We’re in a very small minority among BMW enthusiasts in that we aren’t all doom and gloom about the upcoming BMW M4 and its grille design. Is it going to be polarizing? Sure. Is it going to be horrific, as some fans are already claiming it to be? Probably not. However, I will say this — the rest of it is going to look damn good, as evidenced by these new spy photos. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here)

In this new pics, we can see a camouflaged G82 BMW M4 doing some road testing and we get to see enough of it to know it’s going to look good. Its overall shape, silhouette and curves seem to look very good, potentially even good enough to make even the most ardent of detractors forget about its grille. However, there’s one aspect of the car from these photos I want to focus on — its interior.

We can see most of the interior, or at least the bits we want to see, in these new photos and it looks promising, though maybe not for the reason you were hoping for. Inside the M4, it looks about exactly the same as a G20 3 Series. Of course, the car you’re looking at in these spy photos is an early test mule so there’s a chance that it’s not even close to finalized yet. Having said that, there’s still something that inspires a lot of hope… it’s manual gearbox.

Rendering: @avarvarii

The tester in these photos is actually using a six-speed manual gearbox, something we didn’t think we’d see again for a long, long time. We already knew that the entry-level non-Competition-spec BMW M3 would be getting a manual gearbox but this is the first we’re seeing it in an M4. As for the way it looks, it’s really just your garden variety BMW gear lever but we’re not going to complain, so long as it exists.

Taking a look at the rest of these photos, the G82 BMW M4 looks really good. Being a non-Competition model, this specific tester uses a twin-turbocharged S58 3.0 liter inline-six engine with 473 hp and 444 lb-ft of torque. That engine is, obviously, paired with a six-speed manual and is rear-wheel drive. We know the car we’re looking at is rear-wheel drive, lacking the new M Division xDrive all-wheel drive system, due to its manual. All-wheel drive versions will be auto-only.

Grilles aside, we’re very excited about the next-gen M4 and can’t wait to see what it has in store. Check it out.

[Source: Motor.es] Top Image: @zer.0.wt