Goodbye, petrol X4: BMW bets on a fully electric coupe-SUV

© @ringprototypes

BMW has put a prototype of the iX4 on the road — the electric heir to the X4 with a coupe-SUV body. The camouflage hides the details, but the overall silhouette is already clear: the front end looks almost like the iX3, the roof sits lower, the rear overhang is shorter, and the bet is on attitude rather than practicality.

Production of the current X4 has ended, and there will be no direct petrol successor. That role goes to the iX4 with the factory code NA7. The first versions, iX4 40 xDrive and iX4 50 xDrive, are due in November 2026, while the more powerful M60 xDrive is expected in March 2027.

The hardware will almost certainly be shared with the iX3 Neue Klasse. That means an 800-volt architecture, DC fast charging at up to 400 kW and similar powertrains. The iX3 50 xDrive is already quoted at 463 hp and 645 Nm, 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds and the ability to add around 270 km of range in 10 minutes at a suitable station. The iX4 should be close to those numbers, but the more raked roof could yield a small aerodynamic edge.

BMW has long sold this shape as a style of its own. First came the X6, then the X4, then the X2. Buyers paid for a less practical boot and worse rear visibility but got a more aggressive silhouette in return. In the electric era this trade-off makes even more sense: a low roof helps cut air resistance and preserve range without enlarging the battery.

The iX4 will not be built in Spartanburg in the United States, where the previous X4 was made, but at BMW’s new plant in Debrecen, Hungary. The iX3 is assembled there too. That is convenient for Europe, but for the US the shift could be sensitive because of logistics and possible tariffs.

On price, the iX4 will almost certainly sit above the iX3. If the iX3 50 xDrive starts at around €70,900 in Germany — roughly $81,300 — the coupe version could move into the territory of the Audi Q6 Sportback e-tron and the Mercedes GLC electric. The buyer will not just be choosing on power, but on a simpler question: is the stylish body worth the loss of practicality?

BMW is not just swapping an engine for a battery. It is testing whether the X4 buyer is ready to stick with the same body character now that the familiar petrol version is gone.