[MashinBenzin]

My F36 440i finally reached 5000 miles on Friday. It's taken me just over 11 months, which is a big change from my last two cars that reached the landmark in less than 3 months.

As any of you that have read some of my posts will know, the car lives a largely urban existence. Most days is a 6/7 mile commute each way, with a 3-mile each way lunch drive, so it's rarely stretched - to say the least. The 440i excels in this use though.

The highlight of this car is its dual personality. Literally at the flick of a button it is transformed. In comfort mode, it's an urbane cruiser and in the heavy traffic in which I drive it's just wafting along, gearchanges almost imperceptible and the engine largely silent at less than 2k rpm. It's incredibly relaxing and so much better than I expected at being a very comfortable and luxurious drive.

Flick the button to Sport mode and it's another car altogether, especially with stick-left on the auto-box. Given the tarmac to do so, it howls through the rev range and is ready for another gear before you know it. The rush of power from 2k-7k is addictive, made far more so by the accompanying noise.

I don't have MPPSK, cost being one reason and the other being that the car attracts enough attention as it is when opened up. In sport mode, there is plenty of noise from the exhaust even at lower revs. That's not to say I'm not tempted with MPPSK though!

Economy is fine, high 20s in normal use, low 20s when pushed on in extreme congestion (e.g. 1 hour to do 5 miles), high 30s to mid 40s on a motorway run. I'm at 28.4mpg according to Fuelly, over 5000 miles. It's gradually dropped as I haven't been on a properly long run in the last 2500 miles.

The 440i is a great motorway cruiser, very quiet apart from tyre noise and even that is not too bad; much better than my E90 on 17s. Again, the silence and power of the engine makes everything very relaxed. I just wish it was less inclined to drop from 8th to 7th when the right foot is twitched; the 'box is a bit too keen to anticipate a need for more power than is actually required.

Practicality - plenty of boot space for holiday suitcases; not yet taken the pushchair in there as we always end up using the wife's car, but it has lots more space than hers so will not be a problem. I think the big, powered, hatch is great, combined with the folding seats it makes for a huge and easily accessed space. Just obviously not with the height that a F31 gives.

What's bad? Turn-in and steering. The steering is not a patch on the E90, although it is nice and light at low speeds. There's no feel. Sport Mode is a little sharper, but artificially heavy. The nose does not bite in to corners as much as I would like and it takes too much power to bring about a neutral, as opposed to nose heavy/understeering balance. I really feel that BMW could have engineered a more neutral balance, especially given all the nannies on board.

The F3x interiors get a hard time on here. I think mine is fine for the money. It's certainly a big step up from the many F30 loaners I had from 2012-5, so BMW have been learning and improving things (as on the LCI F30). I'd take the better engineered mechanicals and a slightly lesser interior over the Audi approach any day. Genuinely, I think the F36 is a nice place to be.

It's a good chance to run through my options and whether I would spec them again.

F36 standard equipment It's worth noting, for anyone considering a F30, that the F36 comes with electric, heated, memory seats and pro-nav as standard. These are both must-haves for me, the electric seats being so much more adjustable than the manual ones - much smaller steps to the adjustment and easy to get right.

Carbon Black Love it. It's blue more than black and on a sunny day or under artificial light it highlights every curve of the F36. When it doesn't look it's best, it's simply another metallic black car, which is no bad thing.

Oyster Dakota Oyster is a lovely colour, I'm so glad not to get into a black interior and I'd stick with light colours for all future cars. Easy to keep clean with Dr Leather Wipes. Dakota is alright in my book. I'd rather have Merino, but not for £2k. Alcantara/leather mix would probably be my ideal, but leather is at least hard-wearing and practical.

B58 3.0 petrol engine This is option number one and is the sole one that I simply could not do without. It makes the car for me. Both the buttery-smooth Comfort mode and intoxicating, powerful, Sport mode are essential elements of the appeal for me. I have two cars in one.

MSport Plus package The 19" 442M wheels fill the arches nicely and I like the Ferric grey colour contrasted against the Carbon Black paint. Blue brakes are excellent. Harmon Kardon stereo is excellent, more than capable enough for my needs and much improved now that I have realised that it's worth turning Logic7 off for some types of music. Sun protection glass is another good feature, although does nothing for the looks IMHO.

Adaptive MSport Suspension Another must-have for me. It massively improves the ride and, to my mind, the handling compared with the passive F36 that I drove. Comfort mode is very compliant, but Sport mode is still incredibly usable and I even use this over certain speed bumps as it lends more comfort, through increased body control. At £515 this was a real no-brainer and I'd choose this on every future car.

Reversing Assist Camera Cracking. My wife's car had a camera since 2013 and I started to miss it when using my E90, so it was a definite spec item for me. It does make parking so much easier, offering reassurance to go with the beeps. Only regret is that I didn't go for the full surround view package.

Lumbar Support I like this and have found it very useful on longer journeys. Makes the seats what they should be as standard.

Extended Storage A must-have for the boot hook, which I use almost daily. And a rip off for not coming with the driver's side cubby due to other options. Just started finding the boot net useful, have never used the seatback nets. £155 for a hook then really, but a good hook

Sliding Armrest Cheap as chips and much more comfortable for me.

Lane Change Warning System I like this, the orange triangles provide extra reassurance that that over the shoulder check was correct, or that what you see in the mirrors is right. A little pricey at £440, but used continuously. I wouldn't bother on a car that spent all it's time outside urban areas and away from motorways.

Head Up Display Excellent, I never look at the dials for my speed. Very pricey at £825, so would be a candidate for the chop on a tighter budget, but it's a great thing to have. Combined with Speed Limit Display at another £220; the latter is really needed to bring more functionality to the HUD. I find it pretty accurate (not everyone does) and useful on the Smart M4/M5 stretches that I drive, both of which are prone to going along the lines of 60/40/50 in limits from gantry to gantry.

Folding Mirrors Another must-have for parking in tight spaces/alongside busy roads. Even more important is the dipping passenger mirror function that it brings.

I got the spec of mine right, I think. Nothing I really regret paying for and only Comfort Access and Surround View are things that I would appreciate having on top, but I can live without them.

Phew, that's it, if you stuck with my review this far, well done!! Here are several pics, not great quality as all from the phone apart from the first two, but they show it in it's typical environs. The phone camera can't capture the variations in colour that CB has.

[RobUK]

Informative write-up, glad you’re enjoying the car and must say I agree with most of your observations! My ‘elderly’ 340i will be 2 yrs old soon and has covered 20K miles now and one thing I will say is that the sound gets even better as the miles add up.

[Racing Teatray]

Great review that echoes pretty much everything I think about my near-identical central London-dwelling Carbon Black 440GC, particularly the "two cars in one" comment - that's spot on.

Mine ticked over 6,000 miles (after 8 months) yesterday evening. Economy-wise, the computer (which I've never reset) is giving me a long-term average consumption of around 31mpg, but then I do not commute in my car and it is mostly used at weekends or for longer runs out of town.

I don't have the lumbar support, lane-change warning, sliding armrest or HUD, but have the rest of the same options, plus a sunroof and adaptive lights. I think I have the darker grey 442Ms and mine has a saddle interior.

If I was ordering the car today, the only additional options I'd tick are the digital cockpit and the leather dash-top.

It's really a great car. I made another discovery about it on Saturday. I had cause to go down to Surrey on my own and there are some cracking roads down there. So it seemed rude not to turn everything on the GC up to max Spinal Tap and go for it. This included tapping the gear lever over to the left into Sport and doing my own changes in max attack.

And so to the discovery. Up until now, my experience of the ZF auto is that it can slur with the best of them in polite company and yet also whack in some pretty swift and smooth shifts when needed, but always does so with minimum fuss and drama. Whereas, the DSG box in eg Audi's S and RS models tend to give you a pretty loud "braaap" noise on rapid upshifts.

Well, it seems that if you give the 440i full beans in Sport Plus with the gearbox in Sport and change gears manually using the paddles, it suddenly also starts to let out some audible "braaap" noises on full-bore upshifts. Not quite as rude-boy and showy as the Audis, but there nevertheless and actually rather welcome. I like the fact that the BMW will make such noises, but only if you really go looking for them and not merely when you are toddling down the high street to Tesco. Gives them more of a sense of authenticity.

[Rhino at Work]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Extended Storage A must-have for the boot hook, which I use almost daily. And a rip off for not coming with the driver's side cubby due to other options. Just started finding the boot net useful, have never used the seatback nets. £155 for a hook then really, but a good hook

Great review and just makes me even keener to take delivery of my 340i.

Can I just check - ref the highlighted quote what other options take away the drivers cubby hole?

Thanks

[Racing Teatray]

Originally Posted by Rhino at Work

Great review and just makes me even keener to take delivery of my 340i.

Can I just check - ref the highlighted quote what other options take away the drivers cubby hole?

Thanks

One of the ones I don't have...given mine came with the cubby hole...

I'd guess at the HUD or lane-change warning - perhaps the electric gubbins takes up the same space.

[JNW1]

Nice review MashinBenzin, thanks for posting!

The GC does sound a good all-rounder and I'd be seriously tempted by one of TRL's current deals if I thought it would accommodate our two labs; sadly, though, for the time being I think a Touring is better suited to my needs.

Interesting comment on the adaptive suspension. Have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed by it on my F31 and with the wisdom of hindsight wonder if the money spent on that would have been better invested in a set of ACS springs; however, you obviously think it works well on the GC with M-Sport suspension?

[werewolf81]

Really great review man!

The only issue I have with it is that now it's even harder to wait for my car to be delivered

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Rhino at Work

Great review and just makes me even keener to take delivery of my 340i.

Can I just check - ref the highlighted quote what other options take away the drivers cubby hole?

Thanks

Yes, it's the lane change warning, or any other option that puts a button here :

[CazuaLLUK]

Cracking car buddy!

[JustChris]

This is a great write up and a lovely example of a GC! Many happy miles ahead!

[Rhino at Work]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Yes, it's the lane change warning, or any other option that puts a button here :

Thanks. I'm OK then as I didn't go for that option.

[goodbyalfa]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Yes, it's the lane change warning, or any other option that puts a button here :

That really is some pants design by BMW.
I love that little sun glasses cubbyhole. Surly they could find a better place for that little button...

[225]

Great review of a great car. I actually think the GC looks nicer than a standard 4.

I've only done 12k miles in 18months in the f31 and the engine has loosened up nicely now. I can recommend a tuning box for the b58 its a 5th of the price of the mppk and whilst you don't get the extra sound you get at the very least the same if not more oomph! Really brings the b58 to life with near 400bhp.

[TodmordenLad]

Great review and good to see that the honeymoon period hasn't worn off! Ive got to wait until October for mine to arrive. Hardly counting the days but looking forward to it for certain.
My 'essentials', carried forward from my current F31, are M Sport Plus, adaptive suspension and adaptive lights - everything else is a bonus. The only thing I envisage regretting is not stumping up the extra cash for an individual colour. It really is a lot of ££ however....

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

the accompanying noise

A noise you say? What kind of noise?

Is it anything like this...?

[Lux700]

Great review. Thanks for sharing it, it is very useful to me at this current time. I'm contemplating the Coupe but still useful. I don't know how the Coupe and GC compare handling wise... I'm assuming there's not much difference?

[mikeoz]

Agree about the E90 steering. I was very disappointed due to having a 335i E90..then driving the f30

[NotGotABimmer23]

Nice motor, any interest in the performance exterior parts? Black grills especially would improve the look no end imo. Would go for a performance diffuser too at a minimum.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Nice review MashinBenzin, thanks for posting!

The GC does sound a good all-rounder and I'd be seriously tempted by one of TRL's current deals if I thought it would accommodate our two labs; sadly, though, for the time being I think a Touring is better suited to my needs.

Interesting comment on the adaptive suspension. Have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed by it on my F31 and with the wisdom of hindsight wonder if the money spent on that would have been better invested in a set of ACS springs; however, you obviously think it works well on the GC with M-Sport suspension?

Yes, I really rate the adaptive, will try to expand on that when I have chance I find it really does adapt, which is key. Lighter engine could help vs. Yours? Agree that a F36 isn't much good for two labs.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by 37psi

Interesting water heading in photograph two. Any particular product?

BMW's standard protectX product that the dealer kindly threw in as a freebie. It's lasted well too.

[RIKO_440i]

Great review ... can't wait to the deposit down .... waiting on dealer quote ......

[howardmarkland]

Iam a new member and was just about to post my first review having bought my 440i in sept 2016 now with just over 5000 miles on clock.
I would agree with all the points made in what is a very fair review especially the practicality and dual personality which in mine is heightened by the MPPSK fitted in the feb of 2017.Alot has been written about this kit which I cannot recommend highly enough ...buy one and enjoy and in the knowledge its fully warranted by BMW
The one option I have recently fitted (May 2017) which I think is too often overlooked is a LSD. Forget the comments that this is only useful on a track day....on ordinary roads it gives you a stability and control going into and out of corners which you will not have experienced with the open Diff and gives real confidence when motoring on
especially when switched to sport +