The BMW iX4 Is A 428-Mile Electric Crossover For The Terminally Fashionable And You Won’t Have To Wait Long For A Fast One

Believe it or not, there is a small subset of the population who believe their steak is too juicy and their lobster tails too buttery. They probably believe their crossovers are too practical as well, as the sort of two-box vehicular catch-alls offer enormous cargo flexibility compared to their low-slung separate-trunked sedan equivalents. However, for consumers in that niche who don’t wish to enjoy the benefits of a sedan, there’s a new electric crossover that might scratch their itch. It’s called the BMW iX4, and it’s essentially an iX3 that’s been sat on by a giant.

Like the iX3, the iX4 rides on BMW’s Neue Klasse platform that’s designed from the ground up for EVs and EVs only. State-of-the-art 800-volt architecture? Check. A big 112.2 kWh battery pack with cylindrical cells? Check. Impressive 400 kW DC fast charging? You bet. It even supports bi-directional charging. With standard dual-motor all-wheel-drive on the iX4 50 xDrive trim, you’re looking at a tremendous EPA range of 428 miles. That’s just a hair under the longest-range iX3’s 434 miles of EPA range but still absolutely excellent.

The base iX4 is quick, too. Dual-motor all-wheel-drive produces 463 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque while promising to deal with the zero-to-60 mph sprint in 4.7 seconds. Solid stuff, but if that’s not enough for you, an iX4 M60 xDrive is coming. Thanks to new motors, it kicks out 603 horsepower and 645 lb.-ft. of torque. BMW claims that’s good for zero-to-60 mph in a hair under four seconds.

Of course, there’s more to the iX4 M60 xDrive than just output. Revised daytime running lights include a series of parallelograms that signal you’re looking at the quick one, while unique spring rates and adaptive damper tuning along with variable-ratio power steering and revised anti-roll bar hardware promise increased stick in the corners. Should you ever find traction boring, a limited-slip differential on the rear axle ought to help encourage the toasting of rubber, although its chief goal is to help the iX4 M60 xDrive fire out of corners even quicker.

From the driver’s seat, the iX4 sure looks a lot like the iX3. It gets the same pillar-to-pillar projected display and oddly-shaped italicized infotainment screen as every other new BMW with the marque’s latest infotainment setup. It might look funny, but despite ditching the rotary knob, it’s a reasonably usable system with more top-level hard functions than the old iDrive 8.5 system. Haptic controls on the steering wheel activate advanced driving assistance functions, including available hands-free highway driving at up to 85 MPH. That’s quick enough for even Texas’ fastest toll road.

The BMW iX4 shall likely be a fine conveyance, largely because the iX3 upon which it’s based is a fine machine with enormous range and surprisingly user-friendly tech. However, the iX4 throws a curveball at the formula that we need to talk about: Dat ass. It’s a rather severe interpretation of the coupe crossover formula, starting the slope of the roof and greenhouse massively early before finishing with a blunt, brusque kammtail. It’s a roofline befitting of a future i4, but on the iX4, it comes with some compromises.

Even though BMW hasn’t published official cargo volume for the iX4, a quick glimpse with the hatch open reveals two big hinges that really hang down below the roof opening. If you’re only loading items beneath the cargo cover, you’ll be fine, but it’s not hard to imagine the hinges being a problem when loading to the roof. That being said, the rather severe slope of the cargo area means you’ll need something wide but slim if you’re looking to load well above the backs of the rear seats. The iX3 likely has an advantage here, so that’ll be the one to get unless a pragmatic silhouette makes your skin crawl.

Really, the big announcement of the iX4 M60 xDrive has me excited for the potential of an iX3 M60 xDrive or better still, an i3 M60 xDrive. Just over 600 horsepower and a limited-slip rear differential in a more conventional form sounds hugely appealing. Still, for those who like their crossovers a little less practical, the iX4 seems like it’ll be just the ticket. Expect the xDrive 50 model to start at $66,200 plus a to-be-determined freight charge when it goes on sale in March of 2027, with the hot M60 xDrive model following later next year. That’s $4,700 more than an iX3 50 xDrive, which begs the question: What’s style worth to you?

Top graphic image: BMW