Tested: 2019 BMW M4 CS Is One for the Faithful (2024)

It was noted track rat and BMW M4 superfan Joni Mitchell who once opined, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." Hair-spray-aficionados Cinderella also mentioned the same thing in their ditty, "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)." Point is, we didn't realize how much we use armrests until recently, when we drove the 2019 BMW M4 CS pictured here.

BMW has pitched the CS version of the M4 as the lighter, more extreme M4—that is, more extreme than the current M4 Competition, though it is less so than was the 2016 M4 GTS—so the armrests had to go. We're well aware that it's decidedly not hard-core of us to notice that BMW has stripped the CS of comfy places to store our forearms. I mean, those arms should be wrestling the super-fat steering wheel at—and beyond—the limits at all times. But we drove the CS on the road, where most owners will drive them most of the time, and, well, you get the point.

To save weight, the CS's door panels are replaced by what appears to be packing material. BMW says it's made of "compacted natural fibers." Either way, it has stuck to it a small pad mounted at a steep angle. It's not an armrest; it is the suggestion of an armrest. It's a reminder of armrests past, rendered as a scale model.

Have you heard enough about armrests? Okay. Let's talk about the fabric strap, mounted to the door panel up near the A-pillar. It serves as the only way to close the door from the inside. The center console has been stripped of its storage box/armrest. Oops. Sorry, there's that word again. The roof and hood are molded from carbon fiber. And lest we sound flip about the car, it's worth noting that at 3594 pounds it is 35 pounds lighter than the last M4 Competition we had on our scales. Surely the lightweight M sports seats, trimmed in leather and microsuede, help in that endeavor. They have large slits in the backrests that allow children and childish adults in the rear seats to poke front-seat passengers in the flank.

And compared with the Competition, the CS gets a 10-hp boost to 454. Model-specific tuning for the electronically controlled limited-slip differential, the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the adaptive M suspension, and the steering are intended to improve the CS's dynamic performance. Over the road, the CS feels more intense than the already plenty tense M4 Competition. But apart from improved skidpad performance, 1.04 g versus 0.97 g, credited likely to slightly wider rear Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, there isn't a measurable change in performance. Both versions stop from 70 mph in an excellent 150 feet. And both complete the quarter-mile run in 12.0 seconds at 121 mph. The CS nips the Competition by a tenth of a second to 60 mph, 3.8 versus 3.7. BMW claims that the CS completes a lap of the 12.9-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:38, or 14 seconds less than a standard M4.

At its $104,095 base price, the 2019 M4 CS is significantly more expensive than a base M4 ($70,145) or an M4 Competition ($74,895). From a performance standpoint, the CS is pretty difficult to justify. But only 1000 will be coming to the United States over the 2019 and 2020 model years. So, BMW should be able to find that many M fanatics to ante up—M fanatics with tiny, tireless arms.