ha
the BMW 3-series may well be brilliant
the only problem is that it seems like
everyone's got one and that's why for
the coupe a version BMW have decided to
call it the full series the car is
actually lower wider and longer than
both the old 3-series coupe a and the
new 3 Series Saloon
in fact externally the only body panel
it shares with that car is the bonnet
the rest of the exterior is misspoke if
you look down here you see the nose is
more aggressive and it's low part the
grille has been redesigned as well at
the side you get the air breathers of
the 3 Series GT for improved air flow
and being the coupe a of course you've
got these posh frameless windows now if
you ignore the wing mirror up the widest
part of the 4 Series is this rear wheel
arch and it's more prominent and that's
to give the car a muscular stance on the
road and if you come to the back the way
the boot lid has been designed it kicks
up at the back so acts like a little
spoiler so you don't need a normal
spoiler inside however the differences
are less noticeable they're limited to
unique trim colors but that's no bad
thing as inside the normal 3 Series is
sufficiently sporty and luxurious enough
already
actually there is one difference with a
4 Series you have a seat belt but lock
which we shut the door look he hands you
your seat belt
you also get some improved specification
over the normal 3 Series so stuff like
sin on headlamps leather seats that are
heated and front and rear parking
sensors they come as standard in terms
of build quality well the normal 3
Series Saloon came the top 10 at the
2013 driver power owner satisfaction
survey you can rate your car by visiting
driver power co uk in car cubby spaces
are impressive for this type of car
meaning there's plenty of places to
store your bits and pieces or your
Suites now a bit of the review where I
show you the boot but oh no my hands are
full with bags and I can't possibly put
them down if only there was another way
to open the boot yet this this cars got
one of those special systems with the
sensor under the bumper that when the
keys in your pocket ruggedly foot
underneath it automatically opens that's
an option
now the boot itself well check it out
it's almost the same size as on the
normal 3-series and you can fold down
the rear seat if you need to carry
longer items the 4 Series is a great car
to drive it's got a wide range of
talents you sit nice and low so it feels
suitably sporting the seats yeah they're
supportive and very comfortable and the
steering gets accurate and sharp yet
nice and light when you want to just
pootle about around town also because
the car sits lower and wider than the 3
Series Saloon and has more sporty
suspension settings it feels slightly
more agile it's not a huge improvement
but then the the 3 Series is a great
handling car to begin with already isn't
it thing is though if you drive the cost
back-to-back you do notice that this one
the 4 Series is sharper and as a result
it's but it's even more fun to drive at
the moment the 4 Series is rear wheel
drive only
however BMW will be adding xDrive all
wheel drive versions to the range soon
so you don't have to worry about getting
stuck
if it snows you don't have to worry
about performance either because they're
435i
as a lovely straight 6 turbocharged 3
litre engine which could do naught to 60
in little over 5 seconds but if that's
not quick enough
there'll be an N verse on the way scene
which will have around 440 horsepower
and that should be mental the sensible
choice name is the 420d
as it's still quick you can top 60
miles per gallon trouble is that engine
at idle in it low speeds it's just a
little bit rackley and noisy and then
there's the fact that if you go for the
manual which obviously is standard the
gearbox is fine to use but the pedals
are offset so your your clutches where
the brake normally is yeah your brake is
where the throttle is and the throttle
well it actually feels like it's
somewhere in the middle of the road I
mean really what you want is the 8-speed
automatic because it's it is so good and
you can change gears yourself using
steering wheel mounted pedals and that's
the thing you see with the BMW 4-series
you you have to add bits to pay extra to
make it be as good as it can be one of
the other things you're going to want is
the adaptive dampers because they really
do make the car drive better in sport
mode they are suitably firm but in
comfort the ride is very supple whereas
on a normal suspension the car can feel
a little bit bumpy at times then as the
back seats now compared to some of its
rivals the for service isn't too bad
legroom is good and but yeah look you
can see sloping roofline my head is
wedged up against the roof there and
there any way to travel so that is nice
it's kind of like that and yeah that's
not gonna be good for your neck
finally what we going out we need to
talk about the price because the 4
Series cost about three thousand pounds
more than the 3 Series and that's
already pretty expensive to begin with
still for some people it's going to be
worth the extra because gets medicated
sharper to drive and it's got greater
exclusivity but before you buy for so as
you probably want to check out some of
its rivals and we've got a review
Mercedes c-class coupe a here and a
review of the Audi a5 there and of
course after you watch those videos
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