The BMW M4 Competition and i5 M60 are not rivals by any stretch of the imagination. The former is a coupe with an inline-six gas engine while the latter is a big sedan with dual motors. The M4 is down on power and torque, but it makes up for that by being significantly lighter. Not having xDrive is a major handicap for the gas car, so it should lose the drag race, right?
Well, not quite. Edmunds organized one of its U-Drag Race battles by pitting the M4 against the i5 M60. The two were pretty close in both drag races, but as is usually the case with EVs, the zero-emissions 5 Series Sedan ran out of puff at higher speeds. The M4 was still gaining speed near the end of the battle. It won both races, showing ICE is still going strong.
Had Edmunds used an all-wheel-drive version, the gap between the two could’ve been bigger. It’s especially true if the M4 xDrive would’ve been a 2025MY car since those have an extra 20 horsepower over the pre-LCI model. Even so, this “old” G82 was an absolute rocket. It did 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, making it a tenth of a second quicker than the i5 M60 xDrive.
As for the quarter mile, the M4 took 11.5 seconds and had a trap speed of 124.4 mph (200 km/h). The electric luxobarge needed an extra 0.1s and was 0.4 mph slower. It was another win for the gas car in the cornering test after pulling 1.24 Gs instead of 1.08 Gs.
In the best out of the two runs, the M4 completed the U-Drag race in 34.5 seconds and crossed the finish line at 133.3 mph (214.5 km/h). The i5 M60 had to settle for second with 34.8 seconds and a much lower trap speed of 124.6 mph (200.5 km/h).
Let’s keep in mind that BMW now has an even quicker M4. The limited-run CS special edition slots above the Competition xDrive by adding power and slashing weight.
Source: Edmunds Cars / YouTube
