Vehicles like the old Ford Focus, Opel Astra and that Mégane used to offer around five bodies from the moment of the release. For the automaker it’s always convenient to have a big lineup developed with minimum costs, but the truth is each category has a different sales performance. So even though all those options had many qualities in common, some simply wouldn’t sell well enough. The consequences were the early removal of some of those and the decision to be more restricted on the following projects. What makes BMW’s case interesting, in turn, is that it could be described as not only observing and then acting, but some sort of “observe and act as much as you want, but only after making sure to be prepared as much as possible”.
X6 arrived without anything ensuring it would sell well, it’s true. But so is the fact that the company still wasn’t taking too much of a risk either. The coupé-inspired crossover was derived from X5’s project, which already had great market performance itself and wasn’t expected to have conflicts with the new brother. So if BMW failed to sell X6, at least there wouldn’t be too many costs to cover anyway. But since the frequency with which it appears at the streets means it became a great success, for a luxury vehicle, the Germans started to think about expanding what they call the Sports Activity Coupe (SAC) concept. Once again, after being prepared, the sequence was to observe the market and then decide on which action to execute.
That “being prepared” means being able to release a new car with the least possible efforts. German automakers are a reference on that because they’ve started to work towards sharing platforms and powertrain long before it became a worldwide trend. Despite looking different, 4-Series still has a lot in common with 3-Series’ project. So after those vehicles were introduced and started to prosper, it was time to “cross-reference” it with BMW’s other subversive (and, therefore, purist-insulting) lines. In other words, like Gran Turismo was expanded from 5-Series to 3-Series, Gran Coupé did the same from 6-Series to 4-Series weeks ago. And given that you can think of X4 as X3’s sporty brother just as much as X6’s younger brother, this article’s car did both things.
This is why there isn’t too much new to talk about X4. Like the ‘2013 concept anticipated, this car is a greatest-hits of other BMWs. The aggressive front is inspired on 4-Series, which took it from 3-Series itself. The sides feature X6’s signature roofline, which the automaker claims to have “the sporting elegance of a classical coupe”. And the rear reminds of pretty much all the other BMW Xs. This car really doesn’t bring anything original at all, but given the models from which it took inspiration, this isn’t such a bad thing. If you’re coming from X3, you might want to know the new brother is 14-mm longer and 36-mm lower, not to mention it seats front passengers 20-mm lower, which goes to 28 mm at the back. Even so, whoever entered an X6 – or simply saw its silhouette – knows that doesn’t mean X4 is a roomy car.
Not that it wanted it, actually. Even though it seats five as standard (you need to upgrade X6 from four seats with the optionals), since you can use X3 to travel with the family, X4 focuses on sportiness. BMW claims its driving dynamics is way better since the entry-level versions, like xDrive20d (187 hp, 295 lb-ft and 129 g/km of CO2). Such situation gets better if you choose xDrive30d (255 hp and 413 lb-ft) or xDrive35d (309 hp, 465 lb-ft, 20 kpl and 0-100 kph in 5s2). However, since the options change according to the country, X4 also burns gasoline, whether at xDrive28i (240 hp and 0-100 kph in 6s) and xDrive 35i (300 hp and 0-100 kph in 5s2). And if you’re willing to wait a little more, the M Performance is expected to increase that list with both M40i and M40d.
Entering the car, if you look to one side there will be a copy of X3’s dashboard, which isn’t much different from what is seen on other BMWs. Looking the other way you’ll spot the 500-liter trunk, which uses electric liftgate and goes to 1,440 liters when you fold the 40/20/40 seats. Between them, enjoy the standard equipment list with 18” alloy wheels, Business Media infotainment system, heated front seats, LED fog lights, rear parking sensors, speed-sensitive steering and Xenon HID headlights, among many others. The optionals include full headlights in LEDs and low-drag “aero wheels”, besides xLine and M Sport packages, the first one focused on aesthetics and the second on performance. BMW X4 will hit European and North-American streets later this year.
Lançamento no Brasil (20/12/2014)
Apresentado ao país durante o último Salão do Automóvel, o mais novo Sports Activity Coupé da BMW teve suas vendas iniciadas no mercado nacional. O X4 oferece uma alternativa mais informal e esportiva ao irmão X3, e vem em duas versões: xDrive28i X-Line custando R$ 264.950 e xDrive35i M Sport por R$ 314.950. A primeira usa um motor 2.0 biturbo que gera 245 cv e 35,6 kgfm e o leva de 0 a 100 km/h em 6,4 segundos. Já a segunda eleva esses números a 306 cv, 40,7 kgfm e 5,5 segundos. As duas sempre utilizam câmbio automático de oito marchas, mas voltam a diferir quando se passa às listas de equipamentos.
Sempre como itens de série, o xDrive28i oferece bancos de couro, câmera de ré, central de entretenimento com tela de alta definição e controle por botão giratório, Comfort Access (para o destravamento das portas), farois bi-xenônio, navegador GPS, rodas de liga leve aro 19” e teto solar, entre outros. Já a xDrive35i tem como destaque principal o pacote de acessórios M Sport, que investe na diferenciação visual com parachoques mais agressivos e com maiores entradas de ar e com rodas aro 20”, mas também traz câmera de ré com função Top View, farois de xenônio adaptativos com assistente de farol alto, head-up display, sistema de áudio Harman-Kardon, e televisor digital.