Overview

From the driver’s seat, there’s little that differentiates the 2023 BMW 4-series from the 3-series sedan on which it’s based, and that’s a good thing. But on the outside, the two-door body style and oversize twin-kidney grille give the 4-series a look entirely different from its four-door, 3-series counterpart. Practicality takes a back seat here, literally, as the 4-series’ rear seat is snug; nor is its trunk as spacious as the 3-series’ cargo hold. But if anyone cares, they can opt for the 3-series sedan. The 4-series duo is stylish, quick, and refined as you’d expect BMWs to be. What’s missing, however, is the brand’s traditionally sharp handling, especially if you go with the entry-level 430i model, which comes with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Opt for the more powerful M440i, which sports a rambunctious turbocharged inline-six, and things get a lot more interesting—but even its backroad moves aren’t as special as we would hope. The 4-series Gran Coupe exists for buyers who want both swoopy styling and four doors, but we review that model separately.

What’s New for 2023?

BMW’s entry-luxury coupe and convertible are largely unchanged for 2023, but M Sport brakes with red or blue calipers are now a part of the optional Shadowline appearance package. The Premium package no longer includes BMW’s gimmicky gesture controls for the infotainment system, and the optional head-up display is now only available on top-spec M440i models. A Parking Assistance package has been added to the options sheet, and all models now come with a faux-leather dashboard cover.

Pricing and Which One to Buy

Overview

Earlier generations of the BMW 5-series set benchmarks for sports-sedan road manners that we still refer to when evaluating ride and handling. But years before the 2023 5-series arrived this model moved on to a more comfort-focused mission. BMW’sexecutive sedan looks upscale without being ostentatious, and that stealthy appearance provides some respite from constabulary scrutiny. And that’s a good thing, especially if you order the turbocharged inline-six 540i or twin-turbo V-8 M550imodels, which can hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and 3.5 seconds, respectively. Looking for a 5-series with a more relaxed personality? The entry-level 530i and plug-in hybrid 530e, both four-cylinder-powered, offer adequate punch and also the benefit of better fuel economy. No matter the trim, the 5-series offers plenty of space for passengers and a list of luxury and technology features that keep pace with rivals such as the Audi A6, Genesis G80, and Mercedes-Benz E-class. The fiver’s handling might not be the sharpest, but it can waft down the road as effortlessly as any mid-size luxury cruiser.

What’s New for 2023?

The 5-series sedan carries over to the 2023 model year largely unchanged. The optional Premium package now includes a remote-start feature but no longer includes the company’s gimmicky gesture controls for the iDrive infotainment system. The Parking Assistance package is no longer available on 530i, 530e, and 540i models but the Executive package is now available for those cars and includes a head-up display, a Harman/Kardon stereo system, a power-operated trunk lid, and heated front seats among other items. The top-spec M550i now comes with a power rear sunshade. Three new colors—Artic Race Blue, Skyscraper Grey, and Aventurin—are now available.

Pricing and Which One to Buy

From the May 2022 issue of Car and Driver.

Like many of us, deer have been having a hard time. According to State Farm, as of June 2021 in the U.S., insurance claims due to animal collisions were up 7.2 percent in a year, and two-thirds of those accidents involved Bambi’s relatives (don’t tell your kids). Drivers in West Virginia have the highest chance of hitting an animal, and those in Hawaii are least likely to. But don’t book that flight just yet—wildlife is wild everywhere.

In Germany, It’s the Marten

Also known as German weasels, martens love the taste of automotive wiring, engine hoses, silicone, and rubber so much that they’re responsible for more than 200,000 insurance claims annually. It’s a multimillion-dollar problem, with virtually no soft material safe from the unstoppable teeth of these heat-seeking varmints, which are drawn to the warmth of engine bays and undercarriages.

In Australia, It’s the Kangaroo

According to an Australian insurance company’s Roo Report, 90 percent of animal-impact claims Down Under are tied to these big-footed bounders. The winter months are the most dangerous for driving, with $20.7 million in damages doled out every year.

In Hawaii, It’s Pigs

The island paradise has no native deer, kangaroos, or weasels. Unfortunately, invasive animals—both deer and mongooses—are still a problem. But it’s feral pigs that do the most damage, with nearly 400 collisions reported between July 2020 and June 2021.

In Saudi Arabia, It’s Camels

Half a million camels live within Saudi Arabia’s borders, and wandering strays along unfenced roads are responsible for 97 percent of animal collisions in the country. When a speeding car cuts a camel’s towering legs out from underneath it, these desert moose have the alarming propensity to flop onto the hood and through the windshield.

Anywhere You Go, It’s Spiders

Okay, it would have to be a terrifyingly large spider to cause collision damage, but in 2013, Toyota was forced to recall 870,000 vehicles because tiny arachnids built sticky webs that blocked an HVAC-condensate drainage tube, leading to water-damaged control modules that posed a risk of explosive airbag deployment (with three confirmed incidents among owners). Two years earlier, Mazda had spider woes of its own. The automaker recalled 52,000 sedans after webs clogged fuel-system vent lines, threatening to crack open gas tanks and cause fires. These critters are such a problem across the industry that Ford even developed a “spider screen” to keep them out of a vehicle’s sensitive areas.

Oh, God, Rats Too?

Like the German weasels, rodents and lagomorphs cause extensive damage, with increased insurance claims as populations boom and automotive complexity increases. More delicious wires and hoses mean more snacks and nesting spots for rats, mice, rabbits, and, notoriously in Sequoia National Park, marmots.

Freaks of Nature

Not all animal attacks are recurring. Some are one-off incidents—at least we hope so.

Bye-Bye, Bison: In 2015, a bison charged a couple cruising down a Yellowstone road, resulting in a $2788 repair claim on their Nissan Xterra.

But Was It an AMC Eagle? In the summer of 2021, city officials in Neenah, Wisconsin, discovered an enormous carp lying on the ground beside a severely dented municipal vehicle. Insurance investigators and police concluded that it had likely been dropped by a dive-bombing eagle unable to hold on to a slippery lunch.

Better Check the Trunk: A lovelorn wild elephant went on a rampage in 2016, damaging vehicles parked along a tourist road near a Chinese nature reserve. Reportedly, the car owners “found the experience to be thrilling” and, even better, covered by insurance.

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Cosworth has a grand history as a Formula 1 engine manufacturer, led mostly by the iconic DFV line responsible for some twelve driver’s championships. Their 2005 to 2013 engine was a minor footnote in that history, a winless attempt to provide engines for teams without a manufacturer connection, but it did at least rev to 20,000 rpm. That makes it compelling, and that makes this Cosworth CA listed on Collecting Cars a particularly interesting prospect.

Before you start looking for a rolling chassis in need of an F1 engine swap, it should be noted that this particular Cosworth V-8 is currently being used as a display piece, does not come with its intake, and its current owner does not know if the sealed engine still contains any internals at all. All of that comes before the obvious issues stemming from buying an engine block without either a transmission or a control unit, two things that would be significantly harder to source for an F1 engine than they would for a run-of-the-mill K20 or LS3.

In other words, this is either the beginnings of a piece of motor racing sculpture or a bill for tens of thousands of dollars in complicated work to make a very specific dream come true. If the former interests you, the engine is currently bid up to $8500 with four days remaining. If you’re interested in restoring the motor to its former glory, please tell us about the car you’re putting it into when you’re done.

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• Mercedes-Benz will end sales of the Metris van following the 2023 model year.
• The death of the Metris reportedly spells the end of the gas-powered four-cylinder Sprinter, as well.
• Diesel-powered Sprinters, however, will continue on.

Mercedes-Benz will end sales of its Metris minivan in the United States following the van’s 2023 model year, a company spokesperson confirmed to Car and Driver via email. The cargo- and passenger-carrying variants of the van have struggled to find a footing in the U.S. market, with buyers either migrating to the automaker’s bigger Sprinter or to smaller and less pricey competitors such as the Ford Transit Connect.

Casting a shadow within inches of minivans such as the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, Kia Carnival, and Toyota Sienna, the rear-drive Metris forgoes the family-friendly appeal of those vehicles. With a starting sum of more than $35,000, the entry-level Metris includes two seats and an open cargo area with 182.9 cubic feet of space (an available long-wheelbase variant adds approximately 16 cubes to that figure). That’s a good deal more than the 127.4 cubic feet of space offered by the long-wheelbase Transit Connect cargo van that stickers for around $33,000.



Automotive News reports that Mercedes delivered a mere 60,000 Metrises in the U.S. since 2015. A paltry sum, given that Ford sold 26,112 Transit Connects in 2021 alone.

Nor has the Metris passenger van found many fans, with the approximately $40,000 model that offers up to eight seats lacking many of the niceties of similarly sized minivans, such as a fold-flat third-row of seats or a rear entertainment system. Commercial shoppers, meanwhile, were likely letdown by the Metris’s limited seating capacity, which trails that of larger full-size passenger van models.



Even so, we’ll mourn the loss of the Metris Getaway camper van (a vehicle Mercedes first debuted as the Weekender—it changed the model’s name before commencing sales of the pop-top van). Like other Metris models, the Getaway’s high base price—more than $65,000—likely limited its appeal. Nevertheless, it was the sole camper van sold by an OEM in the United States.

The Metris’s demise reportedly spells the end for Mercedes’s turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four that, along with the Metris, also serves as the gas-powered engine option in the bigger Sprinter. As such, 2024 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter models with internal combustion engines are set to come standard with the model’s new-for-2023 four-cylinder diesel. A battery-electric eSprinter is due to join the full-size van line in the near future, as well.

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