It’s a muggy, damp afternoon in Cochin and the sky is sweating bullets. Black moisture-laden clouds hang low, there’s a constant drizzle and the tarmac is a slimy mix of oil and water. Not the best conditions to unleash a 450bhp-plus rear-wheel-drive M car with only decade-old technology. Still, one afternoon’s all we have to play with, so there’s nothing to do but go for it.
First impressions aren’t great. I yank the door open and am confronted by a weathered and partially sun-bleached cabin. A slightly musty odour emanates, and then I see the odo – it reads 70,000-plus kilometres. This 2004 car is no spring chicken.
