Page 40 - 0215_SAM_FINAL
P. 40
AUTO REVIEW
BMW 435i
New, attractive, athletic and a hall-of-fame engine
By Steve Schutz, MD
As many readers know, BMW recently FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE ury you perceive when you sit behind the
took a page out of Audi's playbook and de- Recently, I had the chance to sample a wheel is now what it is in the Audi A5, and
cided to call what used to be 3-series coupes the iDrive user interface is as good as the
and convertibles 4-series cars. That clever BMW 4-series convertible, and after a week class-leading Audi MMI system.
idea, which Audi first used when they with it I can say that, for better and for
launched the A5 coupe in 2008, allowed worse, it is quite different from the beloved That's two Audi mentions in one sentence,
them to charge more for a car that, while E93 3-series convertible that preceded it. by the way, which should serve as a reminder
using the exact same platform as the A4 to BMW (and Mercedes and Lexus) that the
sedan, was one number "better." Shades of For starters, the interior is more spacious. status quo in the automotive luxury market
"This is Spinal Tap," I know, but it worked, Front foot- and head-room have been in- can shift rapidly. It was only 10 years ago that
as robust A5 sales will attest. creased, and the cabin feels bigger from be- Audi was an also-ran in this segment, and
hind the wheel. Still, despite the expanded now they're the benchmark in many if not
For the record, it was actually BMW that passenger space, the rear seats in the 4-series most areas.
had the idea first back in the 1970s when are tight and appropriate only for children
they created a coupe based on the 5-series and out-of-favor in-laws. The designers at BMW obviously spent
sedan platform and called that (gorgeous and time ensuring that the 4-series was visually
classic) car the 6-series. As with the 3-series sedan, the 4-series' in- distinct from the 3-series sedan. The wheel-
terior has been upgraded with nicer materials base is the same on both cars, but the profile
and a more integrated look. The level of lux-
40 San Antonio Medicine • February 2015
