A Week With: 2025 BMW M4 Competition xDrive Convertible

The luxury market is filled with claims of excellence and superiority. Those proclamations seemingly get louder when talking about convertibles. And the best of that group are often subject to imitation or impertinence. In short, the heavy is the head that wears the crown. Such is the case with the 2025 BMW M4 Competition xDrive convertible.

Those who are considered the best of the best tend to go through life with targets on their backs. There’s always some young upstart trying to establish a rep by dethroning them.

However, when it comes to BMW’s midsized M coupes and convertibles, many have tried over the years — and some have even come close — but none have surpassed their carefully blended formula of speed, handling, smoothness and panache. Which is why the G83 BMW M4 Competition Cabriolet remains the benchmark in its class — just as the deities of “Autopia” have seemingly always intended.

Powertrains and Fuel Economy

For the 2025 model year, the G83 M4 Competition Cabriolet’s power is sourced from a turbocharged, 3.0-liter DOHC inline 6-cylinder. Referred to in BMW’s internal documentation as the S58D30, the powerplant is good for 523 horsepower at 6,250 rpm and 479 pound-feet of torque at 2,750. The engine is redlined at 7,200 rpm.

Mating the S58 to the BMW’s rear-biased all-wheel drive system is ZF’s M Steptronic with Drivelogic 8-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode.

Fuel economy is rated at 16 mpg in the city, 23 on the highway and 19 combined. Of course, that’s assuming you can resist the compulsion to give the S58 full throttle at every reasonable opportunity. Along with dopamine triggering acceleration, the engine delivers an exhaust note best compared to a celestial aria. This enthralling mixture compels one to afford the turbocharged six ever increasing quantities of 92 octane fuel.

And, of course, being the audiophile I am, the M4 Competition was repeatedly encouraged to sing loud and long under my conduction. As a result, my overall fuel economy came in at a rather meager 15 mpg.

Interior Accommodations

In a clear-cut example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the M4 Competition Cabriolet’s interior treatment hews closely to that of the base model 4 Series. With that said, there are of course enhancements befitting the M4’s range-topping status and capabilities.

The heated and ventilated front seats are more deeply bolstered than the standard models and feature backlit “M” logos just beneath the fixed headrests. BMW also offers a set of optional carbon fiber shelled seats.

The steering wheel is more oblong than round, with a flat bottom and a contrasting-colored stripe at the top to help the driver know where they are in the front wheels’ arc. The steering wheel can be had wrapped in leather or Alcantara. A pair of red buttons reside above its spokes giving the driver the ability to instantly access one of two different drive modes they can pre-program.

The wheel also hosted a pair of carbon fiber shift paddles for the transmission. Rounding out the detail changes were an M logo embellishing the steering wheel and carbon fiber trim adorning the dash, steering wheel and center console.

Comfort, Convenience & Tech

Supportive to the point of being almost therapeutic, the front seats featured bottom cushion extensions to accommodate my longer legs. Their bolstering was just deep enough to serve admirably, without impeding ingress and egress.

Leg and shoulder room were more than adequate, while headroom was uncompromised when the roof was deployed. We’re talking 2+2 coupe here, so the back seat wouldn’t quarter full-sized adults in comfort for a long amount of time — unless the front seat passengers were willing to give up quite a bit of legroom.

On the other hand, the BMW’s comfort was supreme when tasked with carrying two people. Moreover, the M4 Competition Cabriolet’s list of convenience and tech features read like a roster of the latest and greatest in automotive kit. The now de rigeur 27-inch widescreen monitor housing contained instrumentation and the infotainment interface.

BMW’s latest version of the rotary dial controlled iDrive operating system was fitted, control of which was supplemented by touch and voice interfaces. BMW’s gesture control feature was included, allowing phone calls to be accepted or rejected, audio volume to be raised and lowered, and other similar functions to be conducted with a wave of the hand.

CarPlay and Android compatibility were supported, while employees of the company named for Messrs. Harman and Kardon were responsible for the impressive quality of the audio system’. “My” M4 was also fitted with a wireless charging pad and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Driving Impressions

Were my editor so inclined, I could sum up the driving experience quite simply; it’s fast and handles like you wouldn’t believe. However, he tends to favor details, so I’ll provide them. In typical BMW fashion, the M4’s controls can be tailored in an almost infinite manner.

You can choose from among several degrees of steering, braking, throttle, and suspension response. You can also choose the loudness of the exhaust system. Even better, you can combine those parameters pretty much any way you’d like.

Remember those two red buttons on the steering wheel I mentioned earlier? You can use them to store and recall two different combinations of the aforementioned settings. I used one button to store a grouping in which I had everything turned up to the max and the other to optimize ride comfort, while preserving sharp throttle response and braking feel. There are also buttons for three pre-selected settings on the center console to accommodate those who don’t have the patience or curiosity to work their way through all of the possibilities.

If there’s one area in which I could find fault, it’s that even in the softest setting, the suspension system still delivers a fairly stiff ride quality. Granted, that’s a small price to pay for the astounding capabilities the M4 Competition exhibits, but it’s a thing just the same. And to be completely honest, all of those choices can make operating the BMW seem more complicated than it is. Still though, when it comes to acceleration, grip and stability, the M4 Competition genuinely astounding.

As for zero to 60 times, I saw an average of right at three seconds over several two-way runs. I achieved this by nailing the throttle from a standing start with all of the performance parameters cranked up to full.

The M4 also provides launch control, but I wouldn’t use it in a car I own, so I don’t use it in cars I test. It places too much stress on the drivetrain in my opinion, and I wouldn’t want to have to pay to fix it eventually, as I imagine is true for any responsible owner who doesn’t own a repair garage.

But, as they say, your results may vary.

In Summary

To sum it all up, the 2025 BMW M4 Competition xDrive is a remarkable automobile. You get supercar performance blended with a premium interior treatment exhibiting conscientious fit and finish.

And, while I know from firsthand experience fans of the cars adorned with the blue and white roundel have their own personal favorites, I can unequivocally say this is the best-performing mid-size M convertible BMW has offered to date.

I like it.

Pricing starts at $95,300. Price as tested for the example I drove was $106,045.