Having given the 4 Series Coupe a Life Cycle Impulse, BMW will do the same for the Gran Coupe. Not only will the versions with combustion engines get an LCI, but so will the fully electric i4. The refresh is months away from going official since production is expected to start in July. However, a more substantial change is apparently planned for next year.
According to an insider familiar with BMW’s agenda, the i4 is getting upgraded motors and/or batteries. It’ll apparently happen with the vehicles manufactured from July 2025. In other words, these hardware revisions will come 12 months after the styling revision planned for the LCI. That said, the i4 for the United States with the improved technical specifications won’t go into production until November 2025.
The timeline seems odd since we’d reckon it would be a mistake to buy a BMW i4 LCI right after it comes out, knowing a better car is 12 months away. Unless BMW will delay the electric model’s facelift to have the hardware ready for launch. As far as we know, the i4 is going to receive styling tweaks together with the 4 Series Gran Coupe this year.
With the Neue Klasse arriving in 2025, BMW wants to make its CLAR-based EVs more competitive by boosting efficiency. Otherwise, the new wave of electric vehicles will cannibalize sales of zero-emission models based on platforms developed for cars with combustion engines. New motors and/or batteries are likely to increase the range of the BMW i4, and perhaps there will be some extra power to boot.
Meanwhile, the LCI will bring the new adaptive matrix LED headlights seen on the 2025 4 Series Coupe. The jury is still out on whether the laser taillights are coming to the 4 GC. The vertical grille will retain its size and shape but with a different pattern. The interior will be largely carried over but with iDrive 8.5 instead.
According to the same member of the Bimmer Post forums, the G26 4 Series Gran Coupe will remain in production until June 2028. A direct replacement on CLAR seems highly unlikely since the Neue Klasse will be in full swing by then.
Source: Bimmer Post