The BMW iX4 Undercuts Mercedes and Trails Its Twin

The BMW iX4 50 xDrive is priced from $66,200 plus destination and claims up to 428 miles on a charge. That range figure is still BMW’s own estimate, not a finished EPA rating.

US sales of the 50 xDrive begin in March 2027. The dual-motor coupe, built at Debrecen in Hungary, makes 463 hp and hits 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. The fight it starts is less about whether 428 miles is “enough” and more about who that number leaves looking expensive, including a BMW parked one slot over.

$66,200 Buys a Dual-Motor iX4 50 xDrive

BMW revealed the iX4 on October 7, 2026, as the third Neue Klasse model after the iX3 and the i3 sedan. Every US car at launch is all-wheel drive, with one motor on each axle. The 50 xDrive’s pair of motors make 463 hp and 475 lb-ft, with a 130 mph top speed.

The usable pack is rated at 112.2 kWh. BMW quotes a drag figure of 0.23 and fits the M Sport package as standard, including 20-inch M wheels, plus a full-length panoramic roof with climate-comfort glass. Wheel choices run from 20 to 22 inches. Nine colors are listed at launch, among them Eucalyptus Green, Vegas Red, and Polarized Grey.

Outside, the car is 188.3 inches long, 74.6 inches wide, and 63.3 inches tall, on a 114.1-inch wheelbase. An optional hitch is rated at 4,400 pounds. Inside, BMW fits a 17.9-inch central display, Panoramic Vision across the base of the windshield, and a voice assistant tied to Amazon Alexa+. Attentive hands-free highway driving is available at up to 85 mph. Bidirectional charging is part of the spec, with Vehicle-to-Load and Vehicle-to-Home adapters offered for the Multifunction Charger.

Mike Reichelt, who leads Neue Klasse for BMW’s compact and midsize cars, framed the iX4 as the emotional one in the new electric group.

With the new fully electric BMW iX4, we are expanding the Neue Klasse portfolio with a particularly emotional vehicle. Its striking proportions, elegant coupe silhouette and Neue Klasse technologies combine to create a truly distinctive character.

Mike Reichelt, Head of Neue Klasse, BMW Compact and Midsize Class

Europe also gets an iX4 40 xDrive with 374 hp, an 82.6 kWh pack, and up to 396 miles of WLTP range. BMW’s US launch plan names only the 50 xDrive, then the M60.

BMW’s Own iX3 Undercuts It on Range and Price

On May 7, 2026, BMW set the iX3 50 xDrive at a base price of $61,500, plus $1,350 for destination and handling. Official EPA range reaches 434 miles on the no-cost 20-inch summer tires. The same 463 hp dual-motor layout runs 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds. US deliveries were scheduled to start on September 25, 2026.

That makes the iX4 a $4,700 step up for a BMW estimate that sits 6 miles under the iX3’s certified peak. Both cars share Gen6 eDrive, an 800-volt system, and 400 kW DC charging. The iX3’s EPA table also shows how fast the headline number falls: 20-inch all-season tires, which ship as standard, are rated at 383 miles.

The 428-mile iX4 figure is a best-case estimate in the same spirit. Until the EPA publishes a sticker, the coupe is asking buyers to pay more than the boxier twin for a number that is not yet official and is already lower on paper.

Paying extra for a sloping roof is a familiar BMW habit. The louder problem is that the habit now costs range as well as cash. The iX3 already sells the motors, the pack chemistry, the 800-volt hardware, and the Panoramic iDrive system. The iX4 sells a silhouette.

Which Rivals Does the 428-Mile Claim Hit?

Hold the iX3 aside, and the 50 xDrive’s estimate still lands as a hard shot at other luxury electric SUVs that cost as much or more and travel less far. The comparison below uses each maker’s starting price before or excluding destination, except where a listing already bundles it, and it uses EPA figures for every car except the iX4.

RANGE AND PRICE AT A GLANCE

Mercedes is the clearest loser on the German side of the ledger. The EQE 320 4Matic SUV carries an EPA range of 253 miles at $67,450, which is more money than the iX4 for 175 fewer miles. It is also a conventional tall SUV, so the range gap is not a coupe tax. It is a pack-and-efficiency gap.

WHO LOSES THE RANGE-PER-DOLLAR FIGHT

• Mercedes EQE 320 4Matic: A higher sticker and 175 fewer EPA miles than BMW’s iX4 estimate, with no coupe roof to blame.
• Lucid Gravity Touring: $13,700 more at the start, 91 fewer EPA miles, in a larger three-row body.
• Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD: Far cheaper, with 327 miles of EPA range, 101 miles short of BMW’s estimate and a different luxury brief.
• BMW iX3 50 xDrive: The in-house option that already posts a higher EPA number at a lower price.

Lucid still owns the far end of the range chart. The Gravity Grand Touring is EPA-rated at 450 miles, which tops BMW’s iX4 estimate, and it is a bigger three-row SUV. That trim lives well above this price fight. The Touring, the Gravity most shoppers can actually compare with a $66,200 BMW, does not.

The Model Y remains the volume yardstick, not the cabin rival. Tesla’s Long Range AWD listing on the EPA page carries a $48,990 MSRP. Shoppers who want the BMW badge, the Debrecen build, and the Neue Klasse screens are not cross-shopping on that number alone, but they will notice that 327 certified miles now looks short beside a 428-mile claim.

Thirty Liters Less in the Trunk

The iX4 uses the same length, width, and wheelbase as the iX3. The roof is the difference. European spec sheets put cargo at 490 liters with the rear seats up, 30 liters under the iX3’s 520, and 1,600 liters with the seats folded, 150 liters under the iX3’s 1,750. Both cars keep a 58-liter front trunk. Rear seatbacks split 40:20:40.

BMW says the long wheelbase still leaves ample rear legroom and that the coupe line keeps “generous” headroom. The tape measure is less poetic. You buy a lower, sleeker tail and you give back luggage space and some rear-seat air. Coupe-SUV buyers have made that trade for a decade. They have not usually been asked to make it on top of a $4,700 premium and a shorter range claim versus the square-roof twin.

The Neue Klasse face will do some of the selling on its own, and some of the unselling. The kidney and lamp graphic already split opinion the way BMW grilles have for years. A sloping roof only pays off if that face is the reason someone walked into the showroom. If they came for miles and cargo, the iX3 is the cleaner sheet.

The Gasoline X4 Left the Line in November

There is no combustion X4 beside this car. BMW spokesperson Florian Moser said the last gasoline X4 was assembled in November 2025. US sales of that model fell more than 40 percent in 2025 as production wound down and leftover stock cleared. The old X4 was a Spartanburg, South Carolina, product. The iX4 shares Debrecen with the iX3.

That shift matters for the people who actually have to sell the car. Dealers who lived on X3 volume and treated the X4 as a styling extra now get an electric coupe that is priced and ranged like a flagship compact, not a niche halo. The iX3, already on US price lists since May, is the easy yes. The iX4 has to be the one a buyer wants to look at.

FROM THE LAST GAS X4 TO THE IX4

1. November 2025: BMW assembles the final gasoline X4.
2. May 7, 2026: BMW prices the iX3 50 xDrive at $61,500 plus $1,350 destination and posts up to 434 miles of EPA range.
3. September 25, 2026: US iX3 deliveries are scheduled to begin.
4. October 7, 2026: BMW unveils the iX4 50 xDrive at $66,200 before destination, with a 428-mile estimate.
5. March 2027: US iX4 50 xDrive sales begin, and M60 production starts.

The X4 never had to beat an electric twin that shared its floor, its motors, and its screens. The iX4 does, on day one.

How Fast the iX4 Charges on an 800-Volt Plug

BMW rates DC charging at 400 kW. On an 800-volt station, the 50 xDrive can add up to 184 miles in 10 minutes, and a 10 to 80 percent charge is quoted at 21 minutes. AC charging is 15.4 kW as standard. The iX3’s comparable 10-minute add is 185 miles, so the coupe does not win the plug either.

The pack uses new cylindrical lithium-ion cells, 46 millimeters across and 95 millimeters tall, which BMW says raise volumetric energy density 20 percent versus the last generation’s prismatic cells. The Heart of Joy computer, BMW’s name for the Neue Klasse driving-dynamics controller, is described as working up to 10 times faster than the systems it replaces. Charging-optimized routing in BMW Maps can plan stops when a trip outruns the remaining range, and an intelligent flap plus Plug & Charge are part of the road-trip kit.

Home charging runs through the Multifunction Charger on 120-volt or 240-volt outlets, or through the Wallbox Plus, which BMW rates at up to 64 amps, or 15.4 kW, and which supports the NACS connector. None of that hardware is unique to the coupe. It is Neue Klasse kit, and the iX3 already carries the same voltage class and the same peak DC number.

M60 Production Begins in March 2027

The iX4 M60 xDrive is the range-topper, not the launch car. BMW quotes 603 hp and 645 lb-ft, an estimated 3.7-second 0-60 mph run, and a 149 mph top speed. Production starts in March 2027, with the market launch coming in stages after the 50 xDrive. BMW has not posted a US price for it.

Standard M60 kit includes 21-inch wheels, red M Sport brake calipers, the Iconic Glow lighting package, and a model-specific M steering wheel with a 12 o’clock marker, shift paddles, and buttons for Boost and M Mode. Optional M Yellow Lights sit beside the kidney, a cue BMW ties to its GT cars and the M Hybrid V8. In Europe, BMW quotes up to 777 kilometers of WLTP range for this variant, about 483 miles, and it has not issued a US range estimate.

So the 50 xDrive is the car that has to earn the coupe’s keep. It is the one priced at $66,200 before destination, the one BMW says will reach US roads in March 2027, and the one that asks a buyer to skip a cheaper, longer-range iX3 for a lower roof and a face that will not please everyone. Mercedes and Lucid now have to explain a shorter EPA sticker at a higher or similar price. BMW has to explain its own twin.