BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe 2014 Review

No matter which way you cut it, buying a luxury coupe is self-indulgent.

Shelling out for a mid-size German two-door like the Audi A5, BMW 4 Series and Benz C-Class may be slightly less hedonistic than purchasing a two-seat sports car like the TT, Z4 and SLK, but let's face it: it's only the level of selfishness that differs.

Now BMW has an answer for style-conscious coupe buyers in the volume-selling mid-size luxury market who also desire a higher degree of practicality, although it's two years late to the party started by Audi with its A5 Sportback.

Enter the 4 Series Gran Coupe, pricing for which was announced in April, before we drove it in Europe last month.

Of course, the five-door hatchback formula isn't new – in fact it's long been Australia's single most popular type of vehicle – but it's the first time BMW has produced such a derivative of its global best-seller, the 3 Series.

In fact, Audi's A5 Sportback has proved so popular that Mercedes will also join the trend with its first C-Class hatch and BMW expects the 4 Gran Coupe will sell in similar numbers to last year's new 4 Series Coupe, which also spawned the 4 Series Convertible this year.

So what's the attraction? Well, for starters, the Gran Coupe delivers a similar level of style, road presence and sense of occasion as the two-door 4 Series, with which it shares its broad footprint and purposefully wide rear-end design, including its tail-lights.

Within its slightly higher sweeping, coupe-like roofline and 112mm-longer overall length (4738mm) is a cosseting interior with a low-slung seating position and cockpit-style dashboard that's straight out of the coupe's copybook and oozes the same level of quality and elegance.

But to the 4 Series coupe formula the Gran Coupe adds another pair of frameless doors, a three-position rear bench seat, a large powered rear tailgate instead of a traditional boot and a 40/20/40-split rear seatback (a 60/40-split unit is standard in the coupe).

The large, single-piece rear liftback comes with the option of automatic open/close function via a swipe of your foot and conceals a sizeable 480-litre boot, which matches the 3 Series sedan and is 35 litres larger than the coupe's, bringing total interior cargo space to 1300 litres.

There's also the same high level of standard equipment as the 4 Series Coupe, which means – in addition to the standard 3 Series specification – a reversing camera, leather trim, Professional navigation, telephone, 18-inch alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights and the auto tailgate.

The increased spec level comes at a price, however, and in this case it's a price premium of between about $10,000 and $15,000 over the equivalent 3 Series.

On sale now with an identical engine and pricing line-up to the 4 Series Coupe, the Gran Coupe range opens from $70,000 (plus ORCs) for the entry-level 420i, making it $9500 more than the equivalent 3 Series sedan, and isn't available with the downsized 1.6-litre engine of the entry-level 316i sedan (from $52,800).

Similarly, at $72,300 (plus ORCs), the 420d Gran Coupe costs $9500 more than the 320i, while the 428i Gran Coupe is $11,600 more expensive than the 328i and the range-topping 435i (there are no plans for an M4 Gran Coupe) is a big $15,100 pricier than the 335i.

That makes all versions of the 4 Series Coupe slightly more expensive than the equivalent A5 Sportback, which opens at $67,190 (plus ORCs) and also includes four-cylinder turbo petrol and diesel engines and a 3.0-litre six, plus diesel-six and top-shelf S5 variants.

There's also a price to pay for the extra style. Compared to the 3 Series sedan, the 4 GC's 10mm-lower roof means head room is tighter both front and rear (although it's still adequate for tall occupants up front) and the five-seat layout is officially dubbed '4+1' because the centre rear position isn't generous.

Like most coupes, the Gran is also short on outward vision, especially out the back and around the thick B-pillars.

But if unfettered vision, five genuine seats and maximum cargo space and your prerequisites in a premium mid-sizer then, apart from the 3 Series sedan, wagon and GT, BMW also offers the X3 and upcoming X4 crossovers.

On the road, the 4 Series Gran Coupe doesn't quite match the dynamic prowess of the 4 Series Coupe, but it's certainly more focussed than the 3 Series.

We drove only the top-spec four-cylinder 428i and the flagship 335i on the press drive through Victoria's Yarra Valley, so the entry-level 420i and 420d four-pots will have to wait for a seven-day test [Ed: watch this space].

Both cars are relatively light at a respective 1530 and 1595kg in standard eight-speed automatic form with paddle shifters and the 428i shares its 2.0-litre turbo four with the 328i sedan and 428i coupe.

Like them, although there's a tidy 180kW on tap and the force-fed four revs beyond 7000rpm, the four-door 428i relies more on its useful 350Nm of torque anywhere between 1250 and 4800rpm to satisfy its driver. It's smooth enough everywhere, but beyond that it seems to make more noise than performance.

As you'd expect, the top-flight 435i feels more like the free-spinning sixes that powered BMWs of old, but adds a bigger dose of mid-range thrust with 400Nm available over a similarly wide rev range, and sounds better as well.

It mightn't be as slick-shifting as a dual-clutch automated manual, but the eight-speed auto is perfectly matched to both turbo-petrol engines, from which it always extracts seamless performance and never feels in the wrong gear, even if hard driving requires more paddle shifting in manual mode.

As with the 4 Series Coupe, we suspect the entry-level 420i will be the pick of the Gran Coupe litter, thanks to a 135kW/270Nm turbo-four that accelerates it to 100km/h in a reasonable 7.6 seconds, consumes just 6.1L/100km and costs $70K.

For $2300 more, the 420d delivers the same power and about the same acceleration, but more torque (380Nm) and lower fuel consumption (just 4.6L/100km). But why buy a diesel sports car?

At $81,000 (plus ORCs), the 428i sprints to 100km/h in a claimed six seconds and consumes 6.4L/100km, while the considerably pricier ($109,000 plus ORCs) 435i lowers acceleration to just 5.2 seconds but ups fuel consumption to 7.6L/100km.

All 4 Series sedans employ the same five-link rear and sophisticated MacPherson strut front suspension as the 4 Series Coupe, which also donates its electro-hydraulic power steering and single-piston disc brakes.

That means that despite two extra doors and a slightly higher roll centre than the coupe, the Gran Coupe handles more like the 4 Series two-door than the 3 Series, which doesn't steer quite as sharply and presents a whiff more body roll.

Despite this, BMW's newest 428i and 435i offered excellent ride quality, even on optional 19-inch rubber and even in Sport mode, although we'd take the time to deselect the overly aggressive transmission setting via the Individual mode.

Still, as its name suggests, the Gran Coupe feels a bit more of a grand tourer than the 4 Series Coupe. It would take a back-to-back comparo to separate them, but from memory the two-door steers more precisely, offers more on-centre feel in Sport mode and doesn't aggravate its stability control system as readily.

Therefore the 4 GC delivers on its promise of being significantly sportier but only slightly less functional than the 3 Series and– for the same price premium – just as sleek as the 4 Coupe but far more practical and only slightly less sporting.

So now you can choose whether to pamper just yourself or your passengers too.

2014 BMW 428i Gran Coupe pricing and specifications:
Price: $81,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 180kW/350Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 147g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP