With the 2015 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in full swing, quite a hefty amount of car manufacturers decided that it would be a good idea to offer some eye candy to all the techno geeks at the event, and BMW's->ke178 lineup at the show will be spearheaded by the so-called "M4 Concept Iconic Lights." Based on a "regular" 2015 M4, BMW's concept car for CES is quite literally a shining example of what the Bavarian carmaker can do in terms of automotive lighting technology.

The car comes equipped with the latest version of BMW's Laserlight technology, which now is combined with the Selective Beam function that ,in theory, is just a fancy way of saying that oncoming drivers will not get blinded by your lasers anymore. Apart from also looking a little swankier, Laserlight can now work together with the sat-nav system in order to illuminate upcoming corners while the so-called Dynamic Light Spot feature can provide the driver with an early warning of people or animals passing in front of the vehicle at night.

The headlights of the M4 Concept Iconic Lights aren't the only new feature on the CES-revealed car, as the rear light clusters also feature some eye-candy in the form of OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) for both the taillights and the turn signals. As some of you know, BMW and Audi->ke14 have been engaged in a rather silly war regarding both laser headlights and now also OLED taillights, so it would be interesting to see how this creamy-white M4 Concept will be received by all the Audi fans present at the show.

Click past the jump to read more about the BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights.

2015 BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2015 BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights
  • Engine/Motor: inline-6
  • Horsepower: 425
  • Torque: 406
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

BMW's Angel Eyes, which are probably recognizable from line of a thousand cars, received a new interpretation on the M4 Concept Iconic Lights and the result isn't half bad looking. The classic corona rings around the dual headlights now have a blueish hue and look much more Tron-like, making for an even more very evil appearance for this M4. Now it's not exactly the type of car you would like to meet in a dark alley with its headlights on, not to mention in your rear-view mirror on a deserted highway during the night.

Also thanks to an exterior engulfed in a rather sexy-looking shade of white that BMW calls Cool White metallic, the overall appearance of the M4 Concept Iconic Lights is actually very different than that of the rgular model, despite only the headlight, taillights and color having been changed. Speaking of which, the complexity of the OLED taillights is simply beautiful, with the individual light modules creating a stunning 3D effect that can be configured to show different shapes. If any BMW M4 can be called truly pretty and terrifying at the same time it's probably this concept car.

Interior

Since the M4 Concept Iconic Lights is all about its new Laserlights variant and OLED taillights, BMW didn't see fit to showcase the model's interior as well, and that is simply because it should most likely look entirely identical to that of your average, run of the mill, M4. Not that it is a bad thing, but some extra snazzy LED lighting for the center console and some hard to reach interior places would have probably made for an even more appropriate usage of the concept car's name.

Drivetrain

As expected, the CES M4 prototype has no extra performance features compared with the regular model. It is equipped with the same three-liter inline-six with two turbochargers and direct injection, which sends a hefty 425 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels. Although BMW didn't mention this details, the Concept Iconic Lights is probably equipped with the double-clutch transmission and not the manual, in order to further emphasize the model's high tech characteristics.

The real talk of the town in terms of technology is represented by the Laserlight headlights though, which are not only cool looking, but much safer for the driver and other traffic as well. Gathering data from the sat-nav system, they can illuminate corners even before turning the wheel, and they can also detect people and animals with a Night Vision system. By far the coolest feature is probably the "narrow clearance" lighting, which acts in a similar fashion with a cat's whiskers and checks if the vehicle can fit through an upcoming passage or not. Last, but certainly not least, the Laserlight system can act as a projector and "create" specific driver information directly onto the road ahead of the car. As far as the OLED taillight clusters are concerned, their main feature is obviously the awesome 3D effect, but they also can be said to slightly improve the car's fuel consumption by using less energy to operate.

Prices

As with just about any other concept car out there, the M4 Concept Iconic Lights is not for sale and will never be, so it actual cost is that of the regular base M4, on top of which you might want to add the millions that BMW spent on R&D to create those awesome lights. So, yeah, this is a very expensive car, but nobody knows how much.

Competition

BMW Vision Future Luxury

Believe it or not, even though it looks almost nothing alike, the BMW Vision Future Luxury is actually the closest competitor for the M4 Concept Iconic Lights presented at CES 2015. Just like the M4, the Vision Future Luxury is equipped with a set of evil-looking Laserlight headlights, while the taillights were the first to offer the OLED technology on a BMW model.

Presented at the 2014 edition of the Beijing Auto Show, the rather large luxury sedan had the main mission of preparing the Chinese market for both the reveal of the upcoming 2016 7 Series and a yet-unconfirmed larger BMW sedan. Either way, apart from the sleek exterior appearance and understated interior design, the model's main novelties were also represented by its headlights and taillights, and the technology behind them.

Conclusion

While the war of the laser lights between BMW and Audi is rather dopey from a marketing perspective, as both carmakers now insinuate that they were the first to bring this technology to the masses, the fact that we now have lasers on cars is pretty mind-blowing. Which is why I actually couldn't believe that some of the features presented on the BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights weren't already in production on the i8 -- the only production BMW with Laserlights. Is BMW telling us that the i8 with Laserlights doesn't have an anti-dazzle feature yet? Either way, helpful technology or not, the M4 concept Iconic Lights is simply gorgeous if you ask me, and that is mostly thanks to its new lights.