Passion and poise

Road te st

/ bmw 4 series

bmw 4 series

e c n a m r o f r e e s i P o p d n a

/ Road te st

style f o t o ou g r e nev s g n i e th m o S

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BUSINESS CLASS • August 2013

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August 2013 • BUSINESS CLASS

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Road te st

/ bmw 4 series

bmw 4 series making the car 60 per cent stiffer than the

car to like. It looks great, goes well, handles

and convenience, standard equipment levels

old 3-series coupé. Handling is characterized

progressively and it’s comfortable. Whilst

will be high; xenon headlamps, park radar,

by safe, gentle understeer initially, turning to

it may not feel different enough to warrant

leather heated seats, climate control are

balanced neutrality as the car settles, but rarely

an all-new name, it’s a winner, with clean

standard. Options include adaptive dampers,

feels overtly rear wheel led like its predecessor.

and tidy new styling, serving up what looks

sport steering and seats, connected services,

But it’s rock solid and displays exceptional body

like a properly proportioned 6-series.

head-up display, and various driver aids.

control and balance. Alluring as the exhaust note

B

around the front wheels and exiting through the

demanding former Formula 1 Estoril racetrack

front wheel-arch-scallops. The Chris Bangle-

in Portugal, where the car was launched. The

seat, two-door coupes arches back

inspired side surfacing is further refined and

paddles behind the steering wheel are tactile,

to 1938 and the BMW 327 Sport-Coupé, so

the bullet-nose front end, with its sloping hood

well weighted and feel directly connected to the

the brand has a long heritage to draw upon.

bulge displays a more masculine design. The

gearbox’s nerve-centre. The 435i drives like a

Coupes are all about style, and the 4 Series

front of the car has a air intake enveloping right

sports coupe, with just enough compliance to

has it in abundance, with plusher materials

around to the front flared wheel arches, but it

enhance the feedback and sufficient mechanical

and frameless doors. More recently, BMW’s

echoes much of the 3-Series with its hexagonal

grip to give some of the Audi A5 Coupe and

coupe versions of its saloon cars shared the

LED headlights and ‘optical fibre’ that fuses

Mercedes-Benz E-class pause for thought.

same nomenclature as its saloon brethren, but

the lights to the characteristic kidney grille.

BMW intends to put clear space between the

Power for the 435i is courtesy of the world-

considering that it really is more than simply a

a greater sense of sporty conviction. Near the

locally, but the key characteristics of the 4

two-door version of the 3 Series. Arguably the

straight-ahead it has the same response as the

Series Coupe are its driving dynamics and

best looking BMW on sale today, this truly is

standard system (itself an electromechanical

aesthetics and there will not be a poor model

a case where it’s not just about differentiating

design with speed-sensitive assistance), but the

amongst them. Using a combination of driver

body styles. It’s about putting the better-driving

ratio then quickens the more you turn the wheel.

assistance systems and mobility services under

cars one notch higher on the showroom floor.

the BMW ConnectedDrive banner to increase

It’s a tour de force and BMW will sell as many

safety, comfort and infotainment usage ease

cars as they can lay their hands on. BC

With a heady 400 Nm served up at 1200rpm, it wrenches out of tight corners relentlessly,

3 Series sedan and the Coupé version. Despite

class TwinPower turbocharged in-line six-

always in the best out of the gearbox’s eight

the clear DNA ancestry, only the bonnet is

cylinder engine. It’s a delight, providing

speeds. The automatic gearbox has received

shared between the two cars. The 2014 4 Series

sonorous passion and Apollo-acceleration to

new software mapping to bring about a clear

therefore takes over from the most successful

match the looks. An intrinsic smoothness

improvement in the speed and quality of shifts

two-door coupe in the premium coupe market,

to its operation tends to beguile you into its

in Sport mode too. Scampering up to its 7,000

the 3-series coupe. BMW will be anxiously

slightly Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character.

red line as my right foot plunges towards the

watching public reaction and more importantly,

Around town as it well mannered, easy to

firewall, it hunts out apexes like a Truffle Hog

how the new car will translate into sales figures.

drive and a paragon of mobility. Point it at a

on the trail of gourmand fungi. The 435i only

racetrack, stab ‘Sport mode’ and a perceptible

takes 0.3sec more to reach 100km that the

with its broad-shouldered rear wheel arches and

improvement in response emerges. It has

outgoing M3 coupe, so it’s blisteringly quick.

‘double-L’ taillights and scalloped rear end. At

a darker side, urging you to press on hard,

the front, gaping air curtain ducts direct airflow

harder, hardest. Those siren voices in my head

kept in check thanks to fettling of the settings

through the corners of the lower front bodywork,

“faster, brake later” all too evident on the

of the springs, dampers and camber angles,

Visually, the styling is undeniably handsome,

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BUSINESS CLASS • August 2013

The added cost of the 4 Series is warranted

prices or which will trim lines will be marketed

The 4 Series Coupé is a genuinely comfortable

and performance-oriented four-

BMW South Africa have yet to announce

is, though, it could do with a little more theatre,

and very refined product, and is an easy

MW’s heritage of building luxurious

/ Road te st

The brakes are strong and body control is

What you should know -

428i Cou pe an d 435i Cou pe

There have been six generations of BMW 3-Series coupes since 1975.

The coupe now wears the 4-Series designation as part of a move to sedans having odd-numbers- 3-, 5- & 7-Series and coupes even - 4, 6, 8 etc.

The higher-spec 435i comes with a 3-litre engine and reaches 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds in the 6-speed manual and 5.1 seconds with the 8-speed automatic.

The 428i comes with a 2-litre turbo engine and reaches 0-100 km/h in just 5.9 seconds for the manual and 5.8 seconds for the automatic 8-speed.

August 2013 • BUSINESS CLASS

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