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BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe caught without cladding

Like it or not, the majority of BMW 3 Series variants are on their way out, and the 4 Series models are hotly embroiled in the testing needed to replace them. We've now driven the basic 4 Series, seen spy photographs of the 4 Series Convertible and both versions of the M4 and today we get a better-than-ever look at the 4 Series Gran Coupe.
And, mostly dependent on your personal disposition towards four-dour coupes, that look should be a pleasant thing. The long, swooping Gran Coupe may be roughly similar in size to the related 3 Series GT, but it has been sculpted with beauty in mind rather than crossover function. We expect that those details still hidden by the body cladding here, mostly front and rear, can be filled in by simply remembering what the standard 4 Series looks like and squinting your eyes a bit. Subtlety is thy name, BMW variants.
As for the mechanicals, well, we expect to have the very same greasy bits under the hood and beneath the car that are found in the 4 Series lineup, too.

BMW and Jaguar Land Rover to jointly develop electric car tech

FRANKFURT – BMW and Jaguar Land Rover on Wednesday said they will jointly develop electric motors, transmissions and power electronics, unveiling yet another industry alliance designed to lower the costs of developing electric cars. Both carmakers are under pressure to roll out zero-emission vehicles to meet stringent anti-pollution rules, but have struggled to maintain profit margins faced with the rising costs of making electric, connected and autonomous cars. "Together, we have the opportunity to cater more effectively for customer needs by shortening development time and bringing vehicles and state-of-the-art technologies more rapidly to market," said BMW board member Klaus Froehlich. BMW and Jaguar Land Rover said they will save costs through shared development, production planning and joint purchasing of electric car components. Both companies will produce electric drivetrains in their own manufacturing facilities, BMW said. The BMW Jaguar Land Rover pact comes as rivals FiatChrysler and Renault explore a $35 billion tie-up of the Italian-American and French carmaking groups. Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover's engineering director said, "We've proven we can build world beating electric cars but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land Rover products." BMW was in talks with rival Daimler about developing electric car components but was also in discussions with Jaguar Land Rover, a company it once owned, to explore an alliance on engines. BMW already has a deal to supply an 8 cylinder engine to Jaguar Land Rover. Carmakers are increasingly open to sharing electric car parts because the technology is expensive and because customers no longer buy a car based on what engine a vehicle has. "Carmakers are much less precious about sharing electric car technology because it is much harder to create product differentiation with electric car tech. They all accelerate fast, and everybody can do quality and ride and handling," according to Carl-Peter Forster a former chief executive of Tata Motors and a former BMW executive. Jaguar Land Rover is still run by former BMW managers, including Ralf Speth the company's chief executive who spent 20 years at BMW prior to joining JLR, and Wolfgang Ziebart, the engineer who oversaw Jaguar's I-Pace electric car program, who is a former head of research and development at BMW.

2015 BMW X4 slides in on the diagonal starting at $45,625 in the US

If BMW has shown us anything, it's a knack for creating niches and expanding its product portfolio. Go back to the early '90s and it had essentially four models: the 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series. End of list. Since then, the Bavarian automaker has not only taken on Mini and Rolls-Royce, but has expanded its own range of models exponentially. You can chalk a big part of that up to crossovers, and another sizable chunk to giving existing models a different roofline and calling it something new. What we have here is a prime example of both.
Previewed in concept form the better part of a year ago at the Shanghai Motor Show, the slantback version of the X3 (and the baby brother to the X6) is now here in full production guise. Mechanically it's essentially the same as the new X3 on which it's based, but amps up the "sport" at the expense of the "utility" part of the SUV equation.
BMW will undoubtedly offer a wide range of powertrain configurations in markets around the world, but back in the United States it'll be offered in two specs: the X4 xDrive28i, packing a 2.0-liter inline-four with 240 horsepower and a $45,625 sticker price (including destination), or the X4 xDrive35i with the 300hp 3.0-liter six and a $48,925 MSRP. Either way, you're getting an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.