BMW X4 xDrive35i 2014 Review

BMW will sell every one of these things it can build over in Spartanburg (USA), so there’s not much point in writing anything about it. Except that there are those of you in the reader base that like to be better informed than the average buyer of the X6-mini will be, so this is for you.

First off, yes, the X4 is heavily based around the (just-facelifted, in the northern hemisphere at least) X3. And, yes, it’s a philosophical sibling to the X6, with BMW dropping a more audacious bodyshell atop a proven cluster of mechanical and electrical bits.

Except the X4 is better than just a re-skinned X3... And it’s a LOT better than we expected it to be, in truth. The looks are not the star of the show. Indeed, they end up being almost incidental, because the star of the show is the suspension and body control the X4 exhibits, along with a strong, smooth, turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder engine, a fuss-free, brilliantly smooth eight-speed automatic transmission and wieldy all-wheel drive system.

The X4's meant to be like an X3, but with a more athletic edge, which is why the driver’s hip point is 20mm lower (it makes a bigger difference than you’d think), the air intakes are bigger and its highest point is above the driver’s head and drops down to a long liftback. BMW tries to accentuate the point with some fussy lines and creases down the flanks, but that seems to make it overly busy, rather than blisteringly sporty.

What does make the thing sporty is the M Sport package, which is the sportiest of the four optional lines (best seen as options bundles).

We didn’t get a choice, with all the test cars running the M Sport package, but at least it debuts an Australian connection in BMW’s new Melbourne Red paintwork.

The X4 is standard with 18-inch wheels, but ours ran 19-inch wheels, complete with 275/40 R19 rear tyres and 245/45 R19 fronts. For those not completely on top of their tyre talk, that’s a big footprint for an SUV. Especially a so-called “mid-sized” SUV, and especially when the stock rubber is a 245/50 R18.

In fact, when the X4s arrive in Australia in July, our top-shelf 35i will comes standard with 20-inch alloys and the M Sport pack, plus a host of additional equipment over the X3 -- and a lengthy list of options.

BMW Australia announced full details for the four-model local X4 line-up two weeks ago, with prices starting at $69,900 for the entry-level xDrive20i and extending to $73,400 for the xDrive20d, $83,900 for the xDrive30d and just under $90,000 for the xDrive35i.

The upshot is that the X4 35i rides and handles with a level of body control that’s simply astonishing for an 1815kg machine. It’s taller, heavier and chunkier than the 4 Series GranCoupe, yet handles with more dignity, more verve and more fluidity.

It begins comfortably enough, with the car giving an impressive initial response over the first low-speed bumps, but then only impresses more with each kilometre and each challenge.

It’s happy to attack any corner you like with front-end tenacity that is so fierce that Porsche’s Macan will need to bring its A Game if it wants to be in the brawl here. It follows that up with astounding panache when dealing with mid-corner upsets, genuine balance on sudden direction changes and terrific power-down getting out of corners.

Its handling package is so sharp, with no evidence of wallowing or body bounce or roll, that it feels like a moderately heftier version of the 435i Coupe. Even the steering accuracy is pretty good and the leather-clad fat-rimmed wheel delivers well-weighted heft, while the brakes are powerful and easy to modulate.

Its only handling shortcoming isn’t an inherent mechanical one, but rather a skid-control system can intervene seemingly prematurely. The balance and all-wheel drive system mean that you can turn it off without ever feeling concerned that you’re about to be spat off the road.

It doesn’t pay a price for all this in ride, either. Instead, it wafts along in comfort mode with an aplomb that’s only lessened by a fair slice of wind noise around the A-pillars and mirrors. And it’s not much lumpier in the Sport or Sport+ modes.

BMW's 225kW 3.0-litre, turbocharged inline six feels exactly at home inside this shell, even if it won’t be even remotely close to the biggest seller. That’s probably going to be the 2.0-litre diesel, which is the all-new, all-aluminium four-cylinder with 140kW and 400Nm (exactly the same torque figure as the tested 35i motor).

Pushed and pulled by the goal conflicts of power, economy and low vibrations, the inline six manages manfully, sings with tremendous character at high revs and pulls strongly down low. It’s smooth, it doesn’t do anything to be noticed until you ask it to work harder. Then, even in the X4, it’s fast.

It’s so fast that it hauls the X4 to 100km/h in 5.5sec, which it does with an impressive disdain for its 1815kg. It has just a slight pause off the line until the engine spins up to 1200rpm, where the peak torque hits, and then it’s on song and gone, revving beyond 7000rpm happily time and again.

The six is at its best between 3000-6500rpm, but it never displays what you could fairly call weakness.

It flits through the gearbox with sneakiness in Comfort mode and a more pronounced engagement in Sport and by the time fourth gear is topping out, you’re already doing 160km/h and well on the way to the 247km/h top speed.

It’s a real perception buster, the X4. Partly, that’s due to the body stiffness and control upgrades delivered on the X3 facelift. Partly, it’s due to a body that’s slightly stiffer than the stodgier sibling. Partly, it’s due to a roofline 36mm lower and the front seat H points (where the hips are) being 20mm lower.

It’s 14mm shorter, at 4671mm, than the X3, despite sharing the donor car’s 2810mm wheelbase and its fat rear hips do little to hide the 1632mm rear track width sprouting from the five-link rear suspension.

There’s a healthy luggage area, too, including 500 litres of capacity when the 40:20:40 rear seat is in its normal position and 1400 litres when it is down flat. It has a standard push-button opening and closing system, delivers a useful flat floor and has tie down hooks and elastic straps to hold vital stuff in place during all that wild cornering it’s capable of.

The downside comes in the rear seat. BMW admits the X4 is a five seater, but not for five adults. It is, instead, a great thing for two adults and three kids or for two adults and two larger teenagers.

Adults can run in the back, but the seat base is short, offers little thigh support and there’s not much room under the front seats to let them eke out a touch more space.

Things are almost convincing up front, though you have to suspect that Mercedes-Benz’s upcoming MLS swoopy SUV will build on the stunning interior quality of the C-Class to leap ahead of this car.

The X4 has a large, deep dashboard, with the driver’s view dominated by a leather wheel, its typical two-dial instrument cluster, head-up display and (finally) a multi-media screen that is integrated into the dashboard rather than jutting up from it. Down on the central tunnel, to the right of the transmission shifter, lurks the standard BMW multi-media navigation module, while the vehicle mode shifter is on the left.

For the passenger, though, the view is dominated by an enormous swathe of black, dog nose-patterned BMW soft-touch plastic, which rises up from beneath the glovebox, curves around the multi-media screen and finally occupies all the real estate up top between the A-pillars.

It’s cumbersome, at best, and doesn’t smack of prestige at all. And no passenger gets an overhead grab handle.

It’s a pity, really, because the engineering beneath the newly curvaceous skin is obvious from the first corner or bump strike and it’s a car that integrates the new with the established (like the powertrain) beautifully.