BMW vs Ineos vs Morgan: the link between three very different cars

It has lusty low-down torque, a zinger of a top end and remarkably friendly fuel economy in everyday use. I’ve previously run a BMW Z4 M40i and almost always beat its claimed mpg figure, bombilating around the mid-30s even when I took the long route home. I was only too happy to pick up on Nick’s appreciation of the B58 and bring together three of its most eclectic homes.

The M440i is our control variable – even without a fixed roof. Indeed, what better way to celebrate the soul of this powertrain than with unhindered access to the sound it generates? Naturally it weighs more than other 4 Series models – the Convertible gaining 155kg over a comparable Coupé – though it narrowly avoids the mental leap of a two-tonne kerb weight.

It’s powered by a mild-hybrid boosted B58 for matching 369bhp and 369lb ft peaks, 0-62mph in 4.9sec and an inevitably limited 155mph top speed. Peak torque is sustained from 1900-5000rpm with peak power arriving at 5500rpm.

The Morgan Supersport is also a drop-top, though in a less traditional sense than the Plus Six it supersedes when it’s optioned with this  removable carbonfibre roof. Its forebear launched a new aluminium ‘CX’ platform in 2019, introducing B58 power in a Malvern roadster at the same time.

Overexcited engineers have spun a heavy facelift into a whole new model on an updated ‘CXV’ base, but plenty about this car will feel familiar to owners making the step across.

Not least its older, 335bhp tune of B58, albeit still with 369lb ft from an even lower 1520rpm. With just 1170kg to shift, it claims a feistier 3.9sec sprint to 62mph despite its power being channelled through one axle rather than two. 

Its top speed is also unshackled to 166mph – blame its old-school aerodynamics for Morgan being unable to eke out more. Some purists might be peeved by BMW’s old Steptronic gear selector sprouting from the Supersport’s otherwise clean-cut, traditional cabin, but hey – this is small-scale British manufacturing and I’ll never begrudge the vast budget saving surely levied by its appearance.

If you’re wondering why there’s no manual knob there – you can still enjoy one in BMW’s Handschalter Pack Z4, after all – demand is so low that Morgan can’t justify it in regular production. Throw a sizeable cheque at their bespoke department and you might fare better…

The Ineos Grenadier takes the same iteration of B58 as the Morgan but detunes it to 282bhp and 332lb ft. Power peaks at 4750rpm and the engine redlines shortly after, betraying the fact that Jim Ratcliffe’s gnarly Defender rival (or perhaps tribute) favours torque over top-end theatre.

You can have a diesel, too – BMW’s B57 twin-turbo six-pot – paired with the same ZF eight-speed torque converter. A gearbox that unites the three cars here, in fact, although this engine has, at numerous points in its life, been latched to a six-speed manual (see below right).

Its 2678kg heft results in an 8.6sec saunter to 62mph and a top speed in double digits, but Tarmac isn’t this car’s home nor performance its forte. We won’t be taking it off road today, alas, and let’s get the awkward bit out the way: this car doesn’t do its best work between the white lines.It demands real acclimatisation after anything bar a traditional Defender or G-Wagen.

Clamber up into its lofty cockpit and its vast array of switches, scattered hither and thither, give it the atmosphere of an especially mean escape room – your puzzle being to merely start the thing. That incongruous BMW gearlever quickly nominates itself as the most logical switchgear present.

Still, the familiar blaring to life of its B58 is a heartening novelty, and it probably feels quicker than its quoted acceleration on the move. Like an old G, it favours a ‘very slow in, slightly quicker out’ approach to corners. Any commands of its chassis require the gradual hinting process of a spouse approaching Christmas. Sudden inputs are not something the Grenadier relishes.

“Hustling this car isn’t for the faint of heart,” read the Autocar road test, and I can’t disagree. Its trail-focused steering ensures even modestly arced corners have your arms twirling furiously, a task made all the more befuddling by the two-spoke steering wheel that – at a quick glance – could be facing up or down.

But you’re unlikely to be going anywhere in a hurry, and with more relaxed pace, its straight six burbling away beneath the surface, you can revel in the immature charm of piloting something so ludicrously chunky on a Great British highway.

It’s far from the perfect platform for celebrating this engine, yet it’s a car whose inimitable character still feels galvanised by it. Lock it in manual, leave it in third, and you can achieve a gently satisfying flow on a sweeping A-road. Fuel economy might not lag the diesel by as much as you expect, either.

An owner of a pre-CX Morgan will feel right at home in the Grenadier, making similar allowances (or excuses) for its on-road manners. Modern Morgans, however, are a vast step on – the outgoing Plus Six had ragged edges but offered eloquence and everyday liveability we had not previously seen from an ash-framed car.

The Supersport builds on its good work, a thorough overhaul of almost every component except the B58 making it a sharper, more predictable handler and a mite friendlier day-to-day.

The ZF gearbox is tuned conservatively in D, mind, and the fixed plastic paddle-shifters – oddly sourced from Peugeot – don’t actively encourage you to get stuck in. So you instead flick the selector into S and let the car, newly revitalised, fire you down the road with simply astounding pace.

While it peaks at the same 7000rpm as the M440i, it rips through its revs in what feels like half the time, a proper little hot rod that can soak up this road’s nastier ruts and bumps with the insouciance an old Mog could only dream of.

You’re not initially flooded with communication, yet grip is always stronger than you dare imagine and it takes real bullishness to start troubling its traction even in tight, second-gear corners.

Though a word of warning if you want its cultured six-cylinder howl to soundtrack your playtime: removing and stowing the door tops shatters most evidence it’s even there, the turbulent airflow ripping through the cabin to drown out the vocals emanating from within.

Those following behind will relish its bassy burble and the childish pops and bangs of its perkier drive modes – keeping the side screens intact helps guarantee your seat in the audience too.

No such worries in the M440i, which sounds fab roof up or down. A BMW cabrio with an auto ’box and four-wheel drive might have been heresy not too long ago – all the Bavarians’ best bits, dulled – yet the reality feels like one of the most well-rounded cars I’ve driven in a long time.

It’s a car that just gets better the harder you drive it, its xDrive system balancing precision and playfulness as well as ever. Perhaps the only real downside of 4WD is the weight it adds, something it will more than recompense for when it shrugs off wet, wintry weather. 

And which its torque-rich engine chamfers the edges from anyway. Everything feels trademark BMW, right down to the way its steering immediately and intuitively weights up from the straight-ahead to give you the confidence to dig further into the M440i’s abilities.

And all while feeling wonderfully soft-edged in this ‘M Car Lite’ tune – even in its sportier modes it remains composed, compliant and usable. The innate rightness of its chassis is something we sorely hope the Neue Klasse revolution clings onto; if these new-gen cars arrive imbued with the same, distinct focus – one that even the complexity of a luxe four-seat cabrio can’t dim – they’ll do just fine.

Our control car is also the most impressive, then, though there’s no denying the Morgan’s more exhilarating swagger or the Ineos’s own, unmistakable schtick. Ultimately each of our B58 heroes is enriched by the engine that’s brought it to these pages today.

Perhaps the real winner would be a car that distils the M440i’s quality and cohesion, the Supersport’s rear-drive thrills and the Grenadier’s visceral involvement into one, compact, distinct package.

I therefore suggest you buy the manually shifted BMW Z4 Handschalter while you still can.