M4 Competition

Among sports coupés, the M4 Competition is the one that trades on sheer presence: a wide tail, a long bonnet, and our example finished in São Paulo Yellow, cutting through the pink granite of Gallura like a highlighter pen. On the seafront at Baja Sardinia, or arriving in Porto Cervo, it refuses to go unnoticed even when parked.

Its natural stage is the road that climbs from Palau towards Capo d'Orso, the La Maddalena archipelago appearing and vanishing between the bends. Fast sections, asphalt in good condition, open sightlines: the kind of route where 510 hp finds room to breathe and the carriageway never closes in.

It begins with the driving position: low and snug, the transmission tunnel high at your side, a thick-rimmed wheel in your hands. The twin-turbo straight-six wakes with a bark from its four tailpipes and settles into an edgy idle that promises much. In Sport Plus the sound darkens, and the eight-speed automatic's shifts arrive with a dry, almost mechanical crack.

Next to a sedan, the M4 is stiffer and more direct: the steering opens a line with only a few degrees of lock, the rear end telegraphs its intentions early, and the brakes carry a bite that refuses to fade even after twenty downhill hairpins. It is the difference between driving and piloting, scaled for the road.

The Cabriolet transforms the car's character without diluting it: a fabric roof that folds in seconds, even while manoeuvring, the same 510 hp — plus the scent of myrtle and sea salt drifting into the cabin along the coast road. To decide whether it is for you, our selection of the perfect convertibles for Sardinia sets it against the other open-top cars in the fleet.

The coupé remains the purist's choice: stiffer, quieter on the motorway, with a final degree of precision when the pace rises. Either way, this is one of the most requested BMWs available to rent of the Sardinian summer — so it pays to enquire about availability well ahead of your travel dates.