2022 BMW 4 Series Convertible

2022 is the second model year of the second-generation G23 Convertible (generation begun 2021, per Wikipedia) and a carry-over year for the volume powertrain: the 430i keeps BMW's 2.0L TwinPower Turbo inline-4 at 255 hp. What changed for 2022 is the ceiling — the M4 Competition xDrive Convertible (G83) arrived, lifting the range top from 382 hp to 503 hp.

The 430i's four holds its 400 N·m peak from just 1,550 rpm, which is why the car feels stronger in traffic than 255 hp suggests. Identical output to the 2022 4 Series Coupe — the Convertible carries the same engines, not a detuned version, and the figure is unchanged from 2021.

BMW's claimed 0–60 for the 430i xDrive Convertible, the volume configuration and new for 2022 in this body. At 4,034 lb the xDrive soft-top carries roughly 300 lb of extra structure and roof mechanism over the Coupe, so it trails the 430i xDrive Coupe by half a second while still clearing the segment midpoint comfortably.

The 2.0T is smooth and essentially lag-free with a broad torque plateau from 1,550 rpm, and reviewers consistently praise its linearity — but it sounds ordinary next to BMW's sixes, and unlike the M440i the 2022 430i has no 48V mild-hybrid assist, so auto stop-start restarts are more noticeable.

Every 2022 4 Series Convertible uses the ZF-based 8-speed Sport Automatic, widely regarded as the best conventional automatic on sale — decisive, quick and smooth, with sensible Sport-mode logic and no gear hunting. No manual gearbox is offered in the Convertible body at any trim, including the new M4 Competition Convertible.

2022 is the year all-wheel drive properly reached this body: the EPA certified 430i xDrive and M440i xDrive Convertibles for the first time (2021 offered only rear-drive Convertibles at certification), and the new M4 Convertible was sold exclusively as the Competition M xDrive. So xDrive spans the whole 2022 lineup — but it remains a road-oriented, rear-biased system with no low range, locker or terrain modes.

Three distinct gas engines for 2022 — the 2.0T at 255 hp, the 3.0T with 48V mild hybrid at 382 hp, and the new S58 twin-turbo 3.0T at 503 hp — a real step up from 2021's two, since the M4 Convertible joined the range. Still gas-only, though: no diesel, no hybrid, PHEV or EV Convertible (the electric i4 is a Gran Coupe body only), and no manual. The choice is a state of tune, not a technology.

EPA combined rating for the 2022 430i xDrive Convertible with the 2.0T and 8-speed automatic — new to this body for 2022 and the volume configuration. Reasonable for a 4,034 lb premium convertible, but only mid-pack once the mandatory premium fuel is priced in; the rear-drive 430i Convertible gained a point over 2021 to 28 MPG.

EPA city rating for the 430i xDrive Convertible. The xDrive driveline and its extra 116 lb cost 2 MPG in town against the rear-drive 430i Convertible, and the 2022 four-cylinder gets none of the 48V mild-hybrid assist the M440i uses to recover stop-start losses — which is why it lands on the same city figure as the six.

EPA highway rating for the 430i xDrive Convertible and the strongest of its three figures, helped by tall top-gear cruising ratios in the 8-speed. This is the number that makes the car a genuinely economical long-distance cruiser with the roof up.

Computed from the G23 Convertible's 15.6-gallon tank and the EPA combined 27 MPG of the volume 430i xDrive, since the EPA publishes no direct range figure for gasoline vehicles. Real-world range falls with top-down driving and Sport mode. The tank is unchanged across the 2022 Convertible range.

EPA's published annual fuel cost for the 2022 430i xDrive Convertible at standard assumptions. The premium-fuel requirement, more than the 27 MPG itself, is what pushes this toward the expensive end of the band — the car burns an estimated 11.0 barrels of petroleum a year and emits 327 g/mi of CO2.

Every 2022 4 Series Convertible variant requires premium unleaded — the EPA lists fuel type 'Premium Gasoline' for the 430i, 430i xDrive, M440i, M440i xDrive and M4 Competition xDrive alike. There is no regular-fuel trim, no flex-fuel option and no plug-in alternative anywhere in the 2022 Convertible range.

NHTSA lists the 2022 4 Series in convertible body form in both RWD and AWD (the 430i xDrive Convertible was new for 2022) but returns "Not Rated" on every single subtest — convertibles are routinely excluded from the NCAP battery. The estimate is anchored on the structurally shared G20 3 Series Sedan, which was fully tested for this exact model year and swept 5 stars front, side, side-pole and rollover; half a star is withheld because the folding-roof body's own side-impact and rollover behavior has never been verified by a US agency.

IIHS publishes no ratings page for the 4 Series Convertible in any model year — convertibles cannot take the roof-strength test and are therefore ineligible for any Top Safety Pick award regardless of how they would perform. The indirect evidence for 2022 is strong: the year-exact 2022 3 Series sedan on the same G20 architecture rated Good on every crashworthiness test (driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, head restraints) and earned Top Safety Pick, while Euro NCAP tested the G23 convertible body itself to 5 stars with 96% adult occupant protection. Mid-band because none of that is a published US crashworthiness result on this body, which substitutes a reinforced windshield frame and pop-up rollover bars for a fixed roof.

Active Driving Assistant is standard on the volume 2022 430i Convertible: forward collision warning with pedestrian detection and low-speed automatic emergency braking, Active Blind Spot Detection, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic warning, speed limit info and a reversing camera. That covers four of the five features the top band asks for on the base trim, but adaptive cruise control and true lane centering are not among them — both sit inside the $1,700 Driving Assistance Professional Package, and the surround-view camera is in a separate Parking Assistance Package. Core-standard with the key items paywalled, which is the middle band.

The convertible carries no front crash prevention rating of its own, but it runs the same windshield camera and front bumper radar as the year-exact 2022 3 Series, which IIHS rated Superior for vehicle-to-vehicle avoidance and Superior for daytime pedestrian detection with the standard system. Euro NCAP tested the G23 convertible body directly and scored 5.3/6 for AEB pedestrian and 5.1/6 for AEB cyclist, 93% for vulnerable road users. Held below the top band because IIHS had no nighttime pedestrian protocol in 2022, so night performance is genuinely unverified rather than merely unrated.

Active Blind Spot Detection, rear cross-traffic warning and rear collision preparation are all standard on the volume 430i Convertible inside Active Driving Assistant — no trim walk, which is what this item chiefly rewards, and front cross-traffic alert is available in the Professional package. The coverage earns more credit on this body than on most: the G23 traded the previous generation's retractable hardtop for a fabric top with a small backlight, so the rear-quarter blind zone with the roof raised is unusually large. Short of full marks because intervention is warning-only on the volume trim, with no safe-exit alert or rear automatic braking.

Lane departure warning with steering correction is standard, but Active Lane Keeping Assistant with side collision avoidance and the Steering and Lane Control Assistant that provides real centering both require the $1,700 Driving Assistance Professional Package. Where fitted, BMW's centering on G20/G22/G23 hardware is smooth and holds a lane without ping-ponging; the measured result on this exact body is less flattering, with Euro NCAP scoring the G23's lane support 1.8 of 4 points and noting the assistance does not operate below 70 km/h. Functional-with-caveats, and often warning-only as delivered.

Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go is full-speed-range, brings the car to a standstill in congestion and pulls away again, and BMW pairs it with Extended Traffic Jam Assist into a coherent highway package — the G2x calibration (progressive braking, natural gap keeping, prompt resume) is among the better systems in the class. What keeps it out of the top band is availability: on the volume 430i Convertible the entire capability is a $1,700 option rather than standard equipment, and the 2022 order year ran through the semiconductor shortage, so a used example cannot be assumed to have it.

Hands-free driving exists on the 2022 car only in its narrowest form: Extended Traffic Jam Assistant, bundled into the optional Driving Assistance Professional Package, releases the hands-on requirement below roughly 40 mph on mapped limited-access divided highways while an infrared camera monitors the driver's eyes. BMW's full Highway Assistant, hands-free to 85 mph, was not offered on the G20/G22/G23 platform for 2022. That beats the many convertible rivals with no hands-free capability at all but sits far short of Super Cruise or BlueCruise road coverage — squarely the "available but limited" band.

2022 is the one favorable model year for this item: BMW made the Icon Adaptive LED Headlights with Laserlight a stand-alone individual option on the 4 Series for 2022, where 2021 buyers had to take the $4,400 Executive Package and 2023 buyers lost the option on the 430i entirely. The gap between the two units is enormous and year-exact — IIHS rated the 2022 3 Series' Icon Laserlight headlights Good and its standard LED projectors Poor, which is why that car's Top Safety Pick applies only to specific headlights. Upper-middle rather than top band because the volume 430i Convertible still leaves the factory on the fixed-beam LEDs with automatic high beams, and IIHS has never rated headlights on this body itself.

Two different cars in one, and the scorecard has to describe the one people drive most of the year. Roof down, sightlines are essentially unobstructed; roof up, the G23's fabric top leaves thick rear quarters and a small flush-fitting glass backlight, and reviewers reach for the blind-spot warnings precisely because the over-the-shoulder view is gone — a worse blind zone than the coupe's, where only the rear pillars intrude. A reversing camera and park distance control are standard, but the 3D Surround View that would properly compensate is locked inside the optional Parking Assistance Package.

The anchor hardware itself is fine — two rear outboard LATCH positions in a genuine four-seat cabin, and the year-exact 3 Series sedan sharing that rear-seat design rates Good for LATCH ease of use. Access is the penalty and it is structural: a two-door body means tumbling and sliding a heavy front seat for every installation, the single long door is the only way in, and the folded roof stack cuts the overhead clearance needed to lift a seat over the seatback. Rear width rules out three-across and a rear-facing seat pushes the front seat well forward. Workable for one child seat, awkward for two.

The G23 Convertible is a strict four-seater — the folding-roof body deletes the center rear position the 4 Series Coupe carries, so the Coupe is rated for five and the Convertible for four. Unchanged for 2022, the second model year of the generation that began in 2021.

40.6 in of front headroom with the roof up is generous for the segment — the G23's multi-layer fabric roof stacks thinner over the occupants' heads than the F33's folding hardtop did. Carry-over dimension for 2022.

41.8 in of front legroom on the 112.2-in wheelbase is mid-band for the convertible segment and accommodates tall drivers without complaint. Identical to the figure BMW published at the generation's 2021 launch, so 2022 is a carry-over on this measurement.

36.1 in of rear headroom with the top up is respectable on paper for an open-top 2+2 and better than most fabric-roof rivals, but the upright rear seatbacks and the roof stack immediately behind them limit how much of it a taller passenger can actually use.

At 32.5 in the Convertible gives up about 1.5 in of rear legroom to the 4 Series Coupe, and the upright backrests make it a space for children or short adult hops rather than genuine four-up travel — a long-term owner of a 2022-era M440i xDrive Convertible reports using the back seat mainly for the dog and groceries.

13.6 cu ft with the roof raised is a genuinely large hold by convertible standards and the biggest practical gain of the G23's switch from the F33's folding hardtop; a through-loading hatch behind the rear bench takes longer items. Roof-down capacity is the real constraint, and sources disagree slightly — BMW's own launch release claims 9.0 cu ft (1.2 more than the previous car) while later US spec tables quote 10.6 cu ft.

Standard BMW fare and nothing more: a covered center bin with two cupholders, door-mounted bottle holders, an armrest cubby and a shallow glovebox, plus the rear pass-through. The roof mechanism eats the Coupe's split-folding rear seat, wireless charging is an extra-cost item rather than standard for 2022, and the two-piece mesh wind deflector has to be assembled and then stored somewhere — an owner of this generation calls it 'a bit of a PITA to install and also stow'.

The standard power Sport seats are the car's comfort highlight — supportive over long stints, with adjustable bolstering, and 2022 newly added driver's lumbar support to the equipment list. The score is held below the Coupe's because the two rear seats are cramped and upright rather than merely tight, so the back half of the cabin contributes almost nothing.

Composed and well-damped for an open-top car — a long-term owner of this generation describes the suspension as 'never jarring' with handling 'precise and balanced', and reviewers report cowl shake that is barely noticeable over broken pavement. It still rides a step behind the fixed-roof Coupe, working the suspension harder over sharp impacts with roughly 300 lb of extra structure aboard, and the convertible's suspension is tuned more for cruising than for the Coupe's edge.

Top up, the multi-layer fabric roof with its honeycomb panel-bow construction is unusually well insulated and testers rate it quieter than the outgoing folding hardtop. It is still a soft top: it cannot match the Coupe's sealing over coarse surfaces, and with the roof stowed the cabin is loud by definition, so the item can only credit the closed-roof case so far.

Better as delivered than the price sheet suggests: three-zone automatic climate control and power Sport seats are standard, ambient lighting became standard for 2022, and BMW offers a neck warmer for open-top driving in cool weather as an individual option — the feature owners of this body single out. Against that, the things that make an open car pleasant year-round still cost extra on the volume 430i: heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and Comfort Access sit inside the roughly $2,300 Premium Package.

The 2022 430i Convertible opened at $53,300 before BMW's $995 destination charge, which puts the cheapest way into this body roughly $2,000 below the equivalent 2023 car but still well past the $55,000 ceiling of the convertible normalization band.

All-wheel drive reached this body for 2022 and the 430i xDrive is the volume configuration at $55,300 + $995 destination; BMW's option-heavy structure means real transactions cluster a few thousand higher once the Premium Package and metallic paint are added — and in 2022 specifically most cars transacted at or above sticker rather than below it.

Published 4 Series class estimates put five-year maintenance near $3,000 and repairs near $3,100, and BMW Ultimate Care covers the first 3 years/36,000 miles of scheduled service, so nearly all of that spend lands in years 4–5 when it arrives at BMW dealer labor rates.

The 2022 car's actual track is unusually flattering — it was sold into the chip-shortage market and a base 430i Convertible still resells around $33,300 at four years, about 61% of its $54,295 delivered price — but that is a cohort effect, and the more heavily optioned xDrive volume trim gives back the option money first, so a 52% five-year projection sits between the observed curve and the model's published long-run rate.

BMW's New Vehicle Limited Warranty covers all 2022 models bumper-to-bumper for 4 years or 50,000 miles — a year longer than the mainstream 3/36 standard, and the segment norm among German luxury rivals.

BMW publishes no powertrain coverage beyond its bumper-to-bumper term, so the engine, transmission and driveline are protected only for the same 4 years/50,000 miles — short of the 5-year floor the segment band begins at, and far short of mainstream 5/60 or 10/100 powertrain warranties.

BMW Ultimate Care bundles 3 years/36,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance with 4 years of unlimited-mileage roadside assistance and ConnectedDrive service trials, which is at the strong end of a luxury field where several rivals include only a first service — and 2022 is the model year BMW made that maintenance coverage transferable to a second owner, a small but real addition.

$59,250 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (52% retained, or about $30,810) leaves about $28,440 in depreciation. Add the projected $6,100 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $34,540 in total.

2022 is the second model year of the G23 Convertible (second-generation 4 Series, launched 2020/21) and a carry-over year running the settled B48 2.0T / B58 3.0T with the ZF 8HP shared with the G20 3 Series, so there is no new-technology risk — and MY2022 is BMW's strongest recent showing, with Consumer Reports singling out the 3 and 4 Series as well above average. Held below the equivalent 2022 Coupe because the Convertible adds the failure surface of a powered fabric roof (motor, hydraulics, latch and window sensors), and CR's own MY2022 4 Series trouble spots are exactly the open-top failure modes: squeaks, rattles, wind noise, seals/weather stripping and air/water leaks.

For this exact model year BMW sat in the upper tier rather than mid-pack: Consumer Reports ranked BMW 3rd of all brands in its 2022 reliability rankings — a ten-place jump and the marque's first top-three finish — and BMW placed 9th in the 2025 VDS, the study that surveys MY2022 cars at three years, at 189 PP100 against a 202 average. Kept short of the band ceiling because BMW has not held a top-5 dependability position consistently across studies.

Two separate engine-starter fire campaigns reach the 2022 430i Convertible, one of them a do-not-park-indoors advisory — 25V636 names the 2021–2022 430i Convertible directly for starter-relay corrosion, and 26V056 covers 2021–2024 4 Series Convertibles built Jun 2021–Dec 2023 for starter wear that can cause a thermal event. A software recall on the body domain controller and a G23-specific service bulletin for sudden power-window failure sit on top. The remedies are component replacements and the starter fault is a shared supplier issue spanning BMW and the Toyota Supra rather than a 4 Series design flaw, but repeated fire-risk campaigns put this at the bottom of the 'typical activity' band.

The volume 430i Convertible runs the post-2019 revised B48 2.0T (255 hp / 294 lb-ft) with the ZF 8HP, the benchmark conventional automatic, and the step-up M440i uses the B58 3.0T inline-six — a design with one of the best high-mileage records of any modern BMW engine, and the one Toyota chose for the GR Supra. Docked from a clean 87 because MY2022 B48 cars are exactly the population caught by the starter campaigns, and valve-cover / oil-filter-housing gasket leaks and cracking coolant expansion tanks remain the family's known wear items.

The Convertible carries the pre-LCI G22/G23 cabin — SensaTec standard with optional Vernasca leather, aluminum or wood trim and BMW's crisp switchgear — which reviewers rate as strong for a car in the high-$50Ks, and the Haartz fabric roof is well enough insulated that the closed car reads like a coupe inside. Short of class-leading because BMW deleted the upholstered dash and some ambient lighting from certain 2022 configurations and hard plastics persist in the rear quarters and lower console.

BMW's initial quality for this exact model year was well above the premium norm — 165 PP100 against a 196 PP100 premium-brand average — and German assembly gives tight, consistent panel gaps and a structure that is solid by open-top standards. But a fabric-roof body inherently adds rattle, seal and wind-noise sources the Coupe does not have, and those are precisely the items MY2022 4 Series owners report to CR, so this lands a clear step behind the 2022 Coupe.

Roughly 340 BMW centers cover all 50 states with dense metro and suburban reach and thinner rural coverage, and service satisfaction sits above the premium-brand average, behind Lexus and Cadillac but generally ahead of Audi and Mercedes. Every 2022 4 Series shipped with BMW Ultimate Care — three years/36,000 miles of included scheduled maintenance — which removes cost friction from the early service relationship; convertible-roof work is dealer territory at most stores, which narrows the practical options later.

Availability is not the issue — the G23 shares its B48/B58 powertrains and most hardware with the high-volume G20 3 Series and the enthusiast aftermarket (FCP Euro, ECS Tuning, Turner) is deep. Cost is: OEM parts and BMW dealer labor put out-of-warranty upkeep far above mainstream norms, and the Convertible compounds it with a powered soft-top assembly whose motor, hydraulic lines and sensors are documented failure points and an expensive dealer-only repair once coverage lapses.

2022 is the year the upgrade became the standard: BMW made Live Cockpit Professional — the 10.25-in touchscreen plus 12.3-in digital cluster — standard equipment across the 4 Series, where 2021 buyers got an 8.8-in screen and a 5.1-in instrument display unless they optioned it. The 12.3 + 14.9-in Curved Display did not reach this car until March 2023 production.

iDrive 7 on the pre-OS8 G23 is quick, logically organized and — crucially in a convertible, where poking a screen at speed with the roof down is awkward — still backed by the rotary iDrive controller and a full bank of physical climate and shortcut buttons. Gesture control joined the standard list for 2022. The system shows its age against newer full-screen rivals in graphics rather than in usability.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard on every 2022 4 Series Convertible trim — 430i, 430i xDrive, M440i, M440i xDrive and the new M4 Competition xDrive Convertible — with no trim walk and no subscription for the projection itself.

Because Live Cockpit Professional is standard for 2022, so is built-in navigation with real-time traffic — no trim walk to get maps — and the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant handles conversational commands for climate, nav and vehicle functions. Voice earns its keep in this body specifically: with the roof down, talking to the car beats reaching for the screen.

The standard 205-watt, 10-speaker system is competent, and the optional Harman Kardon Surround Sound (464 W, 16 speakers, about $875) is a worthwhile step up that matters more here than in a fixed-roof car — reviewers of the 430i Convertible call it 'crystal clear with deep punchy bass even on the highway with the top open'. No Bowers & Wilkins tier is offered on the 4 Series, which caps the ceiling below the best in the luxury class.

The 12.3-in fully digital instrument display — crisp, with drive-mode-specific layouts and integrated map view — is standard on every 2022 4 Series Convertible as part of the newly standard Live Cockpit Professional. That is a real year-over-year gain: the 2021 base car shipped a 5.1-in color info display between analog dials.

BMW Remote Software Upgrade delivers periodic over-the-air updates to iDrive, maps and selected vehicle functions through the embedded modem or the My BMW app. Broader than the maps-only updates of many rivals, but well short of the whole-vehicle, feature-adding cadence Tesla ships, and the iDrive 7 cars received modest updates in practice.

The My BMW app covers remote climate pre-conditioning, lock/unlock, vehicle finder, remote 3D view where the surround cameras are fitted, and service scheduling, and BMW Digital Key lets a compatible iPhone act as the key. It sits a notch below the later cars because the ultra-wideband Digital Key Plus that lets the car unlock with the phone in a pocket had not reached the 4 Series for 2022, and core ConnectedDrive services move to subscription after the included trial.

Front USB-C ports plus a USB-A provision and a 12 V outlet cover the basics, and enhanced Bluetooth joined the standard list for 2022, but wireless phone charging remains an extra-cost item rather than standard, there is no household outlet, and the 2+2 rear compartment offers less device provision than the Coupe. Adequate, not generous.

Push-button start is standard, but Comfort Access proximity entry — which in this body also brings the convenience of operating the soft top from the key fob — is bundled into the Premium Package on the volume 430i rather than fitted as standard. Digital Key with a compatible phone is available and remote functions run through the My BMW app, so the ceiling is high even though the volume car as delivered is not fully keyless.

A reversing camera and front and rear Park Distance Control are standard on every 2022 4 Series Convertible, and the Parking Assistant option adds Surround View with 3D visualization plus automated parallel and perpendicular parking. These aids matter more here than on the Coupe — with the fabric top raised the rear-quarter blind zone is substantial — but the 360-degree camera that would best offset that is extra-cost, and BMW reshuffled the 4 Series parking options for 2022 rather than making any of it standard.

A full-color head-up display projecting speed, navigation and driver-assist status is available on the volume 430i inside the roughly $2,300 Premium Package, and standard-fit further up the range. Broadly attainable and well executed, but not volume-trim standard, which caps it below the top band.

Two doors, four seats and 32.5 in of rear legroom make daily kid logistics a chore: every rear-seat trip means tumbling a long, heavy door open and a front seat forward, then reaching through a single aperture to reach the two outboard LATCH positions. The 13.6 cu ft trunk swallows a stroller, but nothing else about the car is built for the routine.

Active Driving Assistant is standard on the volume 2022 430i Convertible — forward collision warning with pedestrian detection and city AEB, blind-spot detection, lane departure warning with steering correction, rear cross-traffic alert — so families do not pay extra for the core suite. What is missing is verification: NHTSA returns 'Not Rated' on every subtest for the 2022 4 Series convertible body and IIHS publishes no ratings for it, because convertibles cannot take the roof-strength test.

The 13.6 cu ft trunk is unusually good for an open-top car and would carry a family's luggage; the back seat cannot carry the family. Upright backrests and 32.5 in of legroom mean two adults fit for dinner across town, not for a day on the interstate — and three-zone climate reaches a rear compartment that only ever holds two.

As a daily driver the 430i is genuinely low-effort: the B48 2.0T and ZF 8-speed are smooth and prompt in traffic with 295 lb-ft available from 1,550 rpm, the standard power Sport seats are excellent, the top-up cabin is quiet, and the roof drops in 18 seconds at up to 31 mph so the open-air option costs nothing at a stop light. Roof-up rear-quarter blind zones are the recurring annoyance.

27 MPG combined is respectable for a 4,034 lb all-wheel-drive luxury convertible and the rear-drive car manages 28, but every 2022 variant requires premium unleaded, which is what pushes EPA's annual fuel bill to roughly $2,800 at standard assumptions. Add BMW-tier consumables and this is an average-cost commute at best.

A 187.9-in length, 72.9-in width and roughly 37.4-ft turning circle make the car easy to place in city traffic, and front and rear Park Distance Control plus a reversing camera are standard on every trim. The offset is the roof-up rear three-quarter view, which is materially worse than the Coupe's, and the surround-view camera that would fix it costs extra.

No US towing rating, no bed, no published payload figure, and a four-seat cabin under a fabric roof. The 13.6 cu ft trunk is the entire load capacity and it is carpeted luggage space, not a work surface. This item measures something the car was never designed to do.

The B48 2.0T and ZF 8HP are durable in normal service — a long-term owner of this generation reports a flawless car over three years and 'regular maintenance' only — but nothing about the vehicle tolerates abuse: perforated SensaTec or Vernasca leather trim, a carpeted trunk, low ground clearance and a fabric roof with a mechanism that is itself a wear item.

No 120 V outlet, no meaningful tie-downs, no factory trailer hitch, no roof-rack system — a convertible has no roof to mount one to — and no upfit ecosystem whatsoever. The only work-adjacent provision is the rear pass-through hatch for long thin items.

This is the mission the car is actually built for: excellent front Sport seats, a genuinely quiet insulated top-up cabin at highway speed, a well-controlled ride, a real 13.6 cu ft of luggage space and roughly 420–437 miles between fills from the 15.6-gallon tank. The optional neck warmer stretches the open-top season, but full-speed adaptive cruise sits in the extra-cost Driving Assistance Professional package rather than in standard equipment.

2022 is the year all-wheel drive reached this body — the 430i xDrive and M440i xDrive Convertibles were both new — which makes the car a credible year-round and light-gravel proposition it had not been in 2021, and roof-down driving is its own kind of outdoor appeal. Everything else argues the other way: low ground clearance, run-flat performance tires, no tow rating, no roof rails or rack provision, no fold-flat load floor and no onboard power.

13.6 cu ft roof up is a strong number for a convertible and the through-loading hatch behind the rear seats takes skis or similarly long thin items, but the practical picture is thinner than the figure suggests: the aperture is L-shaped and awkward for tall bags, capacity falls to 9–10.6 cu ft the moment the roof stows, there is no folding rear seatback and no roof or hitch attachment point for anything bulky.

The CLAR chassis survives the roof-ectomy well: owners and testers of this generation describe handling as 'precise and balanced', with front-end grip close to the Coupe's, and the M440i xDrive circles the skidpad at about 0.91 g. It is not the Coupe's equal, though — the open body is less stiff, the convertible's suspension is tuned more for cruising than for the fixed-roof car's edge, and roughly 300 lb of extra structure is felt in direction changes, which keeps it below the Z4 and well below a Miata here.

BMW's electric rack is quick, accurate and sensibly weighted, and Variable Sport Steering with the M Sport package sharpens response — but feedback is the weak link, and reviewers of the 2022 4 Series specifically call out excellent handling that 'lacks steering feel'. Precise without being communicative.

Firm, linear pedal and strong hardware — the same setup that stops the M440i xDrive from 70 mph in roughly 149 ft, with larger brakes on the six-cylinder cars and optional M Sport brakes adding fade resistance. The Convertible carries several hundred pounds more than the Coupe on the same discs, which is why this sits a few points below the fixed-roof car rather than at the top of the band.

The B48 2.0T and ZF 8HP combination is the class benchmark for drivability — prompt tip-in, a torque plateau from 1,550 rpm, and shifts you have to look for to notice — and the M440i's B58 adds a 48 V mild-hybrid system that makes stop/start nearly transparent. The volume 430i has no 48 V assist for 2022, so its auto-stop restart is the one slightly coarse moment in an otherwise seamless powertrain.

The B48 four is well isolated and makes pleasing turbo noises under load without ever sounding special, while the M440i's B58 straight-six is described by owners as 'throaty but not obnoxious'. The open body is a mixed blessing here — roof down you hear more of a soundtrack that is worth hearing in the six and merely ordinary in the four.

Published curb-to-curb turning diameter of 37.4 ft (about 11.4 m) for the volume 430i Convertible — respectable given the 112.2-in wheelbase, and unchanged for 2022 as this is a carry-over dimension within the G23 generation. Cars.com rounds the same figure to 37 ft.

Low, well-judged seating with a wide seat and wheel adjustment range, supportive power Sport seats with lumbar support newly on the list for 2022, and — the specific advantage of this model year over the later OS8 cars — a rotary iDrive controller plus physical climate and shortcut buttons, so the most-used functions stay operable by feel with the roof down. The penalty is the roof-up rear three-quarter view, materially worse than the Coupe's.

A rear-biased chassis, an 18-second roof that operates at up to 31 mph and a cabin calm enough to hold a conversation top down make this an easy car to take the long way home in — a three-year owner calls the experience 'joyful' and the car capable of 'extra-legal levels' of engagement in Sport. It is a grand tourer rather than a sports car, though: 255 hp is overmatched by 4,034 lb in the volume 430i xDrive, and buyers wanting the sharp end of the segment are pointed at the Coupe or the Z4.

2022 is the year BMW moved Live Cockpit Professional and ambient lighting into standard equipment across the 4 Series, joining a power soft top with wind deflector, tri-zone climate, sport seats, adaptive LED headlights, blind-spot detection, front and rear parking sensors and automatic pop-up roll bars — but heated seats, heated wheel and Comfort Access still sit behind a $2,300 Premium Package, and head-up display, surround view and adaptive cruise cost more again.

Fair rather than generous: $54,295 delivered buys a 255-hp four-cylinder and a fabric roof, and a Mustang Convertible delivers far more performance per dollar — but the 2022 car undercuts the 2023 equivalent by about $2,000 for the same content, matches Audi A5 Cabriolet and Mercedes C-Class Cabriolet money while out-driving both, and the M440i's 382-hp mild-hybrid six is a lot of pace for well under AMG or RS pricing.

2022 is the broadest this body has ever been: the 430i xDrive and M440i xDrive Convertibles both joined the lineup and the M4 Competition xDrive Convertible arrived above them, giving five factory configurations from $53,300 to the M4, at three power levels, with rear- or all-wheel drive at both non-M tunes and a deep options catalogue on top.

2022 is the 4 Series' peak US year and its steepest climb — 41,571 deliveries, up roughly 81% on 2021 as the second generation's full body-style range came on stream, and higher than any year since. The convertible is a minority slice of a shrinking drop-top market, but the nameplate itself was one of the strongest-selling luxury two-doors on sale.

BMW is a top-tier aspirational badge with a loyal following and strong residual support, and the roundel does real work for a car sold largely on image; the G23's oversized kidney grille remains polarizing but that is an argument about this model's styling rather than a drag on the brand.

The worst year in recent memory to negotiate one. Chip-shortage inventory meant the 2022 4 Series generally transacted at MSRP or above, frequently with dealer-added markups and accessory packs, and BMW had no reason to put cash on the hood — buyer benefit was limited to subvented BMW Financial lease programs and stackable loyalty, military and college-grad bonuses.

Only the second model year of the G23 generation launched for 2021, and a year that added rather than carried over — xDrive across the range and the M4 Competition Convertible on top. The platform, iDrive 7 and the styling were all current, with the LCI refresh still three years out, so redesign risk for a 2022 buyer was minimal.

Solidly well-reviewed rather than decorated: critics praise the chassis balance, the engines and the interior quality and rate it the driver's pick against A5, C-Class and Lexus RC, but the divisive grille, an ordinary four-cylinder in the volume trim and steep options pricing keep it off the top step of comparison tests, and the generation collected no 10Best or NACTOY honors.