Bmw 4 series gran coupe test drive review

sk8board

Tested a 430d and 420d today in identical spec (m sport suspension, 19" alloys, no adaptive dampers, 8speed auto with paddles) and identical 25 min routes (some street and mainly motorway, just like my daily drive).

The 430d was first and it's simply immense. The power is endless and it was quite a frustrating experience as it was very obvious that I'd never get to use this power in my real world driving. If I lived in the countryside or drove on a lot of back roads, I'd have my money in this engine every time.
The 420d is great on its own merits, but with the ZF auto it really does close the performance gap a huge amount for real world driving - between the lights, on-ramps, lane-changing. 0-100 is 5.5sec and 7.5sec respectively, 7.5 is hardly sluggish by any standard and the 5.5sec is impossible on any street without looking like a pr|ck
This gearbox is the best thing I've used since my dsg Gti. I've currently got the bmw 6speed Steptronic and the ZF so much noticeably better and crisper.

Driving: sports seats are great and the ride is absolutely fine. Jars a bit on speedbumps and manhole covers, which is expected. Hardly any road or engine noise - even when I started the 420d cold, although it can strain itself when you really push on.
The driving position is great and a stupid amount of adjustability. I drive an e61 Touring and this felt like a noticeably lower coupe seating position. (Also, the Sliding armrest is still a €200 option ffs).
Space: boot is loads big (barely 10% smaller than my e61) and fully usable with the electric hatchback boot. Lie flat seats for bigger loads.
I'm 6" and still had some head & shoulder space in the back, with the front seat in my position. It's tight but absolutely ok. I never carry adults in the back anyway. The back doors are very small, so you won't get rear facing baby seats in and out easily.
Gear: the new iTouch is standard as are the pro 3d satnav maps (with street view) and some remote apps you can use on the iPhone. Dakota leather & xenons also standard. Frameless doors.

Style: looks great in m sport, but very like a 3 series in all other specs and the rear is a very tame design for a sports coupe imho. However it's style at a price - it's far more than the 3 series and almost identical to the 520d m (but would probably be far rarer). That said, there's a lot of useful spec as standard.

For me and my driving (one-car family with a motorway commute), I went with the 420d M sport in Estoril blue and spec'ed the m performance 'Plus' pack instead (bigger alloys, privacy glass, upgraded to Harman Kardon, bigger brakes and M pistons) - I figure the bigger brakes will be more useful on the motorway than the bigger engine, and I'll just have to make-do with 0-100 in 7.5sec
Delivery is about 6-8 weeks.

colm_mcm

Is it basically a 3 series hatchback?

Mr.David

Congratulations! Its a lovely car, I think the 4 door coupe although originally somewhat of a contradiction has ended up as a proper niche and is just so much more appealing than the traditional saloon.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the 420d v 430d. Transmission advances certainly are hugely important!

Mr.David

colm_mcm wrote: »

Is it basically a 3 series hatchback?

Ah here :eek:

sk8board

Yes and no.
A 3 series hatchback would be the 3 series GT, yet another niche model.

But in the SE spec, yeh it's definitely difficult to tell the diff.

colm_mcm

I'm very confused

sk8board

Side by side you wouldn't be - the GT is a very high-riding thing and very ugly in the metal!

MuppetCheck

I think in the flesh the difference is immediately obvious, the 4 series has real presence.

Best of luck with it OP, and that's a good write up of your thoughts. Make sure to post pics!

porsche959

I have an E93 and gear-box isn't great, glad to hear they have improved.

19'' alloys - are these runflats? I'd ditch them tbh.

sk8board

Yup, bmw still holding firm with RFs only. I have 18"s on the e61 and the only solution I found is to buy good ones. Cheap run flats feel like they're made out of wood and will scare to poo out of you on a wet country road.

Like any niche model, it's going to be very closely aligned to the one beside it.
The 4 series m sport is a more stylish, sportier, better spec'ed version of the 3 series. That's my rationale anyway!
If you wanted a 3 series with just 2 things: pro nav and the ZF box, I'd say you'd be searching the small ads for quite a while.
I just couldn't bring myself to adding yet another A6 or 520d to the country's roads (and you can't spec the 5 series in Estoril).

carsfan

3 series gt is based on a Chinese spec 3 series with a longer wheelbase for greater rear legroom and is not much of a looker where as the 4 series gran coupe especially in m sport is a very tasty looking car I think.
Sk8board would you consider carbon black instead of estoril blue?
Car looks brill in this colour I think although estoril lovely too.

sk8board

The 430d was carbon black and the 420d was some sort of gloss black - neither did justice to all the lines on the car, esp the front in my opinion. The 420d was already in a mess - it has spent a week in a shopping centre with people mauling it and leaning on it apparently.
The last new car I got, in '07, was black and I swore I'd never do it again! Killed me trying to keep the paint right. Heavy motorway traffic in our crap weather just destroys the paint.

Like Colm said, it's a bit too close to the 3 series, so I fancied a different colour, and what better for a bmw than Estoril.

Btw: I decided to spec that supagard liquid wrap this time around. As I said, my heart is broke trying to keep paint fresh. And it has a 3 year warranty, so let's see.

MuppetCheck

Double think the guard and bring it to a proper detailer. Cost will be about the same but the finish will be better.

bazz26

Current generation of run flats are vast improvement on earlier versions. I've 18" run flats on my F10 and you would not even know they were run flats. Depends on the profile too, if you have large wheels with rubber bands for tyres then even going over cat's eyes will be felt, irrespective of whether they are run flats or not.

sk8board

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Double think the guard and bring it to a proper detailer. Cost will be about the same but the finish will be better.

again, I cant disagree with you and have done that loads of times with cars before. I've never put a car through a car wash in my entire life. But the detailer won't guarantee it for 3 years. Maybe I'm getting lazy. It's equivalent price to 2 or 3 trips to the detailer and will keep such a bright colour looking fresh, with minimal maintainence.

MuppetCheck

It's who applies it in the dealer is the problem. There are detailer who will put 2 or 5 year stuff on them, they might need a top up but I'd rather a pro going at fresh paint ahead of the dealers valeter.

I've done it the last two times and the difference is huge when I make my pathetic attempt at cleaning it!

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

I don't think I've seen one of these yet. I have however seen a 6 series gran coupe in black. It was a sleek beauty alright, very good looking car.

sk8board

Lady not included.

CrowdedHouse

Thanks for the write up - I'm considering a 430 GC myself at the moment

sk8board

I spent a lot of time poring over options and things, there really isn't much to add to the 430 m sport. PM if you wish any time.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

'Tis a beautiful car imo. Health to enjoy op.:)

CrowdedHouse

sk8board wrote: »

and what better for a bmw than Estoril.

I agree....:)

sk8board

Very nice!
I actually spec'ed a 330d touring and decided against it as the decent spec was getting too close to the 430d (which had more as standard) - and on the test drive today, what passed by on the m50 but a shiny new 330d msport touring in estoril - and god it looked fantastic

bazz26

Does the 420d have adaptive xenon/led headlights with high beam assist as standard? I have them in my F10 and find them brilliant especially on dark country roads. Totally agree about the newer auto box too, don't think I would would go back to a manual again, steering wheel paddle shifts take a bit of getting used to alright.

Leonard Hofstadter

Best of luck with your choice OP. Are you getting the 420d with the B47 or the N47 engine? They've just put the B47 into the 4 series, so I'd be making sure my 4 series has that engine - hopefully that won't be blighted by the infamous timing chain problem the N47 still suffers from. Also, the B47 is a bit better on mpg as well and is probably in a lower tax band.

B47 has 190 PS (187 bhp), N47 has 184 PS (181 bhp). I agree with the others on automatics, while I'm still totally unconvinced that they're needed with petrol engines (because petrols have a wide power band compared to diesels, also petrols have lighter and more pleasant to use gearboxes), they're absolutely vital with a diesel. They're usually rated for better mpg, and they'll pay for themselves come resale time, so it's what they call a no brainer.

carsfan

Be sure to spec the adaptive headlights on the car.
You get xenons as standard but the adaptive lights that dip/dim and bend the light around other other cars are superb and well worth the money.

sk8board

carsfan wrote: »

Be sure to spec the adaptive headlights on the car.
You get xenons as standard but the adaptive lights that dip/dim and bend the light around other other cars are superb and well worth the money.

decided not to, purely because I was trying to keep the cost down, and I didn't see the point with so much motorway driving. I was struggling with the fact that the cost had hit €60k.
It's over €500. The other option I dropped was the comfort open for the boot, it's over €600, (for a sensor!?)

carsfan

The latest system is superb and worth the outlay in my view.
If you look on YouTube you can see it in action.
The high beams stay on pretty much all the time and move around other cars and road users. It is the kind of thing that will make night driving much safer and easier.

sunnysoutheast

sk8board wrote: »

decided not to, purely because I was trying to keep the cost down, and I didn't see the point with so much motorway driving. I was struggling with the fact that the cost had hit €60k.
It's over €500. The other option I dropped was the comfort open for the boot, it's over €600, (for a sensor!?)

Please tell me you have ordered the adaptive suspension?

Truly fantastic car but way way too hard on RFTs without it.

I had a standard 420d M-Sport coupe with <1000 miles on it for a week as a loaner and the interior was already rattling.

*Kol*

Good choice of car/engine. Great colour. It will be a hoot. Well wear.

sk8board

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

Please tell me you have ordered the adaptive suspension?

I didn't no. Very subjective thing of course.
This was the main reason for the test drive - I wanted to test the exact set-up I spec'ed, on my type of roads. I thought it was very noticeably refined - for an M suspension.

Bear in mind the GC and the coupe have different standard settings, just like the old 3 series coupe m sport. Two work colleagues have that one on 19"s and it's unacceptably hard.

If you need to drive on any back roads at all, you should spec it for sure.

I also tested the Golf R for this reason - what's the standard setting like. It's also excellent.

And finally, some fellow commuters at work have adaptive dampers and tell me they played with it for the first few weeks and then just left it in Normal. Neither would spec it again (like me, they don't need it for their real world driving)

carsfan

In fairness it's very easy to get carried away speccing a nice car and it's even easier when it's some one else's money!
Why not get merino leather, individual paint , head up display and a few other " essentials"?
Seriously though what you have is brill and I agree re the suspension. In normal use would be a one week wonder and then forgotten.

sk8board

captainspeed wrote: »

Best of luck with your choice OP. Are you getting the 420d with the B47 or the N47 engine?

Honestly I haven't a clue!
I currently have the current 520d N47. The timing chain issues were for manufacture dates before '09 if memory serves (which I have) and the official safe date was 2011 or something.
Just checked the bmw catalogue and it's rated as 184 and i see it's faster to 100 than the 520d is with 190 (7.7 v 7.5), if that means anything.

It's under warranty so it can be whatever version it wants

R.O.R

F30 is getting it's LCI just in time for July this year, so the 4 Series (no idea of model designation on that) may get the same upgrades at the same time. Nothing confirmed yet, but I'd presume the LCI will mean the B47 engines going in to the F30.

6 cylinder models are taking longer to come through than the 4 cylinder versions, so that's another thing in the favour of the 420d. Performance is more than enough for the day to day, and you'd rarely get to use the additional performance of the 430d. Would be nice, but it's hard to justify the additional costs.

I do have a 430d xDrive Luxury GC on order. Ordered in November, so should be imminent. Might be arriving this week, but I won't get to see it for another 3 years as it's going out in Cork, straight from the dealer. Try as I might, I couldn't persuade the driver from Kalahari Beige to a decent colour :-)

sk8board

I remember picking the '08 520d specifically as it had the new LCI N47 engine - and it gave trouble for the known reasons, but it was a great upgrade.

At the end of life, the N47 is probably bullet-proof and I'm sure something will pop up on the B47 too, like all mass-produced engines.

sunnysoutheast

sk8board wrote: »

I didn't no. Very subjective thing of course.
This was the main reason for the test drive - I wanted to test the exact set-up I spec'ed, on my type of roads. I thought it was very noticeably refined - for an M suspension.

Bear in mind the GC and the coupe have different standard settings, just like the old 3 series coupe m sport. Two work colleagues have that one on 19"s and it's unacceptably hard.

If you need to drive on any back roads at all, you should spec it for sure.

I also tested the Golf R for this reason - what's the standard setting like. It's also excellent.

And finally, some fellow commuters at work have adaptive dampers and tell me they played with it for the first few weeks and then just left it in Normal. Neither would spec it again (like me, they don't need it for their real world driving)

Ah fair enough if you've tried it out then! I found a huge difference between the F30 320i with adaptive and the 420d without so it would have been a must-have for me, but then I'm an old fogey. Also different engine masses too I suppose.

Enjoy your car!

Marcusm

R.O.R wrote: »

F30 is getting it's LCI just in time for July this year, so the 4 Series (no idea of model designation on that) may get the same upgrades at the same time. Nothing confirmed yet, but I'd presume the LCI will mean the B47 engines going in to the F30.

6 cylinder models are taking longer to come through than the 4 cylinder versions, so that's another thing in the favour of the 420d. Performance is more than enough for the day to day, and you'd rarely get to use the additional performance of the 430d. Would be nice, but it's hard to justify the additional costs.

I do have a 430d xDrive Luxury GC on order. Ordered in November, so should be imminent. Might be arriving this week, but I won't get to see it for another 3 years as it's going out in Cork, straight from the dealer. Try as I might, I couldn't persuade the driver from Kalahari Beige to a decent colour :-)

Hope you're recovering the lower residual through higher lease charges.....

R.O.R

Marcusm wrote: »

Hope you're recovering the lower residual through higher lease charges.....

That's how leasing works....

F34

sk8board wrote: »

decided not to, purely because I was trying to keep the cost down, and I didn't see the point with so much motorway driving. I was struggling with the fact that the cost had hit €60k.
It's over €500. The other option I dropped was the comfort open for the boot, it's over €600, (for a sensor!?)

I had the adaptive headlights on my F20 and don't have them on my F34 and to be honest I really miss them especially on windy roads. If I go for another BMW it will be an option I actively look for along with professional nav which I have found fantastic with the concierge (connected drive) service as well.

Best of luck with the GC They are a great looking motor.

Leonard Hofstadter

sk8board wrote: »

Honestly I haven't a clue!
I currently have the current 520d N47. The timing chain issues were for manufacture dates before '09 if memory serves (which I have) and the official safe date was 2011 or something.
Just checked the bmw catalogue and it's rated as 184 and i see it's faster to 100 than the 520d is with 190 (7.7 v 7.5), if that means anything.

It's under warranty so it can be whatever version it wants

Fair enough so, let it be someone else's problem in time to come;). Yeah there's probably not much of a difference, and the average buyer second-hand won't be like me and want the newer engine. The older engine is still pretty damn powerful anyway.

sk8board

captainspeed wrote: »

Fair enough so, let it be someone else's problem in time to come;). Yeah there's probably not much of a difference, and the average buyer second-hand won't be like me and want the newer engine. The older engine is still pretty damn powerful anyway.

Considering there hasn't been nearly as much plugging of the new engine as there was in '07, I assume it's more a case of evolution rather than revolution.
It's literally 4-6hp and one sub class lower tax, which is probably €20.
The current engine is now pretty much bullet proof.

Marcusm

R.O.R wrote: »

That's how leasing works....

I have plenty of experience of leasing and taking RV risk (but more for planes, trains and distribution centres). My question was whether your analysis was granular enough to take account of specifically unattractive colour schemes.

sk8board

Did some digging on the German forums and it looks like the 420d's manufactured from March will get the new b47 engine.

I've pinged the sales guy at joe Duffy to see if he can find out for sure. Let's see what he says

Interesting improvements in 0-100 time, down to 7.1sec with the ZF 8 speed
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/bmw-3-series-and-4-series-get-cleaner-more-powerful-diesel-engines-this-march-91068.html

RedorDead

sk8board wrote: »

Did some digging on the German forums and it looks like the 420d's manufactured from March will get the new b47 engine.

I've pinged the sales guy at joe Duffy to see if he can find out for sure. Let's see what he says

Interesting improvements in 0-100 time, down to 7.1sec with the ZF 8 speed
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/bmw-3-series-and-4-series-get-cleaner-more-powerful-diesel-engines-this-march-91068.html

What does that even mean?

robbie99

pinged = sent a message. typically an instant message, but it can also be by dropping an email.

sk8board

So joe Duffy's came back to me first thing to say they were checking into it, and then again at lunch time with the details. Very prompt and top of it to be fair

So the new b47 engine applies to all 420ds for production weeks from March.
190ps, 50 more torque, 0-100 in 7.1sec, quieter and a lower tax bracket, maybe 2.

Then he adds that it'll prob make the car at least €500 cheaper, however with march production it'd be May delivery and offered me the choice of leaving the current Apr 1st deliver or push it to July.

With all that in mind I decided to push it to a July and get the new engine.

Thanks a lot to captainspeed for raising it, it'd have had no idea otherwise and it definitely appear to be worth the wait, never mind on resale

Foreign Sports

I think you made the right decision there.

50lb/ft extra torque will make a big difference in everyday driving.

Hopefully the wait won't be too painful!

sk8board

Just heard from joe Duffy this evening that the new b47 engine will reduce the price of my car & spec by another €615, or about 1.2%.
Not to be sniffed at

mickdw

It pays to do the homework on these things.
The dealer would never volunteer this type of info even if aware of it as it may push his sale back

carsfan

That new engine with price reduction is a great result.
You will also get twin exhausts with the new engine instead of the single tail pipe that is on the current model. This looks a lot better in my opinion.

Bigcheeze

carsfan wrote: »

You will also get twin exhausts with the new engine instead of the single tail pipe that is on the current model. This looks a lot better in my opinion.

Yes for a coupe the single exhaust looks awful.
Also the new engine is meant to be quieter.