2024 BMW 4 Series Convertible

The volume 430i Convertible carries BMW's B48 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four at 255 hp — competitive for a luxury four-cylinder but modest against the segment's V8 and inline-six convertibles.

295 lb-ft arriving from 1,550 rpm gives the 430i strong, flat mid-range pull that flatters it far more than the horsepower figure does.

BMW's own claim for the rear-drive 430i Convertible is 6.0 seconds — roughly half a second behind the equivalent coupe, the price of the retractable hardtop's extra mass and structural bracing (~3,900 lb curb weight).

The B48 is a smooth, quick-responding turbo four with little perceptible lag thanks to peak torque from 1,550 rpm, but for 2024 it still lacks the 48V mild-hybrid smoothing that arrives with the 2025 LCI, and a four-cylinder soundtrack is the weak point in an open-top luxury car where engine note is part of the product.

The ZF-sourced eight-speed Steptronic is the benchmark torque-converter automatic: quick, well-timed, decisive in Sport, and it never hunts in normal driving. Paddle shifters and a proper manual mode are standard.

xDrive all-wheel drive is optional on the 430i and standard on the M440i and M4 Competition Convertible, so it is available across the whole range rather than locked to a top trim — but it is a road-biased, rear-weighted system with no low range or terrain modes.

Three distinct gas powertrains for 2024 — 255 hp 2.0L four, 382 hp 3.0L turbo inline-six (M440i, with 48V mild hybrid), and the 543 hp S58 M4 Competition — which covers mainstream through high-performance, but there is no hybrid, PHEV or EV option in the Convertible body.

28 MPG combined is respectable for a 255 hp rear-drive luxury convertible, though the gas-only 2.0T has no hybrid assistance to lift it for 2024.

25 MPG city with only auto stop-start to help — the 48V mild-hybrid system that would lift this figure does not reach the 430i until the 2025 LCI.

34 MPG highway is the car's strongest efficiency figure — a tall eighth gear and low-rpm cruising suit the grand-touring use case this convertible is built for.

A 15.6-gallon tank and 28 MPG combined give about 437 miles between fills — adequate for touring, but the small tank keeps it well short of larger sedans and SUVs.

The EPA's $2,700 annual estimate is driven as much by the mandatory premium grade as by the 28 MPG — a comparable regular-fuel car at the same economy would run several hundred dollars less.

Premium unleaded (91 AKI minimum) is required, not merely recommended, so there is no cheaper-fuel escape hatch — a fixed cost premium of roughly $0.60–0.80 per gallon over regular for the life of the car.

NHTSA lists the 2024 4 Series Convertible in both RWD and AWD form but has published no result — every subtest reads 'Not Rated', as it does for the 4 Series Coupe. The platform sibling it shares its front structure and restraints with, the 2024 3 Series Sedan, was tested and earned 5 stars in every category, and the convertible body itself scored 5 stars with 96% adult occupant protection at Euro NCAP.

IIHS publishes no ratings for either 4 Series two-door body and does not run its award protocols on convertibles, so no TSP/TSP+ is attainable regardless of how the car is built — the 2024 BMW award list contains only the X3, X5, 5 Series, X1 and X2. The evidence that does exist is indirect but consistent: the G20 3 Series sibling rates Good on small overlap front, Good on the original moderate overlap front and Good on LATCH ease of use, and Euro NCAP's 5-star result on the convertible body scored full points in the side barrier test. Strong pedigree without a single published US crashworthiness result on this body keeps it mid-band.

Active Driving Assistant is standard on every 2024 430i Convertible: frontal collision warning with city collision mitigation and pedestrian detection, Active Blind Spot Detection, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, speed limit info, automatic high beams, and front/rear parking sensors with a rearview camera. That covers four of the five features in the top band — the miss is adaptive cruise control, which along with lane keeping/centering sits behind the $1,700 Driving Assistance Professional Package on the volume trim.

The 430i's frontal collision warning with automatic city braking and pedestrian detection is the same BMW stack fitted across the G20/G22/G23 range, which has earned Superior and Advanced vehicle-to-vehicle results on IIHS-tested BMWs and 93% for vulnerable road users at Euro NCAP on this body. No IIHS front crash prevention test exists for the 4 Series itself, so nighttime pedestrian performance is unconfirmed and the score stays out of the top band.

Active Blind Spot Detection — which adds a steering-corrective warning rather than only a mirror light — and rear cross-traffic alert are both standard on every 2024 4 Series, with front cross-traffic alert available in the Driving Assistance Professional Package. Standard coverage with active intervention on the volume trim earns the top band; it stops short of higher because there is no exit-warning function.

The volume 430i gets lane departure warning only as standard; Active Lane Keeping Assistant with side collision avoidance and the Distance Control steering assistant that provides true centering both require the optional Driving Assistance Professional Package. When fitted, BMW's centering is competent and adds lane-change assist, but reviewers describe it as occasionally hesitant across faded markings rather than best-in-class.

Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go is full-speed-range, brings the car to a halt and resumes in traffic, and integrates cleanly with Traffic Jam Assistant into a coherent highway package. The limitation is availability rather than behavior: it is optional on the volume 430i Convertible rather than standard equipment, which holds the score below the top band.

The 4 Series can be ordered with Extended Traffic Jam Assistant in the Driving Assistance Professional Package — genuine hands-off driving with an infrared driver-attention camera watching the driver's eyes, but only below 40 mph and only on mapped controlled-access highways. That is a real hands-free capability and more than most convertibles offer, yet far narrower than BMW's own 85-mph Highway Assistant, which the 2024 4 Series does not get.

Full-LED headlights with cornering function and automatic high beams are standard; Adaptive LED Headlights with glare-free matrix high beam are a paid option identifiable by their blue inserts. IIHS has not evaluated headlights on any 4 Series body, and Euro NCAP's 72% safety-assist score gives no headlight-specific reassurance, so a competent-but-unverified mid-band score is the honest placement.

Top down, sightlines are as good as cars get. Top up, the fabric roof's thick rear pillars and small heated glass backlight produce large over-the-shoulder blind zones that reviewers single out, and the stowed top still blocks the direct rearward view when lowered. A rearview camera and front/rear parking sensors are standard, but 360-degree Surround View with 3D View is a $700 Parking Assistance Package option rather than standard compensation.

The hardware is proper — two complete LATCH sets serving both rear outboard positions, and the platform's sedan sibling rates Good for LATCH ease of use at IIHS. Access is the penalty: a two-door body means tilting and sliding a heavy front seat for every installation, the rear compartment is a genuine 2+2 with limited legroom, and with the soft top raised the opening is low enough to make lifting a child seat over the seatback awkward. Workable, but a clear step down from any four-door.

The G23 Convertible is a strict four-seater — two front buckets and a rear bench shaped for two occupants, with no center position or middle belt.

With no fixed roof structure or headliner the convertible measures 40.6 in of front headroom — far more than the Coupe's 38.0 in and effectively unlimited with the top stowed, which is the best figure in the convertible field.

41.8 in is mid-pack for the segment and about 0.4 in behind the Coupe — enough for tall drivers but not generous, since the low seating position and long console dominate the footwell.

The fabric top's shallower arc leaves 36.1 in over the rear seats, roughly an inch better than the Coupe's 35.2 in — usable for adults on short hops rather than genuinely spacious.

32.5 in is a genuine 2+2 rear seat — AutoGuide calls it 'adequate for weekend trips', which is exactly right: children or adults for under an hour, with the front seats given up first.

The G23's move from the F33's folding hardtop to a fabric roof freed up 80 litres of trunk space, and 13.6 cu ft roof-up is exceptional for a convertible — it stays at 10.6 cu ft even with the top stowed, where most rivals fall below 8. The trunk is L-shaped, so tall items are still awkward.

Conventional BMW provisions — center console bin, two cupholders, shallow door pockets and a small glovebox — with nothing inventive. The 50/50 folding rear seat with through-loading is the one useful trick, but the raised transmission tunnel and the top-stowage partition eat into what a 2+2 could otherwise offer, and the L-shaped trunk limits what fits behind the seats.

The standard sport seats are among the best in the class for long stints — power adjustment with adjustable side bolsters and thigh extension, firm cushioning and real lateral support, repeatedly praised by reviewers. The rear bench is well shaped but too tight to count for long-haul comfort, which keeps this out of the top band.

The CLAR chassis carries its ~350 lb of convertible bracing well: reviewers describe a smooth ride with little of the body flex or cowl shake that afflicts soft-tops, and good body control on the standard suspension. It stays firm over broken pavement, particularly on the M Sport wheel-and-tire packages with run-flats, so it is composed rather than plush.

The multi-layer insulated fabric top is unusually well isolated — testers report it feels like a fixed roof at speed and rivals conventional coupes for interior noise. Top-down, BMW's aero work keeps front occupants out of the buffeting, though rear passengers need the windows up. It is still a fabric roof, so it cannot match the Coupe's acoustic glass for outright hush.

Dual-zone automatic climate control is standard, but 2024 is the last year before BMW made heated front seats standard on the 430i — for this model year heated seats and wireless charging sit in the Convenience Package and the heated steering wheel in the Premium Package. The convertible-specific thermal neck warmer (Air Collar) is a genuinely useful top-down option, and remote pre-conditioning comes via the My BMW app, but too much of the comfort kit is a paid add-on on the volume trim.

The entry 430i Convertible opened at $58,100 for 2024, a rise over 2023, and the soft-top body commands roughly a $7,000 premium over the equivalent 430i Coupe. That puts it well above the top of the convertible normalization band, which tops out at $55,000.

The volume build is the all-wheel-drive 430i xDrive Convertible at $61,095 delivered, fitted with the option groups open-top 4 Series buyers overwhelmingly select — heated front seats, leather, head-up display and premium audio all live in packages rather than standard equipment, so a typical retail car lands in the mid-$60Ks.

BMW dealer labor rates, run-flat tires and B48 turbo servicing already put the 4 Series near the top of the coupe/convertible band, and the folding soft top adds its own exposure (top-frame sensors, drive motor, unique window regulators) once the 4-year/50,000-mile warranty lapses inside the 5-year window.

Real transaction data on this exact car is now available: two years on, a 2024 430i Convertible carries a KBB resale value in the mid-$36Ks against a ~$59,100 MSRP — about 62% retained — and BMW convertibles fall off faster in years three through five as the used market for open-top luxury cars thins.

BMW's New Vehicle Limited Warranty runs 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first — mid-band, and identical to what Audi and Mercedes-Benz offered on 2024 rivals.

BMW publishes no extended powertrain coverage; engine and transmission expire with the 4-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper term. That is the bottom of the normalization band, which starts at 5 years, and far behind the 10-year/100,000-mile coverage Hyundai, Kia and Genesis provide.

BMW Ultimate Care covers factory-scheduled maintenance for 3 years / 36,000 miles — oil, filters, fluids, brake pads and discs, spark plugs and wiper blades — which is genuinely strong for luxury, where Audi and Mercedes-Benz gave 2024 buyers little or nothing at that duration. Paired with 4-year unlimited-mileage roadside assistance and ConnectedDrive/My BMW App services; no fuel or charging credits apply to a gas car.

$64,750 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (46% retained, or about $29,785) leaves about $34,965 in depreciation. Add the projected $10,500 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $45,465 in total.

2024 sits mid-cycle in the pre-LCI G23 generation (launched 2021) on the proven B48 2.0T / B58 3.0T and ZF 8HP shared with the 3 Series, and predicted reliability tracks around average — J.D. Power rates the 2024 4 Series 78/100 for quality and reliability, Consumer Reports around Average. Two offsetting year-specific factors keep it level with 2023 rather than above it: the 2023-only transmission mechatronics campaign does not touch 2024 cars, but the spring-2023 interior update puts first-year Curved Display / iDrive 8 hardware in this body, and the Convertible still carries the powered fabric roof's extra failure surface (motors, hydraulics, window and latch sensors) that the Coupe does not.

BMW's standing in the 2024 studies is upper-middle rather than top-tier: the J.D. Power 2024 Vehicle Dependability Study put BMW at 190 PP100 — exactly the industry average and 9th overall, third among premium brands well behind Lexus (135) and Porsche (175) — and the 2024 Initial Quality Study had BMW at 206 PP100, better than the 230 premium average but below the industry norm. Consumer Reports named BMW its top overall brand for a second straight year, but that Brand Report Card is an all-in score carried substantially by road-test and satisfaction results, not a pure dependability ranking. Slightly weaker than the 2023 picture, where BMW beat the VDS average.

The 2024 4 Series Convertible carries three NHTSA campaigns, two of them fire-risk. 23V863 is a cracked cylinder head cover leaking oil onto hot engine parts, but it is an isolated injection-molding defect covering only five 2024 430i Convertibles. The serious entries are the engine-starter overheating campaigns — 26V056 (87,394 vehicles, 2021–2024 4 Series Convertible and xDrive Convertible named explicitly) and its 26V438 expansion (318,495 vehicles, 2023–2024 4 Series Convertible included) — a shared supplier fault spanning BMW's whole B-series lineup and the Toyota Supra rather than a 4 Series design flaw. Better than the 2023 car, which additionally drew the 23V821 transmission mechatronics and 23V118 body-control-module campaigns, but repeated thermal-event recalls keep this below the middle of the typical band.

The volume 430i xDrive Convertible's B48 2.0T is the post-2019 revised version that resolved the family's earlier timing-chain and cooling concerns, and the M440i's B58 3.0T inline-six has one of the best high-mileage reputations of any modern BMW engine — Toyota chose it for the GR Supra. Both pair with the ZF 8HP, the benchmark conventional automatic, and unlike the 2023 car the 2024 build is not covered by the mechatronics campaign. Held a point under the Coupe's mark only because 23V863 is an engine-component fire recall, albeit a five-car one.

2024 is the year the G23 cabin was modernized: BMW's spring-2023 update replaced the split 12.3-inch cluster plus 10.25-inch center screen with the Curved Display (12.3-inch cluster + 14.9-inch center) running iDrive 8, added a compact toggle gear selector, and made Aluminium Rhombicle trim available, on top of standard SensaTec with optional Vernasca leather. Reviewers of the 2024 430i xDrive Convertible describe premium switchgear and impressive material presentation; the deductions are the usual harder plastics low in the cabin and easily scuffed console surfaces, and a dashboard that reads handsome rather than distinctive next to the Mercedes CLE Cabriolet.

Munich assembly gives tight, consistent panel gaps and a soft top that is genuinely well engineered — honeycomb panel bows, flush glass rear window and multi-layer insulation that reviewers say seals up like a coupe — but a fabric-roof body still adds rattle and squeak sources the Coupe lacks, and owners of this generation report a top-related squeak behind the driver's headrest that shows up after a few months. Add first-year Curved Display hardware in this body and a BMW IQS result below the industry norm, and this lands good-for-class rather than exceptional.

Roughly 340 BMW dealers across all 50 states give strong metro and suburban coverage with thinner rural reach, and luxury service satisfaction sits in the upper-middle of the segment — behind Lexus and Cadillac, generally ahead of Audi and Mercedes — offset by some of the industry's highest hourly labor rates. Convertible-roof service is dealer territory at most independents, narrowing the practical options further for this body.

OEM parts move well through BMW's US supply chain and the enthusiast aftermarket (FCP Euro, ECS Tuning, Turner) is large, but out-of-warranty running cost is well above the industry norm: RepairPal puts BMW's average annual repair cost near $968 against a ~$650 industry average, with 0.9 unscheduled shop visits per year versus 0.4 fleet-wide and a 15% chance any given repair is severe. Run-flat tires, expensive brake service and dealer-only diagnostics are compounded on this body by the powered soft-top assembly, whose motors, hydraulics and sensors are a costly failure point once coverage lapses.

2024 is the change year: BMW retired the outgoing 8.8/10.25-inch setup and made the Curved Display standard across the whole 4 Series range, pairing a 12.3-inch cluster and a 14.9-inch touchscreen under one pane of curved glass. That 14.9-inch panel is among the largest in any luxury convertible.

iDrive 8 is quick, sharply rendered and — crucially — the 4 Series keeps the physical rotary controller alongside the touchscreen, which reviewers rate as the best of both worlds. The 2024 changeover also deleted the physical climate controls and moved HVAC into the screen, a real ergonomic step backwards, and iDrive 8's menu depth is heavier than the 8.5 revision that follows. Screen glare is worse than in the Coupe with the top down.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard on every 2024 4 Series Convertible trim with no subscription and no wired-only base level — the top band's requirement met exactly. It falls just short of a perfect score only because projection renders in a window rather than using the full 14.9-inch panel.

The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant was upgraded for 2024 alongside iDrive 8 and handles conversational commands for climate, navigation and vehicle settings rather than fixed phrases. BMW Maps with cloud routing and real-time traffic is standard and good enough that owners have a real reason not to default to phone projection.

The standard 10-speaker system with satellite radio is clean and adequate; the meaningful upgrade is the 16-speaker Harman Kardon Surround Sound, offered across the 4 Series range. Open-top acoustics fundamentally cap what any system can do here, and BMW offers no Bowers & Wilkins tier on this car as it does on the 8 Series.

A 12.3-inch fully digital cluster is standard on every trim for 2024 as half of the Curved Display — crisp, with per-drive-mode layouts and an integrated map view. Marked down slightly because BMW's layout is less freely configurable than Audi's Virtual Cockpit and the tachometer's counter-clockwise sweep still divides opinion.

BMW Remote Software Upgrade is standard with iDrive 8 and delivers periodic over-the-air updates covering infotainment, maps and selected vehicle functions, pushed through the My BMW app. That is broader than the maps-only OTA many rivals offer but narrower than whole-vehicle updates from Tesla or Rivian, so it lands in the upper part of the middle band.

The My BMW app covers remote start and climate pre-conditioning, lock/unlock, vehicle location and status, and BMW Digital Key is included — phone-as-key at this price point is still uncommon. Core ConnectedDrive functions are free for the initial term; some convenience services move to a subscription afterwards, which keeps it out of the top of the band.

Dual front USB ports plus a WiFi hotspot are standard and there are outlets for the rear pair, but wireless phone charging is bundled into the Convenience Package rather than fitted to the volume trim, and there is no household outlet anywhere in the car. Adequate rather than generous for a $55k+ vehicle.

Proximity keyless entry with push-button and remote start is standard on the base 430i for 2024 — not a package option — and BMW Digital Key adds phone-as-key on compatible handsets. No hands-free trunk release is offered, and there is no powered decklid, which is what holds it below the very top.

A rearview camera plus front and rear parking sensors are standard, which is more than the class minimum, and the $700 Parking Assistance Package adds Surround View with 3D visualization, automated parking and reverse automatic braking. Because the raised soft top produces genuinely large over-the-shoulder blind zones, surround view is closer to a necessity than a luxury here — and it is optional, which caps the score.

A full-colour head-up display projecting speed, navigation and driver-assist status is offered, but only inside the Premium Package on the volume 430i — attainable and commonly ordered, yet not standard equipment, which places it squarely in the middle band rather than the top.

Two complete LATCH sets serve both rear outboard positions and the platform's sedan sibling rates Good for LATCH ease of use, but a two-door body makes every installation a matter of tilting and sliding a heavy power front seat, and 32.5 in of rear legroom leaves little room to work behind a rear-facing seat. With the top raised, lifting a child over the high seatback through a low opening is genuinely awkward. Workable for one older child, frustrating as a daily routine.

Active Driving Assistant is standard on the volume 430i — forward collision warning with city AEB and pedestrian detection, active blind spot detection, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic high beams and parking sensors. Two things hold it mid-band: adaptive cruise and lane centering are locked behind the $1,700 Driving Assistance Professional Package, and neither NHTSA nor IIHS publishes a crashworthiness result for this body, so there is no verified US rating for a family to rely on.

The trunk is the surprise strength — 13.6 cu ft roof-up and still 10.6 cu ft with the top stowed will take four people's soft bags, which most convertibles cannot manage. Everything else is against it: 32.5 in of rear legroom, no rear climate vents or rear USB amenities of consequence, and rear passengers who need the windows up top-down to avoid buffeting. Fine for a couple plus two for a short trip, cramped for a real family haul.

The B48 turbo-four and ZF eight-speed are unobtrusive in traffic, peak torque from 1,550 rpm means no downshift hunting at city speeds, the soft top raises and lowers on the move, and the seats and driving position keep fatigue low. The 2024 car loses points for the deleted physical climate controls, which forces menu use for a routine task, and for adaptive cruise being optional on the volume trim rather than standard.

28 MPG combined is genuinely decent for a 255 hp luxury convertible, but the running costs around it are not: premium fuel is required rather than recommended, the EPA puts annual fuel spend at $2,700, and run-flat tyres plus BMW parts pricing raise the per-mile floor well above any mainstream commuter. Cheap for its class, expensive in absolute terms.

A 37.4 ft curb-to-curb turning circle and a 187.9-inch length make it easy to thread and park by luxury-car standards, and front/rear sensors plus a rearview camera come standard. The offset is visibility: with the top raised, the thick fabric quarters and small backlight create large over-the-shoulder blind zones, and the surround-view camera that would fix it is a $700 option. Top down, it is one of the easiest cars in traffic there is.

No US towing rating, no factory hitch, no bed, no published payload, and a 13.6 cu ft trunk that is L-shaped and partly surrendered to the roof mechanism. There is no work mission this car is built to perform.

The B48 engine and CLAR chassis are durable in normal service, but everything a work vehicle needs is missing: SensaTec or Vernasca leather trim and carpeted surfaces rather than washable ones, a fabric roof that is far more vulnerable to abuse and vandalism than a steel one, and low-profile run-flats on 18–19 inch wheels. There is no fleet or commercial version of this car and no track record of hard-use survival.

No 120V outlet, no bed or tie-down system, no factory hitch, and no roof rack is possible on a fabric-roof body. The only load provision is a 50/50 folding rear seat with a through-load hatch, which is a ski-bag feature rather than a work one.

This is the mission the car is actually built for: excellent, highly adjustable front seats, a soft top so well insulated that testers compare it to a fixed roof, 34 MPG highway and about 437 miles between fills, and a chassis that is composed at speed. It falls short of the top band because adaptive cruise and lane centering — the fatigue-reducers on a long day — are optional on the volume trim, and four-up endurance is limited by the rear seat.

xDrive all-wheel drive is available and helps genuinely in snow and on wet gravel, but the rest is pavement-bound: low ground clearance, run-flat performance tyres, no factory hitch, and no possibility of a roof rack on a fabric top. It will get to the trailhead on a graded road and go no further; the open roof is a scenic-drive asset, not an adventure one.

By convertible standards the luggage story is strong — 13.6 cu ft roof-up, 10.6 cu ft roof-down, and a 50/50 folding rear seat with a through-load hatch for skis or long items. Against vehicles generally it remains restrictive: the trunk is L-shaped so tall items don't fit, the roof-stowage partition must be deployed before the top will lower, and with no rack or hitch there is no way to expand capacity at all.

The G23 inherits the CLAR platform's near 50/50 balance and additional structural bracing that keeps the usual soft-top scuttle shake at bay — testers describe it as flat, composed and eager through corners, with grip levels that surprise given the roughly 4,030 lb curb weight. It is a shade less incisive than the fixed-roof Coupe and reads as a fast GT rather than a sports car, which is what keeps it just below the top of the band.

BMW's variable sport steering is accurate, consistently weighted and quick enough to place the car confidently in fast bends, but like every current BMW electric rack it filters out most surface texture. Precision without much genuine feedback — good, not communicative.

Firm, linear pedal travel and strong initial bite carry over from the Coupe, with M Sport brakes available (and fitted to most press cars) adding fade resistance in repeated hard use. The ~350 lb the convertible carries over the Coupe costs a little stopping distance, and no instrumented 70-mph figure exists for the 430i Convertible specifically, so it stays at the lower end of the top band.

The B48 turbo-four and ZF 8HP are among the best-calibrated conventional drivetrains in production: clean tip-in, peak torque from 1,550 rpm so there is no perceptible lag in normal driving, and shifts that are quick and near-invisible. Only the auto stop-start restart is anything less than seamless — the 48V mild-hybrid smoothing that fixes it does not reach the 430i until the 2025 LCI.

The four-cylinder is well isolated and inoffensive at cruise, with no coarseness through the controls, but it is the weak point in a car whose whole premise is open-air motoring — there is no memorable engine note to enjoy with the roof down, and it audibly strains near the top of the rev range against 4,030 lb. The M440i's inline-six is the variant that earns the soundtrack; the volume 430i does not.

37.4 ft is middling for the segment — the 112.2-inch wheelbase and long hood work against it — but it is tight enough that U-turns and multi-storey ramps are undramatic in daily use.

A low, properly sporting seating position with a wide adjustment range — power seats with adjustable side bolsters and thigh extension, generous wheel reach and rake — and the retained iDrive rotary controller keeps core functions reachable without looking. Two real demerits for 2024: physical climate controls were deleted in the iDrive 8 changeover, and over-the-shoulder visibility with the top raised is poor enough that reviewers call it out.

Open-air motoring plus a chassis this composed is a persuasive combination, and reviewers came away enthusiastic — the roof lowers on the move, front occupants aren't buffeted at highway speed, and the car rewards a longer route home. What holds it short of the Miata-and-Z4 tier is the 430i's engine: capable and smooth but short on character and outright thrust, so the enjoyment is in the touring rather than the driving.

For 2024 the 430i Convertible gained the BMW Curved Display running iDrive 8 as standard, along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Digital Key, remote software upgrades, LED headlights and Active Driving Assistant — a real content step over 2023. But BMW still charges for the things convertible buyers actually want: heated front seats, heated steering wheel, Vernasca leather, lumbar support and Harman Kardon audio are all packaged options, where the rival Mercedes CLE Cabriolet includes AIRCAP and AIRSCARF as standard.

At $59,095 delivered the 430i Convertible undercuts the $65K-ish Mercedes CLE 300 Cabriolet while delivering sharper dynamics and comparable cabin tech, and the 382-hp M440i at $70,545 is a lot of six-cylinder drop-top for the money. The counterweight is the roughly $7,000 body-style premium over the 430i Coupe and an option structure that pushes a normally equipped car into the mid-$60Ks — fair value in a costly niche, not a bargain.

Five distinct open-top configurations for 2024 — 430i, 430i xDrive, M440i, M440i xDrive and the M4 Competition xDrive Convertible — spanning roughly $59K to the mid-$90Ks, with rear- or all-wheel drive at both engine levels plus M Sport, Shadowline and package layers on top. That is broader spacing than almost anything else in the luxury drop-top class.

The 4 Series family sold 42,608 units in the US in 2024, down 16.1% from its 2023 peak of 50,778, and more than half of that volume is now the electric i4 rather than the gas coupe and convertible. The 4 Series Convertible remains one of the better-selling luxury drop-tops — the Audi A5 Cabriolet was in its final US year and the Mercedes CLE Cabriolet was just arriving — but it is a shrinking slice of a segment buyers are leaving for SUVs.

BMW is a top-tier aspirational badge with a deep enthusiast following, and the roundel carries a measurable image and resale premium. The G22/G23 generation's oversized kidney grille remains genuinely divisive — the one thing holding this below the Mercedes three-pointed star's near-universal drop-top halo.

BMW holds general price discipline but supports the 4 Series with loyalty and conquest credits around $1,000, subsidized lease programs and financing bonuses — and 2024 was a particularly good year to negotiate, since the LCI facelift was revealed in January 2024 for the 2025 model year, leaving dealers motivated to clear pre-facelift stock. Convertibles also sit on lots longer than coupes and SUVs, which adds buyer leverage.

2024 is the fourth model year of the G23 generation launched in 2021 and the last before the facelift. It is not stale — the spring-2023 update brought the Curved Display and iDrive 8 — but the LCI was publicly revealed on January 30, 2024 with a March 2024 launch, so a 2024 buyer knew a restyled car with 48V mild-hybrid engines, new headlights and iDrive 8.5 was weeks away.

Reviewers rate it highly for chassis balance, powertrain refinement and cabin quality, and it places in the upper tier of luxury convertible rankings — but it is rarely the outright comparison-test winner, the grille styling costs it points with several outlets, and neither the 4 Series Convertible nor the 2024 lineup collected a 10Best or NACTOY nod.