BMW’s New Electric Coupe-SUV Just Showed Its Shape Near the Ring
Article Summary
- A camouflaged iX4 (NA7) prototype spotted near the Nürburgring shows a sloped roofline and shorter rear overhang than the iX3.
- The iX4 40 xDrive and 50 xDrive arrive November 2026, with an M60 xDrive following in March 2027.
- Built exclusively at BMW’s Debrecen plant in Hungary, the iX4 shares the iX3’s Neue Klasse platform and 400 kW charging.
A camouflaged prototype of the upcoming BMW iX4, internally codenamed NA7, was spotted testing near the Nürburgring, and the swirly wrap isn’t hiding much. The roofline kicks down hard behind the B-pillars, the rear end cuts off noticeably sooner than on the iX3, and the front end looks like it was lifted straight off that car without a single panel changed.
Strip away the standard-issue swirl wrap and there isn’t a lot left to guess at. But one things is for sure: a more raked roof typically pays for itself in drag coefficient as much as looks, so don’t be surprised if BMW leans on that angle when the car finally launches.
This isn’t the first time the iX4 has shown its face. A prototype wearing finished body panels turned up in public a couple of months ago, and our own speculative renderings tried to peel the camouflage back digitally.
An Electric Chapter For A Familiar Formula
BMW has been selling swoopy, coupe-roofed SUVs since the E71 X6 arrived in 2007, an idea that looked like a fad at the time and turned into a permanent fixture of the lineup. The F16 X6 replaced it in 2014, the same year BMW brought the formula down a size with the X4 F26, and the X2 F39 rounded the family out in 2018.
X4 production wrapped earlier this year, and BMW chose not to give the G02 a combustion successor. The iX4 picks up the role instead, and it’s electric-only from the start. There won’t be a gas-burning option waiting in reserve this time.
Same Bones As The iX3
The iX4 rides on the same Neue Klasse architecture as the iX3 NA5 and, by most accounts, is mechanically identical to it. That means the same battery pack, the same power figures per trim, and the same 800V charging hardware, which supports DC fast charging at up to 400 kW. The iX3 can already recover 171 miles of EPA range in ten minutes on a compatible charger, and there’s no reason to expect the iX4 to do anything different given the shared platform.
On output, the iX3 50 xDrive’s dual-motor setup makes 463 hp (345 kW) and 473 lb-ft (641 Nm), good for a 4.9-second run to 62 mph. Expect the iX4 50 xDrive to match those numbers exactly, with a 40 xDrive sitting below it as the entry point into the range.
The Lineup, As We Understand It
- -iX4 40 xDrive — November 2026, all markets
- iX4 50 xDrive — November 2026, all markets
- X4 M60 xDrive — March 2027, all markets
An electric X4 M (ZA7) is expected to borrow the quad-motor setup BMW is developing for the X3 M (ZA5) and the next M3 (ZA0), with output rumored to clear at least 800 horsepower. None of that is happening at launch, so file it under “eventually.”
Built In Hungary, Not South Carolina
Every prior X4 came out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The iX4 breaks with that entirely and will be built exclusively at BMW’s Debrecen plant in Hungary, the same factory already running the iX3. There’s no plan to build it in Spartanburg, and San Luis Potosi looks unlikely to get a piece of it either, at least for now.
[Photos by @ringprototypes]
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments