The most recent development of the kidney grille for production vehicles has it looking large, upright and forward-leaning, and a look back at BMW history and the evolution of the grill shows just how much the new BMW 4 Series Coupé follows the legendary sports car tradition at the automaker.
For the new 4-Series, BMW has evolved their grille to somewhat epic proportions, drawing inspiration from such classics as the BMW 328 Coupé of the 1930s, the BMW 3.0 CS from the 1970s and the original 303, sure it’s big, bold and positively unmissable but it demonstrates the new era of the brand and as such should be heralded – in my opinion.
Back to the 420i itself. The new 4-Series Gran Coupe’s dimensions are bullet-like, with an overall length of 4.68m while its height is a mere 1.4m. The nose, apart from that big grille, features LED headlight and cup-shaped DRLs. I had been given the M-Sport variant so areas such as the lower valance and air curtains (that were blocked off) came with added black which contrasted well against the bright white body work.
The coupe’s profile came with M-Sport badging and M-Sport 19-inch black alloys, large wide-opening doors for easy access front and rear plus a long flowing roofline that dipped down to the tail. The rear itself offers more LED lighting, a pair of exhaust tips that are actually connected to the exhaust and a boot lip spoiler that conceals 440L of ‘golf bag holding’ boot space within.
Under the long sloping bonnet is a 2L Twin-Power turbo engine that is good but not outstanding. It offers up 135kWs of power when your rev needle gets to 5000 and 300Nm of torque from 1,350. 0-100km/h comes at 7.5 seconds which is OK, however the fuel-economy is good, 6.4L/100km – although not the figure most BMW enthusiasts will be searching for. Mind you, there is a 3L 440i for those in a sub 5s hurry.