Within an hour of having landed at the scenic Kruger International Airport in Nelspruit, we were introduced to the new BMW 4 Series. In the line-up is a coupe, gran coupe and a hard top convertible. Petrol engines dominate the line-up and are offered in the 420i, the 430i, the 440i and the flagship M4 whilst only one diesel engine, the 420d, does duty for team 4 Series.

The updates

The interior upgrades across the 4 Series range include an instrument panel with double stitching, chrome accents and a centre console which comes in a high-gloss black colour, all combining very well to confirm the car’s quality status. Still in the interior, there have been updates to the optional Navigation system Professional with iDrive Touch Controller which now comes with three easy to use tile like split screens. The driver can also order an optional Multi Instrument Display which adds to the car’s visual displays in the various driving modes. Outside, the car has been treated to subtle sharper lines which give the car a sportier look, new LED headlights that come with a hexagonal shape, new LED back lights, more pronounced air intakes and two new colours, Snapper Rocks Blue (my favourite of the line-up) and Sunset Orange.

The complete line-up and engines

The 4 Series Coupe, Gran Coupe and Convertible are powered by a 135 kW engine for the 420i, a 185 kW engine for the 430i and a 240 kW engine for the 440i. A 140 kW 420d engine does duty in the Coupe and Gran Coupe but is not offered in the convertible. The rationale is that most buyers opt for the Coupe and Gran Coupe and the lower engines have to be made available to them in order to make the car more accessible. All models are available in manual and automatic except the 440i which is only offered in automatic.

Prices

Interestingly BMW has adopted the same pricing structure for the Coupe and Gran Coupe. These are the prices for the complete line up:

BMW 420i Coupe: R603 200 (M) / R624 400 (A)
BMW 420d Coupe: R639 300 (M) / R660 100 (A)
BMW 430i Coupe: R690 300 (M) / R711 100 (A)
BMW 440i Coupe: R861 100 (A)
BMW 420i Gran Coupe: R603 200 (M) / R624 400 (A)
BMW 420d Gran Coupe: R639 300 (M) R660 100 (A)
BMW 430i Gran Coupe: R690 300 (M) / R711 100 (A)
BMW 440i Gran Coupe: R861 100 (A)
BMW 420i Convertible: R715 400 (M) / R736 200 (A)
BMW 430i Convertible: R827 600 (M) / R848 400 (A)
BMW 440i Convertible: R985 100 (A)