BMW 4 Series Convertible M440i 2021 UK review

Folding-roof coupé, breathed on by M division, combines cruising comfort and rapid pace The car for anyone who turned their nose up at the first-generation 4 Series Convertible for looking too much like the Coupé version and, as a result, the 3 Series Saloon on which they were both based.In switching from a metal roof to a fabric one and carrying across the new-gen coupé’s controversial front end, the second coming of the folding-top 4 Series has far more road presence - especially in range-topping M440i guise. It's wider, longer and ever so slightly lower, and that new vertical grille (more lungs than kidneys now) ensures no one will mistake it for a G20-generation 3 Series any time soon. The most potent powertrain in the line-up, at least until the M4 Convertible arrives later in the year, it’s only here that the 2.0-litre four-pot of lesser models is exchanged for a meatier 3.0-litre six-cylinder, which sends 369bhp and 369lb ft to both axles via BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system. Unlike other territories, the UK won’t be getting a rear-drive-only version.We've already driven the M440i on the Continent, but this is our first experience of it on UK roads.