BMW X4 Used Car Review
Let’s get the politics out of the way right up front: The BMW X4 is emphatically about style over substance.
That’s doesn’t necessarily make it a bad car, but it does impose a couple of provisos.
The first is that, despite the jacked-up ride height, all-wheel-drive and chunky plastic body add-ons, the vehicle is in no way an off-roader. It’s a soft-roader at best (and it’s not alone there).
The second caveat is that thanks to that swoopy rear roofline, the X4 is also a soft-roader that can’t carry as much as a conventional SUV wagon.
Which leads up to the third condition, which is that even though the roofline looks like a fastback coupe, with all that extra weight and higher centre of gravity, neither is the X4 as sporty to drive as it looks.
So are we looking at an SUV that can’t carry much, or a sporty coupe that handles like an SUV? Either way, you can see the philosophical problem for some people.
- Got the right badge for some suburbs.
- Petrol engines are perky.
- Diesels are torquey and relaxed.
- Odd styling doesn't work for everyone.
- Roofline hampers interior space.
- Form over function for many of us.
But if none of that bothers you and you like the idea of the high-riding coupe concept, then the X4 will be one of the go-to cars.
And since the first ones are now in their fifth year, they’re starting to knock around the used-car yards in dealerships, mainly as trade-ins.
Regardless of what you may think about the broader concept, there was no shortage of choice with the X4.
What did the BMW X4 come with?
In engine terms, you had the option of a 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder, a 3.0-litre petrol six-cylinder, a diesel four-cylinder and a diesel six-cylinder. And even more powerful version of the turbo-diesel six was added for the 2015 model year.
Every engine in the line-up was turbocharged, and you had outputs ranging from 135kW right up to 230kW and 630Nm of torque in the top-spec turbo-diesel. An eight-speed automatic was the only gearbox offered.
The X4 was based on the X3 SUV, but was longer and slightly lower but carried the same track and wheelbase.
As such, you also got BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system which could shift the torque from the front to the rear as required.
Upmarket versions of the X4 also got adaptive dampers which we’ve found to be a big advantage in ride-quality terms.
What to look out for when buying a second-hand BMW X4
When shopping, it’s important to know exactly what version of the X4 you’re looking at and to understand what options are and aren’t fitted as these things can affect the retail value to a large extent.
It’s doubtful that anybody ever tried to drive an X4 off-road, but a few might have seen gravel roads, so it would be wise to take a look underneath for damage.
And even though luggage space in the rear was less than a conventional SUV’s, many owners have used their X4 to carry pushbikes, so make sure the interior isn’t stained or showing signs of wear and tear.
The biggest servicing issue with any late-model BMW is that it has been treated to all the preventative maintenance BMW stipulates. In the case of the turbo-diesel variants, that was to prevent the engine oil wearing out.
And that was a very real possibility, especially since BMW had, by then, stretched the service intervals for these engines out to 24 months or 25,000km.
Given that turbo-diesels can work pretty hard, that’s an awfully long break between oil changes and plenty in the trade reckon the best bet is to halve that interval and service the car every 12 or 15,000km at the outside.
Either way, the situation demands a close check of the service record and we’d be discarding any examples that don’t have proof of at least the minimum required servicing.
In the case of the petrol engines, clean fresh engine oil was also a major requirement. These engines used BMW’s VANOS variable valve timing technology and while it’s great tech, it also relies on lots of small, intricate parts and lubrication via narrow, precise oilways that will soon become blocked if the engine lubricant is allowed to become dirty.
The first sign that all is not well with the VANOS system is usually a smear of oil around the front of the engine near the VANOS actuators. But these units can also start to leak internally, so you won’t always see the problem before it develops into a major one. And replacing all those VANOS bits and pieces will not be a cheap exercise.
In some cases, these engines have also been known to throw up bogus fault codes that suggest VANOS problems that don’t actually exist.
In those cases, the problem can sometimes be traced to a dud sensor, or fixed with a reflash of the car’s computer, but any dashboard showing a check-engine light is one to be very wary of.
Like a lot of modern turbo-diesel engines, the ones in the X4 use a particulate filter which will become full over time.
The broad idea is that the car gets driven up a freeway every couple of weeks to automatically purge this filter, but in practice, that doesn’t always happen.
In some cases then, the filter will need to be manually cleaned for the car to operate properly.
On the recall front, X4s built before the middle of April 2016 were recalled to check a batch of potentially faulty ISOFIX child-seat anchor points which, in a worst-case scenario, could fracture, allowing the restraint to be effectively unsecured.
BMW X4 2014-2018 Nuts and bolts
Engine/s: 2.0 4-cyl/2.0 turbo-diesel/3.0 6-cyl/3.0 turbo-diesel
Transmissions: 8-speed automatic, AWD
Fuel economy (combined): 7.3 litres per 100km (20i)/5.4 litres (20d)/8.3 litres (35i)/6.1 litres (30d)
Safety rating (courtesy of www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au): Not listed
Our rating: 3 stars
Likes:
- Got the right badge for some suburbs.
- Petrol engines are perky.
- Diesels are torquey and relaxed.
- Good for skiing weekends.
Dislikes:
- Odd styling doesn’t work for everyone.
- Roofline hampers interior space.
- Form over function for many of us.
- Pricey.
Competitors:
- Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe– A very similar concept with the same caveats in terms of practicality and interior space. Slightly more head and knee-room in the back seat over the BMW. If that matters. 3 stars
- Porsche Macan – Plays on those Porsche qualities of grip, handling and performance and has probably the least compromises ride of this bunch. Smaller in the rear seats though, and luggage space even tighter. 3.5 stars
- Audi SQ5 – An older design and shows it in terms of its interior layout. Still looks and feel classy however. Big advantage is the hulking V6 turbo-diesel option which gives the Audi massive shunt. 3 stars
What to pay (courtesy of Glass’s Guide):
Model Year New Now
20i 2014 $69,900 $41,900
20d 2014 $73,400 $44,500
35i 2014 $87,900 $51,000
30d 2014 $83,900 $50,990
20i 2015 $69,900 $47,200
20d 2015 $73,700 $49,800
35i 2015 $87,900 $57,100
30d 2015 $84,200 $56,900
35d 2015 $89,900 $60,700
20i 2016 $69,900 $51,900
20d 2016 $73,700 $54,700
35i 2016 $87,900 $63,000
30d 2016 $84,200 $62,600
35d 2016 $89,900 $66,700
20i 2017 $70,815 $56,000
20d 2017 $74,900 $59,300
35i 2017 $89,015 $68,100
30d 2017 $84,200 $66,600
35d 2017 $89,855 $71,200