BMW i4 Production End Confirmed as New i3 Arrives

Production of the BMW i4 is coming to an end. Launched in 2021, this electric breakthrough from Munich will be discontinued by the end of 2026 or at the latest in 2027, according to sources, to make way for the new i3 — a Neue Klasse sedan with significantly more serious performance.

"The i3 is more or less the successor to the i4." — Bernd Körber, BMW Product Director, to InsideEVs during the i3 presentation in Munich

The i4, Overtaken by Its Own Succession

The i4 was never a failure. When BMW launched it in 2021, it represented a serious entry into the premium electric sedan segment — a direct response to the Tesla Model 3 and the Audi ee-tron GT](/article/volkswagen-id-3-gtx-performance-326-ch-pour-defier-la-hyundai-ioniq-5-n). Five years later, the comparison with its replacement is cruel.

The i3 (Neue Klasse) carries a 108 kWh battery versus 81.3 kWh for the i4. The range climbs to 900 km WLTP (still a provisional figure) against 613 km for the best version of the i4. Charging power jumps from 205 kW to 400 kW on an 800-volt architecture, with a 10 to 80% fill in 21 minutes versus 30 for the i4. It's difficult to defend a model against such a spec sheet, especially since both cars come from the same Munich factory.

When Exactly Does i4 Production End?

The honest answer: no one knows officially. Neue Klasse i3 production begins in Munich in August 2026, and the two cars share the same manufacturing site — you cannot run two assembly lines in the same space indefinitely. According to Autocar, citing internal BMW sources, i4 production would end in 2027. InsideEVs, on the other hand, suggests it could happen as early as late 2026. Both media outlets rely on statements from BMW representatives made on the sidelines of the i3 presentation.

Jochen Goller, BMW Group's product boss, confirmed to Autocar that this transition was planned from the start: "When you look back on the last 20 years, you always had new models coming in and old models phasing out. And what you will always see is the volumes of the existing cars, in this case the i4, phasing out, and then the i3, clearly ramping up." Nothing brutal, nothing improvised — just the usual industrial cycle, he reminds us.

What This End Reveals About BMW's Strategy

The i4 has always had a somewhat awkward position in the lineup from the start: based on the 4 Series Gran Coupé and its multi-energy platform, it could never claim to be a true electric-native vehicle. BMW knew it, and buyers did too. The launch of the i4 in 2021 responded to a commercial urgency — having something to sell against Tesla while the Neue Klasse was being developed behind the scenes.

The strategy of Jochen Goller, confirmed during the presentation, is clear: each BMW model will carry a unique body style available across all powertrains. The future 4 Series will be sold with the same design whether it's electric or combustion. This means a new i4 will return — but it will be a two-door coupé, very likely on the Neue Klasse platform, with production expected around 2028 according to the specialized site Bimmerpost.