No premium on BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe

BMW Australia says it won’t charge buyers for the privilege of adding an extra couple of doors to its newest addition to the 4 Series range.

However, while the news that the 4 Series Gran Coupe will wear the same $70,000 starting price as two-door tin-top version should come as welcome relief for buyers used to digging into their pockets for anything extra in their BMW-badged vehicle, it does hide a $500 across-the-board rise for the two-door version since its pricing was announced in October last year.

Thankfully for buyers, though, the four-door 4 Series Gran Coupe boasts a richer list of standard kit than the two-door coupe, as well as decent rear-seat headroom, a boot that can swallow more luggage, and even an in-car app that will connect it with your smartphone.

In a four-model line-up that closely shadows the two-door variant, the 4 Series Gran Coupe range will kick off with the $70,000 entry-level 420i Gran Coupe using the same 135kW/270Nm turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0-litre engine as its two-door sibling.

The range will also feature the 135kW/380Nm four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo-diesel 420d priced from $72,300, the $81,000 180kW/350Nm turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0-litre 428i, and the $109,000 range-topping – for now – 225 kW/400 Nm 435i powered by a turbocharged inline six-cylinder 3.0-litre engine.

The four-door Gran Coupe shares most of the exterior dimensions as the two-door, but to accommodate the extra pair of frameless doors, the roofline jumps in height by 12mm, and extends rearwards by a further 112mm, adding to headroom.

Boot space also grows, adding 35 litres over the coupe to 480L, extending to a hefty 1300L if the rear “2+1” split-fold seatback is dropped to provide load-through space.

It comes with the same eight-speed automatic transmission as the 4 Series coupe and includes an idle-stop system that saves fuel by switching the engine off when the car is stopped in traffic, a braking system that converts stopping power into extra electricity, and a throttle-dulling “eco” mode to save more fuel.

The 4 Series Gran Coupe will also be BMW Australia’s first model to offer what it says is the “full suite” of its ConnectedDrive system that allows owners to link their smartphone to their vehicle.

The car maker says the Gran Coupe will include an inbuilt SIM card on every model to allow it to work with the mobile service.