BMW M is having a bit of a renaissance; I’ve never seen a period in which M cars have been this desirable or ubiquitous at the average track day. Sure, they’ve always been popular, but since the last-gen cars got affordable and the current cars got all-wheel drive, an M car with a few mods has seemingly become the default choice—even though, who the hell would track a 4,000-pound sport sedan?
This conundrum is exactly why I borrowed the more hardcore BMW M4 CS and mobbed up to Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California’s Central Valley. I can’t walk three feet at a track day without running into another modern M car, so it’s time to figure out why people love these things.
