Here’s the side profile of the 526bhp BMW i4

BMW, it appears, is wrong. It describes its upcoming i4 four-door coupe as “a perfect BMW”. Which, as anyone with sentience and eyes will attest, is incorrect. The E46 M3 CSL is a perfect BMW.

However, we must grudgingly concede that times have moved on. So far in fact, that this is a fully-electric, 3 Series-sized four-door coupe, packing an entirely acceptable 526bhp from a battery and motor setup that promises “a whole new take on dynamic excellence”.

Big words. Big battery, too. It’s an 80kWh job that weighs some 550kg, able to charge up to 80 per cent of its capacity in around 35 minutes on a 150kW charger.

Still, 526bhp is basically the same as one of BMW’s V8 units, and that’s fine by us. This fifth-gen battery tech will appear first in the iX3, then the iNext and then the i4, in 2021.

So ‘perfect’ is still a little way off, though not that far: we’ll see it in full when it is revealed onto the internet (and at Geneva) next week. Teasing the side profile is fine, but does that mean a Big Grille Surprise awaits?