BMW 4 Series

One name, three cars. The F32 and G22 are coupés, the F33 and G23 convertibles, and the F36 and G26 are Gran Coupés — the five-door liftback whose boot opens together with the rear screen. That is the one Europe wants, because it gives a coupé's shape with an estate's practicality, and America offers a wide choice of 430i and 440i Gran Coupés.

The F33 convertible needs separate attention. The roof is a three-piece folding metal item; a side impact, a rear impact or a twisted shell distorts the mechanism, and adjusting or replacing the hydraulics and linkage is expensive. On the newer G23 BMW went back to a fabric roof and that risk is appreciably smaller. One more specific point: the convertible's tail lights carry a different part number and shape from the coupé's — an F32 or F36 unit will not fit.

The engines divide into good and dangerous, and the generation is the divider. The 428i with the N20, 2014 to 2016, carries the well-known oil pump and timing chain problem — the plastic guides break, and the chain gets replaced on arrival rather than when it starts rattling. The 435i with the N55 is pleasant but wants checking for leaks and rod bearings. After the 2017 facelift come the 430i with the B48 and the 440i with the B58, neither with early troubles; the B58 is the grail and gives over four hundred horsepower on software alone.

On the newer generation the American M440i has an advantage the European one does not: it leaves without the particulate filter, makes 382 hp and sounds considerably more aggressive. The electric i4 is the same Gran Coupé — after an underbody impact the high-voltage battery housing wants checking, and that does not show in the photographs.

Packages matter more here than usual, because the car is positioned as the sporting one. Without M Sport, particularly on a G22 with the large vertical grille, it loses the look it is bought for. Track Handling on the F cars and M Sport Package Pro on the G cars add M Performance brakes and adaptive suspension. The laser headlights transform a G22's face and are much wanted here. For registration: F32 and F36 lights are resoldered or replaced, while on the G22 and G26 European units are a direct swap with coding.