- BMW’s electric i4 Convertible has made its spy debut ahead of a 2028 launch.
- Neue Klasse bones could deliver over 400 EPA range miles in 463-hp i4 50 trim.
- Coupe and electric M4 versions are coming too, alongside six-cylinder M models.
Electric convertibles are still about as common as affordable apartments in Monaco, but BMW wants to change that. These fresh spy shots give us our first look at the new i4 Convertible, a two-door, soft-top relative of the recently revealed i3 sedan that’s headed for showrooms around 2028.
Known internally as NA3, the i4 Convertible will be sold alongside a visually similar combustion drop-top 4-series, featuring a classic-style folding cloth soft top. BMW moved away from the retractable hardtop trend in 2020 to cut weight and improve trunk room, and a soft top makes even more sense when you’re already hauling a large battery around underneath the floor.
Related: BMW’s Electric i3 Wagon Just Got Caught, And Its Roofline Hides A Trick
The prototype spotted on test in Germany is still covered in BMW’s usual wrap, which looks like the result of a seismograph trying to scribe the earth’s movements after it was T-boned by another planet. But we can see that it retains almost all of the Neue Klasse design cues already seen on the i3 sedan launched earlier this year.
Shorter Wheelbase, Bigger Questions
SH Proshots, Baldauf
What it doesn’t retain, judging by these pictures, is the sedan’s 2,898 mm (114.1 inches) wheelbase. The current 3-series sedan and 4-series coupe and convertible ride on identical wheelbases, but this i4 has noticeably less metal between the axles than the i3 sedan, making us wonder if it really is a genuine four-seater, or whether BMW has shrunk it to a 2+2 to help mask the gap in its lineup that axing the Z4 has left.
The i4 also won’t be as structurally stiff as the sedan. Convertibles normally compensate with extra reinforcement underneath. Trouble is, that’s precisely where an EV carries its battery. Keeping the body stiff without turning the i4 into a Bavarian cruise ship could be one of BMW’s trickier engineering challenges.
More Than 400 Range Miles Possible
SH Proshots, Baldauf
Powertrain details haven’t surfaced yet, but the i3 provides a useful preview. Its 50 xDrive pairs two electric motors for 463 hp (469 PS / 345 kW) and uses a 108.7 kWh battery, 800-volt architecture, and charging at up to 400 kW for 440 EPA range miles (708 km) and 559 miles (900 km) on the WLTP Euro cycle.
This prototype’s wheels and brake calipers tell us it’s an i4 50 xDrive, but a cheaper i4 40 could borrow the iX3 40’s 316 hp (235 kW / 320 PS) rear motor and smaller 82.6 kWh battery pack. BMW might not even be able to fit the 50’s full 108.7 kWh battery given how much shorter the wheelbase seems.
iDrive Goes Panoramic
Inside, expect BMW’s Panoramic iDrive setup, combining a display stretching across the base of the windshield with a huge 17.9-inch touchscreen, plus an available 3D head-up display. This infotainment setup made its debut on the iX3, but is now being rolled out to BMW’s other new and facelifted models, including the i3 sedan (shown in image above).
And the convertible won’t be lonely. A fixed-roof i4 Coupe is also coming, as well as visually similar combustion-powered i4s in both open and closed-roof forms. BMW is also developing electric M4 Coupe and Convertible models with styling influenced by the M Concept Neue Klasse. Six-cylinder M4s will survive alongside them too.
That means BMW’s future 4-series lineup should have something for almost everyone. And if you want electric power, sunshine and (just about) four seats, this i4 might have remarkably little competition.
