BMW 4 Series
The 4 Series coupé sure turns heads, but what’s it like to live with? We’re running one to find out
We’re finding out what it’s like to live with BMW’S eye-catching coupé
IT’S SAFE TO say that reactions were mixed when this latest BMW 4 Series was first unveiled. Indeed, if you were to turn to the bastion of calm and reason that is the world of online internet forums, you find comments ranging from “I wasn’t sure about the huge front grille at first, but it’s really growing on me” to “the rear bumper makes it look like it’s been in an accident”.
However, whether you love or hate the design of this latest 4 Series, one thing is certain: the car impressed us when we first tested it. In fact, it did enough to earn our 2021 Coupé of the Year title.
What is the 4 Series like to live with, though? Well, that’s the question I’ll be answering over the next few months, because a 420d model with Arctic Blue metallic paintwork is currently sitting on my driveway, gathering both admiring and disapproving glances from my neighbours.
Yes, while we gave the petrol-engined 420i model our award, the one I’ve gone for is powered by the demon drink: that dastardly devilish diesel. And that’s because, despite the rhetoric, diesel power still makes sense for a good number of drivers, especially those, like me, who cover a lot of motorway miles.
I’ve stuck with our recommended M Sport trim level, though; this gives me 18in alloy wheels, heated leather seats, cruise control and tri-zone climate control.
To that little list I’ve added BMW’S Technology Plus Pack, with its parking assistant, head-up display and upgraded Harmon Kardon stereo, as well as the Comfort Plus Pack for electric seat adjustment and special glass that apparently protects me from the sun’s harmful rays. All this added around £5000 to the 4 Series’ total price.
Fortunately, early impressions have been positive. The driving position is just as welcoming and comfortable as I remember from the 3 Series saloon I ran in 2019, while everything you can touch from behind the wheel feels solid and built to last.
The technology works seamlessly, too. I love the way, for example, that my phone automatically connects to Apple Carplay wirelessly when I slot it into the charging bay on the dashboard, and how the front seats slide forward electrically when I want to put my bag on the back seats.
The 2.0-litre diesel engine in my car produces 188bhp – slightly more than the 2.0-litre petrol motor in the 420i – and plenty of low-end grunt. Certainly, overtaking the Amazon Prime delivery vans that litter my local area has never been so easy.
That punchy performance is teamed with agile handling and sweet steering that seems to egg me on to go faster, so every journey
I’ve undertaken in the 4 Series so far has ended with a smile.
I’m not sure my passengers will have reason to smile, though, if they end up sitting in the back seats. While most adults should be fine for short journeys, those who shop in the plus-size section will wish they had more wiggle room on longer drives. It’s just as well, then, that most of the time I’m unlikely to have more than one other person on board. The boot is far smaller than I’m used to, too, but these practical limitations are sacrifices that I’m willing to make in return for the svelte looks that a coupé offers.
And as for those internet forum-dwellers, I’m with those who like the huge front grille; I think it gives the car a sense of occasion, and if ever a car can get away with having an air of drama and theatre about it, surely it’s a coupé?
Will the sacrifices continue to feel like they’re worth making, though, or will I reach the end of my time with the 4 Series yearning for something more sensible? Watch this space.