If there is one silver lining to the fact that my 2011 E90 M3 throws check-engine lights three times a year, it is that my repair shop McKenna BMW has a varied and enticing fleet of loaner cars. This week my M3’s increased emissions check-engine light granted me access to a $58,000 BMW 435i Gran Coupe.
I have always viewed the 435i Gran Coupe as the example of idiocy in BMW’s revamped model naming. BMW relabeled its cars so that its 4-door variants live under odd-numbered marks (the 1, 3, 5, and 7-series), and its 2-door coupes are named with the adjacent even-number (2, 4, and 6-series). Thus, the two-door coupe equivalent of a 3-series is a 4-series, and the cars are very similar in many ways. So why is the 435i Gran Coupe idiotic? Because it is a 4-series with four doors! (Well, five doors, actually, if you count the rear hatchback.) Why this car isn’t called the 335i Gran Coupe, I’ll never know, but I suspect it has to do with the fact it uses the half-inch wider body of the 4-series.
Anyway, I’ll henceforth ignore BMW’s break with logic when marking the Gran Coupe as a 4-series because after a week behind the wheel, I really like the car!
For me, the best part of the Gran Coupe is its exterior styling. Especially in profile, the car is gorgeous, and I can’t keep from glancing back at this brilliant-blue Bavarian whenever I leave it parked. BMW calls this color Estoril Blue, and it might just be my favorite blue ever, which is saying a lot because my favorite color is blue.
The 435i’s interior is nice, though not flawlessly executed. The layout looks high quality, modern, and smart with non-rectilinear curves and cubed-aluminum brightwork. I use the word ‘looks’ deliberately, though, as the feel of the materials is not always as pleasing. The black leather (pleather?) on the seats and door panels is rough and waxy, not pleasant to touch. Down at knee level, hard, hollow-sounding plastics are used in place of softer-touch materials. But keep your eyes and fingers up, and you find soft-touch radio buttons, an M-inspired steering wheel with buttery-soft leather, a high-resolution navigation screen, and a plush fabric headliner. (Why this loaner smells slightly of cat-food from the front seat, I never did learn!)
The Gran Coupe has the high shoulders and the trimmed roofline of a true coupe, and the cabin is a bit darker and more encapsulating as a result. Don’t take this critique too seriously; the 435i is no Camaro. For one, the sunroof on this Gran Coupe helps ameliorate the darkness. Forward and side visibility are fine, perhaps even good. Only the rear visibility is compromised by the design; the rear hatch has a shorter window and higher deck that pitches visibility. For parking maneuvers, the rear camera is quite useful. On the highway, I try not to worry too much about highway patrol cars sneaking up from behind.
In the five years since my E90 was manufactured, BMW has introduced lots of new tech goodies. New to me are left and right bumper cameras that allow me to peer into sight-restricted intersections before attempting a crossing. This feature is a fantastic idea, even if the 435i’s implementation is a bit too low resolution for my taste. I also appreciate the navigation’s expanded traffic reporting—traffic on secondary streets is displayed too—and its improved voice recognition. I’ve never had a premium stereo in any of my personal cars, so the detailed high-fidelity playback from the Harmon-Kardon system is eye-opening (ear-opening?).
But my favorite feature of all is one aimed straight at my sensibilities as a new parent. The Gran Coupe’s expansive hatchback can be opened hands-free! You non-parents are undoubtedly rolling your eyes right now, but I am really excited by this convenience. Approaching the rear bumper with a diaper bag slung over my shoulder, one arm full of baby and the other dragging a stack of suitcases, I just need to aim a swift kick at the rear bumper, and the hatch will open automatically. (Letting me unceremoniously dump all of my baggage (except the baby!) into the deep cargo area.) Now, if my neighbors tell you they’ve seen me Irish River Dancing behind the 435i’s rear bumper, that’s because it took me a little while to figure out where the Gran Coupe’s kick sensor is located: It’s at the center of the bumper, aligned with the license plate. All weekend long I was approaching the tailgate with a grin on my face in anticipation of kicking my way into the car.
The Gran Coupe has just a smidge more luggage capacity behind its rear seats than does the equivalent 3-series sedan, but the high-opening hatch makes it incredibly easy to load and unload. Extracting my daughter’s bulky stroller from the mess of other baby accouterments in the trunk is easy peasy. (Yes, I am talking in baby-talk, too, now.)
“Enough already!” you cry. “I’m not here to learn if the 435i Gran Coupe has enough rear-seat room to let my spouse sit alongside a center-mounted infant seat!” (She can.) “I’m a dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast, and I want to know how the Bimmer drives!” Okay, stop shouting. I’ll tell you now.
It drives fine.
To elaborate, it displays balanced athleticism across its power, handling and braking, with no single component embarrassing the rest. It’s a precision instrument and can be driven exactingly down challenging roads. It is unperturbed by sudden mid-corner bumps, balanceable with the throttle or brakes, and it puts down its power while exiting a corner without any hooligan antics or unseemly ESP interventions.
And, like a sleek BMW should, the 435i feels ready to crush inferior metal on the highway. As any real BMW driver will tell you (while weaving around those stupid plebs clogging the fast lane with their soul-sucking econoboxes), the Bimmer feels as unstressed and grounded at 80 mph as a Hyundai Elantra does at 40 mph. I can easily imagine sustaining 120 mph from Munich to Frankfurt and arriving fresh as a daisy.
Yes, I know, everything I stated above matches what you already expect from having read years of 3-series (and now 4-series) comparisons in your favorite car magazine. What you may not realize is that you need to spec your Bimmer with the M Sport package in order to get a car this athletic. The M Sport package fits an improved suspension that gives you cornering performance that is nearly as good as a true-blood M car. Without this suspension, your 4-series is going to drive like a bit of a luxury barge, bouncing over bumps and generally feeling out of shape. With this suspension, you get the legendary handling you want, but at the expense of a somewhat choppy ride. (The run-flat Pirelli P Zero tires on upsized 19″ wheels may share the blame, and the adjustable M Sport suspension may have a better ride in comfort mode.) My backseat passengers were more annoyed by this chop than I was and surprisingly said that the E90 M3 has a better ride across busy pavement. From the driver’s seat, my minor pet-peeve is tire noise permeating entering the 435i’s otherwise quiet cabin.
The M Sport package includes several other welcome improvements. A nearly M-quality steering wheel is installed; only the paddle shifters and spoke pattern are dumbed down from the M4‘s wheel. Sports seats are added too. I found the 435i’s sports seats too wide for my slender frame and a little firm. This surprised me as the same sports seats were excellent in the 328i M Sport I drove last year.
Finally, there is some questionable badging which boasts “M Performance” on the rocker panels. I’d avoid these stickers if possible.
Even though there are M references all over the build sheet, the 435i Gran Coupe does not drive like a full blown M3 or M4. What it’s lacking is the unrestrained aggression and emotion found in a “true M” when pressing-hard. Let’s take it component by component.
Some objectively large cars like the M4 shrink around you as speed builds. For the 435i Gran Coupe, unfortunately, the opposite is true. Try to sustain speed on a tightly twisting mountain road for marathon-length distances, and the car’s composure softens. The body rolls more under its 3885 lbs, the brakes lose their sharpness, and the front tires start to squeal under the heat. The 435i is up to the task, but beads of perspiration are forming on its brow.
As is indicated by the 35 in the badge, my 4-series has BMW’s revered six-cylinder turbo engine. It is a good engine, with linear response and strong pull all the way to the top of the rev range. However, it is missing the fury of an M engine. It never threatens to boil the tires with brute force; it doesn’t sing with deep, crescendoing howls that stir your (gasoline-pumping) heart. It is also missing the sharp response of my M3’s V8, which aggressively engine-brakes on lifted throttle and can balance the car with the right-pedal alone.
Here is an example of how unassuming the six-cylinder engine can be. During my first hour in the 435i, I thought I was in the four-cylinder 428i because in normal driving, the car sounds like and accelerates like all of the 328i loaners I’ve had before. I admit it’s been many months since the last 328i, but I believe BMW’s four and six-bangers have similar low and mid-range torque and thus similar off-the-line urgency. The 435i’s engine differentiates itself at the top-end of the rev range, where its song turns classic straight-six, and its power stays strong instead of turning asthmatic.
For those of you wondering about turbo lag, if you roll into the throttle like a normal person, you won’t sense it because the boost will build smoothly with your inputs. However, if you smack the gas pedal to the floor, you’ll find that there is a small wait programmed into the e-pedal, and after that wait is over, the engine takes one short second to fully spool up.
Continuing through the M Sport vs. full M comparisons, we consider the transmission. This 435i Gran Coupe has ZF’s ubiquitous 8-speed automatic transmission. It is as good as it always is in a BMW, by which I mean it does my bidding as I ask, yet is emotionally neutral. Yes, the upshifts are smooth and without a hint of slurring, but the M4’s DCT transmission feels smarter, snappy and sharp. Yes, the ZF accompanies downshifts with rev-matching, but missing is the theatrical, engine-howling blips from the M-DCT. Perfectionists will also notice that the rev-matching is not always flawlessly executed.
Steering feel is the biggest letdown versus its M brethren. BMW introduced its first attempt at electronically assisted steering in the F30 and F36 chassis, and the new system lacked the road feel of earlier BMWs. But BMW recognized the demerit and tried to improve feel in the mid-cycle refresh.
In the Gran Coupe, the steering is precise if feedback continues to be somewhat muted. I could feel the resealed cracks in the pavement climbing Mt Palomar, but I was isolated from fine, high-frequency road details like the surface texture difference between tarmac and concrete slab. In the M4, I can feel the difference between the two! The F30’s ESP assistance and steering ratio also took some getting used to. It did not feel natural at first; it was too light on center, and I found myself wandering around in my lane a bit more than I’d want. I’ve mostly adapted to the steering over the course of the week, but I still find myself using more small corrections to keep my lane than I would in other cars.
When driven hard on a great mountain road, the M Sport 435i Gran Coupe is 80% as capable as an equivalent sized M car but only 50% as exciting. (The 328i M Sport left a similar impression on me.) It’s capable and fast, handles bumps with aplomb, corners levelly and grips well. It has good motivation but lacks the emotion-stirring song, strong engine response, and sharpness of an M-DCT gear change. If you want knife-edged sharp and blood-boiling exciting, you’ll have to go full M.
The 435i Gran Coupe is good looking, performant, practical, luxurious, feature-laden, powerful, yet still economical. As an attractive car for a small family with some enthusiastic drivers, I’d recommend the Gran Coupe. It hits the mark of being a fleet-footed luxury car and also falls well within the realm of interesting and rewarding cars.
Mike's Steering Column 