The new BMW M4 G82 has proved to be a superior machine in everything compared to its predecessor — something we proved in our test at the M4 Competition —, highlighting its strong performance. It even seems to have more horses than those it advertises… Is it really so?
In the US, IND Distribution wasted no time taking a new M4 — the regular 480 hp, 550 Nm version — to the power bank, to see how “healthy” the horses in its six-cylinder in-line (S58) and … voilà, it didn't disappoint.
According to the data collected by IND Distribution, they measured in their unmodified, non-running and new BMW M4 about 471 hp (464.92 hp) and 553 Nm… at the wheels! When counting the transmission losses — IND Distribution considered a dissipated power of 15% — this translates into 554 hp (547 hp) and 650 Nm at the crankshaft, 74 hp and 100 Nm more than the official values.
some caveats
As usual on these occasions, it is advisable to look at these results with some caution, as power bank tests are not usually an exact science. All measuring equipment has a margin of error and there are many variables that can influence the results (from climatic to geographic to equipment calibration).
The 15% transmission loss is also debatable, as in more recent cars there have been lower transmission losses, around 10%. Even so, considering that 10%, this BMW M4 would have to have 518 hp of crankshaft power, a value higher than the 510 hp of the BMW M4 Competition.
It's not the first time that we've reported BMW M models with a horse value much higher than advertised — like the example of the BMW M5 F90 that charged over 100 hp. And it's not just the BMW M; just recently we reported two power tests on the McLaren 765LT which also showed it to deliver far more than the official 765 hp.
The official advertised horsepower values are often, in effect, conservative (in addition to these high-performance turbo engines). It's the way to cover any discrepancies that may arise — no two engines are truly alike, despite today's tight tolerances — and to ensure that, at the very least, the official numbers are met.
However, these discrepancies are not usually as high as those we saw in this example of the new BMW M4. We have to wait for more tests to find out, with more certainty, if the results obtained by IND Distribution are confirmed or not.