BMW 428i Convertible review (28/06/2014)
A case in point is this week’s tester, the BMW 428i Convertible. From one point of view you might be entranced by the thought of a three litre straight six, yet on the other concerned by the prospect of a chassis irreparably compromised by having an opening roof. But you’d be gloriously wrong on both fronts.
Wrong thanks to BMW’s new and entirely confusing system of naming its cars. For a start there is the whole thing about the 4-Series; it used to be that the 3-Series had a saloon, then a touring, then a coupe and then a convertible.
However, BMW has decided that when it came to the coupe and the convertible, the cars had to have their own specific nomenclature.
Thus the 4-Series.
But that’s not the end of the confusion. In times past a car called a 328i more than likely had a 2.8 litre engine in it, but — and this goes right across the whole BMW model range — the numeration of any given car name no longer bears any relationship to the engine size. That’s very bewildering.
So what do we get in the 428i convertible — a 4 Series with a 2.8 litre engine? Well, no. What you get is a two litre turbocharged engine and I have to say I am completely baffled by BMW’s raison d’être with regard to all this.
The current range no longer does what it says on the tin.
Whatever about all of that and getting back to the second of my original points — the fear that pretty much all convertibles are dodgy handlers because a substantial amount of their torsional rigidity has been sapped by the absence of a roof — nothing could be further from the truth in this instance.
The realisation that the 428i Convertible M Sport is not a bad driver. Despite not having a straight six under the hood, the two litre turbo engine on offer here is actually quite a naughty little monster.
Apart from being absolutely stunning to look at — and I thought the ‘Estoril Blue’ colour scheme really set it off beautifully — I truly enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of this machine which costs in excess of €70,000
I am not a convertible fan, but this car was not so much a game-changer but an up-the-ante type, so well put together was it; throw in demonic performance and a chassis which, to paraphrase the great American racer Mario Andretti’s description of his world championship winning Lotus 78, was like it was “painted to the road,” and I was all but helpless.
BMW says it has increased torsional rigidity by 40% over this car’s predecessor — the 3-Series convertible, remember — thought the use of high and, believe it or not, ultra high strength metals. Once you where behind the wheel and driving with the metal (no rag-top here) with the roof down you knew this was different to the norm. Sure, it may be that the adaptive M Sport suspension (firmer spring/damper set up, stiffer anti-roll bars and tweaked suspension settings) made a big difference to the handing, but whatever the case it did a fantastic job and made the car an absolute joy to drive.
And, even on Irish roads, the ride quality was surprisingly pliant and comfortable — something which, again, was unexpected.
These factors, along with a proper petrol engine which has masses of grunt (180 kW or 245 bhp between 5,000 and 6,500 rpm, a 5.8 second 0-100 kph time and a limited top speed of 250 kph) and an eight speed auto ‘box with paddle shifters (if you like that sort of thing, but which in my view are more decorative than anything else) and you’ve got one fruity machine.
All told then, this was a completely unexpected joy to drive and to live with.
Driving aside, the interior decor was pretty special too and although the rear seats are all but useless for human beings and while there is a boot which is more spacious than was previously the case, it is still pretty useless for carrying anything (forget the golf clubs for start), you could almost forgive the 428i.
I certainly did.
****
From €65,887 (€76,058 as tested).
Not a six cylinder as you might have thought, but a two litre twin turbo rocket with a booming soundtrack to go with it.
Beautifully built and well kitted out, but, as ever with the Germans, once you start adding any fancy-dan stuff the costs rise quicker than a Saturn rocket.
A gem.
