’s design than the simple “count the doors” approach that’s been used for a while now, and acknowledging that yes, a coupe can have 4 doors (or, for that matter, a sedan 2) actually opens up for some more interesting options.
I will never acknowledge that a coupe can have 4 doors.
I will however, acknowledge that one 4 door sedan can be more stylized than another 4 door sedan. Doesn’t make it a coupe though.
Thank you 7 Up. A coupe means two doors, so as a “Gran Coupe” should mean a large two door car. Just because something is styled differently doesn’t make it a different car. An S-10 which you bolt 5 lawn chairs in the back of is not a Suburban.
A super slick shaped sedan is not suddenly a four door coupe. Same as a very small sedan isn’t suddenly “Petite Coupe.”
But if “coupe” is simply synonymous with “2 doors,” then at that point you no longer need the term “coupe” at all. “Coupe” is just a fancy way of saying “2 doors,” and “sedan” “4 doors.”
Funny part is, in no other body style is there such rigor. A hatchback can have 3 doors or 5 doors, and a 5 door body can be either a hatchback or wagon (or sometimes hard to distinguish, like the outgoing Mazda 3 hatch).
Structurally, the “4-door coupes” have more in common with a traditional 2-door coupe than a 4-door sedan. If you look at the traditional differences between a coupe and a sedan from companies that had true examples of both (as opposed to just 2- and 4-door sedans), then the sedan had 4 doors, A, B, and C pillars, a notch-back profile, a higher seating position, and framed windows. The coupes had 2 doors, A and C pillars only, a cut-back profile, a lower seating position, and frameless windows. From that list of features, it’s easy to argue that the number of doors is the least important element on there in terms of the car’s design, not to mention it’s the only element that can be used as a modifier (in other words, there’s no traditional descriptive term in describing a car with frameless windows, but specifying the number of doors is common in many body styles), so why focus exclusively on it to define the body while ignoring many other, arguably more important design components? Why is a notchback with 2 framed doors and ABC pillars more of a coupe than a cutback with 4 frameless doors and A and C pillars only?
They’re getting warmer. But how much of this beautiful exterior will make to a production vehicle? Yes, the color is unfortunate. And oh, the IP is hideous.
I think its revealing that the article on the junkyard mail jeep drew 32 comments, and this new BMW M4 has enticed only 28 (before mine)!
What does that tell you?
1) Not a sports car?
2) A turbo 6-cylinder with 438 HP is not going to cut it?
3) Absence of manual transmission a colossal mistake?
4) “Regurgitation Gold” is probably not the best color choice…
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Shame about that cut line across the front of the hood. You know, the one BMW tries to hide in all their marketing materials. It just screams of cost-cutting. The E46 M3 at the 2000 NAIAS was perfect; this one looks like a clown car.