It seems that the era of Russian doll styling that many automakers have found themselves in the middle of is coming to an end. The phenomenon seems to afflict German automakers most, since Mercedes, BMW, and Audi all seem to make their base cars, like the C-Class, 3 Series, and A4, look similar to their range-toppers, like the S-Class, 7 Series, and A8.

BMW has already told us that it's planning to put an end to that practice, and it wants to prove it by making almost every aspect of the 4 Series coupe look different than its sedan counterpart, the 3 Series. That's why, despite the new G20-generation 3 Series already showing us the direction BMW will take with its entry-level models, we've been interested seeing in how the 4 Series will turn out.

These photos, caught by our sneaky spy photographers, give us a better idea of that. Though we've already caught the new 4 Series Convertible, called the G22 in BMW speak, out testing in the cold, these images give us a chance to see the car with its roof down.

BMW is planning to ditch the heavy, expensive, and complex mechanical hardtop in favor of a soft top, and though the main advantages are to bring the weight and cost of the convertible down, these photos also show us how roomy the car will be thanks to what we expect will be extra space opened up by the fact this Bimmer will not have to stow a bulky hard-top.

The reduction in weight should also aid performance when it comes time for BMW to debut a plug-in hybrid model and M4 variant, both of which will suffer less from the weight of the added reinforcements that convertibles typically need.

It's a shame that we can't really peer inside and see the 4 Series Convertible's interior, however, since BMW's design chief Brunco Amatino previously told us that the 4 Series' cabin will be different than the 3 Series'. We'll just have to wait for a leak, for our spies to get better shots, or until the 4 Series gets revealed in 2020 to see just how different it will be.