X4 gets M treatment
Brian Harper takes ‘family sports car’ for spin at Laguna Seca
In an unyielding quest to drive (no pun intended) buyers away from cars and into the already over-populated — and more profitable — crossover segment, automakers have created niches far beyond the intent of what was once a simple sport-utility vehicle.
BMW’s contribution to this migration started with the X5 and the automaker’s insistence that what it had created was a Sport Activity Vehicle (SAV), a clear indication the X5 was meant to be a lifestyle choice involving adventure and fun and not a purchase made out of honest hard-working necessity.
Not content to merely expand the SAV concept into a line of small, medium and large offerings (X1, X3 and X5), BMW then created the Sport Activity Coupe (SAC) with the X6, trading the cargo capacity that comes from a squared-off wagon body for a more rakish profile in the form of a fastback roofline. For the 2015 model year, the X6 gained a baby brother with the X4.
If regular adventuresome activity in an SAV or SAC is good, then performance-enhanced adventuresome activity has to be better, right? Which is why I am driving the new BMW X4 M40i.
The placement of the M after the X4’s alphanumeric designation signifies this four-door SAC as a member of the BMW M Performance family, though it’s not a full-on M model.
Leading the numerous detail changes separating the X4 M40i from the lesser members of the X4 family (the xDrive 28i and 35i) is a newly developed M Performance TwinPower Turbo 3.0-litre in-line six, a kissing cousin to the engine found in the equally new and scintillating M2 sport coupe. With 355 horsepower available between 5,800 and 6,000 rpm — 55 more ponies than in the X4 xDrive 35i — and a maximum torque output of 343 pound-feet, the M40i has serious scoot when the gas pedal is floored. BMW claims a best-in-class acceleration time of 4.9 seconds in the sprint to 100 km/h. (For comparison, the M2, which is about 350 kilograms lighter than the 1,921-kg X4 M40i, does it in 4.3 seconds.)
The better part of a sunny afternoon was spent exploring the back roads of Monterey County’s northern borders. While the 40i’s sports chassis — stronger springs and stabilizers, increased camber on the front axle and adaptive dampers specifically tuned to M Performance specs — would normally be lauded for its excellent driving dynamics, my partner and I agreed that, while the steering weight felt good and the grip was more than a match for the two-lane blacktop, it was like we were driving while sitting in a high chair. We both realized we had been conditioned by our morning activity of ripping around Monterey’s Laguna Seca race circuit in a M2.
The M40i comes with an eight-speed Steptronic sports unit. Its M Performance-specific tuning features decidedly sporty shifts and higher downshift spontaneity. The eightspeed manumatic has standard Launch Control.
And what’s a sports-car-masquerading-as-a-crossover without musical accompaniment, provided by a “back pressure-optimized double flow” exhaust system, with resonator tuning specific to M Performance? When the loud pedal is given a healthy prod, a deep, robust sound emanates from the twin pipes. That sound can be tailored, depending on the driving mode selected.
As would be expected, the xDrive all-wheel drive system has been recalibrated with more power routed to the rear wheels during normal operation. The Performance Control also provides more responsive steering with greater road feedback.
Compared with its larger, more powerful and clearly more testosterone-fuelled sibling — the bulked-up X6 M — the X4 M40i’s look is a model of tasteful restraint. The crossover features Ferric Gray metallic accents on its front face and side mirrors, as well as exclusive 20-inch M light-alloy double-spoke wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and the sport exhaust system. The M leather-wrapped steering wheel, M gearshift lever, sport seats, model-specific door sills and X4 M40i digital lettering on the instrument cluster embellish the interior.
German automakers have been successful in exploiting this niche of high-performance crossovers with models such as the Porsche Macan S, Audi SQ5 and, to a lesser extent, the Mercedes GLA 45 AMG 4Matic, each of which could be considered competition for the X4 M40i. The BMW has a number of things going for it: style, sportiness, excellent handling and comfort. What it lacks is the rear-seat headroom and cargo capacity of the X3.
The X4 M40i is extensively equipped, even without options. Dynamic damper control, variable sport steering, performance control, front and rear park-distance control, xenon adaptive headlights and LED fog lights are standard, as are sport seats, M leather-wrapped steering wheel and 20-inch light-alloy wheels.
It’s in dealerships now with a starting price of $59,700.