BMW reveals 4 Series Gran Coupe ahead of Q4 arrival

JUST a week after revealing its highly anticipated i4 electric sports sedan, BMW has unveiled its new-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe and its Australian outpost has confirmed the swoopy four-door will arrive Down Under in the final quarter of this year.

According to BMW Group Australia, the 4 Series Gran Coupe will land in Australia “several months” before the i4, pointing to a potential October launch for the new A5 Sportback rival and a December arrival for its electric cousin.

The theory looks even more credible given the October 2020 arrival of the regular 4 Series, which would neatly separate the two- and four-door ranges by 12 months – a strategy used by many manufacturers when launching derivatives of a certain model.

Regardless, the Australian 4 Series Gran Coupe line-up will echo that of the coupe, which consists of the 420i, 430i and M440i xDrive.

One difference will be the omission of a full-fat M4 Gran Coupe, which was ruled out last September by BMW M CEO Markus Flasch during the virtual media launch of the current M3/M4.

Both the 420i and 430i are powered by turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, the former developing peak power and torque of 135kW and 300Nm, stepping up considerably in the 430i with a more potent 190kW/400Nm.

The M440i xDrive by far takes top honours with 285kW/500Nm courtesy of its force-fed 3.0-litre straight six.

All variants have an eight-speed automatic transmission, the 420i and 430i being rear-wheel drive and the M440i – as the xDrive nomenclature suggests – boasts an all-wheel-drive set-up.

Dimensionally, the Gran Coupe is only marginally bigger than its two-door counterpart, measuring 4783mm long (+15mm), 1852mm wide (+0mm) and 1442mm tall (+59mm), with a 2856mm wheelbase (+5mm).

While the dimensions have been tweaked here and there, no such changes have been made to the styling – save for the two rear doors – meaning that controversial vertical kidney grille has been carried over unchanged. However, Australian variants will be given the same minor reprieve as the coupes and come fitted with the M Sport package as standard.

As with the exterior, interior styling is virtually identical to that of the 4 Series coupe and 3 Series, even down to the 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats.

With the rear pews folded down, BMW says there is 1290 litres of cargo volume on offer or 470L with them in place – the coupe offers 440L.

Under the skin, the 4 Series Gran Coupe rides on a similar two-joint spring strut front axle and five-link rear axle suspension set-up as its two-door counterparts, albeit with a model-specific geometry, mounting and tuning to account for the slightly different proportions and weight.

Australian-delivered 430is and M440i xDrives will be fitted with BMW’s adaptive M damping system and M Sport brakes, the latter expected to be optionally available on the 420i. All variants ride on 19-inch alloy wheels.

While the local pricing and exact specification details are yet to finalised, other standard equipment highlights across the range will include a 12.3-inch digital cockpit, 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system featuring both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sports seats, knee pads on the side of the centre console, an M leather steering wheel, Driving Assistant with lane-departure warning, lane-change warning, front collision warning with brake intervention, rear cross-traffic warning and rear collision prevention.

Examining the local coupe range, other equipment highlights are more than likely to consist of power adjustment for the front seats with memory for the driver, satellite navigation, DAB+ digital radio, wireless charging and smartphone integration and a HiFi loudspeaker system (based on the 420i’s standard spec).

BMW Australia has sold 436 examples of the 4 Series so far this year ending May, enough to make it one of the two dominant forces within the $80,000-plus sportscar segment with a 26.4 per cent share, second only to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (557 units/33.7 per cent).