BMW 4-Series

Just like United States, Germany’s car industry is dominated by “Big Three” automakers, mostly when it comes to the luxury market. But it’s interesting to observe that while the North-Americans have tried to narrow down their offer to the best-selling marques and vehicles, the Germans’ have managed to raise profits using the exact opposite strategy. BMW’s line increase has named the newcomers with even numbers to avoid interfering with the traditional series. This article’s car is the very latest example of that.

Where German automakers differ very much from almost every other is on how they deal with traditions. Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz’s product policies are very similar to, for instance, Mc Donald’s or The Coca-Cola Company’s: there can be several novelties, but the bigger sales always rely on the same traditional names. Sure, buying new cars is way more complex than Johnnie Walkers or no. 5s, but badges such as Honda Civic or VW Golf have the very same prestige in the car world as those others in their respective fields. 3-Series is one of the best examples of that, and this is the exact reason why BMW needs to be very careful with each update made on that line.

After all, since it’s that dependent on its own tradition, any proposals which might follow other directions can hit the streets, indeed, but under other lines. Such strategy has motivated some conflicts in the past few years due to the increasing need of differentiation, in order to preserve high sales. The market’s response to novelties such as Citroën DS3 and Land Rover Evoque showed that deeper innovations could be very well-accepted, but it is always excessively risky to affect the traditional lines’ image. The only way out, therefore, resulted to be offering both kinds of vehicles at the same time. As separately as possible.

Taking all the sports cars to their own series enabled both to work much better on their respective goals. 3-Series can become only as sporty as family cars should be, in order to to preserve its urban qualities. The drivers who appreciate good performance will always be more tempted to take these cars than an Acura or a Chrysler, but it won’t reject the ones who seek a comfortable and roomy vehicle. Besides that, those sports cars receive much bigger space to become much sportier. 4-Series still resembles a new 3-Series Coupé, specially at the front fascia, but it’s also easy to observe its exclusivities.

Being 26 mm longer (with 50 mm longer wheelbase), 43 mm wider and 16 mm lower gives whole new proportions to the car, which manages to stay distant from both 6-Series’ premium image and the future 2-Series’ hot compact look. Comparing to 3-Series, the overall styling became bolder, more aggressive. It’s very interesting to notice that since this model has been sporty from its project’s very beginning, there’s no need to rely on the details: 4-Series’ character is displayed from its essence, through elements such as long and low front, short rear and strong contours. In other words, creating a whole new car stopped BMW from depending on the details to differentiate sporties from their urban variations.

Entering this car doesn’t bring many surprises. The automaker’s preference for horizontal lines makes the interior look wider, beside the fact that its dimensions are actually bigger than the outgoing coupé’s. While it’s possible to fold the rear seats in 40/20/40 divisions to facilitate trunk access (which helps taking oddly-shaped objects like skis), the central console has an interesting barrier, that places iDrive’s Touch Controller next to the passenger while isolating the gearbox lever and controls for the driver. Like the others, 4-Series comes in Luxury, Modern and Sport lines. Each one brings several small exclusivities to give the car different touches, like changing accents’ colors, wheels and the entire interior’s color scheme: it’s always interesting to observe how these can make the very same room look so different.

Since BMW once again made huge efforts to offer the best and sportiest driving possible, improving stability and stiffness and lowering the gravity center, it isn’t surprising at all that this car already offers the M Sport package: there are other exclusive interior scheme and wheels (standard 18” and optional 19” sets), but paired to a complete aerodynamic kit. When it comes to powertrain, 420d offers 184 hp and 280 lb-ft, 428i produces 245 hp and 258 lb-ft and 435i achieves 306 hp and 295 lb-ft. The latter can use xDrive and upgrade the six-speed manual transmission to an automatic eight-speed set.

Lançamento no Brasil (21/03/2014)

Entusiastas de carros esportivos agora têm mais uma atração para observar nas ruas. O mais novo cupê da BMW chega ao Brasil em sua versão de topo, 435i M Sport, por R$ 299.950. Se ele ainda não traz todo o potencial que a marca reserva para a versão M4, fatores como centro de gravidade rebaixado, tração traseira e a distribuição de peso em exatos 50/50 sobre cada eixo certamente trarão dirigibilidade impressionante mesmo às versões mais acessíveis. Como ela seria, então, na variação que traz o 3.0 TwinPower Turbo e seus seis cilindros em linha que geram potência de 306 cv e torque de 40,8 kgfm? Dicas muito boas são números como a aceleração de 0 a 100 km/h em 5s1 e a velocidade máxima de 250 km/h, limitada eletronicamente.

Tudo isso encontra resposta de mesmo nível na cabine, cujos encantos começam com o revestimento em couro associado a detalhes em alumínio. Sua lista de equipamentos fica ainda mais generosa com o pacote M Sport, e  traz bancos dianteiros esportivos com ajustes elétricos, ar-condicionado automático digital, teto solar e central de entretenimento, com tela de 8,8” em alta definição, acesso à internet, conexão Bluetooth, comandos de voz em português, câmera de ré com imagens em 360° e o iDrive Touch Controller. Outros itens importantes são os controles de estabilidade e tração, o controle de largada, o sistema start/stop e a função Eco Pro, as duas últimas dedicadas a reduzir o consumo de combustível.