2023 BMW X4: Fast-charging SUV-sedan crossover saves the day — after almost wrecking it
The handling and braking are show stoppers, and provided crucial assistance in a near-miss. No Driver's Seat family members — or BMWs, or farm trucks — were harmed in the making of this review.
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2023 BMW X4 xDrive30i: Standout shape, standout performance?
Price: $58,740 as tested. M Sport Package added $3,500; fancy paint, $550. More noted below.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “agile handling for an SUV, perky optional inline six, coupe-like profile stands out in traffic,” but not that the “rear-seat head space is cut short by the sloped roof, cargo room is similarly handicapped, restrained cabin design.”
Marketer’s pitch: “The curves of a coupe and the power of an athlete — the BMW X4 stands apart in style and performance.”
Reality: Yeah, what BMW said.
What’s new: The vehicle that BMW calls its sports-activity coupe is like an SUV-sedan crossover. It received some exterior and interior refinements for the 2022 model year and comes into 2023 pretty much unchanged.
Competition: Genesis GV70, Mercedes GLC, Acura RDX, Audi Q5, BMW X3
Up to speed: The X4 does what BMWs do — gets you places in hurry. The twin-power turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine creates 248 horses.
Hit the Sport mode button and the midsize SUV takes off quickly. The vehicle reaches 60 mph in six seconds, according to BMW, a time that is becoming par for the course among premium SUVs.
In addition, though, drivers will find that if they’re not careful, they’ll be sprinting every place they go, suddenly noticing the dial creeping toward 70 on two-lane country roads. There’s a lot of power in there and the X4 is not afraid to show it off.
Buyers of the fancier xDrive m40i models get six cylinders with a mild hybrid system that creates 382 horses, and it gets to 60 in 4.2 seconds, says Car and Driver.
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On the road: Beyond the power portion of our package, BMW also provides its usual handling dynamics. The X4 — all-wheel drive is the only setup offered — slices through curves, corners, and narrow passages with great ease.
All the pluses and minuses of the X4 came together in a single harrowing, real-life Mr. Driver’s Seat adventure. Emerging from a railroad underpass onto a two-lane road, I built up more speed than planned. Up ahead I saw a stake-body truck perfectly straddling the double yellow headed my way.
I had not a moment to plan, and whatever the other driver was paying attention to, it wasn’t the road — or me. But thanks to the X4′s perfect steering feedback and handling, I managed to guide the vehicle safely between the offending truck and the ditch on the side of the road, a space probably about as wide as a garage door. The $1,200 Dynamic Handling Package, which included M Sport brakes to aid my speed reduction, probably helped this story have a happy ending.
Whew. Mr. Driver’s Seat giggled when it was all over; Mrs. Passenger Seat definitely did not. My assurances of “I’m a trained professional” did not help.
Shifty: The eight-speed ShiftTronic transmission operates like other BMWs’ units, as well, using an electronic joystick with shift capabilities. The shifts are smooth in either mode.
Driver’s Seat: The comfortable command post, as most BMWs are, feels great even with SensaTec faux leather seats featuring all the adjustment you need. These are definitely not your father’s vinyl. (You can pay for the Vernasca dead cow, but don’t, because the Amazon needs it rain forests.) The Premium Package includes heated seats and added lumbar support — plus more unrelated toys — for $950.
The gauges continue in the BMW typeface, although I prefer the old rounded gauges to today’s oddly shaped rounded quadrangles.
Friends and stuff: The sports-activity coupe has one disadvantage over the the X3, and that’s the cut-down roofline. Rear-seat passengers may find they need to scrunch their heads a bit to make things work. Legroom and foot room are good, though.
Cargo space is 28.7 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 62.7 with the seat folded.
Play some tunes: The basic BMW stereo is not bad in operation and playback, but perhaps an upgrade would be in order. BMWs should be rating better than A-/B+ grades.
A dashboard dial controls volume and a center console has a twisty dial and buttons that handles functions with great ease, as it long has.
Keeping warm and cool: Toggles control everything from air source to temperature, and a small display makes it easy to follow along when you’re adjusting on the fly.
Fuel economy: I averaged about 23 mpg, mostly close to home but with a trip from Chester County into Center City.
Where it’s built: Spartanburg, S.C.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports rates the X4 reliability to be a 3 out of 5.
In the end: Among its classmates noted above, it comes down to two from Bavaria — the X4 or the X3. I’d probably go with the latter for the headroom, inasmuch as everything else is roughly the same. Although I haven’t tried the RDX for a long while.