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4 series interior quality: not good at all

37K views 390 replies 74 participants last post by  eazy 
#1 · (Edited)
Apologies for the long and somewhat rant-like post. Please take what I'm about to write as a genuine opinion from a frustrated owner.

So I've had my 435i for close to 6 months and it has roughly 7000 miles on it. The car is incredibly great to drive, amazingly comfortable and sounds fantastic. We just came back from a 2000 mile 7 day road trip where I did 100% of the driving and I never got tired or worn out. Brilliant car dynamically, fantastic engine, 8 speed auto box is essentially perfect. I love the heads up display, and the active cruise is the best feature on any car I've ever owned, period.

That being said, I have to vent a bit on BMW's interior quality. It's flat out bad. Maybe my car is one of those 'last shift on Friday' cars. The interior has developed about 6 separate intermittent and annoying rattles, and a couple of severe constant ones as well. The car has been in the shop for a total of 3 weeks since new for this and other issues (other major issue was electronic cooling fan failure). Some of the rattles are not fixed yet, the worst one being related to the ski hatch between the rear seats.

Coming from a C class that had 15,000 miles when I sold it, I am deeply disappointed with BMW's interior quality. The interior finishes just are not up to the same standard as Mercedes. That car never had a single squeak or rattle the entire time I had it. Some specific things I dislike about the BMW:

- Cup holder lid that has to be removed and stashed - cheapness personified. How about a hinged lid? The one on my Merc was hinged and nicely damped.
- Center console storage bin lid - again cheapness personified. Cheap feeling latch, no damping so it just falls shut.
- Use of cheap looking glossy (or matt if you order it) plastic trim as highlight details on the dash and doors.
- Cheap-looking silver-painted plastic on the steering wheel and gearshift surround, where other brands normally have nice brushed aluminum

Overall the interior is symptomatic of a company that doesn't understand or doesn't care about surprise and delight (it's a thing in product design). This is not some opinion from someone who kicked the tyres on some cars at a dealership, I've owned both cars for considerable periods and paid from them out of my own pocket. If it was just the finishing that was poor compared to other luxury brands I could forgive it. But a car should not sound like it is falling apart after 5000 miles. I will probably have one more go with the dealership trying to fix the ski hatch rattle, then just live with it after that.

At this point I don't see myself staying with the BMW brand next time I lease a car. Very disappointed.
 
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#362 ·
Well I've had my F30 with Nav for 3 years and over 42k miles, never ever had a single problem with glare on the screen. Perhaps you guys need to see an optician? I'm being serious here not trying to make fun.

Also, while I would agree some current competitors have better interiors than the F30, I think it's far better than any E90 interior I've seen and I have driven those things a lot!
 
#364 ·
I have no problelm with glare on the Nav screen but the windshield is very reflective. On a sunny day, which thankfully we don't have too many of those here in Seattle, i see reflections of almost everything on the dash: the HUD unit, the back of the Nav display, etc.
 
#367 · (Edited)
OMG, why does every negative thread on F3x end up with it being compared to E9x? I have only two things to say (and both are my opinions, not a cosmic truth):

1. F3x interior is sub par for the price, exactly as E9x interior was. I personally find the look of Audi interiors a lot better than either MB or BMW. I also happen to think that no car beats the price/interior look ratio of a VW Passat CC. BMW last had appealing interior when center console was rotated towards the driver. After that, it looks just like everything else and not very exciting design either.

2. If the main reason for buying a BMW is the interior of the car, you might be doing something very wrong. Again, just in my opinion.

I sat in and drove Cayman on the track three months ago and its interior is even worse then BMW as far as I'm concerned. Seemingly, people buying Caymans have their priorities sorted out much better than people buying BMWs. My opinion, nothing else.
 
#370 ·
Sometimes I wonder if people expressing some of these opinions have even sat let alone driven a 4-series.
 
#378 ·
General comment: Yeah opinions are like------you know what. Mine is, my daughters Cayenne has a nicer interior than my 435. I don't see a drop off in the 435M-Sport from my 335is. Your mileage may differ & you can satisfy your opinion by buying something that suits you. Life is good.
 
#380 ·
Interior is OK for the price tag. Still way too much plastic on the center console and steering wheel.

BMW won't change a thing though. There are so many status-focused buyers in the US who only care about the badge. Sales are on fire so why spend more on better quality finishes.
 
#381 ·
BMW sales may be on fire but only because they incentivize their lease programs. If they want to pull the plug and drop their residuals as Audi has done, they're going to probably have to step up their quality game to compete.
 
#391 ·
The interior quality between the F30 & the E90 is about the same. BMW just moved the cheap bits around. I do admit the new C class has the best in class interior and it looks good in red.
BMW is not the only auto luxury automaker that subsidized leasing. MB, Lexus, Infiniti, & Acura also have aggressive lease deals.
 
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