• Plenty of standard kit
• Similar layout to 3/4 Series
• User-friendly controls

How is the quality and layout?

The 4 Series Gran Coupe shares its dashboard with the BMW 3 Series, and is none the worse for that. As you’d expect, the emphasis is on sporting looks, so you get aluminium and piano black trim, and sports seats.

It’s roomier up front than its sleek appearance suggests – but that’s because it has a long wheelbase (distance between the front and rear axle lines) – and is quite a large car. Build quality can’t be faulted – this is a vehicle that feels like a premium product, from the weight of the controls to the fit and finish of the interior.

Infotainment and tech

The dashboard is dominated by a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, and ahead, there’s a 12.3-inch digital display for the instruments. If that isn’t enough, a head-up display is also available as an option. The Gran Coupe features BMW’s well-established infotainment set-up, which is operated using the iDrive controls sited on the centre console or by using the touchscreen – as well as by voice activation.

The cloud-based BMW Maps navigation system has excellent route mapping on its big, clear screen and can actively manage the route depending on how busy the roads are. It’s also available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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Comfort

• Relatively spacious interior
• Headroom better than in coupe
• Quiet and refined cruising

Sit in the 4 Series Gran Coupe, and it will feel remarkably similar to the 3 Series and 4 Series Coupe. There’s an excellent driving position, with a logical control layout ahead of you. Although you sit quite low, forward visibility is good, and visual aids, such as parking sensors and optional cameras, are simple to use and display crisply on the central infotainment screen. There are plush and supportive seats, which hold you in place when you’re driving briskly, while the low position is in tune with the car’s sporty character.

Ride comfort favours cars fitted with the optional adaptive damping. In Comfort mode, it’s smooth and unruffled, whereas Sport mode is too revealing of poor road surfaces for our liking, being firm and stiffly damped. An impressive performance overall, and quite a step-up from its predecessor.

Rear-seat passengers have more space here than in the 4 Series Coupe. Unlike that car there are three seatbelts in the Gran Coupe, and there’s an adequate amount of room once sat in place. Access is far easier than in the Coupe, too. The back doors aren’t the widest opening, but certainly make life easier compared with having to try and clamber into the back behind the front seats.