Blink And You’ll Miss The Facelifted BMW i4

This is the facelifted BMW i4. No really, it is. We promise. You’d be forgiven for not realising, though. Two and a bit years after it went into production, BMW has given its all-electric compact executive an extremely light refresh, and it’s done the same for the combustion-powered version, the 4-series Gran Coupe, at the same time.

The visual changes largely reflect the ones we saw a few months ago on the M4, as well as the two-door 4-series. At the front, both models get reworked headlights with those characteristic LED slashes making up the daytime running signature. The grille of the i4, which previously had a perforated surface, is now fully enclosed and wears a new honeycomb pattern.

Then, at the rear, both cars get the distinctive Laserlight rear lights that originally appeared on the M4 CSL (although only if you spec them with adaptive LED headlights). These use fibre-optic bundles to create intricate lighting patterns and, in the three months since the M4 got the same feature, we’ve failed to learn how they work. Topping off the exterior changes are the new metallic colours of Cape York Green and Fire Red, and two new alloy wheel designs.

Inside, both cars now feature an upgraded iDrive system with a new ‘QuickSelect’ function, which BMW “says enables a further reduction in the number of buttons and controls in the cockpit.” Uh-oh. Thankfully, BMW hasn’t completely taken leave of its senses, and there are still physical controls for things like volume and airflow direction. Elsewhere in the interior are new designs of steering wheels and gearshift paddles, and updated materials and ambient lighting.

UK powertrain options remain the same as before. The i4 comes in two single-motor rear-drive setups – the 282bhp eDrive35 and 335bhp eDrive40 – or the full-fat dual-motor, 537bhp M50. The 4-series GC, meanwhile, still gets two petrol engines – the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder 420i with 184bhp and rear-wheel drive, and the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder M440i with 369bhp and four-wheel drive. Both petrol cars have a 48v mild-hybrid generator and use an eight-speed automatic.

The updated 4-series Gran Coupe starts at £43,830, with i4 prices kicking off at £50,365. They’ll go on sale in July. Not that anyone will notice.