New BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe revealed

• Priced from £40,465
• Petrol and diesel engines with mild-hybrid tech available
• On sale in November 2021

Meet the new BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. You might recognise its design cues from the recently launched all-electric i4, of which it is a conventionally powered alternative. Priced from £40,465, rising to £54,670 for the range-topping M440i xDrive Gran Coupe, it adds four-door coupe-styling to the 4 Series range and becomes BMW’s latest rival to the Audi A5 Sportback and Mercedes CLA when it goes on sale in November.

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Exterior and design

The BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe is a four-door version of the coupe, and offers a slinkier shape than the BMW 3 Series saloon on which it’s based. While it shares its platform with the 3 Series, BMW claims the Gran Coupe comes up trumps in terms of aerodynamics and body rigidity, thanks to a wider track and clever chassis technology borrowed from the 4 Series Coupe.

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The Gran Coupe shares many design cues with the coupe, including BMW’s signature vertical kidney grilles. It gets a slightly tweaked version of its front bumper, however, and reshaped air intakes. LED headlights and daytime running lights will be fitted as standard, with BMW’s Laserlight technology be available as an optional extra.

The rear of the 4 Series Gran Coupe is notably different to both the 3 Series and 4 Series coupe, featuring a new diffuser, bumper design, dual-exit exhaust pipes and tail lights.

Boasting a slightly longer wheelbase (the difference between the front and rear wheels) than the 3 Series and a slightly bigger body, BMW has managed to increase the boot space by 39 litres to 470 litres over the previous model.

Interior and specifications

While the external styling might be different to the 3 Series, the interior is almost identical. This is good news, since the inside of the 3 Series feels like a scaled-down BMW 5 Series and shares plenty of its technology.

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From launch, the 4 Series Gran Coupe will come in M Sport trim. This means exterior detailing will be finished in high-gloss black in place of chrome and all models will sit on 18-inch M double-spoke alloy wheels as standard. Inside, the cabin is finished in premium leather upholstery with anthracite headlining and aluminium trim.

There will also be a sportier M Sport Pro Edition trim available, which adds 19-inch M alloy wheels, an M Sport spoiler and black mirror caps. Chassis upgrades include an M Sport differential, M Sport adaptive suspension and M Sport brakes. The cabin, meanwhile, has piano black instead of aluminum trim.

Regardless of which model you choose, the 4 Series Gran Coupe comes equipped with a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel and a 10.25-inch central infotainment screen. A heads-up display is an optional extra. The Gran Coupe gets sports seats as standard and, since the 4 Series is a full five-seater, it gets a proper three-seat rear bench that can fold in a 40:20:40 configuration.

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When it comes to safety and driver-assistance features, the 4 Series Gran Coupe gets cruise control with a speed limiter function, along with front-collision warning. BMW Driving Assistant Professional, which enables semi-automated driving on motorways, is available as an option.

Engines and performance

The entry level 420i petrol model is powered by a 181bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine that drives the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It can sprint from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds and return an average of 42.8mpg.

The next model up, the 430i, is priced from £44,720. It uses the same 2.0-litre engine but with 242bhp, reducing the 0-62mph dash to 6.2 seconds. It claims official economy of 41.5mpg.

The flagship all-wheel drive M440i xDrive model houses a twin-turbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine with mild-hybrid tech, which packs 359bhp. It can go from 0-62mph in just 4.7 seconds but fuel economy drops significantly to 35.3mpg.

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One diesel engine will be available in the entry-level model. The 420d is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine with mild-hybrid assistance, which has a power output of 187bhp. It’s available in either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, with both models using the eight-speed Steptronic automatic gearbox.

The former has a combined fuel economy figure of 58.9mpg but only takes 7.3 seconds to get from 0-62mph. The four-wheel-drive xDrive variant achieves 55.4mpg and takes 7.6 seconds to complete the same sprint. All models come with the car-maker's eight-speed Steptronic automatic gearbox.

Check out our article on the BMW i4 M50 prototype or read our guide to the best executive cars.