It’s been greater than 20 years because the unique BMW SUV, the X5, got here to market. And what was as soon as a fringe providing has develop into one of many Bavarian automakers hottest product strains. Whereas BMW isn’t following the lead of another automakers, strolling away from the passenger automotive market, it has clearly shifted the steadiness with its newest line-up that includes a broad array of crossover-utility fashions.
That transfer has additionally generated a fair proportion of controversy — particularly in relation to extra coupe-like choices such because the X4 line. It’s meant to evoke the sportiness of the traditional 4 Sequence coupe whereas delivering the upper seating and extra imposing presence of an SUV.
After getting some transient time within the X4 throughout its unique launch, I lined up an much more sporty X4 M with the Competitors package deal to see what it’s prefer to stay with the crossover for every week.
Overview
In case you’re in search of an SUV that’s each fashionable and sporty, the 2022 BMW X4 M isn’t a nasty place to begin. It has an imposing presence and but the steeply sloped roofline offers it a way of sleekness evoking the traditional BMW 4 Sequence coupes.
For individuals who need critical ranges of efficiency, the X4 M is the way in which to go. Take issues as much as extremes with the Competitors package deal that provides one other 30 horsepower — enhancing the aural pleasure with its energetic exhaust system.
At a beginning value of simply over $73,000, it’s not low cost, however there are many luxurious options that, together with the muscle the X4 M gives, ought to make you are feeling such as you’re getting your cash’s price.
Exterior
Magnificence, goes the outdated adage, is within the eyes of the beholder. The general design of the BMW X4 M, as with so many different coupe-like SUVs, is clearly polarizing. The steep slope of the roofline is supposed to evoke the sportiness of a conventional BMW 4 Sequence Coupe however, to some eyes, appears to be like chunky as a result of automobile’s general peak. For me, the X4 is way much less awkward wanting than some competing coupe-like crossovers.
For 2022, BMW added an even bigger grille to the X4 household, with thinner LED headlamps. And the double-kidney grille is now divided into distinct sections, divided by a refined black strip behind which sit among the crossover’s superior driver help sensors, together with radar and digicam. There are up to date bumpers this yr and revised taillamps, as nicely.
Like all M fashions, the X4 package deal provides some distinctive design parts, beginning with the massive air intakes under and to the edges of the entrance bumper. There are blackened exhausts behind the entrance wheels for the air curtains that scale back turbulence across the tires.
The X4 M rides on 20-inch wheels wrapped in 255/45 tires up entrance, and 265/45 tires within the rear. The X4 M Competitors mannequin options upgraded to 21-inch rubber, 255/40s up entrance and 265/40 within the rear. With a grateful nod to the oldsters overseeing press automotive distribution in Detroit, they correctly swapped the conventional summer season rubber donuts out for Pirelli Scorpion winter tires.
The X4 M, in the meantime, gives a number of distinctive paint selections, together with the eye-catching Sao Paulo Yellow that my tester was completed in.
Inside
Accurately, the X4 M provides a way more driver oriented really feel than you get with the mainstream X4 line. A lot of that comes from tweaks to the extra sporty steering wheel which provides brilliant crimson paddle shifters and buttons that allow you to instantly choose two personalized “M Modes.” These alter a wide range of automobile features, together with steering, throttle and transmission response, in addition to the crossover’s digital damping system.
All variations of the X4 went by an inside replace for 2022, with new controls on each the instrument panel and heart console. That features an up to date model of the now-familiar BMW iDrive system. There are shortcut buttons surrounding the rotary controller making it simple to modify the digital show from navi to radio or different settings. The X4 M additionally carries over the bottom crossover’s twin 12.3 shows, together with one for infotainment and the opposite for the gauge cluster. The latter mechanically reconfigures relying upon which driving mode you select.
The M’s seating has loads of lateral help which prevents you from flopping round as you flog it by tight corners. However the entrance seats are surprisingly comfy on lengthy journeys. They’re completed in Prolonged Merino leather-based. And Alcantara is out there for each the middle console and knee pads.
One factor to pay attention to is that you’ll sacrifice cabin and cargo area as a result of extreme slope of the X4 M’s roofline.
Powertrain
The “base” BMW X4M is a fairly potent machine, punching 473 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. However the Competitors package deal I spent the week with took issues up one other notch, the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-6 bumped as much as 503 hp and 479 lb-ft.
The latter model will launch you from 0 to 60 in round 3.5 seconds, making it one of many quickest merchandise in a category that features fashions just like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio and the Mercedes-AMG GLC63. (My tester beat out BMW’s official specs which checklist 0-60 instances of three.9 seconds for the X4 M and three.7 seconds for the Competitors package deal.)
There’s a trade-off, nevertheless. Gasoline financial system is painfully low. The bottom X4 M is rated at a mere 14 mpg Metropolis, 19 Freeway. Curiously, the Competitors package deal truly squeezes out a wee bit extra mileage, in addition to loads of extra energy, at 15 Metropolis, 20 Freeway and 17 mpg Mixed.
Energy is channeled to all 4 wheels by an 8-speed automated transmission. The gearshift is among the extra funky ones amongst many quirky digital shifters and I sometimes discovered myself launching in handbook mode — one thing I found as I shortly hit redline in first gear. The daring crimson paddle shifters on the steering wheel make it simple to achieve a little bit of handbook management, if you want. Energy, in the meantime, is delivered to all 4 wheels although beneath regular settings, it’s usually biased to the again axle.
Security and Know-how
Together with the dual, 12.3-inch digital shows, the X4 M Competitors I drove got here with a helpful head-up show system that made it simpler to regulate issues like automobile pace whereas pushing the crossover round tight corners.
Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and wi-fi charging ae commonplace, as is a WiFi hotspot with 3-month complimentary subscription. The 16-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system is first-rate and, higher but, is commonplace.
So is the BMW Energetic Driving Assistant which offers a prolonged suite of superior driver help applied sciences together with ahead collision warning and lane protecting help.
Drive Impressions
What started as a comparatively gentle winter turned frigid in January and has continued to bury the Motor Metropolis beneath blanket after blanket of snow. Complicating issues, transient warm-ups have routinely melted off sufficient snow which, a day or later, left roads lined with patches of black ice.
So, whereas I’d usually be disenchanted receiving a check automobile like a BMW M carrying winter rubber, it usually enhanced the expertise this time round. I had a second “loaner” throughout a lot of the week, the brand new Lexus LX 600, and that supplied an opportunity to check the 2 beneath lower than splendid highway circumstances.
What stunned me was simply how well-mannered the X4 M proved, each on dry pavement and on tarmac lined with snow and ice. The winter tires had been, after all, a giant issue, however so had been the BMW’s energetic damping and all-wheel-drive programs. I used to be capable of preserve the M Competitors mannequin beneath management, even when deliberately going too quick right into a nook.
There have been some minor trade-offs. The winter tires induced a really minor little bit of skittishness on some roads, primarily these deeply grooved. But it surely was simple to compensate for. In fact, as you’d count on from an M, steering was tight and exact and the X4 M’s wheel supplied the form of suggestions that has been missing on a few of BMW’s different latest fashions.
All variations of the X4 M include an adaptive suspension with electronically managed dampers. And you may set every up individually, exactly the way in which you need, or go for any of the three manufacturing unit presets. The Competitors mannequin provides an energetic – and manually tunable – exhaust system that makes some completely pleasant noises in full-open. However you possibly can quiet it down with a contact of a button in case you don’t wish to anger your neighbors.
Wrap Up
Coupe-like crossovers aren’t for everybody. The look of the 2022 BMW X4 M is clearly polarizing — although it’s much less chunky and clunky than some key rivals. In the meantime, there are sacrifices in relation to rear seat headroom and cargo area on account of that sloping roofline.
However there’s a lot to like in regards to the Bavarian crossover. The powertrain is an absolute delight, fast and response and, with the energetic exhaust system on the Competitors package deal, it’s aurally orgasmic whenever you plant your proper foot firmly on the ground.
Surprisingly, BMW held the value flat with the launch of the 2022 mannequin yr, the bottom X4 M beginning at $73,400 earlier than factoring in a $995 supply price. The Competitors package deal provides one other $7,000, bringing you as much as $80,400. And after including in options just like the M Driver’s Package deal and the Govt Package deal that includes such niceties as heated seats and steering wheel and that head-up show, my tester listed at $86,145 — together with supply expenses.
For the time being, the query is whether or not you’ll be capable to get away that “low cost.” With extreme stock shortages, bear in mind that loads of sellers are including mark-ups to MSRP.
Among the many many crossovers BMW gives, the 2022 X4, on the whole, is a comparatively area of interest product, and the extra expensive M variants much more so. However for many who need nice efficiency in an SUV — and who just like the coupe-like styling — it’s positively price trying out.
