The BMW X4 is a fine car, pity it’s so ugly and impractical
The X6, of course, was BMW’s first stab at a car in a segment it pretty much invented by itself - the Sports Activity Coupe (SAC). This is a - not so obvious, perhaps - derivative of the Sports Utility Vehicle, a type of car which has undoubtedly endeared millions of drivers the world over.
With its coupe-esque styling - a sharply sloping roofline defining the look and the original four seater design confirming it - the X6 was (and remains so, in my view) a bastardised take on the whole 4x4 thing and while it is a really good car to drive, it raised many questions, particularly the one about who exactly would buy one.
Certainly they have addressed the four seat issue with the latest incarnation of the X6, now making it a fully fledged five seater, but I still cannot see why anyone would buy one in preference to something else in the BMW range - an X5 for example, a car which is considerably cheaper, no less good to drive and a whole heap more user-friendly to boot.
And so we come to the X4 which is, according to BMW’s own parlance, a mid-sized premium SAC. Equally unappealing visually as the X6 and equally impractical, it is a car that asks a very singular question: Why?
Dynamically, however, there are no questions. Powered, as in the case of the test car we had recently, by BMW’s excellent three litre turbodiesel which is mated to an eight speed auto gearbox and full-time four wheel drive, the X4 wants for little in terms of driver demands.
But it has been clothed in togs of shuddering ugliness - to the point where you get a metaphorical slap in the face every time you open the front door and see it in the driveway. It thus seems to be a very curious anomaly - particularly so when you think of all the brilliant looking cars BMW has seamlessly produced down the years.
And when you also factor in the near-genius behind such motors as the i3 or the i8 (which will feature strongly in the Irish Examiner Motoring Car Of The Year gongs which will be revealed in these pages on December 27), you are left scratching your head as to why the company has trodden this particular path of design extremism.
Much in the same way that you might wonder why people might buy an X6 rather than an X5, so too are you left wondering why anyone with any vestige of sanity would buy an X4 rather than an X3.
I mean, for a start you’re going to be paying a premium of around €7,000 extra (that’s just for the base model) for the privilege and even then will still be subject to torturous barbs from people you once considered to be friends.
All that said, the X4 is, as I said at the outset, a damn fine car to drive. In the case of the tester, that three litre turbodiesel makes you want for little, both in terms of performance and economy.
There is some 190 kW (258 bhp) on tap at 4,000 rpm and a massive 560 Nm of torque between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm, while the 0-100 kph dash is achieved in 5.8 seconds and top speed is 234 kph, while it will also return some 5.8 l/100 km (47.9 mpg) and emit 156 g/km, all of which is very acceptable.
Allied to that eight speed box, the X4 is capable of tackling anything from a small Alp to the rigours of town driving and will do so in a smooth unruffled style.
On the handling front, it is extremely well sorted and singularly capable of taking on a B-road trashing or a motorway dash to Belfast in equal measure without the driver having to break into even a mild sweat. Grip levels are massive and its’ handling ability no less impressive.
The interior decor too is right up to the rigorous standards BMW has set itself, but there is a small problem here. We have oft mentioned in this column about just how much BMW products cost and how much more they cost when you start throwing kit at them.
We have a good example here. The basic X4 3.0d M Sport version we tried costs some €75,890. Add the ‘interior comfort package’ which give you electric seats and a few other bits and there is an extra €1,777 on the bill. Add the ‘M SportPlus’ package (20” alloys, adaptive headlights etc.) and a further €4,042 goes on the bill. And then throw in the ‘Media Package’ (sat. nav. etc) and another €1,461 tots up.
Further additions to specification on the tester ratchets up the total cost to a nut-crunching €91,119.36.
I can think of very many things I’d like to spend that sort of money on. One thing I would not be spending it on is a pug-ugly, impractical and unappealing Sports Activity Coupe.
I do genuinely see some merit in the X4, but not much.
Powered by an excellent three litre turbodiesel, the X4 wants for little in terms of driver demands
Colley's Verdict
BMW X4
from €75,890 - €91,119 as tested
a genuinely impressive powerplant which is great to live with
standard kit good, but get the wallet out if you want to add anything
a good car which is clad in dreadful architecture
