We knew the next-gen BMW 4-Series was coming for months. We saw spy shots, we saw the concept i4 in March with the new kidney grille and we saw a mostly covered 4 with the same nose. On Tuesday BMW officially revealed the new car and ... it's actually not as bad as we were expecting. In fact, it might be ... kinda cool, maybe?
Let's start with rear and side views and we'll work back to the maw at the end.
The old 4-Series looks taller and narrower than the new car, but some of that is a trick of the eyes with those horizontally stretched and vertically squished taillights. The new one is 1 inch wider but also 0.4 inch taller than the last generation. The new 4-Series tailpipes are squared while the old car's are round. Instead of creases in the lower bumper, we have vents on the flanks to bring air out of the wheel wells.
Advantage: New 4-Series
From the rear three-quarter view, the new 4-Series looks like a cleaner design than the old one. The new car ditches the fender vents and pronounced shoulder line for smooth surfaces, which also makes the 2021 model look longer, and it is, by more than 5 inches. The rear side window gets a new shape and like the Porsche Panamera, it makes a big difference.
Advantage: New 4-Series
The new 4-Series gets a ducktail rear end, though the scalloped doors remain. The hood looks longer and trimmer as well. Both noses look cropped, but the new one almost cants inward while the old slightly flares outward.
Advantage: New 4-Series
Nose to nose like this, the old 4-Series' snout looks almost comically teeny. Again, the new 4 looks shorter from ground to roof, but it's not. Those 5 extra inches of length just make your eye see it that way. Both headlights flare upward toward the sides, but the new ones just look way cooler.
Advantage: New 4-Series
And now we get to the 500-pound elephant trunk in the room. We talked to BMW head of design Domagoj Dukec, who said that each series gets its own take on the grille, so don't be surprised if we get more variations in the future. He also said that 4-Series buyers want a more expressive look, and that BMW is giving them what they wanted. We also double-checked and found out that, despite what BMW's press release said about allowing more air into the more powerful engine, the giant kidney grille is purely a design choice.
Looking at it now, it seems less offensive than both the shots of the i4 EV and the 4-Series. I won't go as far as saying I actually like it, but I will say that if you took that front license plate away, like we will here in Michigan, it becomes much more agreeable. I still won't give the advantage to the new car, but maybe we call it a draw. And since the new 4-Series won the rest of the looks, we're going to have to hand the good-looking championship belt to it. Feel free to tweet me if you think I'm wrong.
