Wow, a great comparison! I haven't seen a comparison this entertaining in a long time!
Kudos to Fifth Gear for highlighting in a lighthearted way, the different ownership experiences both vehicles give, even though this was only a performance comparison. In the first part, all the problems that the BMW was giving just for launch control to work was very indicative of the general ownership experience. To do a lot of seemingly straightforward tasks on the BMW, requires highly complicated procedures. Also it was not surprising that the launch control was ineffective on a damp track for the BMW. BMWs are often built and tuned for narrow performance windows, whereas the Lexus cars tend to do well in a larger variety of conditions. This test was evidence of that. The BMW in damp conditions had very snappy and twitchy handling, while it made no difference to the RC F. It remained composed and stable.
Kudos for Fifth Gear for doing the test in less-than-perfect conditions, on a damp track. This reminds of a few years back when the LFA came out. There were a couple of media outlets that tested the LFA in cold or damp conditions. I recall one test on a very cold day where the LFA managed to set a lap record on a particular European track (can't remember which one). More importantly it outperformed, in the same cold conditions, a much higher-powered car, it might have been a GT-R, or something else. Then I remember another comparison on a wet track, where the LFA achieved a better track time than many higher-powered exotics it was compared against.
Now in this overall comparison, the only reason the M4 won was due to the double points awarded for the last part of the comparison. Objectively speaking, the RC F beat the M4 in the first part, they tied in the 2nd, and the M4 won the last part. So technically it should have been a tie. No points were given for engine sound, and also nothing was mentioned about all the time wasted trying to figure out the M4's launch control. They should have taken away some points for the M4 regarding the problematic launch control, and also the fact that they actually called a BMW engineer about it.
This just reinforces the results of other fairly objective tests and comparisons that involved the RC F and M4, and specifically the focus on ownership experience. Regardless of the small performance differences between the two, the big difference is that with the RC F you can just get in, and go, and drive it with confidence in a variety of conditions. The M4 though, you need to go through complicated steps for certain settings, and you also need to be very careful and aware of the weather conditions. The M4 seems to be very temperamental and touchy with the road conditions, in contrast to the RC F that remains very stable. If you look at the goal Lexus had with the RC F, they achieved it. The RC F gives the average driver plenty of confidence in lots of conditions. To feel confident in the M4, you need to be a pretty good driver in the first place.