BMW 4 Series Convertible Review 2023 | Performance & Pricing

Comfortable at a cruise and fun on a twisty road – the 4 Series Convertible is an impressive all-rounder. You’ll have to pay extra for clever suspension, though

Unsurprisingly, the 4 Series Convertible gets the same choice of engines as the regular 4 Series coupe – but that’s no bad thing.

So there are a handful of 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol and diesel power plants to choose from, with outputs ranging from 184hp to 258hp. The 190hp 420d diesel will be a good choice if you spend a lot of time on the motorway and need to prioritise frugal efficiency; while the 258hp 430i petrol will be a bit more enjoyable on a twisty road but will drink a bit more.

If you really want to treat yourself, there are a couple of six-cylinder diesel and petrol engines available too. The 286hp 430d blends plenty of usable performance with decent enough fuel efficiency on longer runs, but it’s not quite as frugal as its four-cylinder counterpart.

Then there’s the range-topping M440i xDrive, which gets a 374hp six-cylinder petrol engine and will hit 60mph from a standstill in 4.9sec. It’s currently the quickest 4 Series Convertible available (and the only one with four-wheel drive), but that additional performance comes with a pretty healthy appetite for fuel – we certainly didn’t hit BMW’s claimed figure of 38.2mpg during our time with the car.

With the roof down and its standard-fit adaptive suspension set to the comfiest setting, the M440i xDrive makes for an impressively relaxing drive around town. It doesn’t crash over potholes and bumps in the road too badly (though there is still an obvious performance car streak here), visibility is really good – particularly out the back, and the steering is nicely weighted and very accurate.

At lower speeds there isn’t much wind buffeting at all, and even when you’re travelling at a quicker pace you can only really feel the very top of your head being blown around by the wind. And if you happen to find that slight amount of buffeting to be a bit too much, you can option the £1350 Comfort Pack, which adds a wind deflector into the mix. This also includes a heated steering wheel and a ‘warm air collar’ that blows, well, warm air on your neck from the headrest.

With the roof in place the M440i xDrive remains really very comfortable out on the motorway, even if its standard-fit run-flat tyres do make quite a lot of noise at pace. Still, there’s not a lot of wind noise, and those adaptive dampers soak up practically everything a faster motorway will throw at it. This is a really, really good long-distance cruiser.

That said, it’s at it’]s most entertaining on a twisty road. With no roof and a bit less structural rigidity than its coupe counterpart, it’s perhaps not quite as sharp through the bends, but the steering is really nicely weighted and the car goes exactly where you point it. Firm the suspension up and it doesn’t roll about too much, and thanks to four-wheel-drive there’s a healthy amount of grip on offer too – even when conditions underfoot are a bit slippery.

But it might well be the six-cylinder petrol engine you enjoy the most. With the roof down and the car in sport mode, you can really take in its aggressive growl, and marvel at just how smoothly it accelerates. The eight-speed automatic transmission is impressively responsive too, and you can change gears manually via the paddles on the steering wheel if you really want to rev the engine out.