2016 BMW F82 M4

GTS Coupe

VIN#: K579111

ENGINE 3.0-liter S55B30T0 twin-turbo inline six-cylinder

OUTPUT 493 hp @ 6250 rpm, 443 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm

TRANSMISSION 7-speed Getrag twin-clutch automatic

CURB WEIGHT  3538 lbs

TOP SPEED 189 mph

BUILD DATE  November 2016

COLOR  Black Sapphire Metallic

OWNER  Eric Elbaz

OWNED SINCE  2018

LOCATION  Orlando, Florida

The history of BMW’s M division is littered with limited-production models. Some, like the E46 CSL, are household names for the faithful. Others are more obscure and rare. But only one was sold new in America.

The 2016 M4 GTS marked the first time a rest-of-world special-edition M car was offered for street-legal sale in the United States. Of the 803 examples built, a mere 300 came to our shores. Our display car, #803, is the last GTS built.

The GTS is so much a car of details that a comprehensive list would fill a book. Choice notes: The track-oriented suspension was among the most aggressive of any series-production BMW; in addition to three-way remote-reservoir shocks and height-adjustable spring perches, it featured a host of new components engineered to aid grip, handling balance, and steering feedback.

An automatic water-injection system under the trunk floor fed three 145-psi water nozzles in the engine’s intake manifold above 5000 rpm, lowering intake-charge temperature at full load and facilitating the safe addition of extra turbo boost. The resulting bump in manifold pressure—21.6 psi to the regular M4’s 17.2—was relatively modest, but the GTS’s 49-hp edge over a Competition Package M4 was not.

The rear muffler was titanium, and the hood and rear wing were carbon-fiber. The seats and door panels were lighter. Carbon brakes were standard, and the door handles were replaced with motorsport-inspired fabric pull loops. The deleted rear seat is predictable in a modern U.S.-market track special; the GTS’s orange-painted roll structure and carbon bulkhead panel are not.

Above all, the GTS offered a degree of feedback and limit refinement absent from the standard F82 M4. The car seemed cut from the same cloth as Porsche’s contemporary 911 GT3, the kind of enthusiast-forward machine not shipped by the marque in years.

When the GTS was new, some griped about the price. #803 is owned by Florida’s Eric Elbaz, and he acknowledges the model was expensive when new. “But they did a lot of special things, and it was really for drivers. It’s as raw as you can get on the F80 platform, and I love that.”