Driven: Is The 2023 BMW M4 Better With An Automatic?

BMW is one of the few luxury automakers that still offers a manual transmission on a handful of models, though that may not be the case much longer. The 2023 BMW M4 Coupe is one such car, though you're forced to buy the 'base' model if you wish to row your own gears. CarBuzz drove a manual-equipped M4 last year, and we came away thinking the car was a huge improvement over the outgoing F82 generation car.

But since we last drove the new G82 M4, BMW has made several new additions, including xDrive all-wheel-drive for the first time ever on an M4. To see if the AWD M4 is the one to get, and to sample the eight-speed automatic transmission), BMW sent us an M4 Competition xDrive Coupe to drive for a week. Here are our thoughts on the manual vs. automatic debate.

Competition Upgrades

Although you can pick between RWD and AWD, BMW only offers the M4 Competition with one transmission - an eight-speed automatic. Aside from the transmission, the main difference between the 'base' M4 Coupe and the Competition variants is an increase in power and torque to 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft, thanks to an increase in boost and a higher redline of 7,200 rpm. Everything else on the 3.0-liter twin-turbo S58 engine is mostly the same. The 0-60 mph time drops to 3.8 seconds in the Competition, though that could easily be chalked up to the automatic transmission as much as the power increase.

We were impressed by the M4's automatic transmission, which functions smoothly in traffic and transforms into a quick-shifting maniac when provoked. The outgoing dual-clutch transmission offered a slightly more motorsports feel, but the torque converter automatic is no slouch for spirited driving. Overall, the choice between the base M4 and the M4 Competition has less to do with the power increase and more to do with your transmission preferences.

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Author: JARED ROSENHOLTZ