BMW Is Making An Electric i4 Convertible And I'm Vibratory With Excitement

There are few greater pleasures in this world than open-top motoring. There's just something truly wonderful about feeling the wind in what's left of your hair as you drive down the road, which is why I'm absolutely thrilled that BMW is going ahead with an electric convertible version of its next-generation 4 Series. As a well-documented BMW convertible fan, this is just about as good as it gets.

Newly snapped spy shots show a camouflaged Neue Klasse i4 droptop testing on some twisty roads, and damn, this thing is desperately needed in BMW's lineup. The German automaker recently discontinued the Z4 and 8 Series convertibles, and the current G23 4 Series has been out for six years now. The new i4 will be the first real "cheap" entrant into the electric convertible marketplace. Right now, there's just the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, which costs over $150,000, and (if you count it) the GMC Hummer EV that starts at nearly $100,000. This will assuredly be cheaper than both of those offerings.

This news comes just a few months after we reported that BMW said it was both "easy" and "important" to build niche body styles using its Neue Klasse architecture. It'll be used as the basis for the 4 Series convertible, and of course, a two-door coupe to match. There will hopefully be a new four-door Gran Coupe as well, since fastbacks like that are still so in vogue right now. Hell, there have even been spy shots of a crossover-coupe iX4 floating around, and BMW is also testing the electric i3 wagon. You might not like some of these looks, but variety is the spice of life after all.

The camouflaged prototype car that was spied by BMW Blog looks to have its final body panels in place. Aside from the wonky pre-pro headlights and taillights, which will surely be swapped out for units that look far more similar to what we've seen on the i3, it's just about ready to go. Even the aerodynamic two-tone wheels that were spied have shown up on the i3 sedan already, and the red brake calipers behind them indicate there's going to at least be some sort of M Sport package. While the camouflage does a good job of creating the illusion of a large conventional kidney grille up front, it's almost certainly a trick of the eye, and the i4 will likely have a front end very similar to that of the i3 that merges the closed-off horizontal grille with its headlights.

These spyshots also confirm that the i4 convertible won't be bringing back the folding hardtop roof of the E93 3 Series. That generation proved to be a blip in an otherwise canvas-roofed lineage that'll continue with the i4. That's not exactly a surprise. When dealing with the weight of an electric vehicle, adding the extra weight and complexity of a metal folding roof is just asking for trouble. The EV's longer wheelbase might bring some extra space to the 2+2 cabin, but don't expect it to suddenly have a spacious back seat.

Though only the electric i4 has been spied so far, it seems like a sure bet there will be a combustion-engined 4 Series model to go along with the coupe and convertible EVs. It won't be too long before the new model shows up, either. In another story, BMW Blog reported that the i4 convertible will launch in 2028 after the i3 Touring makes its debut, but based on these spy shots it could come out even sooner than that. I cannot wait.