BMW has teamed up with New York fashion brand and retailer KITH to create a special M4 Competition, which will be limited to 150 examples worldwide. It follows the news a couple of months back that Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with Off-White owner and Louis Vuitton Creative Director Virgil Abloh to do things with a G-Wagon. No production car has resulted from that partnership as yet though.
However, the KITH partnership goes deeper than BMW simply plastering the name of a hip NY label to one of its cars (although it has done that, as you can see). The partnership was born partly because KITH founder Ronnie Fieg is a massive BMW fan. Last week he showed off his fully restored 1989 E30 BMW M3, which features an interior fabricated by KITH, including embossed leather.
Alongside that car in the video is an extensive collection of M Division BMWs, and it concludes to reveal a KITH M4 Competition, the allusion being that it’s a one-off. Apparently not though. You can buy one. Probable cost: £85,000+
No mechanical changes to the car, which was released only last month and is powered by a 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine with 503hbp and 650Nm, and will hit 62mph in 3.9 seconds. The cosmetic…we want to say upgrades but we’re aware you might disagree…are extensive, however.
Mainly it gets a massive amalgam of the M Division logo and the KITH one plastered onto the carbon fibre roof, although that’s actually optional – probably wisely. It’s all a bit much, right?
Standard features include the M4 Competition badge on the boot lid being replaced by the KITH logo, a logo that’s also on the seats and illuminated there. All the interior leather is replaced by KITH embossed leather, just like the stuff in Fieg’s E30, and you might have noticed that the bonnet badge is a little different. That’s because it’s a logo specific to the E30 period. The same badge is on the boot lid and the steering wheel.
“Merging logos is a hallmark of the many partnerships Kith has forged with other globally renowned companies. But this is the first time BMW has altered its badge for a collaboration partner”, Says a BMW press release. “The fusion logo created for the 150 units of the BMW M4 Competition x KITH adds an extra ring around the BMW roundel in the BMW M colours light blue, dark blue and red. Plus, there are details in bright lettering focusing on Kith and the collaboration.”
You can have it in three colours, all matte: Frozen Black, Frozen Dark Silver and Frozen Brilliant White, all chosen because they were the most popular E30 colours.
“Everything we work on at Kith has to come from an authentic place,” said Ronnie Fieg. “Some of my favourite memories from growing up are going to visit my grandfather and riding around in his BMWs in the 1980s. I remember he had an E21 320i and that his prized possession was an E30 M3. These moments in my life really shaped my passion for BMW, so working on this project with them has brought everything full circle.”
Keyword: BMW does limited edition ‘M4 Competition x KITH’ model