Outside of the various spy shots of the BMW M4 (they were confirmed to be legitimate by BMW, by the way) the 2021 BMW M4 has been a well-kept secret. We knew it would have the big grille, especially after the 4 Series made its debut earlier this week, but we were expecting the M4 to be a little more aggressive than the M440i. Sadly, that’s not the case and, to be honest, the M4 is apparently aiming to show that BMW’s new look can get even uglier. These really are interesting times that we’re living in.

2021 BMW M4 Leaked – What’s Up With That Weird Design?

A user over on Bimmer Post forums has shared an image that is largely believed to be a pre-production prototype of the 2021 BMW M4. The leak itself isn’t surprising now that the 4 Series lineup, up to the M440i, was recently revealed.

First and foremost, take a good look at the grille. While the M440i and the models below it have a mesh of sorts, this pre-production prototype has gloss black, vertical slats. The corner air intakes have been moved inward, only separated by a small bit of front fascia, and new vertical inlets can be found in the corners. One could speculate that these new inlets are intentionally designed to force air over the front brakes for cooling purposes, but we know BMW is also a big offender when it comes to fake, blocked off vents. It’s not as bad as, say, Honda with the Civic’s front vents, but take a close look at the M440i, and you’ll see that most of the bucktooth grille is actually closed off.

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The M440i is more aggressive up front, and the large kidney grilles almost look good – mostly thanks to the size of the big corner intakes. As a package, the new design language almost works on the M440i. On the M4, however, it just looks out of place. Sorry to say it, but in my opinion, BMW has managed to make the new kidney design even uglier with the M4.

On that note, there is a new gloss black front spoiler lip that would look amazing on the M440i, and the M4 will also have a redesigned hood with two indentations in the middle to give it a slightly more muscular look. As for now, word has it that the M3 and M4 will make their debut in September of 2020 before going on sale closer to the end of the year as 2021 models.

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