Long Live the 4er
We remember people scratching their heads when BMW spun off the coupe and convertible versions of the 3 Series into the 4 Series. More people scratched when the company then added a four-door version of the said model as the Gran Coupe, not long after. Still, it’s been a proven success, and it even outsold its more practical counterpart last year.
To say the 4 Series has its fans is an understatement. Not even the polarizing ‘beaver teeth’ front end was enough to blunt sales. That said, there were some questions about its future given BMW’s Neue Klasse direction. But fear not, the car will live to see a third generation.
Confirmed by the Company
Speaking to Autocar, BMW board member Joachim Post is well aware of the model’s popularity. See, Post isn’t just a board member; he’s also one of the engineers overseeing the development of future BMW Neue Klasse models. With that, he assures consumers that we can expect an all-new 4 Series down the line.
“The 4 Series is an important car for us. It’s more sporty, and BMW is a sporty brand which has a clear heritage also on the performance side. It will play an important role also for the future,” said Post.
BMW
What to Expect
We can bet that the present body styles will be carried over to the new generation. Post notes that economies of scale will make it easy for those models to be produced despite being niche products. That said, it’s the Gran Coupe that does a lot of the lifting in the 4 Series range.
More important here are the powertrain choices. There will still be traditional ICE models, albeit with mild hybrid. With that in mind, we could see tweaked versions of the current 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter engines. Plug-in hybrids will also join the range, as well as a full EV model. The EV version will likely use a different platform and be based on the iX3.
The best part? The M4 has been largely confirmed, too. While it’s not known if it will be split between ICE and EV versions, there’s a good chance of that happening. Should that be the case, the electric M4 should benefit from the same software and hardware applied to the upcoming M3 EV. Of course, BMW is keeping its cards close to its chest regarding that matter, but we’ll know more once the folks from Munich drop more hints.
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