BMW 4 SERIES COUPE REVIEW

List price from£29,425 Lease price from£271 The verdict7

The sleek BMW 4-series is a grown-up coupé that trades some of its sportiness for space and comfort

If you’re thinking the BMW 4-series looks rather like the 3-series saloon from certain angles, you’re right. It does. That’s because the two cars are closely related; in fact, the 4-series’ predecessor was known as the 3-series Coupé.

So the 4-series shares many of the 3-series’ good points, such as its efficient engines and classy interior, but with a healthy injection of style. It should be ideal, then, for people who fancy a coupé, but need a pair of reasonably practical rear seats for occasional use. 

Space

Luxurious for two and acceptable for four

There’s lots of space up front, and while the 4-series is a little confined in the rear, it’s good by coupé standards, with enough room for two adults.

Also, while the boot isn't quite as big as the 3-series saloon's, there’s about as much space as you’ll find in similar large coupés, which means there’s enough for a large suitcase and several smaller bags.

For an extra charge, you can specify rear seats that fold pretty much flat – an option not available on most of the 4-series’ rivals. And up front, storage includes a lidded box between the front seats, a couple of deep cupholders, and door bins with bottle holders.

Comfort

Comfortable enough, if you choose the right model

Whether the BMW 4-series is a comfortable car depends very much on the model you choose. The more expensive M Sport versions have large wheels with shallow, low-profile tyres, and not only do these make the 4-series jolt and jitter over bumps in the road, but they create an unpleasant amount of road noise.

However, if you pick a cheaper SE or Sport model, you get smaller wheels with deeper tyres that go a long way toward curing those ills.

Whichever model you choose, you’ll enjoy comfortable, supportive seats and a driving position that’s very adaptable. 

Dashboard layout

Well-ordered dash looks and feels classy

The dashboard is shared with the 3-series and is none the worse for that. The usual cleanly presented BMW instruments (and an excellent optional head-up display that projects your speed on to the windscreen) complement a logical control layout and classy materials.

Also, while the onscreen menus that you use to operate the stereo, satnav and vehicle settings can be daunting at first, they become easy to use with familiarity.

Easy to drive

Decent visibility; auto gearbox is better than manual

Visibility is good by today’s (poor) standards, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble parking - particularly if you go for a car with reversing sensors.

The manual gearbox is rather stiff, though, so it’s worth upgrading to the super-slick automatic if you can afford to.

Fun to drive

Enjoyable enough, but not perfect

For most people, the BMW 4-series will be an entertaining enough car to drive. The steering is quick to respond, and the car sits flat and feels taut as you turn into a corner. And if you’ve the space and the inclination, you can use more power to get the rear end to step out, even in the four-wheel-drive version.

You’ll have to turn the traction control off first, though, which you can do – or there’s the option of a best-of-both-worlds setting which allows some slip before coming to the rescue.

However, the 4-series isn’t perfect. The first problem is the steering, which feels a bit numb, so you feel less involved in the experience than you’d like.

This becomes more of an issue as you push the 4-series closer to the limit, because it can be a little skittish. Which would be fine – exciting, even – if the steering gave you the amount of feedback you need to exploit this trait. But because it doesn’t, the 4-series instead feels flighty, and a little unpredictable on the limit.

Reliability

BMW’s record is good rather than great

The 4-series is too new to have been included in the JD Power customer satisfaction survey. However, BMW has a decent record.

BMW also matches Mercedes in providing a warranty that lasts for three years, no matter how many miles you do. Audi, on the other hand, stops its cover after three years or 60,000 miles – whichever comes first.

Fuel economy

Good enough, but not class-leading

Most BMW engines are very efficient these days, so across the range the 4-series tends to be very economical.

The most parsimonious 420d, for example, can achieve 61.4mpg, according to BMW’s claimed figures.

That said, comparing each version like-for-like with its rivals reveals that the 4-series’ fuel consumption tends to lag fractionally behind. The difference is small, but it’s there.

What’s more, there isn’t a rival in the 4-series range to Audi’s super-economical A5 Ultra, which might be a more cost-effective option for buyers who cover lots of miles. 

Affordability

Healthy used values improve long-term affordability

The BMW 4-series costs broadly the same money model-for-model as its Audi and Mercedes competitors, although it pays to compare the discounts available carefully.

That the 4-series sells in smaller numbers than the 3-series should help its resale values somewhat. And while fuel economy lags slightly behind its Audi and Mercedes competitors, servicing costs are competitive and not too onerous.

If you’re a company car driver, you’ll probably find the 4-series fractionally costlier to tax than its rivals, because its emissions tend to be a little higher. 

Safety

The essentials are there, but features like blind-spot monitoring cost extra

The 4-series hasn’t been crash tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP, but the 3-series saloon on which it’s based achieved the maximum five-star rating, and every version comes with six airbags and electronic stability aids.

There are additional driver aids on the options list, including a system that warns you if a vehicle enters your blind spot, and another that automatically applies the brakes if it looks like you’re going to run into the vehicle in front in stop-start traffic.

Standard spec

Every version is pretty well equipped

Apart from a choice of no less than eight engines, manual or automatic gearboxes and two or four-wheel drive, the 4-series buyer also gets to choose between SE, Luxury, Modern, Sport and M Sport trims. These packages are as much about aesthetic details as convenience equipment, their flavours ranging between restrained elegance and outright sportiness.

Standard equipment on all 4-series models includes climate control, a Bluetooth hands-free phone connection, leather upholstery, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, electrically adjustable front seats and xenon headlights. To this it's advisable to add satnav - standard on the pricier Luxury and M Sport versions.

Our favourite version	428i Sport, list price £34,320
Options you should add	Automatic gearbox (£1,550), BMW Professional navigation (£900), head-up display (£825), split-folding rear seat (£170)

Source : telegraph[dot]co[dot]uk