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Thanks to Slate and Ford, there’s plenty of talk about compact pickup trucks. But if I were put in charge of the auto industry, I’d take things one step further and demand the return of the ute. Apparently I’m not alone, because people love to add pickup beds to cars that never originally had them. If you’re going to go that route, a 2022 BMW M4 Competition xDrive seems like a good choice of base car. After all, it’s got four driven wheels, just like a proper truck.
Somebody actually went and did this, and now you can benefit from their investment by buying the completed M4 pickup on Bring a Trailer. According to the listing, the conversion was done by DinMann in Los Angeles and involved cutting the stock carbon fiber roof in addition to fabricating the bed and a rear bulkhead for the cab. Billed as the M4Maloo as a play on the Holden Maloo ute, the pickup was displayed at SEMA wearing a metallic blue wrap, but that’s since been removed to reveal the factory Brooklyn Gray Metallic paint.
Bring a Traile
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
There are plenty of other modifications as well, including a carbon fiber grille, front lip, rear diffuser, side skirts, and fenders with a second pair of vents atop the wheel arches. The pickup sits on lowering springs with M Performance forged alloy wheels—19s in front and 20s in back. The twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline-six has aftermarket turbos, as well as an aftermarket intake manifold and exhaust. The listing doesn’t specify power gains over the stock 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, but I imagine they’re pretty healthy. An eight-speed automatic transmission was mandatory with the Competition xDrive in this debut model year, along with a limited-slip rear diff.
The interior is mostly stock aside from a carbon fiber steering wheel, but the car was originally specced with vibrant Fiona Red seats and door-panel trim that go nicely with the Brooklyn Gray exterior. Factory features like a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, head-up display, Harman Kardon audio system, and gesture control (not that you’ll want to use it) are retained.
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Remarkably, the listing claims that the pickup conversion also doesn’t interfere with the factory Park Distance Control parking sensors, surround-view camera system, or adaptive cruise control. Sure enough, the dots for the rear parking sensors are visible in their usual spots around the rear bumper. But it must’ve taken some work to maintain rearview camera functionality on a car that wasn’t designed to have a tailgate.
It’s also a bit surprising that BMW itself didn’t think of this. The automaker has a history of pickup conversions going back to the 1960s, and even made an E92 M3 pickup back when that generation of M3 was new. The one-off M3 Touring GT3 race car shows the engineers haven’t lost their sense of humor, though.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
