Finally they’re listening to me! I’ve wanted to see this change for decades, having even written about just this subject a number

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of years ago, so let me take a moment to congratulate BMW on their new naming strategy. It makes so much sense, a logical step to simplify a confusing issue. Now all the four- and five-door models are odd numbered and all the two-door coupes and convertibles are even numbered, except for the new five-door 2 Series Active Tourer that should’ve certainly been dubbed 1 Series. Argh! It’s obvious there are nonconformists within BMW still happily messing with the neat and orderly new system. Those that created the new 4 Series are at least following the rules.

Yes, the 428i xDrive Coupe in my possession over the past week certainly follows the majority of BMW’s legendary sport coupe rules. It’s long, lean, has a wide stance and is pretty good looking overall. It’s quick off the line, ultimately stable at high speed and plenty of fun to drive quickly through corners. It’s luxuriously equipped

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without any over the top parlour club snobbishness. It’s comfortable up front, more than adequate in the back seat and can stow a weekend’s worth of gear in the trunk for those necessary two-to-three-day breaks from reality. Truly, the only thing that breaks from tradition is a four-cylinder engine that sounds like it was pulled from an early-’70s Super Beetle. Well, at least it’s a classic German engine note. Then again, being water-cooled I suppose it sounds a little more like a new Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ boxer, or better yet a purposefully guttural Subaru WRX? Yah, that’s more like it.

If you’re finally deciding to trade in your ’90s-era E36 328i Coupe and were expecting that the marvelously melodious sound of the now classic model’s 2.8-litre inline

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six will somehow miraculously accompany acceleration of this 428i Coupe you’ll be disappointed, but note that this four-cylinder is much, much more powerful than the old girl’s mill, and a great deal more fuel efficient too. The absence of audible stimulation is made palpable by 241 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, the former from 5,000 to 6,500 rpm and the latter from as low as 1,250 ticks of the rev meter to a high of 4,800, which incidentally is a single horsepower and gobs of torque (33 lb-ft to be exact) more powerful than the 1997 E36 M3 (’95 in the U.S.) designed for our market (not the Euro-spec ’94) that you lusted over when you settled on a 328i.

Yes, it might sound bizarre to compare a base 4 Series Coupe to an M car, but it just goes to show how far we’ve come in the engine output wars during the past couple of decades. When the ’90s era M3 hit the market nobody was thinking about fuel economy.

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Gas was priced between 55 and 60 cents per litre and global emissions regulations were fairly lax compared to today’s standards, so there was no need for such a sophisticated powertrain. Engines merely needed to make as much power as possible, whereas steering needed to balance high-speed stability and quick turning accuracy while translating optimal feel as ideally as could be, gearboxes needed no more than five speeds with increments spaced to make the most of the engine’s sweet spot, and brakes simply had to combine good progressive feel and strong performance, and if the engine stalled at a stoplight, distressed panic would have immediately set in. Now, if set in Eco Pro mode, BMW’s Efficient Dynamics technology shuts that otherwise idling engine down automatically to save fuel (which was about $1.40/litre at the time of writing), the brakes regenerate kinetic energy to power ancillary components, the steering can’t drag on the powertrain and therefore must be electric, the automatic transmission

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requires many more forward gears (the one in this 428i uses eight and shifts via twin dry clutches and automated decoupling/coupling), while smaller displacement higher tech engines need to make more power and deliver never-before-fathomed fuel efficiency and ultra-low emissions.

The 428i’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine employs a twin scroll turbocharger, direct injection, Valvetronic variable valve timing, Double-VANOS variable camshaft timing, and host of other new edge technologies to make sure every milligram of gasoline vapour is utilized, maximizing efficiency while optimizing power. It’s actually a best of both worlds scenario, unless you value the aforementioned aural sensation. What’s the result?

The 2014 428i Coupe can zip to 100 km/h in a mere 6.1 seconds using the six-speed

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manual or an even quicker 6.0 seconds flat with the automatic (or better yet, 5.9 as tested with xDrive all-wheel drive that comes standard with the automatic), achieve a top-rated 210 km/h (or 240 if you spring for better tires), while (as long as you’re not driving like that all the time, or in BMW-speak have your 428i set to Eco Pro mode and drive it like a hypermiling Ed Begley Jr. – and that includes using the nanny approved gearshift indicator that tells you the optimal point to shift in order to save fuel) you’ll save up to 20-percent on your gas bill and be able to eke out a rather stingy claimed 9.0 L/100km in the city, 5.5 on the highway and 7.4 combined with the manual or 8.7 city, 5.4 highway and 7.2 combined with the auto (or 9.4 city, 6.1 highway and 7.9 combined in xDrive guise, as tested). I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but my guess is that ’97 M3 couldn’t even come close when it was brand spanking new, let alone that 328i Coupe you’re finally trading in. Of course, you’ll never achieve these numbers anyway, as they’re

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created using Transport Canada’s rather useless rating system, so therefore use them for comparison purposes only. Next year we’ll see estimates that are closer to reality from all brands, so there’s hope yet for honesty in advertising. And don’t blame BMW here, as they’re simply locked into a governmental fuel economy rating system that was never intended to give you any indication about the potential fuel economy of a given model.

I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to bet most buyers in this class aren’t as concerned about fuel economy as BMW is about meeting ever more stringent regulations. That in mind, the default mode isn’t Eco Pro, but Comfort, which combines less relaxed shift points to enhance the fun factor yet still minimize engine revs for reasonable economy, with a nice comfortable suspension setup that’s ideal for bumpier inner-city roads.

Not

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exciting enough for you? Of course, it’s a BMW so there’s Sport mode and even a Sport+ mode, the former shortening the eight-speed automatic’s shift points while tweaking the adaptive suspension’s electronically controlled dampers for a tauter ride and lowering the ride height by 10 millimetres for commensurately improved handling, and the latter going a step further by minimizing intrusion from the ABS, traction and stability control systems, or in other words making the little sport coupe track ready.

It all sounds superb, that is unless you like to shift using steering wheel paddles, items strangely left off the menu in this sporty sport coupe. The steering wheel feels naked without them, although you can still swap cogs the old fashioned way with BMW’s uniquely shaped gear lever, or the purist’s way via the aforementioned

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six-speed manual (as long as you don’t want all-wheel drive). Likewise the 428i uses this nifty little item called a handbrake, something extremely popular with true manual shifting enthusiasts before electronic parking brakes started making smooth takeoffs from hills near impossible (an irritation that could cause some Porsche 911 owners to switch allegiances to the upcoming M4).

The 428i xDrive BMW loaned me for a weeklong test was a joy to live with, ultimately easy to pilot through town in default Comfort mode, with a surprisingly comfortable ride and the German brand’s brilliantly supportive front seats combining for true grand touring capability. Even the rear seats offer comfort for anyone

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below five-foot-ten and somewhat crouched capabilities for those pushing six feet.

The driving position is excellent, steering wheel ideally meaty in the fingers and visibility superb no matter where you’re looking, ergonomics a 428i high point for sure. Get comfortable and shift the Driving Experience Control rocker switch into Sport mode and the car comes alive, immediately seeming to relay more energy to the engine, throttle response enhanced, revs spinning into the upper echelons of the tachometer, shifts snappier and suspension firmer. The 428i’s 225/45R18 stock rubber immediately bites into the tarmac at every opportunity, begging to be driven faster than most will likely be willing to explore, egging you on and delivering levels of

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grip that build confidence in anyone willing to exploit its capabilities as well as their inner child. xDrive simply allows all of this fun on more road surface conditions, although don’t get too silly on the slippery stuff as ice is ice and tires can only do so much to thwart stupidity.

As mentioned, the 428i’s interior won’t try to wow you with glossy woodgrain or bright shiny chrome, but rather it stimulates the senses with matte aluminum and in the case of my tester, matte red aluminum accents on the dash, doors and key fob, plus red piping and stitching on the seats to match its Melbourne Red Metallic exterior paint. BMW places its infotainment screen high atop the dash for easy visibility while maintaining partial sight on the road ahead, mine equipped with navigation as part of the $4,600 Premium package that also adds a rearview camera, front and rear park distance control, auto dimming exterior mirrors, comfort access,

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a heated steering wheel, an alarm, a through loading system and satellite radio, while my car’s stereo was also upgraded to a very crisp and clear sounding Harmon/Kardon system as part of the $2,000 Executive package that also includes head-up display, a universal remote and lumbar supported seats. This pushed the price of my $49,000 428i Coupe xDrive tester to an even $55,000 before adding metallic paint for $895, plus BMW’s rather high freight and pre-delivery prep charge of $2,095 for a total of $57,990.

That price could have come down if xDrive was taken off the tally, the base 428i Coupe starting at $44,900 plus freight. It comes standard with all the usual luxury accouterments such as a leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel including cruise control and Bluetooth, automatic climate control, heated front seats, powered front sport seats with driver-side memory, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, USB connectivity,

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and fog lights, as well as a lengthy list of items you might not expect including dynamic cruise control, a powered tilt and slide glass sunroof, BMW TeleServices, rain-sensing bi-xenon HID headlamps, automatic start-stop, brake energy regeneration, Driving Experience with Eco Pro, and a Sport automatic transmission “with paddles” or so BMW’s retail website states (which as you might remember were eerily missing on my tester).

Many of the aforementioned options package features can be had via a menu of standalone options, plus some extras like Active Cruise with Stop and Go for $1,000, whereas additional options packages include the Performance Wheel package that adds 19-inch Star Spoke alloys for $500; a BMW ConnectedDrive package with real time traffic updates, BMW Online and BMW Apps, concierge services, convenience telephony with extended smartphone connectivity, plus internet

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and remote services for $850; and the Drive Assistance package with active blind spot detection, lane departure warning, and a surround view monitor for $1,250.

Lastly you can get many of these items included standard if you opt for the $54,900 435i Coupe or the 435i $55,600 xDrive Coupe, plus of course the two models’ turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six which sounds a great deal more like a classic BMW and drives with a bit more verve thanks to 300 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. Of course, fuel economy is not quite as friendly as with the 428i Coupe. And before you plunk down the extra cash for the six, try the four-cylinder as it’s loads of fun all on its own.

Yes, like I said in the beginning, the 428i plays by BMW’s legendary sport coupe rules. It delivers the kind of

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excitement that’s made the brand the yardstick to be measured by, yet now does it in a package that can be as eco-friendly as your mood permits. It’s not quite a hybrid, BMW offering a number of those in four-door sedan guise, but it’s about as close as can be without electrifying the drivetrain, offering many of the same technologies that make hybrid models as efficient as they are. Consider the 428i a bit of Jekyll and a bit of Hyde. Some white, some black with a lot of grey area in between. It’s the mood ring of cars, as saintly as you want to appear when in mixed company yet as devilish as required when alone on a backcountry road.

Truly BMW has come a long way. I don’t think you’ll miss your old 328i Coupe.
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