2014 BMW 428i

2014 BMW 428i 2014 BMW 428i
Instrumented Test From the February 2014 Issue of Car and Driver TESTED

There’s no denying that it’s easy to be a jerk in this car. Even a person of steady temperament, with a 30-year fixed note and a seat on the school board, will race the odd semi to the end of a merge lane. Or make a few banzai dives up the right to pick up another three places in the freeway conga line. This BMW firmly reinforces stereotypes.

But if the definition of a jerk driver is somebody who regularly exhibits absolute confidence in and scrupulous control of his or her machine, then we’re happy to be labeled thus. For the 428i—such a pretty number, just 30 short of a Ferrari—gives you as much as you need. More than a 3-series sedan? Not really, but more than enough to act like a schmuck, safely.

Germans don’t do anything without a plan, and you can imagine the fights in Munich as BMW considered splitting the coupes from the bread-buttering 3-series nameplate, which until recently represented half of BMW’s U.S. sales. But Audi did it, and everybody seems to be chasing Ingolstadt these days. What’s done is done, and while we await the even more jarring M4 badge, the 428i arrives with a base price of $41,425, or $3200 more than a base 328i.

Included in the 4’s price premium, however, are xenon headlamps and a sunroof, plus a flared bod that looks like a ­tomcat slinking through grass. The curb weights for the automatic-equipped coupe and sedan are roughly equal, at around 3500 pounds.

Before you squawk, consider that BMW sees this, the 4-series, not as a sports car, but as a luxury coupe. As with all BMWs lately, the interior has its share of bare plastic, but it’s dressed up with hockey sticks of high-gloss black trim. And the dimensions are generous, so that the pilot and copilot have lots of stretch room. A new thin-spoke sport steering wheel looks as light and lively as it feels.


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The rear prisoners, er, passengers, are also comfortable once they’ve wiggled past the pinch point of the seat and B-pillar. There’s a fat, fold-down center armrest, dedicated air vents, and reading lights to keep the inmates quiet. As with most coupes, the 4’s long doors threaten dings for all who park adjacent unless its occupants are careful while slipping out. If you love your 4, don’t park it next to another one.

BMW’s 2.0T is still the best of its type.

The turbocharged 2.0-liter is a velvety power supply in spite of its having just two pistons up and two down. Lots of torque at the low end—peak torque starts at 1250 rpm, practically idle—helps our tested version, with its eight-speed automatic, post a rapid 5.3-second 60-mph time. That’s 0.3 second quicker than the last automatic 328i we tested. The coupe’s run-flat Bridgestone Potenza S001s make it almost a 0.90-g car on the skidpad, which is a big number. The car’s got cred.

The 4’s busy order sheet closely follows the 3’s. You get two standard colors with the 428i, white or black, before you start paying $550 extra. Leather costs $1450. The most expensive option, the $3500 M Sport package, is an assortment of interior and exterior trim upgrades, plus sport seats, the M Sport suspension, 18-inch wheels, and staggered-size summer tires. Folks who regard driving as a hobby will see M Sport as the one must-have option.

The elaborately contoured lower front and rear fascias of the M Sport version really accentuate the 4-series’s greater width.

Our car had it and the $1000 Dynamic Handling option, which includes button-adjustable shocks and variable-ratio steering. Though we believe the latter is not necessary to make the 4 perfect, all of it combines to wring out some of the chassis slack that BMW builds into this platform. The electrified steering assist in this generation filters road chatter perhaps more than it should; BMW allows a little more body roll and understeer in this class than it once did. But the 4’s throttle response, brakes, and overall cornering prowess are in line with the extra lucre that the 4 demands. On most days you’ll have no doubts about why you spent the money on a BMW, even if you don’t check every box.

The math may be confusing: A 3 loses two to become a 4 for $3200 more, but the result is the best BMW coupe you can currently buy new. For now, it’s also the least expensive—another bonus.