BMW 4-Series Configurator Online!

[GTaudiophile]

So I visited BMWusa.com with the intent of testing out the new 4 Series configurator but of course because of habit, I clicked on the "configure 3 series" link and then I was like wait a minute...back...there is a whole new category for this!

Anyway, my first observation?

The 428 is not available with a MT???? Only the 8-speed AT with paddles??? You have to get a 435 to get an MT now???

Maybe someone else can try it and see if a MT can be had on the 428?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Yeah, I am finding the same thing. Kind of strange - I would have thought the percentage of manual buyers of the 428i would, if anything, be greater than that of the 435i. It's also weird in that I believe both the 320i and 328i are available with a stick. All that combined suggests to me that the 428i ultimately WILL be available with a manual as well.

I have to say, I just cannot get used to the look of the F30/F32. I don't think the E90 was any great shakes (though the E92 is pretty, especially in M Sport or M3 trim), but the front end of the F30 and F32, which I think was designed to meet Euro pedestrian safety requirements, is just hideous to my eyes. I also don't care for that little gill on the front fender. Many critics have opined that the interior looks more modern, but I find that tacked-on nav screen goofy, and I am also unconvinced by the diagonal split line used on the passenger side of the dashboard. I still think the aesthetic step backwards between the E46 and E90/E92 was bigger than this one, but this is still a step in the wrong direction to me.

 

[jlarsson]

I thought I read someplace (Autoblog maybe), that it was the 428i xDrive was the only trim level that didn't have the option of a manual transmission, with the base 428i still available with a manual. But, I don't see that option in the configurator either.

 

[Eureka]

Yeah, I am finding the same thing. Kind of strange - I would have thought the percentage of manual buyers of the 428i would, if anything, be greater than that of the 435i. It's also weird in that I believe both the 320i and 328i are available with a stick. All that combined suggests to me that the 428i ultimately WILL be available with a manual as well.

I have to say, I just cannot get used to the look of the F30/F32. I don't think the E90 was any great shakes (though the E92 is pretty, especially in M Sport or M3 trim), but the front end of the F30 and F32, which I think was designed to meet Euro pedestrian safety requirements, is just hideous to my eyes. I also don't care for that little gill on the front fender. Many critics have opined that the interior looks more modern, but I find that tacked-on nav screen goofy, and I am also unconvinced by the diagonal split line used on the passenger side of the dashboard. I still think the aesthetic step backwards between the E46 and E90/E92 was bigger than this one, but this is still a step in the wrong direction to me.

I actually really like the way the new F3x look compared to the E9x. It kind of blends in the E9x with the E4x lines. But I've only really seen the sedans, not the 4-coupes.

I thought I read someplace (Autoblog maybe), that it was the 428i xDrive was the only trim level that didn't have the option of a manual transmission, with the base 428i still available with a manual. But, I don't see that option in the configurator either.

I haven't really followed it, but it seems like BMW rolls out options slowly. Give it a few months?