Is it wrong to want to step back in time, or am I just getting old and grumpy?

Karl wonders if it’s wrong to want to step back in time – or is it just that he’s getting old and grumpy?

The first grey hairs started when I was around 25. They were quickly plucked out, only to be followed by a few more here and there. Then, by age 30, they started to multiply quickly. Now, on the cusp of my 40th birthday, the ratio of brown to grey has flipped in favour of the silver variety. 

This alone should have told me I was getting old. But my young-at-heart brain kept telling me to deny it. Which I did.

A knee injury that wouldn’t heal for months afterward also should have alerted me to the fact that my body was breaking down. But that didn’t either. Instead, it was a week in a BMW M4 that really highlighted the fact that I have aged.

The rapid pace of technology means that cars are getting sleeker, faster and more efficient. This alone should be a cause for celebration, and in a way it is. But there’s still a part of me that laments what we have sacrificed to achieve these stratospheric heights of performance.

No car enthusiast can deny that being able to pilot one of these beautiful machines quickly is an exhilarating feeling. And a blast down a deserted B-road is certainly enjoyable. But it could be even more enjoyable.

The first time I fired up an E92 M3’s engine was in an underground car park. It was also a convertible, and when it turned over and kicked into life, there was a huge snarl and metallic zing that echoed off the roof and walls. It was one of those genuinely spine-tingling moments. And then as its gatling-gun exhaust rolled us out, we then floored it to hit its 8,300rpm peak. From that moment on, it became apparent that this was one of the greatest engines ever made.

Sure, there have been some amazing engineering achievements, but the way that V8 sounded and delivered its power, any future M3 would have to be something very special indeed.

The M4 which succeeded it doesn’t disappoint with its performance. And the efficiency thanks to its turbochargers is very impressive. But soul? Sorry BMW, it just hasn’t got it in the same way.

Likewise with the steering. Sure, it imitates a hydraulic system very well. But the extra weight added when you hit Sport or Sport Plus just doesn’t echo the true feedback of the E92 system. 

It was very nice having a manual car again, after months and months of automatics, and the shift feel is quite good, too. But because of the split-second delay of turbos responding, heel and toe downshifting just isn’t as easy as it was. There is an auto-blipping system, but let’s face it, that’s cheating – and you don’t feel as pleased when a machine does it as when you do it yourself and get it perfect.

On every technical level, the M4 is a masterpiece, and it’s still hilarious fun powersliding it around a corner. But with so much more torque, you don’t have to work as hard for it, and it just never connects on an emotional level. Is it wrong to want to step back in time, or am I just getting old and grumpy?

I’ve always loved what BMW does with its cars (2 Series Active Tourer excepted), and the M4 is very nice indeed, but the good old days have passed, I’m afraid.

Still, it could be worse – at least it’s not an Audi RS5…