BMW 428i 2013 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory & delivery charges): $80,500
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Metallic paint $1840; Comfort Access system $1100; Driving Assistant $900; Glass Sunroof $2920; Through-load system (40:20:40 split rear seats) $500
Crash rating: Not tested
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 147
Also consider: Mercedes-Benz E 250 (from $95,000 plus on-road costs); Audi A5 Quattro 2.0T (from $75,700 plus ORCs)

There’s a change in the air in Munich. And it’s good news for Motor Werks fans. Simply, BMW is at last back in the business of building great looking cars -- and here's my proof, the new 4 Series coupe.

Just released, and based on the latest 3 Series sedan launched Down Under in 2012, the 4 Series has moved BMW's midsized coupe upmarket. There’s an added dose of style to BMW’s midsize two-door in this generation, physically, it's a touch wider, longer and lower than its four-door counterpart, and, further to my opening remarks, clearly better looking.

From its ‘sharky’ front end to those wide shapely ‘hips’, there’s significant differentiation for the coupe from sedan and wagon stablemates. And best of all, the 4 Series has returned the marque to that wide-track, wheel at each corner look, we expect from Beemers.

Brand tragics might even see more than a hint of the old 8 Series coupe in the tail of the new 4. Even if they don’t, in one fell swoop BMW has moved the 4 from competing with Benz’s C-Class two-door, to be closer in size and feel, the more expensive E-Class coupe.

The new 4 Series coupe’s interior has been given an extra dose of style, though the changes are based more on material choice than design. 3 Series owners will feel immediately at home -- there are very few functional changes. The main one, is more of a model year update -- the 4 Series gets a track pad on top of a larger iDrive controller that lets ‘lefties’ (or talented right-handers) spell out info for the sat-nav system.

Our tester featured BMW’s Sport Line detailing. Inside this manifested itself via the use of satin red dash and door spears, and contrasting stitching on the seats and other surfaces. Outside, black chrome and special 19-inch alloys separate the variant. All of this might sound over the top, but it wasn’t.

There are four models in the 4 Series coupe range, including a turbo-diesel. We tested the mid-grade petrol-engined 428i. And it’s a ripper...

Powered by a sweet-revving turbocharged 2.0-litre four that’s rated at 180kW and 350 Nm, the 428i proved not only quick, but smooth and lusty in its power delivery. Traditionalists may lament the reduction of the number of six-cylinder models offered across the BMW range, but the new generation of BMW fours are worthy powerplants. Strong, tuneful and refined…

That the four’s torque peak is available right the way from 1250rpm through to 4800 should give you some clue to the way the 428i performs. In-gear acceleration is vivid and BMW says it accelerates 100km/h in a very respectable 5.8 seconds. We’ll take the boffins at their word. We can vouch personally, however, that the four is clearly possessed of enough performance to explore the talents of the 4 Series’ excellent chassis.

At a touch over $80,000 before options, the 428i is not cheap but it’s nearly $30K less than the range-topping 435i, and $15K under Benz’s E 250 coupe. And yet the 4 lacks for little in terms of standard equipment.

Our tester added $1100 keyless access and start (with handy keyfob lowering and raising of windows and sunroof), metallic paint ($1840 ouch!), split-fold rear seats ($500, but they should be standard) and the near-ubiquitous near-$3000 sunroof to the standard kit which includes a large screen satnav et al. [MS: Since publication BMW Australia has clarified the option fitted to our 428i tester. $500 buys you the 40:20:40 splitfold 'load through' option -- conventional 6-:40 splitfold is included as standard]

BMW’s Driving Assistant was also fitted -- a $900 option.

With a high-spec audio system standard and great standard sport seats, there’s not a lot more you need. We'd probably opt for heating for the front pews but not much else.

Although its driver’s seat H-point is slighter lower than its sedan counterpart, the 4 Series doesn’t feel significantly different to drive at first… No bad thing -- the 3 is a benchmark in the premium mid-size sedan segment.

But push a little harder and the wider stance of the 4 gives it a clear handling advantage. The steering is heavy by many standards but just about right in my book. If the 428i is anything to go by, next year’s M4 will be a cracker.

An eight-speed auto transmission is standard. These days manual BMWs (six-speeders) are order-only Down Under. With paddles as standard, and with sport and manual modes, the ZF-sourced transmission does a fair job of approximating a twin-clutch when you’re driving hard.

But the 428i is not only about performance. Fuel-saving EfficientDynamics technologies include idle stop-start , brake energy regeneration and an ECO PRO driving mode that’s said to reduce fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent.

It’s worth noting here, however, that even without resorting to hyper-miling techniques, the new four-cylinder 428i is pretty frugal in normal use.

BMW’s gazetted fuel figure is 6.4L/100km on the combined cycle. Using the normal Comfort setting on BMW’s powertrain and chassis select option, we easily managed circa 8.5L/100km in a week of typical suburban use.

In many segments BMW and its fellow German prestige brands are locked together in terms of the choice they offer buyers. It's a measure of the new 4 Series that it breaks BMW out of the midsized coupe pack.

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