BMW XDrive: A Rear-Biased System with a Twist

So we've got the BMW M440i xDrive, and as expected, it's a rear-biased system. We've also got a ZF 8-speed gearbox, which is perfect for this marriage of power and performance. The B58 engine, paired with the ZF 8-speed transmission, creates a formidable combination that works well in every car. This M440i is not the most powerful version of the BMW M series, but it's still a quick car.

One of the things that sets the M440i apart from its competitors is its sound. The straight-six engine produces a beautiful, yet muted, soundtrack that's sure to turn heads on the road. While it may not be as loud as some other performance cars, it's still an excellent sound that complements the car's overall design and character. In contrast, the BMW M4 Convertible is a different story altogether. With its retractable roof and more relaxed stance, it's a car that's better suited to cruising around town or enjoying a leisurely drive in the countryside.

The gap between the M440i and the M4 is well-defined, with the former feeling like a completely different animal from the latter. While both cars share many similarities under the skin, they're differentiated by their focus and intent. The M440i is more of a grand tourer, designed to take you on long road trips or weekend getaways in style and comfort. It's a car that's designed to make you feel like you're driving on holiday, with its comfortable suspension and smooth power delivery.

One of the things that BMW has done well in differentiating the M4 from the M440i is by creating two distinct personalities for each model. The M4 is a more aggressive, track-focused performance car, while the M440i is a more relaxed, road-going tourer. However, this doesn't mean that one car can't handle more than the other - both cars are capable of delivering exceptional handling and performance.

To put the M440i's capabilities to the test, we took it out for a spin on the Autobahn. With its electronically limited top speed of 243 mph (GPS), we were able to see just how quickly this car could accelerate from 0-100 mph. According to BMW, it takes 4.9 seconds to reach the 100 mph mark - but our own measurements put it at a blistering 4.55 seconds.

In terms of performance, the M440i is not exactly lightning-quick off the line, but it's more than capable of delivering rapid acceleration throughout its power band. The 500 horsepower on tap makes this car feel like a rocket ship as you push it hard, and the smooth, linear power delivery only adds to its sense of agility and responsiveness.

One thing that might surprise some drivers is how much faster the M440i is compared to its competitors in similar segments. In our tests, we found that it was about 4 tenths of a second slower than the BMW M550i xDrive coupe over the same 0-200 mph stretch. However, when you consider the weight difference between these two cars, this performance gap becomes more understandable.

The real test of any car is how well it handles on twisty roads or in challenging weather conditions - and here again, the M440i delivers. With its responsive steering and precise handling, it's a joy to drive on winding roads or in heavy rain. It's also worth noting that the M440i's electronically limited top speed means you won't be tempted to push this car too hard, which makes it feel more relaxed and composed at high speeds.

But despite its impressive performance credentials, there's one area where the M440i falls short: top speed. According to BMW, it has a electronically limited top speed of 243 mph (GPS) - but in reality, we measured this at an astonishing 243 GPS. This discrepancy raises questions about how accurate the manufacturer's claims can be, and whether some cars are actually capable of higher speeds than they're officially allowed.

Ultimately, the M440i is a car that should appeal to anyone looking for a stylish, comfortable, and performance-oriented driving experience. With its unique blend of power and poise, it's an excellent choice for those who want to mix things up from their usual routine. And while it may not be as sharp or aggressive as some other BMW M models, the M440i is still an excellent performer that should put a smile on your face every time you drive it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this pov review by auto top now my name is max and today we are taking a look at the all new well not all new we're a bit late to the party but anyway we've got the new bmw m440i xdrive convertible so today i'm going to show you around it we're going to take a look at the spec and then we'll take it for a little drive towards the ultraman for an autobahn blast so let's start with the spec and the exterior we've got an arctic race blue car today which is the launch color of the m440i very very nice color it's blue with a touch of gray in there i really like it and it does do the car justice uh of course we've got the big grill with the shower curtain accents in there immediately replace that for a black one uh if you ask me that would be better we've got an m specific bumper at the front of course with these little air ducts in there we've got bmw laser light optional and these 19 inch wheels 792m very nice and performance wheels and we've got the m sport brakes behind that with the red brake calipers and an m logo on there as well it's a cool look i would say that red with that blue cool combo we've got a very light interior as you can see oyster is the color and uh well we'll take a look at the rear first dual exhaust with a pipe in there so again just a bumper part not a fan of that especially because if you stand behind it you can just look through it really don't like that we did make a review with the m440i xdrive the coupe a so if you want to check that out click in the top right corner for some more in-depth stuff i'm going to focus on the convertible stuff today so let's take a look at the trunk because of course if you go for convertible you sacrifice trunk space now you can see this flap here which is down right now because the roof is down but if you have the roof up you can fold this away and you have a lot more space a lot more usable space uh especially because right now you know you've got this this first part and then the lower second part behind that but it's not bad and the trunk space actually is more than with the previous 4 series convertible so that is something at least can i close the roof with yeah with the remote so there it goes 18 seconds it takes for the roof to close and open and as you can see we've got a fabric roof back yes awesome because with the last two three and four series convertibles we had that horrible steel folding roof with those exposed hinges absolutely horrible way too heavy way too ugly this is much much better now of course we knew that this was coming the two series and the eight series already had a fabric roof but this is just so much nicer i like this so much better it's just a better construction for a convertible it already adds a lot of weight so having a steel folding roof just adds even more which i don't like it's also why i don't really like convertibles because they're 9 out of 10 times worse than the coupe they're based on but let's talk about the convertible compared to the coupe so this weighs 1965 kilos which is 150 kilos heavier than the coupe which is mainly because they added reinforcements in the rear and front bulkheads and in the floor to keep it rigid and stiff so it still handles like an m440i should now let's take a look at the engine b58 374 horsepower 500 newton meters of torque with 48 volt mild hybrid technology you don't really notice that while you're driving just that the start stop is super quick that's basically it it's not really noticeable but it's there and it improves the efficiency of the engine so fine by me so not much to see there you know about this engine we've talked about this engine a lot and inside as i said we've got that light interior which is really nice always prefer that in a convertible so we'll open the roof again and get this with deflector up so we have a very handy uh seat belt assistant here which extends quite a bit as you can see it's actually quite handy i thought it would be nonsense but it's not so what is it like to drive well we're going to go for sport plus of course and turn off traction control because even though we have xdrive you know it is bmw xdrive so we still have some room to play it is a rear biased system we've got a zf 8-speed gearbox which is perfect as always this marriage between the b58 and the zf8 speed is just awesome it is so good and it works in every car basically so this m440 of course is not the most powerful version even though oh it is a quick car and you've got that beautiful straight six sound although it's a bit muted it still sounds pretty decent but i also think that this is a more valid car than a bmw m4 convertible for instance which just has no business existing basically i get the fun in this car you know you have a straight six it's comfy it's it's a real cruiser and you still want you know a bit of performance but you also want to take your wife or girlfriend or husband or whatever to the south of france and have a little fun over there with the roof down i get the proposition of a convertible with a bit of you know performance i just think that if you if you value performance a convertible is rubbish basically because you can really feel that this car is less stiff less sharp than an m440i um so yeah i do get this car i don't get the m4 convertible but i also think that bmw did a really good job of separating the m4 and m440i because it feels like a completely different animal ok just close the roof for the autobahn part and we've got a speedo cam of course but as i was saying the gap between the m440i and the m4 is really well done because this even more than the m440i coupe feels you know so much softer and more friendly more gentle but still you have that straight six sound we know and love so i think they really did a good job of differentiating those and trying to figure out what people buy a specific car for even though i don't really like convertibles as a principle i do kind of like how they position this one and i i think it might actually be better or more suitable uh as an m4 ti convertible over coupe okay so let's see if we can get some space still a quick car of course even though it's a bit heavier uh 4.9 seconds to 100 according to bmw we actually measured a 4.55 so that's a lot quicker than bmw says that's the limiter to 4 254 on the speedo which actually is 243 gps 243 what's that about that's not the first time we've encountered that with uh these m performers i think it was the m550i facelift if my memory serves me right which also had a lower top speed than claimed which i don't really understand because 243 is closer to 240 to 250 so something is really wrong with that i really don't like that 100 to 200 of course we also measured that 11.49 seconds which is about four tenths slower than the coupe which seems about right with the weight increase but it's still a quick car you know it's not mind-blowingly fast but it still has 500 newton meters so you you can also cruise along half throttle and it will still sound nice and it's just a really nice and supple drivetrain i mean that limiter you you reach the limiter quite quickly it's it's not really a big deal for this car so if you want a convertible bmw with a straight six you can of course also go for the z4 m40i which has a little bit less power and is also a little slower than this so it's a bit weird the more like sports car offering at bmw is slower than this bigger koopa but of course the z4 handles a bit better it's you know a bit lower it's a two-seater so i do think that you would have a bit more fun in that car because it's a bit sharper um and a bit lighter and a bit lighter on its feet as well this is more like you know if you need the two extra seats you can actually fit a normal sized human being i was there the whole time oh my god this car though i do think it's a big improvement over the previous 4 series convertible with that ugly steel roof this car is actually lower wider longer proportions are better and of course this delicious dry train with 374 horsepower is so nice okay so that's it i'm going to end it here i mean we keep hitting that limiter so it's not really much fun in that anymore i hope you guys enjoyed it you guys subscribe by clicking the big button in the middle you can also check out this video on the right or go check out this playlist on the left thanks so much for watching and i'll see you at the next one byewhat's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this pov review by auto top now my name is max and today we are taking a look at the all new well not all new we're a bit late to the party but anyway we've got the new bmw m440i xdrive convertible so today i'm going to show you around it we're going to take a look at the spec and then we'll take it for a little drive towards the ultraman for an autobahn blast so let's start with the spec and the exterior we've got an arctic race blue car today which is the launch color of the m440i very very nice color it's blue with a touch of gray in there i really like it and it does do the car justice uh of course we've got the big grill with the shower curtain accents in there immediately replace that for a black one uh if you ask me that would be better we've got an m specific bumper at the front of course with these little air ducts in there we've got bmw laser light optional and these 19 inch wheels 792m very nice and performance wheels and we've got the m sport brakes behind that with the red brake calipers and an m logo on there as well it's a cool look i would say that red with that blue cool combo we've got a very light interior as you can see oyster is the color and uh well we'll take a look at the rear first dual exhaust with a pipe in there so again just a bumper part not a fan of that especially because if you stand behind it you can just look through it really don't like that we did make a review with the m440i xdrive the coupe a so if you want to check that out click in the top right corner for some more in-depth stuff i'm going to focus on the convertible stuff today so let's take a look at the trunk because of course if you go for convertible you sacrifice trunk space now you can see this flap here which is down right now because the roof is down but if you have the roof up you can fold this away and you have a lot more space a lot more usable space uh especially because right now you know you've got this this first part and then the lower second part behind that but it's not bad and the trunk space actually is more than with the previous 4 series convertible so that is something at least can i close the roof with yeah with the remote so there it goes 18 seconds it takes for the roof to close and open and as you can see we've got a fabric roof back yes awesome because with the last two three and four series convertibles we had that horrible steel folding roof with those exposed hinges absolutely horrible way too heavy way too ugly this is much much better now of course we knew that this was coming the two series and the eight series already had a fabric roof but this is just so much nicer i like this so much better it's just a better construction for a convertible it already adds a lot of weight so having a steel folding roof just adds even more which i don't like it's also why i don't really like convertibles because they're 9 out of 10 times worse than the coupe they're based on but let's talk about the convertible compared to the coupe so this weighs 1965 kilos which is 150 kilos heavier than the coupe which is mainly because they added reinforcements in the rear and front bulkheads and in the floor to keep it rigid and stiff so it still handles like an m440i should now let's take a look at the engine b58 374 horsepower 500 newton meters of torque with 48 volt mild hybrid technology you don't really notice that while you're driving just that the start stop is super quick that's basically it it's not really noticeable but it's there and it improves the efficiency of the engine so fine by me so not much to see there you know about this engine we've talked about this engine a lot and inside as i said we've got that light interior which is really nice always prefer that in a convertible so we'll open the roof again and get this with deflector up so we have a very handy uh seat belt assistant here which extends quite a bit as you can see it's actually quite handy i thought it would be nonsense but it's not so what is it like to drive well we're going to go for sport plus of course and turn off traction control because even though we have xdrive you know it is bmw xdrive so we still have some room to play it is a rear biased system we've got a zf 8-speed gearbox which is perfect as always this marriage between the b58 and the zf8 speed is just awesome it is so good and it works in every car basically so this m440 of course is not the most powerful version even though oh it is a quick car and you've got that beautiful straight six sound although it's a bit muted it still sounds pretty decent but i also think that this is a more valid car than a bmw m4 convertible for instance which just has no business existing basically i get the fun in this car you know you have a straight six it's comfy it's it's a real cruiser and you still want you know a bit of performance but you also want to take your wife or girlfriend or husband or whatever to the south of france and have a little fun over there with the roof down i get the proposition of a convertible with a bit of you know performance i just think that if you if you value performance a convertible is rubbish basically because you can really feel that this car is less stiff less sharp than an m440i um so yeah i do get this car i don't get the m4 convertible but i also think that bmw did a really good job of separating the m4 and m440i because it feels like a completely different animal ok just close the roof for the autobahn part and we've got a speedo cam of course but as i was saying the gap between the m440i and the m4 is really well done because this even more than the m440i coupe feels you know so much softer and more friendly more gentle but still you have that straight six sound we know and love so i think they really did a good job of differentiating those and trying to figure out what people buy a specific car for even though i don't really like convertibles as a principle i do kind of like how they position this one and i i think it might actually be better or more suitable uh as an m4 ti convertible over coupe okay so let's see if we can get some space still a quick car of course even though it's a bit heavier uh 4.9 seconds to 100 according to bmw we actually measured a 4.55 so that's a lot quicker than bmw says that's the limiter to 4 254 on the speedo which actually is 243 gps 243 what's that about that's not the first time we've encountered that with uh these m performers i think it was the m550i facelift if my memory serves me right which also had a lower top speed than claimed which i don't really understand because 243 is closer to 240 to 250 so something is really wrong with that i really don't like that 100 to 200 of course we also measured that 11.49 seconds which is about four tenths slower than the coupe which seems about right with the weight increase but it's still a quick car you know it's not mind-blowingly fast but it still has 500 newton meters so you you can also cruise along half throttle and it will still sound nice and it's just a really nice and supple drivetrain i mean that limiter you you reach the limiter quite quickly it's it's not really a big deal for this car so if you want a convertible bmw with a straight six you can of course also go for the z4 m40i which has a little bit less power and is also a little slower than this so it's a bit weird the more like sports car offering at bmw is slower than this bigger koopa but of course the z4 handles a bit better it's you know a bit lower it's a two-seater so i do think that you would have a bit more fun in that car because it's a bit sharper um and a bit lighter and a bit lighter on its feet as well this is more like you know if you need the two extra seats you can actually fit a normal sized human being i was there the whole time oh my god this car though i do think it's a big improvement over the previous 4 series convertible with that ugly steel roof this car is actually lower wider longer proportions are better and of course this delicious dry train with 374 horsepower is so nice okay so that's it i'm going to end it here i mean we keep hitting that limiter so it's not really much fun in that anymore i hope you guys enjoyed it you guys subscribe by clicking the big button in the middle you can also check out this video on the right or go check out this playlist on the left thanks so much for watching and i'll see you at the next one bye\n"