Bucket Seat: BMW M4 Competition Convertible

This week saw BMW unveil the topless version of their most controversial model yet, the BMW M4 Competition. With the M3 and M4 already being acclimatized to the market, there still are some who still get uncomfortable looking at the large grille. Yes it is in your face and rather different from the brand but come now guys, its time to build a bridge, for me and many others, it looks great and the performance speaks for itself so lets forget about your opinion on the cosmetic aspects. Needless to say there was always going to be a performance model of the M4 and thank the heavens because BMW have opted to re-introduce the soft top. I mean, no offence to the hard top on the previous model but if you've ever driven the 4 Series with the folding hard top, you would know how much extra weight is added to the rear when folded as well as the car just not feeling hundred percent balanced. The only good thing I could speak about the folding hard top was that it looked cool while being opened or closed, almost like a transformer but that's about it for me. 

Anyway, lets not dwell on the past and look to the future with the all-new M4 convertible and my isn't she a beauty. BMW say that this is a new generation of top-class high performance sports car for the premium midsize segment. At the heart, the new M4 convertible retains the M TwinPower Turbo 3.0L inline 6-cylinder beast that powers its siblings the M3 and M4 Coupe, delivering 375kW and 600Nm of torque which propels the can from 0-100km/h in just 3.7 seconds! Doing that with the roof down must be another level of thrilling and probably will give new meaning to the term "feeling the wind in your hair". The engine is a high-revving one so you will be able to hear the sweet symphony of the exhaust even better with the convertible. 

Just like its hard top sibling, the M4 convertible will be offered in a host of colours and options for the end user to choose from, which includes all the cool stuff like multi-spoke rims, carbon kit, carbon seats not to mention some great textures and trims for that interior. Standard spec includes three-zone automatic climate control, ambient lighting, hi-fi speak system, plus BMW Live cockpit professional featuring fully digital display grouping, cloud based navigation system on BMW Maps and BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant. BMW promises an emotionally engaging drive with this new M4 convertible and I'm pretty sure it will deliver. The BMW M4 Competition Convertible M xDrive will be available in South Africa from the fourth quarter of 2021. Pricing yet to be announced. 

 

Bucket Seat: BMW 4 Series - First Impressions

The saying goes "time flys when you're having fun" and if you're an owner of a BMW 4 Series, that's just what you would be doing every time you drive yours. It's hard to believe the range has been in assistance for 4 years now, with the Coupe being launched in mid 2013 and the Convertible and Gran Coupe joining the ranks later in 2014. Since then BMW have sold over 400,000 units worldwide with a vast majority of sales coming from the USA with Europe in second place and 5,500 coming from South Africa. From those stats, BMW were able to establish that buyers of the 4 Series bought the cars because of the aesthetics and elegance the model offered. The 4 Series was brought in by BMW to differentiate the model from the popular 3 Series, while the car did borrow many attributes from the popular sedan, it was designed to give the driver a more dynamic and sporty experience.  Being at the end of it's cycle, I flew up last week to sample the updated 4 Series range which saw all three variants launch at one time. I spent the day driving the 4 Series Coupe and Gran Coupe while exploring the magnificent roads and sights of the Mpumalanga province.

So whats new? That's the question I got throughout the day on my social media accounts. Well not much has been changed in the overall look of the car but there are many subtle changes that make sense and add appeal to this already popular model. The tag line for the launch was "4 Means More" and the end user of the 4 Series is definitely getting more than before. The most striking change is the new hexagonal headlights, BMW has phased out the Xenon technology and opted for Bi-LED lights in the entire range with an option of having the Adaptive LED lights as an added extra. These lights don't just look pretty but work wonders on the road, giving the driver a further depth of sight at night and also is a much softer light for on coming drivers. The rear lights also received the LED treatment with progressive LED tech being used for them. The lights look great and add to the flow of the design and but are functional as well. 

Along with these, the new 4 Series also has a sense of exclusivity to it now with two new colours that are only available for this model range, that being Snapper Rocks Blue and Sunset Orange. Both extremely striking colours and certainly bring out the sporty and aggressive nature of the car. There is also some new rims that are available only for the 4 Series, again adding that element of individuality and ensuring that every 4 Series can be custom made for each prospective buyer. Moving into the car, much has remained the same with a few extra chrome touches around the dash, giving the car a more premium feel. The 4 Series also comes standard with BMW's business Satnav screen with the option to upgrade to the bigger professional Satnav screen which features BMW's new tile menu system which was launched in the new 7 Series. 

As far as cosmetics go, that is a bout it. The 4 Series range does come with the new engine variants which was phased into previous spec when the engines were introduced in 3 Series. That being the 420i, 430i, 440i and 420d and of course the much famed M4. Other performance enhancements of the 4 Series see's the car come in with a redesigned chassis, stiffer suspension, modified dampers, update ABS which gives the car a shorter breaking distance and better stability, all of which were put to the rest on my drive in both the 420d Coupe and the 420i Gran Coupe. It was had to differentiate the drives both cars gave you, as with the Gran Coupe, you not only have the extra doors but also a slight change in shape but the designers have done a brilliant job in give the driver the center of gravity, the seating position is lower, with the body being wider all adding up to more of an athletic performance and agile handling. I did feel over high speeds that the steering still remained rather loose on the Gran Coupe which is unbecoming a bit but the car proved to be stable and still jetted off in the intended direction. 

Pricing on the updated 4 Series is a lot compared to the 3 Series but one has to understand that this range is vastly different and offers the end user a lot more, not just in appearance but in as a total driving package. Also whats interesting to note is that the Coupe and the Gran Coupe are priced the same, so if you're looking a for a family car but still want it to be a fun and invigorating drive, the Gran Coupe would be ideal for you. For me that is my pick out of the bunch, it's practical, stylish and offers the exact same driving dynamics as its two door brother the Coupe so in essence you're getting more from the car than what you're paying. Overall the enhancements made to the updated 4 Series should prove to be a major selling point for the model in SA and I can see this one doing very well across the variants that is offered. 

PRICING

Engine	Coupe	Gran Coupe	Convertible
420i	R624,400 (Auto)	R624,400 (Auto)	R736,200 (Auto)
430i	R711,100 (Auto)	R711,100 (Auto)	R848,400 (Auto)
440i	R861,100 (Auto)	R861,100 (Auto)	R985,100 (Auto)
420d	R660,100 (Auto)	R660,100 (Auto)	*not available*
M4	R1,251,036 (Auto)	*not available*	R1,433,762 (Auto)

Bucket Seat: 2017 BMW 4 Series Facelift

The BMW 3 Series face-lift has been on the roads for little over a year now and it was only time it's two door variant received the subtle cosmetic changes as well. Yesterday BMW SA released images showing these changes to the 4 Series line up which includes the Coupe, Cabriolet and Gran Coupe. Like the 3 Series, the major changes see's a revised LED headlamp configuration as well has new design to the tail light LED's. 

Engines on the 4 Series were changed with the 3 Series face-lift seeing that the models all use the same engines, it wouldn't have made sense for BMW to still continue making the older ones just for the 4 Series, so nothing has changed under the hood.  As I said for the 3 Series, while these changes are subtle, they add a bit more character to the car and style. All these upgrades also transfer over to the M4 Coupe and M4 Cabriolet. I look forward to testing the new variants soon. 

Bucket Seat: BMW M2

With all the hype built around the vehicle with the various spy pictures taken while it was in testing, many couldn't wait to see what the final product looked like and BMW did not disappoint! Many renders did the rounds with copy and pasted bumpers and side skirts from the M4 but the Germans tweaked things a bit with the front air intakes and lower stance, only thing it did borrow from the M4 was the 19" forged aluminium rims. 

It looks menacing and it should be, since it's powered by an all new 3 litre six-cylinder in-line-engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology. That beast of an engine develops 272kW and 370bhp at 6,500rpm with a reported fuel combined fuel consumption of 8.5l/100km thus making it the most powerful car in it's segment. 

Even though BMW calls this an all new model because of the name badge, it's predecessor, the 1M was loads of fun to drive for any motoring enthusiast,  in fact, Jeremy Clarkson said he'd rather buy a 1M than an M3 and that says a lot, so this M2 has got a lot to deliver but I have a feeling that it will be more than capable of doing do. 

It will be launched locally in the second quarter of next year, no indication of pricing yet but it's not going to be cheap, ultimately, you pay for what you get and in this one, you're getting a lot! The interior looks great, following its bigger M brothers with full racing inspired style, carbon fibre and aluminium finishes, racing leather seats and the whole M Sport package. It's a pocket rocket that's sure to send you smiling as you go sideways into a bend, we cannot wait to meet this one.

Bucket Seat: BMW M4 Convertible

With the local launch of BMW's road assault weapon the M4 just taken place under a month ago, word arrived from Germany of a topless version of the vehicle. If the M4 coupe were compared to a movie, it would be rated R18 LV with lots of violence from the power and strong language from the grunt of the engine, much like the Expendables. Now the M4 convertible is very similar but with added nudity, so R18 VN, the same violent power, strong language with the engine and you can take the top off.

The car follows the same lines as the 4 series convertible with the added masculinity of the M brand giving it a lower stance, bigger air intakes and flared wheel arches, no to mention the black rims. They've also added a few custom colours that are only available for this model. The interior is pretty much the same as the M4 coupe with a few different colour schemes, only thing different about it is that the roof comes down and you get a wind buffer to manually set up over the back seats should there be no passengers in them. 

The car gets the same 3 litre, 6 cylinder beast of an engine as its brother the coupe but due to the added weight from the roof, the performance figures are a bit down but not that much as they're almost on par with the M3. That's not too shabby if you ask me. The downside to this car again would be the luggage space, or lack of it. They do however kept the clever system of allowing one to access the space even when the roof is down which is brilliant as far as I'm concerned. 

For those that remember, I wasn't too pleased about the 4 series convertible but something about this particular car just makes sense. The M4 with its engine and exhaust system shifts away from the hollow "tin noise" as many described it of the old M3 and now has a more devilishly sounding grunt or roar to it, so it only makes sense that the driver also gets to experience this musical symphony for himself and not a drowned out cabin version of it. Whether or not I get to test the new M4 convertible remains to be seen, but here's crossing all fingers and toes that I do!