Great review. Lots of reasons here why I chose the F...

 

Great review! Thanks for posting that.

I'm still considering the M4, but none of these reviews ever seem to mention BMW reliability, or lack thereof.

Nick C.

 

Last week I test drove the M4 with Competition Package right before jetting over to the Lexus dealership to test the RC F. The other car on our short list was the AMG C63 S. Gotta tell ya - we felt that the M4 was adequate when the sales guy that our socks would be blown off. Not so much. Coming out of a 600hp Grand Sport (me) and 510 hp SRT (my wife) we pushed the M4 hard. Turbo lag. Mind you once it spooled the acceleration was very good. Car felt tight and agile due to it's low weight compared to the RC F and AMG C63 S. The interior lagged behind the RC F and C63. Visibility wasn't as good for a smaller person (my wife is 5'0) and seats weren't as comfortable and proximity of controls weren't as close (again, small wife) as in the RC F. Performance stats are fine and well and I could care less that the RC F is slower around a circuit than the M4 - the "experience" wasn't as fulfilling. If wanting your performance car to SOUND like a performance car is important, than the M4 with it's twin turbo six will disappoint. Even with the performance exhaust on the competition package. After warmup we did some revs and looked at each other like "uh....no." On the road we put it in sport mode and the exhaust got louder but not necessarily richer. A bit too high pitched and tinny. Contrast that with firing up the RC F and hearing the low, unmistakable rumble of a naturally aspirated V8. Nothin' but love! After a much shorter ride than we took in the M4 we knew right away. The C63 S is a twin turbo V8 beast of a car but loaded out it was nearly $100K - some $20K more than we were looking at for a loaded out RC F. Plus, Lexus is the Consumer Reports Safety and Reliability darling while Mercedes ranking was down in the "holy crap!" category.

Decision: RC F with performance and premium packages.

 

Lol, I legit did the exact same thing you did on Saturday. Drove a Competition Package equipped M4 (fully loaded, $86K ). Felt that it was a great car, had solid dynamics, but I wasn't sold on the sound, and definitely didn't get a warm feeling from the dealership. They were friendly enough, but I felt a lot better after looking at an Ultrawhite RCF at my local Lexus dealer. Confirmed my decision to go with an RC F with the same packages you are looking for.

Nick C.

 

Have to put the Ms in full sport plus mode to get good sound and quick spool up. If drove in normal mode, you only experience about 70% of the car and my F80 has no lag, but I keep all 3 settings in spirt plus 100% of the time.

 

Nice review…Both cars do a lot things very well on the road. It just sad that Lexus continue to talk but never over take the king. Which is the M.. The M has a pedigree that the RC F can’t match. If you’re not going to out handle the M at least beat it in a straight line. I must say in certain colors the RCF does look very nice. Lastly I do like the fact that the RCF has a V8.

 

As was mentioned above you would need to drive the M3/4 in "sport +" setting to experience the car. Economy and sport settings make the car feels just like any other car. I am surprised to hear your review about the seats. I've driven the car from Southern California to Northern California (8 hours drive) and found it very comfortable. As for the engine sound you will never be able to duplicate the sound of an n/a v8 out of the current M3/4. But you can do something to improve the stock sound by installing an M Performance Exhaust. Makes a big difference.

 

The Yas Marina blue one I drove was equipped with the M Performance exhaust (A $4,000+ upgrade according to this dealer). It looked great, sounded pretty good too, but it's hard to beat an NA V8. My dad's E92 M3 sounds worlds better, I don't think anyone prefers the M4's exhaust note to the E92's.

I still think the E92's V8 is one of the best sounding V8's ever made.

Nick C.

 

Key word...reliability.

bimmers are good...under warranty only.

 

1000% accurate

My brother has a 2013 335i with 30K miles, and the 6-spd trans was completely replaced under warranty two weeks ago. Not what you'd hope for with a $40K+ car IMO.

Every RCF owner I've talked to says they have no regrets and haven't had a single issue since they've owned it.

Nick C.

 

I appreciate the realistic posters in this forum. Everyone says reliability is not a reason to pick the F over the M4 and that we're using it as an excuse but they don't understand we don't buy these cars for 5-30 seconds of enjoyment of stepping on the accelerator. I acknowledge the M4's performance advantage but I have also never seen an RC-F on the road except for mine and that alone is worth something on top of not having any issues yet.

 

Well said! It is a bit of a unicorn and also one of the buying factors for me. I'm not a BMW fanboy by any stretch but after reading all of the comparisons of the Big 5 in this class (Mercedes AMG C63, BMW M4, RC F, Cadillac ATS-V, and now the 2018 Audi RS5) I came away favoring them in this order: M4, AMG C63, RC F, RS5 (docked a place for projected MSRP), and ATS. I went into the test drive wanting the M4 to be all that the articles said it was. The sales guy took me out to the one with competition package and told me to prepare to have my mind blown by the performance. Bold statement to a guy who'd just sold a highly modified 600 hp Grand Sport Corvette. The M4 didn't survive the hype. It was adequate. The exhaust note underwhelmed. And as far as track performance it edged the rest in the class due to its weight, being some 400+ lbs lighter than the RC F and AMG. Got it. But IMHO it lacked the "character" or drama of the RC F. If flat-out performance were the end all, be all I'd still have my corvette. Many other factors.

 

RE: Reliability

12,000 miles without a single hiccup in the 2017 F80 ZCP. Had a few issues with the RCF in the first 15k miles and seems like 3 or 4 out of the first 5 to 10 threads on here are about various RCF issues. Candidly, the M series may have better reliability than the RCF.

 

Everyyone like who? BMW fanboys? Reliability is exactly the reason I picked the RCF over M4. What excuse are they referring to? It can't be cost, because both cars are similarly priced, with the BMW costing more for ceramic brakes, etc.