Want a sports car but also want an SUV? Need a sensible sedan but prefer a crossover? BMW has the car for you.
BMW introduced its all-new X4 Sports Activity Coupe at the New York International Auto Show. BMW calls the car a “mid-sized premium sports activity vehicle.”
What it is, is an X3 small SUV with a four-door body with a coupe-like roofline. The car looks vaguely like a monster-truck version of an ordinary sports sedan, but its proportions are so perfect that instead of looking comical it looks both elegant and unstoppably powerful.
Judging from the roofline, headroom in the back might be at a premium, but for a family man who needs practicality but wants a little swagger, the BMW X4 delivers both.
The car is offered with a choice of power plants: the X4 xDrive28i features BMW’s award-winning 240-horsepower turbocharged, direct-injected 2-liter four cylinder, while the top-of-line X4 xDrive35i is motivated by BMW’s 300-horsepower 3-liter inline six, also with a turbocharger and direct injection.
Both models come with an 8-speed Steptronic sport automatic transmission with shift paddles as well as xDrive, BMW’s intelligent all-wheel drive system.
Befitting what is essentially a luxury sports sedan on steroids, the X4 comes with all the electronics available, including the latest touch-screen-operated version of BMW’s iDrive infotainment system.
The X4 is not a cheap car. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the X4 xDrive28i starts at $45,625, and MSRP for the xDrive35i starts at $48,925. On top of that BMW has a reputation for including just about nothing as standard equipment—the list of options is long, and every one adds to the bottom line.
So what? This is not a car for everyone. This is not a practical car; it is barely a car at all. The BMW X4 combines eye-grabbing styling with all-wheel-drive performance, enough power to be exciting and enough luxury to make sitting in traffic tolerable. Judging from sales of the rest of BMW’s X-line, there are plenty of people out there who crave this combination.
