BMW 4-Series (F32)

2014 BMW 4-Series

At BMW, they're always at the forefront of creating some of the most promising cars in the market today and even though they're very expensive once you check in their preisliste, they're still worth giving a try on these. However, while some Bimmers feel as forgiving your grandma giving you money before you set off, there are some that are worth confusing, not as confusing as the newest addition to the BMW family.

The new 4-Series from BMW is a two-door coupe version which replaces the old 3-Series Coupes and it heralds the new naming scheme that from now on, sedan models will bear odd numbers such as 3, 5, and 7, where as coupe models bear even numbers like for instance...the 6-Series. Now why would BMW became so belligerent now? All we ever want is to keep BMW the same way as before and we all like keeping names for full model changes. Now, BMW is becoming more like what's going on in the news today, the North Korean peninsula, the Syrian Uprising, the Pork Barrel, the US Government Shutdown, on and on and on and on and hey, HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU, BMW; WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

2014 BMW 4-Series

Trying to fulfill BMW's slogan of "Freude am Fahren" is now heading in the wrong way because...let's be honest, there are news circulating BMW's going to make a front-wheel drive model and with an FF Bimmer in the slots, is the "Freude am Fahren" story came to a bitter climax and now became one of Germany's most boring car makers? And what was the whole point about the number 4? Don't you suppose to keep the 3-Series name like the good old days? This is just crud and changing names really infuriates loyalists into thinking what's wrong with BMW. Now, BMW makes ugly cars which is as ugly as Richard Armitage telling you a bedtime story on CBeeBies, what's next? Make it more dull to drive? That question is too early to be explained but in the meantime, let's examine what's wrong with the new 4-Series.

Although it maybe a new name for itself, it's still a 3-Series with less doors on the outside, which is suitable for the athletic type, not for the geek or nerd type or the yuppies and on the inside, it's all typical BMW interior to us. Forget about that, let's explain what you can expect on the 4-Series in terms of its driving style.

2014 BMW 4-Series interior

In the beginning, you have a choice of either a 2.0L turbo petrol, a 3.0L turbo petrol, or even a 2.0L diesel engine regardless of different kinds of configurations that caters the 4-Series' affairs. Here's a thing folks, a certain 4-Series model, the 435i, with the new 8-speed gearbox can get me from 0-100kph in about 5.1 seconds, just 0.3 seconds more than the defunct 420hp V8 manual M3, but still it's worth an attempt trying to catch up in today's trends. That's about 0.7 seconds quicker than the A5 3.0 TFSI quattro and .9 second quicker than the C 350 BlueEfficiency coupe. Impressive though, BMW sure knows how to make a coupe that blitzes through the competition and oh, if you want to make me talk like Doc, here goes...

4-Series Bimmer, you had a bad case of "8-speed-gearbox-quicker-than-manual-gearbox-itis". Yep, I already placed it on the Big Book of Boo Boos now and this case involves that how does an 8-speed auto gearbox acts quicker than the 6-speed manual gearbox and I'll let you into something...when this car is set to SPORT MODE, throttle response is even faster and the steering becomes noticeably more direct. The 8-speed gearbox have been altered to provide a significantly sportier drive. That all sounds nice but when in this mode, it has a bad case of "ride-is-too-hard-osis" and yes, it's going to be in the Big Book of Boo Boos too as well because it's going to be as stressful as putting the jigsaw puzzle in a noisy nightclub. But, if you were spending the weekend going for the shops, best to put it on COMFORT setting because in this mode, it's as fine and civilized as the song from a preschool show. Thank you.

Of course, it is a two-door saloon car but it feels as cuddly as Lambie. It even has two seats in the back with 13mm of legroom, which is nice. However, there's another thing to be added in the Big Book of Boo Boos because the boot space is 445 litres, short on the Mercedes C-Class Coupe’s 450-litre boot and the Audi A5’s 455-litre load. How should I call it? Oh yeah! "Boot-too-small-itis". Great, why am I sounded like Doc anyhow?

2014 BMW 4-Series

But still, even the 4-Series had a lot of boo-boos to be filled on the Big Book of Boo Boos such as the ride, the boot, the gearbox, and whatever's wrong with it, there's nothing to go wrong with it because even though it's a drastic name change for a 3-Series-based model, it drives better. It tries to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, a bad wolf in black sheep's clothing to be precise. That makes me very relieved to explained how does the 4-Series reacts the way like its 3-Series Coupe predecessors used to be. If BMW tries to keep its "freude am fahrne" promise, maybe this car would be the best pick for the next-generation of car enthusiasts and one day, when this one's getting better, they would rather shut up and take their money for good...just for fun.

Photo: BMW A.G.