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STORY

The BMW 4 Series was born in 2013 from a simple marketing decision: BMW split the two-door coupés and convertibles out of the 3 Series range and gave them their own, more upmarket identity. Even-numbered badges would henceforth signify the sportier, more expressive coupé-based cars, and the 4 Series became the direct descendant of decades of 3 Series coupés.

The first-generation F32 was lower, wider and visually more dramatic than the 3 Series saloon it was based on, offered as a coupé, a folding-hardtop convertible and a four-door Gran Coupé fastback. Powered by turbocharged fours and the straight-six in the 435i and later 440i, it delivered the driving character of the 3 Series in a more stylish package. The high-performance versions were badged M4, carrying forward the lineage of the M3 coupé.

The second-generation G22, launched in 2020, became one of BMW's most talked-about designs thanks to its very large, vertical kidney grille, a deliberately polarising statement. Built on the CLAR platform, it kept the coupé, convertible and Gran Coupé bodies and the four- and six-cylinder engines, with the M440i xDrive leading the standard range beneath the full M4. Divisive looks aside, the 4 Series remains BMW's core statement of sporting style.