The Driver - Fall 2014 | Page 15

T here’s just something about cars,” said my friend Neal as we approached my Austin Yellow Metallic BMW M4 tester, being scrutinized by two gentlemen. “You come out, and there’s two strangers, just ogling away.” Neal’s right; that is the thing about these cars, and as much as the very few who buy them care to admit, the attention from strangers that comes with piloting something as retinasearing as this is all part of the fun. Of course, that’s not to say that all these brash design flares work; I know as much as the other guy that a poorlymodded vehicle—whether it be a Corolla or Veyron—can spoil everything. Thing is, with this latest product from Bee Em’s M Division, you needn’t worry about that. 335i equipped with a M Performance package from time to time. As nice as the garden-variety 435i looks, there’s little mistaking that car for this one, this time around. This latest M4 is probably the most “M-ified” version of the standard car on which it’s based since ‘12s 1 M Coupé, or even the original E30 M3. The performa