BMW 4 series range expands

BMW has launched the five-door version of its new generation 4 Series executive coupé. Dubbed the Gran Coupé, like before, the latest svelte fastback model is already available to order in the UK, but the first customer cars will not arrive until November.

Designed to be a more practical alternative to the standard two-door 4 Series, the Gran Coupé not only has a couple more doors than its sibling, but it also gets a slightly larger boot. Whereas the normal coupé has 440 litres of luggage space, the Gran Coupé trumps that with 470 litres.

Otherwise, it’s much the same as the 4 Series Coupé, with the same interior layout, much the same equipment and a similar engine range, apart from the M440d xDrive not being available in the Gran Coupé for now, though who knows if that will change in the future. At launch, the sole diesel option is the 420d, which uses 48-volt mild hybrid technology to achieve between 52.3 and 58.9mpg on the official combined economy test. That’s slightly less than the regular coupé, which manages 56.5 to 60.1mpg with the same engine. As with the Coupé and Convertible, it is expected that 430d variants will arrive later.

With 188bhp, the engine in the 420d is powerful enough to take the 4 Series Gran Coupé from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds, before racing on to a top speed of 146mph. The 420d is also available with xDrive four-wheel drive, which adds £1,590 to the price and reduces the performance very slightly, cutting the top speed to 145mph and extending the 0-62mph time by three tenths of a second.

All models are trimmed in M Sport specification, and it comes with 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels, an M Sport steering wheel and black exterior trim. As usual with M Sport cars, there’s also a navigation system, climate control and a reversing camera, as well as an automatic tailgate, digital instrument cluster and sports seats.

BMW is already taking orders for the new 4 Series Gran Coupé, which starts at £43,095 for the 420d M Sport, with the xDrive edition costing £44,685.