Our Rating:
Performance, Ride & Handling 4 Comfort & Interior 4 Quality & Design 4 Value & Features 3.5
The BMW 4 Series Coupe introduces new numeric nomenclature to the Munich brand. Our first, overseas drive, across sunkist Portuguese back roads and the famed Estoril race circuit, reveals whether the new mid-sized coupe is merely a two-door version of the best-selling 3 Series, or brings something new and different to the Ultimate Driving Machine stable.
Its sleek design, which balances muscularity and elegance nicely, certainly suggests the latter. At 4638mm, the BMW 4 Series Coupe is 26mm longer and 43mm wider yet 16mm lower than the old 3 Coupe, with a significant 50mm stretch in wheelbase and front (45mm) and rear (80mm) tracks. And unlike its predecessors, the fourth-generation coupe’s body taper is such that the widest point of the body is across the rear wheel arches. It has a more purposeful presence than the 3 Series, particularly nose-on when bearing down on you in your rear-vision mirror.
The dedicated four-seater (there’s no rear middle seatbelt) certainly feels roomier inside, which is particularly noticeable from the second row – even taller adults can sit comfortably without brushing their heads, knees or feet on headlining or seats. The lower seating adds both a sense of airiness and an extra ambience of sportiness, too. There’s also a handy 40/20/40 split-fold arrangement for access to the claimed 445-litre boot.
Styling-wise, staple Sport, Luxury and Modern Line appearance and equipment combinations are offered, though, unlike the exterior design, there’s little to differentiate the ‘4’ cabin from a ‘3’. Our Sport Line-equipped 435i test car came with a particularly bold black and red combination.
Further, there’s also an optional M Sport package that adds dedicated exterior body styling, Alcantara sports seats and other M-themed interior accoutrements, M Sport suspension/brakes/wheels and the choice of special Estoril Blue paintwork. And there will be a host of M Performance hop-ups available for customers wishing to build a personalised M4-alike.
Despite the bigger-is-better mantra, the 4 Series actually weighs 25-40kg less than the outgoing coupe, depending on the variant. Our 435i, fitted with standard-for-Oz eight-speed automatic (a six-speed manual will be offered on special order), tips the scales at 1525kg.
Extensive use of aluminium in what’s essentially a modified 3 Series suspension contributes greatly to the savings. Weight distribution is a ‘perfect’ 50:50 front-rear, while the new car sits 10mm lower and has a 19mm-lower roll centre than its forebear.
Add the adaptive dampers fitted to our test car (which has proven to remove the ‘float’ issues that plague the standard 3 Series) and you’ve got the ingredients for a champion handler. Or, at least, what should translate into a more rewarding driving experience and heightened dynamics.
Even before we stretch the coupe’s legs along twisty back roads, two things become clear. And it’s mixed blessings.
On the positive side, the ride compliance, even on optional 19s fitted with low-profile run-flat tyres, is exceptionally well polished, particularly in Comfort drive mode, the softest setting.
A negative, however, is the optional electric-assisted Variable Sport steering, which lacks a degree of clarity and genuine connection that BMWs have traditionally been renowned for.
More impressive and satisfying is the marriage between the evergreen 3.0-litre turbo six and the high-spec, paddle-shift-type eight-speed automatic as used in the current 3 Series. The engine is polite, quiet and effortless at a cruise, rorty and characterful under full-noise acceleration, its trusty eight-speed companion silken in changes and eminently intuitive to driver’s demands in all four (Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport and Sport+) modes.
The latter mode allows the engine to nudge a lofty 7200rpm, well beyond the 5800rpm mark where all 225kW arrive. The 400Nm torque is available in a broad 1200rpm-5000rpm. Powertrain flexibility is such that five of the auto’s ratios – third through to eight – can be accessed at 100km/h. Getting to such a speed from a standstill, BMW claims, requires a formidable 5.1 seconds in the automatic variants, while returning a best-case combined fuel consumption figure of 7.2 litres per 100km. The six-speed manual version is 0.3sec slower to the same speed and, with its 7.9L/100km claim, thirstier too.
A blast across the countryside quickly reveals this coupe’s truer colours are a stronger shade of elegant grand touring with a wash of sport intent rather than anything that truly M-car-like. Indeed, the chassis becomes tauter, sits flatter and the road holding feels more focused as you progress from Comfort through Sport+ modes. But this is a dynamic package that rewards the guided and refuses to be manhandled.
Around the fast and undulating Estoril circuit, Sport+ mode – which sets the engine, transmission, suspension and steering into their most aggressive settings and loosens the stability control reins – allows truly heady pace. It’s certainly quick and eminently capable down straights and through curves, but falls short of being anything like a weekend track warrior. Those standard-fitment four-piston front brakes, while offering nice modulation and undying stopping power on road, also display a long pedal after a handful of spirited laps.
For those chasing driving purity, then, you’ll have to wait a while for the forthcoming M4 version.
BMW Australia says it’s endeavouring to keep pricing as close to the outgoing (E92) 3 Series coupe range as possible, targeting a modest premium which will, in part, be offset by offering the superb eight-speed auto as standard when the initial three-variant range launches in Australia in mid October.
In addition to the tested 435i, the two other grades to be offered include a 135kW/380Nm turbo-diesel four-powered 420d, supplanting the old 320d, kicking off the range at a low-$70K mark. It comes with 7.3sec 0-100km/h and impressive 4.6L/100km claims (auto).
A mid-spec 428i, replacing the 325i Coupe, offers 180kW/350Nm, with 5.8sec 0-100km/h performance and a combined 6.3L/100km claim (auto), and will land in Australia at around the $85K mark.
BMW’s local arm also suggests that, given 3 Series GT and 5 Series offer its trio of Line packages at no extra cost, the “premium positioned” 4 Series may likely follow suit.
Though the xDrive-equipped 4 Series variants available in foreign markets (including New Zealand) can and will be built in right-hand drive, BMW has no plans to release the all-wheel-drive versions in Australia. Customer demand, or lack thereof, it says, doesn’t currently warrant their inclusion.
