Debuting with probably one of if not the most controversial (and not in a good way) designs BMW has come out with since the E65 7 Series with the Bangel Butt, the 4 is new for ‘21.
There are just 3 trims to the new 4 Series right now: 430i, 430i xDrive and M440i xDrive. The current M4, the convertibles and the Gran Coupe models are still based on the previous gen car until the new ones come next year.
The base 4 is the 430i and starts at the aforementioned $45,600.
It gets powered by BMW’s 2 liter TwinPower Turbo I4 putting out 255 horses & 294 lb/ft of torque. That gets routed to the rear wheels through an 8 speed auto. 0-60 is claimed to be 5.5 seconds before it tops out at 130; 155 if equipped with performance tires.
As with other BMW models now you can choose between 2 designs: either Sport or M Sport. Standout standard features regardless of design include:
- Active Blind Spot Detection
- Lane Departure Warning
- Active Driving Assistant
- Frontal Collision Warning w/ City Collision Mitigation
- SiriusXM with 360L + 1 year All Access Subscription
- Navigation System
Choosing the standard Sport design will get you:
- Shadowline Exterior Trim
- 18” Double-spoke orbit grey wheels
- Sport Seats
If you choose the M Sport design it adds $3,800 to the base price which gets you:
- Shadowline Exterior Trim
- 19" M Double-spoke bi-color wheels
- M steering wheel
- Aerodynamic Kit
I choose the M Sport trim. Exterior color choices total out to 8. 2 non metallic and 6 metallic. All 6 metallic colors are $550. However, 3 of them (2 metallic; Sunset Orange; Bluestone Metallic & one non metallic; Jet Black) either require additional equipment or conflict with the M Sport Design. My color choice of Jet Black was one of those choices. For some weird reason it didn’t work with the M Sport design (I suspect that this is to force you into spending $550 for the Black Sapphire Metallic paint. Its dumb. Black is Black), requiring the addition of $600 19” wheels riding on all season run flats and a $900 Convenience package. So to keep the M Sport package I choose the Black metallic paint. There are 8 wheel choices to choose from. Weirdly, all are 19” and are of varying design and colors. Only 3 of the 8 are performance rubber. All the others are all season run flats. 3 of the wheels require additional equipment/packages.
Interior colors/seating choices are plentiful with a choice of 8 total color choices (2 Sensatec, 7 Vernasca Leather). All leather choices are $1,450 options and require no additional equipment. So I chose a nice Tacora Red leather seating with contrasting stitching. Dash trim choices total out to 5 and I choose a mesh effect Aluminum trim.
There are quite a few options, as it should be with this being BMW. To start, there are 4 option packages:
Dynamic Handling Package $2,450: One of BMW’s customizable option packages, included options are an M Sport differential, with the customizable options being a choice of either M Sport brake calipers in either red or blue, and two 19” double spoke wheels. Adding this package requires an additional $700 for Adaptive M Suspension.
Driver Assistance Professional Package $1,700: Includes Active Driving Assistant Pro, BMW’s radar based drivers assistance suite that comes with Traffic Jam Assist; Steering and Lane Control Assistant; Emergency Stop Assistant, and Traffic Jam Assistant which provides partially automated steering input on limited-access highways and controlled access roads up to 40 MPH in suitable driving conditions. Requires an additional $900 for Live Cockpit Pro with nav.
Shadowline Package $300: Trims the grill and exhaust in black high gloss chrome and caps the mirrors in Black.
Parking Assistance Package $700: Comes with Parking Assistant Plus, Surround View with 3D View and Active Park Distance Control.
In addition to the option packages, there are 16 stand alone options as well:
- Drive Recorder $100: Pretty much a built in surveillance system that allows you to playback a video of the vehicle’s surroundings at all times on the dash display.
- Live Cockpit Pro (included with package)
- Remote Start $300
- Heated Steering Wheel $190
- Hands Free Power Tailgate $250
- Satin Aluminum line exterior trim
- Heated front seats $500
- Sensatec Dash (included with package)
- Cooled front seats $350
- Ambient Lighting (included with package)
- Head Up Display $1,100
- Wireless Charging with in vehicle hotspot $500
- 16 Speaker 600 Watt Harmon Kardon audio system $875
- M Sport Brakes with Blue Calipers (included with package)
- Adaptive M Sport Suspension (included with package)
- M Sport Brakes with Red Calipers
Of these I choose the remote start, cooled seats, head up display, wireless charging & hotspot and Harmon Kardon sound system. All in as configured here, a base 430i is $60,925; $59,825 with no M Sport trim. Pricey but not at all surprising. It also should be noted that choosing any Black wheel on the standard Sport design automatically requires choosing the M Sport design.
The 430i xDrive starts at $47,600 and rings in a little cheaper at $58,525; $62,375 with the M Sport design.
Lastly, the top dog performance trim until the M4 arrives is the $69,150 M440i xDrive. Powered by a TwinPower Turbo 3 liter I6, it puts out 382 horses to all 4 wheels through an 8 speed auto with launch control. It has a 4.3 0-60 time.
As with the other trims the M440i has 2 designs: M Performance which is the base, and Shadowline. Shadowline adds another $300 to the price and caps the mirror in Black and adds extra Black trim pieces. Standout standard features on the M440i include:
- Live Cockpit with Navigation
- Active Driving Assistant
- SiriusXM with 360L + 1 year All Access Subscription
- M Sport Brakes with Blue Calipers
- M Sport suspension
- Comfort Access keyless entry
Exterior color choices total out to be 7. 6 metallic and 1 non metallic. All metallic colors are $550. With this being the performance trim, there are 12 wheels choices. There are 2 18” wheels and 10 19” choices. All ride on either all season or high performance run flats, though the majority are high performance tires. 3 of the wheels require additional packages or equipment. 7 of the other wheels, all 19”s, are $600 options. I choose one of these.
Interior upholstery totals out to 7 choices. Its insane that with a nearly $70k starting price that the standard seats are Black Sensatec. The other 6 options are all $1,450 and are leather. Also for some reason they all conflict with the ambient lighting. So if you want ambient lighting and leather, you cant do it. You’re only able to get ambient lighting with the Sensatec seating.
There are only 3 option packages on the M440i. 2 of the them are the same as as the standard 4 (Driving Assistance Professional & Parking Assistance Package). But the last is specific to the M440i. At $1,500 its a Cooling & High Performance Tire Package. One of the customizable option packages, it allows for you to bundle one of 3 wheel designs along with an M Tech Package ( increased drivetrain cooling) and Adaptive M Suspension. I added this as well along with the 3 other packages.
Along with the same individual options as the other 4 (things like cooled seats, HUD display etc), the M440i as configured here topped out at $70,175. Which tells me the new M4 will top if not outright crest $80k if not more. If you can get past the grill, its...I dont know. Honestly I cant get past the grill. Its ugly as hell. But I expect the BMW faithful to not even care.
