MG ZS vs BMW M Models

What's the difference?

The MG ZS stands as a firm favourite with Aussie small SUV buyers, in a close-fought arm wrestle with the Hyundai Kona and Mitsubishi ASX for supremacy in a cut-throat competitive part of the new-car market.

Launched here in late 2017, and updated in 2020, MG subsequently added the ZS EV before launching this new-gen version in late 2024. It has initially been offered in hybrid and naturally aspirated petrol versions to maintain its position at the pointy end of the sales race. However, there’s nothing like a turbo model to add some extra spice to your compact SUV line-up. 

And that’s what we have here, the ZS Essence Turbo, a punchy, keenly-priced addition to MG’s local range. Stay with us to see if it has enough boost pressure to muscle its way onto your new-car short list.

To say the BMW M4 CS is a hot ticket in Australia is something of an understatement.

Consider this. There is an even more expensive one, the M4 CS Edition VR46 – at a cool $346,900 – and it sold out in less than an hour. Now, granted, Australia only got four examples, but still, demand was running hot.

That car makes this one, the regular M4 CS, seem like an absolute steal. It's only $254,900 (yes, the word 'only' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence), and it shares the same upgrades, and makes the same monstrous power, as the VR46 – for Valentino Rossi’s 46th birthday – only it does it for around $100K less.

See? A bargain. At least, that's how I'd be justifying it to myself if I had a quarter of a million burning a hole in my pocket.

So, this or a Porsche 911? Read on.