BMW has built an X4 M40i, and it's fast
In what's turning into a strong week for rapid, slanty-roofed, SUV things, BMW has followed Tesla's launch of the Model X crossover with a tastier, M-lite version of the X4. It's called the X4 M40i.
No, it's not a full-fat M Division model, but if it was, we'd suspect you'd probably become rather vocal. This is BMW's latest M Performance car, sitting with the likes of the M235i on the My First M-car shelf.
Anyway, besides the angrier M Sport bodykit, the X4 M40i rides on 20-inch rims, within which live upgraded brakes usually optional on regular X4s. BMW's also fiddled with the steering assistance and adaptive dampers, fitted stiffer springs, and come up with a sportier set-up just for the M40i.
Rear-biased all-wheel drive is standard, as is the, um, sportier 8spd auto. Interestingly, BMW will sell you set of optional Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres specifically for the X4. And there you were thinking it might go a little bit off-road.
Gluing '40i' to the bootlid obviously doesn't mean this is a 4.0-litre X4 – that's just what the Germans were expecting you to think. In fact, there's a 3.0-litre straight-six up front, assisted by a single, twin-scroll turbocharger.
You get 355bhp – more than enough to challenge the likes of the Audi RSQ3 and Jaguar F-Pace S – with a healthy dollop of 465Nm. All of that torque arrives at 1,350rpm, and doesn't clock off until you're wound past 5,250rpm. Tractable much?
Fast, too. BMW claims a 4.9-second 0-100km/h sprint, which is a scant tenth behind the five-cylinder RSQ3, and just a tenth off BMW's own M4 Convertible. And can you guess what the top speed is? Yup, it's the usual 250km/h limiter. Even more predictably, the official economy results are remarkable: 199g/km and 8.6 l/100 km.
In fact, just about the only number BMW hasn't proudly heralded is the X4 M40i's price. You can't even buy a petrol X4 in the UK, as BMW pushes the more tax-friendly (currently) turbodiesel versions. Should BMW slap a fifty-something grand sticker on the M40i and ship it to the land of Evoques? Answers on an internet postcard'
