Today, at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, an all-new concept car from BMW is making its worldwide debut. The all-new BMW Concept 4 is the car that will act as a precursor for the upcoming BMW 4 Series Coupe and it’s now been revealed ahead of its debut in Frankfurt.

For the past few months, there’s been a lot of talk about the next-gen 4 Series making a bit of a switch from sports car to small GT car. Its styling has been one of the main causes of that talk, as it looks more like a baby-8 Series rather than a two-door 3 Series. This BMW Concept 4 will only further that talk, to be honest.

“The BMW Concept 4 embodies the aesthetic essence of the BMW brand. It combines perfect proportions with a clear and precise design,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design.

It’s quite clear that the design of the BMW Concept 4 was heavily inspired by the 8 Series and maybe its own concept. The subtle ducktail spoiler, the muscular rear haunches and overall profile are all quite similar to the 8er. It’s shorter and stubbier, though, with ultra-short overhangs. So it looks a bit sportier and more aggressive than the 8 Series, which is a bit prettier and more elegant.

One of the main points of interest in this concept is its Kidney Grille design. It’s likely going to cause a bit of a stir among BMW fans.

“The BMW Concept 4 presents a confident and classy take on this iconic feature. At the same time, the BMW Concept 4 offers a look ahead to the expressive face of the 4 Series range.”

According to BMW’s press release, these new monster vertically-opposed grilles harken back to cars like the original BMW 328. While that’s a bit of a stretch, we sort of get it. We’re wondering how much of this grille design makes it to the production car because it’s the sort of grille that was getting rendered on BMWs, much to the dismay of fans.

Out back, the taillights each house a single fiber-optic element that creates the now-class L-shaped design, featuring a “heartbeat” graphic. It also gets some vertical vents and a large rear diffuser, which both add some sportiness to the back end of the car.

The wheels are 21-inches and act as a unique take on a traditional five-spoke design. The front of the wheel features heavily polished five “open” spokes, while another sort of five-spoke design sits further back with a textured effect. So it’s an interesting design that sort of incorporates two different interpretations of five-spoke wheels. So are they ten-spoke wheels? I don’t really know. They look cool, though.

Nothing has been said about the specs of this BMW Concept 4. However, considering that this is the precursor to the 4 Series Coupe, we don’t really need any. We know what sort of specs that car will have and we’ve talked about it quite a bit already. This new Concept 4 is designed to give us an idea of what the new 4er will look like.

If it ends up being as similar to the BMW Concept 4 as the 8 Series was to its own concept, the next-gen 4 Series is going to be quite the looker.