The BMW 4 Series success story dates back to the launch of the original BMW 4 Series Coupé in June 2013. Since its debut, BMW has delivered nearly 400,000 units of the 4 Series to customers all over the world. The biggest single market, racking up approximately a third of all BMW 4 Series sales, is the USA, followed by Great Britain and Germany. About half of all BMW 4 Series models are sold in Europe. The Gran Coupé accounts for some 50 per cent of global BMW 4 Series sales, while the Coupé and Convertible make up around 25 per cent each.
Now in 2017 these three models have been substantially refreshed. Styling cues borrowed from the spectacular BMW Concept 4 Series Coupé in 2012 are clearly visible in the design of the new BMW 4 Series, with the new models including elements such as a large air intake with eye-catching bars and LED headlights and rear lights. But it is not just the styling that has been enhanced, the chassis has been updated too. All three models now have a lower centre of gravity courtesy of a wider track, revised suspension and improved traction control capabilities.
A true sports car profile
The restyled front end of the BMW 4 Series expresses the model range’s dynamic personality to great effect whether it be in SE, Sport or M Sport guise. Crisp contours alternate with expansive surfaces to create a broad contoured appearance. The defining feature at the front of the new BMW 4 Series is an unbroken central air intake with an aperture that increases in size towards the outer edges, adding a more imposing presence and greater sense of width to the entire nose section. On the Sport version, the air intake is almost entirely bordered by an eye-catching, high-gloss black bar that is designed to accentuate the vehicle’s wide, powerful stance.
The BMW 4 Series Coupé, BMW 4 Series Convertible and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé are now equipped with new twin LED headlights as standard. The headlights are composed of a familiar silhouette: flat-bottomed headlight tubes encircled by daytime running light rings, along with a dynamic cropped look, produced by the characteristic ‘eyebrow’ design. The tubes’ dark-coloured holders give the interior of the headlight assemblies a clear, cool, but technical, look. LED front fog lamps also form part of the standard specification.
All models in the new BMW 4 Series are optionally available with new Icon Adaptive LED headlights, whose highly expressive light arrangement intensifies the front end’s dynamic and technically advanced appearance. The headlight units are cropped off slightly at the top by the LED indicators that form the headlights’ ‘eyebrows’. This has the effect of making the light arrangement seem wider still, which in turn gives the impression of an even more powerful stance on the road.
The rear of the BMW 4 Series has a low, sporty look that follows the lead of the front-end styling, with the bold horizontal lines and elongated design of the rear light clusters helping to make the muscular wheel arches stand out (the widest point of the BMW 4 Series body is at the rear wheels). Meanwhile, the new rear apron has been designed to further accentuate the general impression of power.
The redesigned rear lights give the new BMW 4 Series a fresh and technically sophisticated appearance from the rear. The characteristic L-shaped styling theme for the lights has been retained, but in a reinterpreted form. The LED lights are no longer divided into individual light strips, with a sweeping curve in the outer section of the light assemblies giving them a perfectly homogenous look.
Interior and equipment: highly detailed quality
Moving inside the new BMW 4 Series range and an array of upgraded details add to the cabin’s exclusive, high-quality feel. Examples include the surrounds for the air vents and the control panels in the doors now including electroplated inserts, while the switch for the hardtop roof in the BMW 4 Series Convertible and the integral belt guides for its front seats also have an electroplated finish.
The air conditioning and audio controls in the BMW 4 Series models are now bordered by chrome. The centre console makes an even more elegant impression, thanks to its high-gloss black cover panel, while new double stitching for the dashboard over the instrument panel accentuates the interior’s driver-focused geometry. The sports steering wheel, fitted as standard in the BMW 4 Series, features a new rim wrapped in high-quality leather, with a modified lining that offers the driver an even better grip.
There are also more options to choose from for the interior styling. Night Blue Dakota, Cognac Dakota and Ivory White Dakota leather have been added to the range – three new, very elegant upholstery colours that come with coordinated contrast stitching and piping. New choices for the interior trim, meanwhile, include Aluminium Carbon with Pearl Chrome highlight and Black High-Gloss with Pearl Chrome highlight.
Building on the existing sporty design and appearance of the BMW 4 Series, the Coupé and Convertible models now start with the Sport model, with the M Sport model available for all engines or as standard on the 430i, 430d/430d xDrive, 435d xDrive and 440i models.
The Gran Coupé models start from SE for the 420d/420d xDrive models moving to the Sport model as standard for the 420i/420i xDrive models. As with the Coupé and Convertible models, 430i, 430d/430d xDrive, 435d xDrive and 440i models come as M Sport only.
A wider choice of 18- and 19-inch light-alloy wheels exclusive to the new 4 Series are also now available. A choice of four new designs means there is even greater scope for customising the sporty, elegant exterior of the BMW 4 Series. There are new wheels for each of the SE, Sport and M Sport variants, ensuring that there are even more sporty designs than before.
Exclusive new exterior paint finishes have also been added to the selection; Snapper Rocks Blue, a new shade of turquoise, and Sunset Orange.
Driving dynamics: honed and enhanced
The driving experience in all BMW 4 Series models is rooted in a finely honed blend of sharp sporting performance and superb ride comfort. The BMW 4 Series has a lower centre of gravity than the BMW 3 Series (Coupé: -40 mm, Gran Coupé: -30 mm, Convertible: -20 mm), a wider track at the front (+14 mm) and rear (+22 mm), plus specially configured kinematics, giving it all the ingredients needed for even more agile handling.
BMW’s engineers also greatly enhanced the cars’ dynamic handling capabilities by revising the 4 Series’ suspension, but without compromising on the car’s impressive ride comfort.
The new BMW 4 Series Coupé and new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé both now come with stiffer suspension, featuring more advanced damping technology and an upgraded steering set-up. These measures have resulted in a tangible improvement in both lateral and longitudinal handling properties, regardless of the load on board. The upshot is reduced roll, more neutral responses when driving at the limit, even greater straight-line stability and the wonderfully precise steering for which BMW is renowned. This applies to the standard suspension, as well as the M Sport suspension and Adaptive suspension.
The new BMW 4 Series Convertible now also offers superior straight-line stability and steering characteristics. The harmonious and extremely agile nature of the outgoing cars’ suspension tuning meant there was no need for more extensive performance-enhancing modifications. High-performance tyres can be optionally fitted on all model variants. These have been specially designed to cater to the needs of drivers with extremely sporty inclinations.
View the press release in full here.
