2025 BMW M440i Coupe Is A Pearl In A Dying Ocean

There was a time when personal luxury defined the premium car market. This idea of owning an opulent two-door coupe from a luxury carmaker – probably because you were too busy to procreate – was once a glorious concept. It was all about you, your career and, perhaps, someone you really liked sitting in the passenger seat.

Today, the luxury sports coupe segment is all but a ghost of its former self. Most premium carmakers have given up on it altogether because of declining sales, leaving only a few crumbs left for consumers to enjoy.

Mercedes-Benz recently attempted to rejuvenate the genre with the CLE. It’s a great car. But the one to beat in this segment remains the BMW 4 Series, arguably the best interpretation of the compact premium coupe. In M440i form, it’s a rare and unique beast that reminds us what Bayerische Motoren Werke does best.

2025 M440i Coupe First Impressions

Ever since BMW released its gigantic grilles, I’ve been bitter-sweet about how its cars look. The setup looks arguably better on the 3 Series sedan, because the grille is less prominent, but the car also has a more square, stubbier look. The 4 Series? It’s just too much.

For 2025, BMW did try to give it a slight facelift (also called LCI, for Life Cycle Impulse). The front fascia has been somewhat cleaned up thanks to a split in the middle of the grille. That grille is also now contoured by matte chrome. LED headlights and taillights also have a new design. There are new wheels as well. The overall appearance is a tad better than before. But the 4 Series still looks sort of weird.

Exterior Dimensions

2025 BMW M440i Coupe: Differences Between The U.S. And Canadian Market

The main difference between both markets is that xDrive all-wheel drive comes standard in Canada, while in the U.S., it’s still possible to get a rear-wheel drive 4 Series. Since the M440i is a trim level within the 4 Series lineup, there aren’t many differences on both sides of the border, except for how optional packages have been set up. Both markets also offer this car as a convertible. But in Canada, the convertible is called the Cabriolet.

U.S. Versus Canada Lineup Breakdown (model tested in bold)

Driving Impressions And Performance

If you’re an enthusiast, driving the M440i is as good as it gets. Perhaps the only thing missing is the option of a manual transmission. The only way to get that now is by hopping over to an M4.

Power still comes from BMW’s infamous B58 3.0-liter, turbocharged straight six, mated to a 48-volt mild hybrid system. Output was slightly bumped to 386 horsepower (from 382 hp) and 398 lb-ft (from 364 lb-ft). This engine is still mated to ZF’s excellent eight-speed automatic transmission.

Punch the accelerator at a standstill in an xDrive-equipped M440i, and it’ll jump to 60 MPH in just under four seconds. The M440i is so fast that it makes you wonder why the M4 even exists. Gearshifts are lightening quick, and the inline six still sings the glorious induction melody we’ve gotten accustomed to from BMW’s sports cars.

But the M440i’s blistering speed only tells half the story. The car always feels rock solid on road imperfections. It also exhibits the sort of poise and balance only BMW seems to know how to deliver. We’ve seen BMW engineer better steering systems in the past, but this one is so good, that it’ll have you reconsider putting the E46 M3 at the top of your list for steering feel.

In Comfort mode, the M440i is as smooth and comfortable as any 7 Series. Yet, set it to Sport Plus mode, and it’ll humiliate a Ford Mustang GT on the drag strip. Or hunt down an ultra-agile hot hatchback in the twisties. It’s this duality in its personality that allows the M440i to go from being a very good luxury coupe, to the absolute benchmark in the segment.

Performance Specifications

2025 BMW M440i Coupe Fuel Consumption

The EPA rates the xDrive M440i coupe at 29 MPG, just one MPG less than the rear-wheel drive model. During my time with the car during a warm week in fall, I recorded an impressive 29.4 MPG, better than the EPA’s official claims. Considering the sort of performance this car gets you, that’s excellent.

EPA And As Tested Fuel Consumption

Interior Design And Comfort

Sure, the 4 Series sacrifices rear passenger space. I can barely fit back there, actually. But if you’re sitting up front, you’ll be just as comfortable as in a 3 Series. For 2025, BMW changed only a few elements, mostly due to the large tablet display that replaces the older setup (more on that later). The steering wheel design is also all new, as well as the seats.

Generally speaking, this is the same great cabin as before, with class-leading build quality, comfortable seats, great sound deadening and a feeling of quality to everything you touch.

Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

The biggest change, from a technological standpoint, is BMW’s massive tablet display that houses its Operating System 8.5. The system can still be operated via the iDrive Quikselect center console-mounted knob dial, or by touch controls. But this system more than ever focuses on voice commands through the Hey BMW prompt. You can ask the car to lower the ambient temperature, set a destination in the navigation system or cite the weather.

BMW has made great strides in improving the precision of its voice command features over time. Since the feature first came out, I can attest from experience that it has improved. The system fumbles a lot less on your words and doesn’t get confused as much as it once did when a window is opened, or when someone else in the car is talking at the same time. But it’s still far from perfect. Some of the voice commands I threw at it were met with a cold and robotic, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand”.

On the upside, the system itself, in typical BMW fashion, looks the part, responds quickly and is relatively easy to understand. But it’s charged with a lot of information. There’s a slew of tiny icons that could easily have been grouped up into fewer, larger ones.

Climate control settings are now entirely operated through that system, which can prove finicky at times. At least, BMW understands the necessity of preserving a physical volume knob for audio. But if you’re not a fan of adaptive cruise control, its deactivation is no longer a simple act of holding down a button on the steering wheel. You now need to dig into the system’s driver assistance features to turn it off. And the car resets it back each time you start the car again.

The driver display is still slick, though, with entirely customizable readouts that all look fantastic, while always displaying only the information you truly need. It’s the same story for the heads-up-display, which can also be customized and used to cycle through radio stations without looking away from the windshield.

Cargo And Storage Space

This is a two-door coupe, so don’t expect it to carry a lot of luggage. But in its respective segment, the 4 Series coupe remains a leader, walking all over the Mercedes CLE (11.2 cu-ft) and even an Audi A5/S5 coupe (10.9 cu-ft).

Still The Sweet Spot Of Premium Compact Coupes

The M440i coupe is now only up against a few rivals from its most notorious German opposition, but it remains the leader in performance, sophistication, efficiency and even cargo space, as ironic as it may sound. All the current German offerings in this space are fantastic machines, but BMW – once again – manages to stand taller than all of them by giving the customer more than they expect.

BMW says the M440i makes 386 horsepower, but from behind the wheel, it feels more like 450. This has been a consistent trait among all BMWs for over three decades now. The Bavarians may have lost the art of designing beautifully understated luxury cars. But they sure as heck haven’t lost their ability to engineer the ultimate driving machine.