BMW 4 series coupe concept

The last paragraph of this review nails it:

www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/bmw/4-series/first-drives/bmw-4-series-420d-m-sport-coupe-2020-uk-review

Except that's not divisive design, it's just crap design. Pontiac Aztec-level crap. The GC version may improve on the bits I don't like about the side profile but that's still a shocker of a front end.

And besides, for the record, I still don't like the original Bangle 7-series or the first gen X3 all these years later. Likewise the Jaguar XJ, which I still maintain is ruined by its front and rear lights.

But getting used to it and liking it enough to part with hard earned cash are two different things. It would no longer be top of my list of cars to buy.

BMW's 4WD  system is very rear biased and gives loads of RWD feeling. I still haven't changed to my winter tyres and on yesterday's wet roads I was getting a rear end twitch under power when the nearside rear would lose traction. I put the power and torque gauges on the screen and experimented a bit applying power in a straight line. On average, I lost traction around 120Kwh (c167hp) and 300lb of torque so not really a bootfull. I do have a bit of fun on roundabouts but as you allude to, I am nervous to do anything at higher speeds because of the weight and very limited space to correct anything on the road.

My friend loves his M2 which is on Pilot Sport 4s and in damp and colder conditions seems to behave much better than my car. In the dry mine is a monster.

I agree that the new 2 series is an opportunity for BMW to retain its loyal following without whom they would not be the company they are today.

I thought about it and then reasoned that spending £1,000 on new rubber when I already had 4 decent tyres was a bit of a waste. They will replace the PZero's when the time comes.
I changed to my winter wheels and tyres yesterday and noticed that the rear tyres appear more worn in the middle where they are down to a bit over 4mm whereas on the shoulders of the tyres there is nearly 5mm. That would normally be associated with being over-inflated but I tend to run the PZeros at about 2.8 Bar when the recommended pressure is 2.9. Something odd going on.

The winter tyres have a recommended pressure of 2.3 Bar and it's like riding on a magic carpet.

The N rated P Zeros we had on the Boxster were a good all round tyre, but they weren't troubled in the wet anywhere near the same. The grip in the dry was amazing, but they looked like an F1 tyre at the end of the race when it was parked up, that's how sticky they were. They only lasted 9-10,000 miles on the rear, but weren't horrendously expensive.

I'd like to put PS4S onto the Golf, but the Contis are a good tyre which makes the man maths difficult.

I know these are only renderings based on disguised cars, but they do show that BMW styling could actually get worse.


X8




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Oh dear....

Ouch, that is one high revving motor, 65,000RPM!

What next? It is a fugly bugger though.

It's especially irksome because, grilles apart, the forthcoming i4 should, being based on the new 4GC, be ideal for us. From the little I've seen it should be a good-looking shape (rather better than the 2dr version as it loses the heaviness around the rear flanks) just spoiled by that "Cyrano de Bergerac on a bad day" schnozz.

Hmmm I'm probably going to regret saying this but I could, sort of, see me considering one of these at some point.
However, it'd have to be in the right colour - black - and I'd have to get busy on the grille with a black marker pen to get rid of those stupid silver dashes.
Plus it would probably help being covered in dirt - not a problem at the moment as the 320 is currently brown!

Having said that I still absolutely hate the instruments and the heater and vent controls still look identical to the ones in the 3 series I sat in when it first came out and which were extremely nasty chromed plastic.

Actually I still think the rear view is Lexus coupe and the sides are a bit dull in an overstyled sort of way.

I'd much rather go for a late model F3X than this.

That’s not a new issue though, the higher end previous model 3/4 series had an interior which had a lot in common with the 1 series which wasn’t great for a £40k plus car.  

Having spent a bit of time in the current 3 series I do think it’s got worse and unfortunately some of the cheaper feeling controls (and the awful instrument) have worked their way up the range.

Agree with you on the M550i, it’s my favourite current BMW now they’ve ruined the 7 series. But spec it up with nice leather and the packs I’d want and even with a good discount it’s too expensive because of how much you’d lose.  A highly specced demonstrator would be great, still going to lose a lot but it would probably be worth it.

I think the M550i is a slightly softer and marginally detuned version of my car. I had a passenger ride recently in an M5 Competition and it is undoubtedly stiffer than my car. It is of a level of firmness that could become tiresome on most UK roads. Motorways and smooth A roads would be OK but the farm tracks many of us have to put up with would take all the enjoyment out of it. My car is stiff enough and still handles and grips really well. In fact it has so much grip that to explore it on the road would get you banned. Unless you are going to track the car I doubt any of the benefits of the Competition over the standard car could ever be exploited.

The M550i may well have been introduced to the UK to fill the void since they dropped the standard M5 from the line-up.

That's a good video. The consolation for me is that I paid only a smidgen more for a new well loaded M5 than the base M550i is now and I am very pleased I didn't get bullied into spending £5K more for the Competition. For me the M5 isn't about the last 10th of a second on a twisty track, it's much more about covering miles quickly and comfortably and being able to enjoy the V8 sound and tremendous push in the back when exiting a corner or in an overtake. Combined with the great grip and poise I can't think of many better ways to travel.