Happy to face up to this model being more a grand tourer than a proper sports car?

Base price: $129,900

Powertrain and economy: 3.0-litre turbo-petrol inline-six, 275kW/500Nm, 8-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 7.8 L/100km, CO2 179g/km.

Vital statistics: 4768mm long, 1852mm wide, 1383mm high, 2851mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 440 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Engaging drivetrain and chassis; technology delivery.

We don't like: The buck-toothed grille just at the moment; set to be overshadowed by new i4.

GIVEN all the kerfuffle from its international unveiling, you’d think the big talking point about the BMW 440i would be its massive kidney grille.

Actually, not from anyone I met during my time with the car. What drew more immediate attention and comment was how long it is. Maybe a bit too long?

Somehow, despite wearing (admittedly stunningly-styled) 19-inch rims, it almost looked under-wheeled. General consensus as to why? Partly to do with the long wheelbase, but also perhaps the amount of bodywork in the rear haunch.

One way, I guess, to divert attention from that new frontage, which when unveiled last year caused such a global storm you’d think it was heading to be the most talked-about element of car design in the history of all car design.

The reasons fuelling BMW’s drive toward larger and larger kidney grilles are many, but the fact is the decision has been made and basically every car coming from now will suffer the consequences.

Suffer? In respect to that, I’ll say two things. First, aesthetic factors on a car are purely subjective matters - what one person loves, another may hate with a passion.

Second … I’m not entranced. As presented on this car, the grille seemed less hideous 'in the metal' than it looked in photos, in the main because in road-legal form there’s a number plate to by and large bissect it. But … nah. The issue, for me, is that it’s so disproportional. But that’s just my line of thinking. As I say, everyone else had a totally different viewpoint, and who’s to say they’re no less ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Indeed, in 10 years we might have reason to decide it was a great idea. I mean, look at the Chris Bangle era cars. What seemed so radical when new seems far less so in today’s context.

Anyway, back to the M440i. The whole thing about it looking particularly long and lean is no trick of the eye. It really is a bigger car this time around. Or, should I say, longer. Though overall height and width are also upped, it’s the length that has been enhanced most considerably; by 128mm, so now it’s just over 4.7 metres from front to rear.

BMW’s design team argues this lends the car a more sporting form than the old one, and it’s hard to dispute that. Yet it’s also obvious that there’s an impact on every day usage, not least when it’s being parked. You’d swear it fills up considerably more of a standard parallel bay. Naturally, it has all the usual assists to keep you from bumping into all things that shouldn’t be bumped into, but you might find need to undertake a bit of shuffling to position the car exactly where it needs to be.

More metal also means a longer wheelbase, which has influence on the cabin’s roominess, but because it’s a BMW and thus ‘a driver’s car’, the primary pluses are to do with the way the car deports. And it’s great news. As well as the horizontal distance between the front and rear wheels having increased, the tracks are also enhanced and the centre of gravity has been dropped.

The driving feel is both grown-up and playful; the M Performance treatment as applied here is, of course, but the first tier of additional tuning. It’s not intended to make this model a full-out road hustler – that job falls to the far more seriously fettled M4. The idea is that the car should be quick and handle well, yet never feels overtly sporty. It's more of a comfortable cruiser.

And yet, in BMW’s world, the disparities are not huge. On a circuit, the M4 will show up the car on test here in every which way, and quite rightly so. I know this because I’ve driven both in just that environment.

On the road, though, there’s good argument to suggest that, while not as visceral in sound or sensation as a full-out M car, the M440i is probably going to seem quite good enough, as it imparts as a car with ability to run confidently and competently at quicker pace than would be prudent.

This isn’t just because it sits so close to the ground, runs a powerful engine and has stonkingly fat tyres and huge brakes. Just as instrumental to the package’s assertiveness is an ingredient BMW once pooh-poohed in days when it reckoned sending drive wholly to the back wheels was the only pure way.

In this car, of course, the ‘x’ that hits the spot is codex for all-wheel-drive. True, it’s tuned to a trad Munich flavour, so there’s more of a feeling of push from the rear than there is of pull from the front. And, true, if you go too hard into corners, it does as all four-wheel-drive cars do: Understeers. But that’s only momentary, fixed by just lessening the power a tad. Bang it back in once the nose settles and it then transitions sweetly; right up into (ahem) oversteer if you get on the power early and hard enough. The rear stepping out is a bit bogan, yes, but as and when this happens the car feels graceful and controlled. If ever you want proof that BMW still has immense cred as a chassis development king …

This kind of behaviour is most easily accessed in the Sport Plus setting, the most outrageous of its drive modes and, really, not the one I’d recommend as a default, as it makes the steering too heavy. If it is not too much of an ego deflator, then probably running the car in Comfort mode is most ideal for general driving. It allows the car to flow better over rougher road surfaces than the Sport or Sport Plus shock absorption settings. That latter are very much tuned for the smooth tarmac that is abundant in Europe but not often found here. While they do not make the car outright uncomfortable to drive, the jitter and road roar from coarse chip obvious and wearying.

The under-bonnet element for this formula is a 3.0-litre turbocharged straight six, impressively revvy and accelerative, yet also very refined – perhaps a tad too much, as while you can pick it straight away as a six, the exhaust note is often quite restrained, moreso from the outside. As is common, the occupants hear a soundtrack that, in the performance mode, is really too obviously artificially augmented.

The powertrain includes a 48-volt mild hybrid system that chucks in an extra 8kW for acceleration, helping bring the claimed 0-100kmh time down to 4.5 seconds, though as it also enables for engine-off coasting and faster stop-start operation, you’d imagine there’s also expectation of it enabling a positive influence on fuel economy. Which it likely does, though the maker-cited optimal was never threatened.

The eight-speed auto is the same unit as found in the 3 Series, with wheel-mounted paddles that suit the image yet can be disregarded in most instances.

In an age where high-riding SUVs and crossovers are all the rage it feels almost old school and even a bit awkward to recline into a car this low-slung, but once in you are reminded that it’s cars like these that established BMW’s reputation as a driver-focused brand.

The seating position is very much attuned to making you feel at one with the car and, beyond that, the cabin is very stylish in its design and fitout. Despite the platform having grown, it’s still a cosy cabin. Rear seat occupants will find a reasonable amount of room, but safe to say it’s not going to be first choice of car for a five-up trip over any distance. Boot space is decent, though.

BMW is a very tech savvy brand and this model takes Driving Assistant Professional as standard. This includes active cruise control, lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking and rear-cross alert. It’s great to have various sensors and cameras to monitor the car’s surroundings but sometimes the interventions can seem a bit overly well-meaning.

The cabin’s dominant features are two screens; a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.25-inch infotainment display. The latter can be operated via touch, gesture or via physical buttons and knobs.

BMW loads a lot of comfort equipment into what serves as the flagship model outside of the full-blown M family, though potentially there’s little here that immediate rivals don’t also offer. If you prefer to run things from your smartphone it’s fully compatible with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

That’s another element that cumulatively adds into this being an impressively capable car and, of course, one that’s hardly inexpensive, either. But that’s par for the course. At this end of the sector, everything represents as a discretionary spend.

One of the first things you notice is … well, you hardly need say what it is. However, it’s probable the enduring impact from this isn’t anything to do with its look but, instead, is is just how smooth it is at everything. All of its inputs are delivered with the slickness of a well-oiled machine.