2021 BMW M440i gains a carbon fiber-intensive look with M Performance Parts

There’s a chance that you have some rather opinionated thoughts about the 2021 BMW 4 Series Coupe’s appearance. BMW initially released photos of the car in 430i and M440i form, but official photos of the 4 Series smattered with M Performance Parts have surfaced, and the fancy bits do a lot to alter the car’s appearance.

As a caveat, these parts haven’t officially been issued for the U.S. car yet — the photos are on BMW’s European press site. However, like other BMW M Performance Part releases, it’s likely that we’ll see part availability stateside at some point. In Europe, the parts are launching right away.

We’ll start with the grille, because, well, duh. The M440i used as the standard reveal car had a black surround for the grille. This car has a carbon fiber surround to further highlight said grille. Below that is a black surround that one editor described as a “reverse mustache.” It’s actually the same black insert as can be found on the standard car, but the white paint makes it jump out to a greater degree, underlining the twin, vertical kidneys. More carbon fiber can be found gracing the side air intakes, and BMW has added a carbon fiber splitter that wasn’t there before, too.

Moving to the side, the new wheels jump out at us initially. The wheels remind of the many-spoked M8 wheels, but they’re not quite the same. Sitting behind those wheels are beefy M Sport brakes, highlighted by bright red calipers. Carbon fiber mirror caps keep the carbon theme going. The doors gain some tacky black inserts going down the whole side of the car with an “M Performance” emblem on said insert. Below that is a carbon fiber insert on the door. We prefer the clean look of the standard M440i in profile. 

The rear is less shouty, but BMW still threw some parts at it. We have a small carbon fiber lip spoiler, awkward carbon fiber diffuser insert and some shiny black exhaust tips (the tips are silver on the standard car). This car also has the model designation pieces on it, unlike the reveal cars. We can see the blacked-out M440i badge on one side and BMW’s standard xDrive logo on the other side of the trunk.

A few changes are worth noting on the interior, too. It starts with carbon fiber trim everywhere, from the dash to the full carbon center console surround. There’s a new M Sport steering wheel with Alcantara inserts for where you’ll typically be gripping the wheel. And then the steering wheel spokes and shift paddles are also layered in carbon fiber.

There are no prices yet available for these parts. A base M440i starts at $59,495, so adding these parts would only make it go up from there, significantly so considering the sheer amount of carbon fiber we’re dealing with.

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