By Otsile Kadiege

BMW South Africa has announced the pricing and model range of the second generation 4 Series Gran Coupe. The newcomer, which is officially being launched this week, boasts striking new looks, premium interior, latest technology and powerful, and frugal powertrains.

Bold new look

The new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe gets similar looks with its fully-electric i4 sibling. The new 4 Series Gran Coupe features a prominent, opinion-splitting, grille that is flanked by slim full-LED headlights which come with U-shaped fibre-optic light guides for the daytime running lights. There is also the option of Adaptive LED Headlights with BMW Laserlight including BMW Selective Beam non-dazzling high beam assistant.

The side profile features precise lines, doors with frameless windows and flush-fitting handles. As standard, the 4 GC is fitted with 17-inch wheels and 18-inch wheels on the M440i xDrive.

The rear-end features stylishly darkened full-LED rear lights, which extend well into the flanks. For a sportier look, customers can opt for M Carbon exterior package or model-specific M Performance Parts.

Premium and practical interior

Inside, the new 4 Series Gran Coupe looks similar to the 4 Series coupe. As standard, the 4 Series Gran Coupe is fitted with BMW Live Cockpit Plus which comprises of the iDrive operating system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, an 8.8-inch control display and a 5.1-inch colour display in the instrument cluster. The optional BMW Live Cockpit Professional features a fully digital screen grouping including a high-resolution instrument cluster with a screen diagonal of 12.3 inches behind the steering wheel and a 10.25-inch control display.

For enhanced driving pleasure and comfort, customers can opt for items such as seat heating and ventilation, Vernasca and BMW Individual leather trim options, Sensatec or leather coverings for the instrument panel, the M Sport package Pro, a large glass slide/tilt sunroof, ambient lighting and the Harmon Kardon Surround Sound System.

The versatile interior of the new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe offers generous amounts of space in the rear. It also offers 470 litres of boot space which can be expanded to a maximum of 1,290 litres by folding down the sections of the rear backrest, with its standard 40: 20:40 split. The new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe measures at 4,783mm in exterior length, 1,852mm in width and 1,442mm in height making it 43mm longer, 27mm wider and 53mm taller than its predecessor, while the track widths have also grown – to 1,595mm at the front (+50 mm) and 1,623mm at the rear (+29 mm).

Powertrains

The local 4 Series Gran Coupé range consists of a diesel engine and two petrol engines, namely 420d, 420i and M440i xDrive. The range-topping M440i xDrive Gran Coupé is powered by a 285 kW in-line petrol engine. The four-cylinder petrol engine in the BMW 420i Gran Coupé produces maximum output of 135 kW. And a 140 kW four-cylinder diesel engine can be found under the bonnet of the BMW 420d Gran Coupé.

All the engines team up with an eight-speed Sports Steptronic transmission with gearshift paddles as standard.

Pricing

The new 4 Series Gran Coupé is priced from R930,000 for the 420i M Sport Model and Deluxe Package whilst the 420d M Sport Model and Deluxe Package is priced from R980,000. The top-spec M440i xDrive is priced from R1,300,000.

Safety

Some 40 assistance functions designed to enable comfortable and safe driving and parking are available as standard or options for the new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé.