bmw 4 series competitors

The Germans completely dominate the meaty luxury coupe market, and now there'southward a new big-grilled choice on the market: the 2021 BMW four Series. BMW has called to reveal the car in base 430i course and hotter M440i xDrive trim. Because no stone is always left unturned past the German competition, this car already has competitors that are creepily similar to information technology from almost every aspect.

Homogeneous is the all-time way to draw the iii cars we're pitting confronting each other. Some things are noticeably different, like the design, simply finding a clear winner from the numbers is no easy task. Even equally the 2021 BMW four Serial is totally new, both the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe and Audi A5 Coupe are recent designs. That means everybody is on a relatively even basis going into this.

And just to be clear, we've kept this comparison to the standard versions of the four Series and its competition, because the M4 hasn't been revealed yet. When it does, we'll have plenty to talk well-nigh between the Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupe and the Audi RS 5 Coupe. Without further ado, here'south the comparison nautical chart. Some figures are highlighted and so every bit to betoken out a win for that model over the others.

Powertrain

Every unmarried car in its base of operations form uses a two.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. BMW ties with Mercedes in horsepower at 255 horses, just Bavaria takes a disarming pb with its stout 294 pound-feet of torque. The 21 pound-foot reward over both the C 300 Coupe and A5 Coupe is likely enough to be noticeable in dispatch, and the 0-60 mph times show exactly that.

BMW is faster than everybody to 60 mph, according to the manufacturer estimates, coming in at 5.5 seconds with rear-wheel drive or five.3 seconds with all-wheel drive. The advantage over Mercedes is rather large, but the Audi is right behind BMW. They use different transmissions to get there. BMW uses ane of our favorites, the ZF 8-speed automatic; Mercedes uses its own nine-speed automatic transmission, and Audi uses a dual-clutch seven-speed manual, which is also an within job. All of them behave a bit differently in practice, but the BMW and Mercedes should be inherently smoother than Audi's sportier dual-clutch manual.

We don't yet have fuel economy for either BMW engine, but Audi is firmly alee of Mercedes in this category. We've been impressed with the real-world fuel economy out of the 3 Series so far, and nosotros imagine the 4 Series will offering similarly impressive results.

BMW manages to differentiate itself with its M440i xDrive. While the Mercedes and Audi competitors use V6 engines, BMW has put its excellent 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-half dozen nether the hood. Nosotros've driven multiple cars with this engine (including the 2021 Supra), and it'south first-class in audio, power commitment and sheer thrust. The 48-volt mild-hybrid electrical system is a neat bonus, also.

Despite all of that, the Mercedes-AMG C 43 still wins from a numbers perspective, as the twin-turbo V6 produces a hair more than horsepower and xx pound-feet more torque. It likewise has Mercedes' multi-clutch automatic transmission, whereas the other two make practice with traditional viii-speed automatics. That doesn't seem to help in the 0-60 mph department, though, as BMW nonetheless estimates its M440i is quicker than both the Mercedes and Audi S5. As these cars are just a tenth or two unlike from each other, though, the difference is negligible.

All iii of these cars are mighty similar, but if we're going to assign a performance winner on newspaper, it's going to be the BMW. Both versions of the four Series are quicker to lx mph than the others, and the sweet inline-6 engine is enough to accept us leaning its way. The gap is shut, though, and driving all of them back-to-back could easily sway us in a different management.

BMW: top; Audi: bottom left; Mercedes-Benz: lesser right

Utility

Here's where BMW has thrown a curveball in this pocket-size coupe boxing. The four Series is virtually three inches larger than both the C-Course Coupe and A5 Coupe. It's also wider than the others, and falls in the middle when it comes to overall height.

That actress length leaves the 4 Series every bit the clear winner in the earth-shaking rear seat legroom category. It's a total 2.5 inches larger than the Mercedes and one.viii inches larger than the Audi. It's still relatively pocket-sized at 34.5 inches, only backseat passengers will definitely exist more comfy in the BMW than the others. Unless they're peculiarly tall, because BMW comes in last place for rear headroom. Audi leads the way here with 36.ane inches. Coupes are inherently limiting in caput infinite for rear seat passengers, then it's no surprise to see a bunch of low numbers in this category.

When it comes to body infinite, the numbers say BMW has a clear advantage. Yet, as we plant in our BMW iii Series baggage test, the numbers aren't telling the whole story. BMW's mode of measuring the infinite appears to exist different in some way compared to others. Until nosotros can physically start shoving luggage into this coupe, nosotros're going to refrain from declaring it the ultimate utility coupe.

Price

BMW has priced both the 430i and M440i to almost perfectly line up to Mercedes. At $46,595, the 430i is simply $350 cheaper than the C 300. The A5 Coupe is the cheapest of the bunch at $43,895.

The S5 is also the cheapest operation variant, coming in about $6,500 cheaper than the M440i and C 43.

For the budget-witting, the S5 Coupe is a great way to get into a hot German car for less. Even so, maybe you're a fan of the grille. If so, the new M440i could be your kind of vehicle. It certainly stands out more than the others and makes a grander (for ameliorate or for worse) entrance than any of its peers. We'll also annotation the existence of the Lexus RC and Infiniti Q60 alternatives, both of which offer solid functioning variants merely don't completely matchup to the Germans. If there were a Japanese wildcard in this fight, information technology'due south the RC F and its impressive v.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine.

Now, check them all out in photos.

Photos

2021 BMW 4 Series Coupe

Source: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/06/02/bmw-4-series-comparo-vs-c-class-a5-coupe/

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