New BMW 4 Series leaked ahead of debut

• BMW will officially unveil the new 4 Series tomorrow – June 2, 2020

• The 4 series will first be revealed in Coupe form; will be followed by convertible and four-door Gran Coupe versions. 

• The model’s international line-up will have both petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid engine options

While BMW will officially unveil its second-generation BMW 4 Series tomorrow, images have surfaced online that show the coupé bodystyle’s exterior details. The leaked pictures seem to have been lifted from an official launch brochure, providing a first look at the front, rear and side of the car, as well as some of the colour options that will be available at launch. 

The coupé has previously been spotted testing at the Nürburgring, and near BMW's Munich headquarters. These new pictures are the first to show the firm’s bold kidney grille undisguised; the link to the Concept 4 Series that was revealed last September is obvious.

The Audi A5 Coupé and Mercedes-Benz C-class Coupé rival also has a clear family resemblance with the larger 8 Series. The 2021 4 Series Coupé features a prominent bonnet, a heavily curved roofline, an angled rear window and a pronounced shoulder line over its rear wheels.

Alongside the coupé spied here, BMW is also developing a successor model to the 4 Series Convertible, which will feature a fabric roof in place of the metal structure used by the current generation. There will also be a follow-up to the four-door 4 Series Gran Coupé.

The 4 Series is based on the latest version of BMW’s CLAR (cluster architecture) platform. It supports both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, although, unlike the larger 8 Series, developments such as air suspension and four-wheel steering aren't planned to be offered during the 4 Series’ 7-year lifecycle.

The engine line-up will be similar to that of the latest 3 Series –  the 4 Series and 3 Series are closely related. In international markets, an extended range of 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol and diesel powerplants will be offered from the outset.

BMW insiders have confirmed plans for 420i, 430i and M440i xDrive petrol models, along with 420d and 430d diesels. There will also be a new 430e plug-in hybrid, featuring a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and gearbox-mounted electric motor, developing a combined 250hp and 420Nm.

The 420i, 430i, 420d and 430d will all have rear-wheel drive as standard, though BMW will offer its xDrive all-wheel drive (AWD) system as an option. The 374hp M440 xDrive will have the AWD system as standard.

Heading the new line-up will be the second-generation M4. In top-of-the-line M4 Competition guise, it’ll be powered by an amped-up version of BMW M’s new twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine developing 510hp and 600Nm of torque. It’ll come with an 8-speed automatic gearbox and a fully variable four-wheel drive system.

The 4 Series was sold in India in the performance-oriented M4 guise, since its launch back in 2014. The German carmaker, however, has not announced any plans as to when it will bring the new model to India. However, BMW has recently launched the 8 Series in India, with 840i Gran Coupe prices starting at Rs 1.30 crore. The M8 is priced at Rs 2.15 crore (ex-showroom, India).