2015 BMW M4 Convertible debuts: drop-top fun priced from $73,425

The 2015 BMW M4 Convertible made its official debut at the New York auto show yesterday. While the details of the high-octane hardtop didn't exactly catch us off-guard (see our full breakdown here), we now know how much it'll cost to feel the wind in your hair as you launch from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds: $73,425, to start.

Complete pricing will be available closer to the M4 Convertible's sale date, which is “late summer” 2014, according to BMW. But the car's base price does represent a significant premium over the $62,950 and $65,125 base prices for the M3 sedan and M4 coupe, respectively.

BMW
For $73,425, BMW can't guarantee that all the photos you take of your new M4 Convertible will look this moody. But it will get you from 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds.

The powerplant carries over from the M3 and M4; the car's TwinPower 3.0-liter inline-six puts down 425 hp and 406 lb-ft torque. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, but you wouldn't be wrong to seriously consider the optional M seven-speed dual-clutch. You'll shave 0.2 seconds off the 0-60 sprint, making the run in 4.2 seconds versus the manual's 4.4 seconds. For what it's worth, that's a little slower than the 3.9-second time you can expect to pull in a dual-clutch-equipped M4 coupe.

The drop-top nicely rounds out BMW's new 3-series/4-series performance lineup, which includes the new 4-series two-doors in place of the now-discontinued 3-series coupes.

BMW
Get a close look at the 2015 BMW X4 Sports Activity Coupe at the New York auto show. This photo was not taken at the New York auto show.

We're not sure if we can say the same about the X4 Sports Activity Coupe, which was also on display at the automaker's New York auto show booth. We've known this peculiar…thing was on its way for a while, getting a close look at the vehicle in its concept guise in Los Angeles.

Not to be confused with the 4-series Gran Coupe, which also has four doors, or the 3-series Gran Turismo, which has a similar liftback profile, the X4 is longer than the X3 but smaller than the X6 (the shape of which the X4 closely resembles).

Depending on which engine you choose, you could pay from $45,625 to $48,925 to get into an X4. The lower price gets you the four-cylinder-powered xDrive28i; the higher price, the xDrive35i and its six cylinders.

The 2014 New York auto show runs April 16-27 and is expected to attract a range of production and concept cars including the 2015 Mustang convertible, BMW M4 convertible and next Hyundai Sonata. Check out Autoweek's complete coverage at autoweek.com/new-york-auto-show.

By Graham Kozak