BMW hasn’t made a non-controversial looking car in years. The G20 3 Series was probably the last car BMW launched where the design didn’t get any backlash. However, the BMW Concept Touring Coupe—which is essentially a modern, luxurious interpretation of the Z3 M Coupe “Clown Shoe”—seems to be pretty universally loved. At least for its design. So the idea of taking that styling and adding it to one of BMW’s most controversial looking cars, the BMW M4, seems like a good idea.
This new render from Khyzyl Saleem takes some of the Concept Touring Coupe’s styling elements and adds them to the M4. Mainly, the M4’s grille is replaced with one that’s semi-similar to the Concept’s (which just a Z4’s grille). It isn’t the full Z4 grille, since that wide grille can’t fit in between the M4’s headlights. If you look at the Z4’s front end, its headlights are quite vertical, which leaves room for a very wide grille. The M4’s, however, are not. So this render shrinks the grille quite a bit but it still has a design that’s inspired by the Z4/Concept Touring Coupe and it looks much, much better.
In addition to the new grille, this rendered M4 gets the same brown-scale-heavy color scheme as the Concept Touring Coupe. So the paint is a dark bronze-ish color, with light gold trim. That trim color goes from the grille, to the window trim, to the side mirrors, and the wheels. It isn’t the typical concept color palette, as it’s quite tame and luxurious, rather than flashy or flamboyant. But it adds some elegance to the otherwise very aggressive M4.
Speaking of aggression, the BMW M4 is far less aggressive looking without its stock Nosferatu-on-steroids grille design. It looks like a BMW M car should—sporty but simple, butch but not overly flashy. So seeing the M4 with a proper grille is not only refreshing, it’s maddening, as it reminds us of what could have been.
However, this render isn’t impossible to make on your own. There are a couple of aftermarket BMW M4 grille solutions, such as the one from ADRO, which completely change the front end of the car for the better. Then you can wrap the car in a brown-ish color like this and wrap the trim in bronze. Then, you’ll have this render but in real life.
[Source: Khyzyl Saleem/Facebook]