The M4 is based on the 4 Series coupe, which in turn is based on the 3 Series saloon, so BMW M4 safety is likely to mirror that of the donor car. That means you could expect a five-star Euro NCAP crash rating, and similar to that car’s 95 percent adult protection and 86 percent safety assist score.

Of course there’s a plethora of airbags (front, side and head), a structure designed to remove forces away from occupants in the event of an accident and a sophisticated stability control system to prevent that happening in the first place.

This might be a sports coupe, with only two doors, but BMW M4 practicality is actually very impressive. First of all there’s no reason this car can’t carry four adults in relative comfort – only the pair in the back will have any justification in complaint, and even then only for a slight shortcoming in headroom. As long as the driver and front seat passenger aren’t too tall or have a penchant for reclining on the move, there’ll be enough room back there to get comfortable.

There’s room for their luggage as well, as behind the rear seats the boot will happily accept up to 445 litres (the M3 saloon will accept 480 litres) of load. In short enough for a family of suitcases for the airport run at the very least. There could be more storage available inside the car; the glove box isn’t particularly gargantuan and though the door pockets can accept up to 1-litre bottles they do slim down towards the rear. We do like the multi-function storage area in front of the gear lever though, which can either be converted into a shallow tray or pair of deep cup holders.