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BMW 420d SE review

BMW 420d SE review (2013 onwards)

Smart new coupe version of the latest 3 Series aims to knock the Audi A5 off its perch – we try the 184hp diesel
BMW 420d SE review - 2013 onwards (© BMW)
BMW
Model: BMW 420d SE, (£30,795), Rs 31.4 lakhs
Bodystyle: Mid-sized two-door, four-seat coupe
Engine: 2.0 4-cylinder turbo diesel, 184hp @ 4,000rpm, 284lb ft @ 1,750rpm
Transmission: six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Performance: (0-62mph) 0-99kph in 7.5 seconds, (149mph) 239 kph top speed
Efficiency: 60.1mpg, 124g/km CO2 emissions

What is it?
This latest coupe from BMW is based on the 3 Series saloon. Note the name change. In line with Audi, what would have been a 3 Series coupe in the past has now morphed into the 4 Series. And why not? While the similarities are obvious, the new model is more muscular and dynamic than ever before.The range of engines is limited to three at launch in October, a 420d 2.0-litre diesel plus 428i and 435i petrol models. The range widens by year end to include a less powerful petrol engine, eight-speed automatic gearboxes and – shock – a £1,500 four-wheel drive option.Apart from the 420 models, don’t try to work out the real engine capacity from the model code. The 428, for example, has a two-litre four-cylinder engine but power in line with a 2.8. All are turbocharged.
Where does it fit?
Slightly above the 3 Series saloon. The additional cost is around (£3,000), Rs 3.1 lakhs not unexpected and it does get you a lot of additional kit as standard.
Prices start at (£2800), Rs 2.90 lakhs for the 320i SE petrol model, (£1,500), Rs 1.60 lakhs moves you into the Sport or Modern versions or it’s (£2,500), Rs 2.62 lakhs more for the Luxury trim. It’s (£2,500), Rs 2.62 lakhs to move from the two-litre petrol to the two-litre diesel – quite a hike.
Key contenders are Audi’s A5 and the Mercedes C-Class coupe. The Audi still looks imposing on the road even though it’s been around for the few years, and it is also available as a four-door coupe.
Is it for you?
It seems likely it could be. BMW reckon to sell around 4,000 4 Series in the UK each year, and the new car has the added prestige of its own model designation.
Equipment levels are good even without dipping into the seemingly bottomless pit of options (the price list for the 4 Series runs to 39 pages).
Standard on every car is leather upholstery, Xeon headlights, Bluetooth, cruise control, remote boot lid opening, digital radio and a multi function sports steering wheel. 6-cylinder models get electric seat adjustment and sat-nav is standard on Luxury and M Sport versions.
If that’s not enough, the 4 Series does look rather impressive, in every way a bespoke coupe and certainly not simply a reworked 3 Series saloon.
What does it do well?
You’d anticipate an enticing drive from any BMW and the 420d SE produces the goods. The 4-cylinder engine produces 184hp, a figure that would have verged on the unbelievable from a two-litre diesel ten years ago. That, coupled to copious torque, means the BMW can be a relaxing tourer or a punchy sporting car, depending on your mood.
Not that it’s ever especially exciting, because the diesel simply slugs on and does the business rather than providing any visceral thrill. Still, there’s a market for that sort of thing these days, especially from company car drivers. And you can’t argue with a (0-62mpg) 0-99kph time of 7.5 seconds.
What doesn’t it do well?
The chassis is very accomplished, the chunky leather wheel steering the car precisely and exactly where you want it to go. The test car had optional very wide 18-inch wheels and also the adaptive suspension option. In the resulting Comfort mode is could be a touch bouncy, so we’d need convincing that spending the additional £750 over the standard suspension was really worth it.
Every 4 Series comes with a set of impressive alloy wheels and you can raise the game even further by going bigger still. The downside is tyre noise, arguably the biggest weakness of this BMW. On a coarse road surface it can become quite intrusive.
What is it like to live with?
Not as convenient as a 3 Series saloon. But you already knew that.
Style apart, the 4 Series is very similar to the four-door from the front seats, with the straightforward, no-frills interior that seems the height of subtle restraint compared with the Audi A5. That said, there’s a broad pallet of leathers that can transform the 4 Series into something more garish if you wish.
It’s packed full of features, a sensible mix of push buttons and iDrive controller for the 6.5 inch display; you can input letters or numbers into the sat-nav simply by tracing the outline onto the face of the iDrive knob.
There’s plenty of comfort, a decent ride and, tyre roar apart, low levels of noise. An arm moves forward to place the front safety belt within your reach after the door is closed, which helps greatly. Access to the back seats is OK, and once there the amount of space for two more adults is surprisingly good. Headroom is likely to be the only issue.
Luggage space is impressive at 445 litres, though incredibly BMW still charge extra for folding rear seats. ‘Business’ sat-nav is standard on Luxury and M Sport models, with a bigger and better version available on all.
How green is it?
BMW’s positioning of its cars as the one the of greenest ranges around, while still offering the halo of great performance, is little short of miraculous. Today you don’t have to make a choice between being green and having a great drive. BMW offers them both in the same car.
The 320d produces a CO2 of 124g/km, or 121g/km with the automatic transmission. Even the 4x4 versions produce less than 130g/km, excellent figures that go some way to explain the success of BMW with business users, although to be fair Audi and Mercedes are pretty much in the same ball park.
The combined fuel economy figures are 60.1 for the manual transmission and 61.4 for the eight-speed automatic.
Would we buy it?
In general, coupe buyers favour the newest models available. That causes a spike in sales for the first couple of years after which there is usually a case of terminal decline. That’s less true of prestige cars, where brand loyalty pays a big part too.
Still, the 4 Series competes very strongly with the Audi A5 and Mercedes C-Class Coupe, and certainly deserves serious consideration even by committed Audi and Mercedes drivers. Compared with the popular Audi A5 the BMW feels less cumbersome, more at home in a city environment, which is a positive.
The 420d is a very good coupe indeed. The blend of comfort, performance and economy make it a coupe for our times. It’s just a pity it’s not a touch more affordable.