Drop-top motoring in India is, objectively, a terrible idea. The dust settles everywhere. The heat is personal. And the moment you lower a convertible’s roof in any Indian city, you become the most interesting thing on the street, which sounds appealing until you’re stationary at a signal and are positioned under the windows of a bus; I don’t really need to remind you that we’re the spitting world champions.
However, none of this stopped BMW from sending over the M440i xDrive Convertible. Nor did it stop me from enjoying it rather a lot.
The car arrived in Pune in Fire Red, a shade that courts attention with the subtlety of a pistol. It also arrived just as the sky decided to deliver one of those brief, pointed Pune summer showers, the kind that exist purely to be inconvenient and disappear within twenty minutes, leaving behind just enough dampness on the tarmac to make things interesting. By the time it cleared, the sun was back, and the M440i was sitting in the driveway looking very pleased with itself.
It has reason to be. The M440i Convertible is not the sort of car that needs to shout. The kidney grille is large, but the rest of the design is clean, purposeful, and cohesive. Slim LED headlights with BMW’s signature diagonal DRLs, a properly aggressive front bumper with air intakes that mean business, and 19-inch alloys that fill the arches without tipping into vulgarity. The profile is clean and low-slung, the M badging understated to the point where you almost miss it, and there’s a wind deflector tucked behind the front seats that does exactly what it promises. In Fire Red, with the roof down, the whole thing looks like something the factory forgot to make road-legal.
The rear deserves attention. The CSL-inspired LED tail-lamps have a floating, wave-like quality that you only fully appreciate up close — one of those details that separate a car designed with genuine care from one designed by committee. The integrated bootlid spoiler and muscular diffuser tie it together without overdoing it. Crucially, the M440i doesn’t feel like a 4 Series coupé that’s had its roof removed as an afterthought; it looks properly finished. BMW’s body engineers clearly spent time ensuring the structural rigidity losses were compensated for, and it shows in how planted the car looks standing still.
Then there’s the fabric roof itself, which is the party trick BMW probably spent the most time perfecting. Eighteen seconds to open or close, operable at speeds of up to 50 kph, and it folds away with a precision that borders on theatrical. Watching it collapse and tuck itself into the boot is a small mechanical performance, each panel finding its place with the quiet confidence of a well-rehearsed routine. Operating it at a traffic signal is essentially guaranteed entertainment: people on scooters slow down, pedestrians pause mid-stride, and passers-by smile with a sincerity you rarely earn in city traffic. My sister and her friends, pressed into service as rear-seat occupants one afternoon, insisted on deploying it at every possible opportunity. This tells you something useful about how much of this car’s appeal exists entirely independent of its 374 horses.
Inside, the M440i shares its DNA with the 3 and 4 Series, which is no bad thing. The curved 14.9-inch infotainment display flows into the digital driver’s display in a way that feels properly considered. The flat-bottomed M-spec steering wheel sits exactly where it should. BMW has retained physical controls for volume and media, a decision that sounds unremarkable until you’ve spent time in cars that haven’t, fumbling through touchscreen submenus at speed. The Harman Kardon sound system is more than competent with the roof up. With the roof down, the wind tends to win. This is expected and entirely acceptable; that’s not why you’re here.
Ambient lighting, a heads-up display, powered sports seats with memory, wireless charging, and automatic climate control round out the cabin. The overall feel is premium without being ostentatious, which suits the car’s character well. Space is a relative concept in a convertible, but the M440i makes a decent case for itself. Front occupants are generously accommodated. The rear is tight, as it always is in this class, though four of us managed a city loop without serious complaint — and there’s something about sharing a roof-down run with extra passengers that amplifies the whole experience considerably. Even those in the back, the ones technically drawing the short straw, were grinning.
Now, the important part.
The B58 engine is one of the finest inline-sixes in production, full stop. The 3.0-litre turbocharged unit produces 374 bhp and 51 kgm, paired to an 8-speed automatic and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. The claimed 0-100 kph figure is 4.9 seconds; our runs suggested that figure is honest, possibly conservative on a good surface. Acceleration arrives in a smooth, urgent wave; there’s no drama in the delivery, no turbo hesitation to manage, just a clean and linear build of pace that makes the numbers feel almost understated. The gearbox shifts with seamless conviction, and the xDrive system distributes power with enough intelligence that you forget it’s there entirely. Which is exactly how it should work.
Dial back the traction control, find a quiet stretch of road, and the M440i reveals a rather different character. Drifting a car is entertaining enough. Drifting a convertible, with the roof down, is a categorically different experience. The wind rushes through the cabin, the sound of the B58 fills the air without filtration, and the faint smell of tyre makes the whole thing feel more visceral than any closed car can manage. The chassis is impressively rigid for a convertible; there’s no scuttle shake, no structural hesitation mid-corner. The steering is precise, the throttle response honest, and the car slides predictably if you’re willing to commit. It is, in the truest sense, a driver’s machine wearing a very elegant suit.
Ride quality deserves its own mention, particularly in this country. The suspension is firm without being punishing; the car absorbs the standard catalogue of Indian road imperfections — the sudden dip, the badly repaired crater, the speed breaker that announces itself a fraction too late — without drama. Ground clearance, which looked like it might be a problem given the car’s low, rakish proportions, proved adequate for the roads we encountered. This is a car you can genuinely use here, which is not something you can say about every European sports car that arrives on these shores.
The top speed is electronically capped at 250 kph, a figure that remains largely academic on public roads. What isn’t academic is how the car feels at 150 kph with the roof down: it feels like considerably more. Whether that’s a testament to the convertible experience or simply a strong argument for watching the speedometer depends on which side of the divide you’re on.
The M440i xDrive Convertible costs significant money. A rational argument against it is easily constructed: the dust, the heat, the limited inventory of roads that genuinely suit it. That argument holds water. It also, however, entirely misses the point.
Late one evening, driving back from the shoot, the roof went down, the engine settled into its cruise, and a couple of riders on scooters nodded as they passed. Not because the car demanded acknowledgement, but because some machines, when they’re right, earn it without asking. That’s the M440i.
