BMW i4 review

If you’re eyeing up an electric car but don’t fancy broadcasting it to the world, the BMW i4 could be for you. While BMW’s first proper stab at an all-electric model – the quirky i3 – was all about looking like it came from a sci-fi flick, the i4 is more understated.

It's essentially an electric version of the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé – and that’s no bad thing. The 4 Series and its close sibling, the BMW 3 Series, are pretty much the benchmarks for their respective classes, so the i4 has a solid foundation.

BMW’s offering comes in three flavours. At the more modest end, you’ve got the i4 eDrive35, with a 67kWh battery and a rear motor. That version goes up against the Tesla Model 3 RWD and Polestar 2 Standard Range.

Then there’s the i4 eDrive40, which adds a heftier 80.7kWh battery, a more potent rear motor, and squares up with the Model 3 Long Range and the Polestar 2 LR. At the top of the tree? The M50 – with two motors, four-wheel drive, and ready to take on the Model 3 Performance and Polestar 2 LR Dual Motor.

That’s not the whole story though. The BMW i4 isn’t just fending off the usual suspects – it also face new challenges in among executive electric cars, including the BYD Seal and the Hyundai Ioniq 6. Read on to see how we rate it...

The BMW i4 eDrive35 is the least powerful version, but don’t let that fool you – with 282bhp it still feels properly punchy. We stuck a stopwatch on it at our test track, and it clocked 0-60mph in a solid six seconds – half a second quicker than the Tesla Model 3 RWD we also had on hand. Not bad for the baby of the range.

Step up to the 335bhp eDrive40, and you're only shaving off a sliver of time, with 0-62mph officially taking 5.7 seconds. But here’s the kicker: in an executive electric car like this, range matters more than drag racing.

That’s where the i4 eDrive35 stumbles. Its 67kWh battery (compared to the 80.7kWh in the eDrive40) is good for a claimed 288 miles, versus the 40’s 367 miles. To make matters worse, we managed just 201 miles on our official test route.

So unless you’re rarely leaving the city limits, skip the 35 and go straight for the i4 eDrive40. You won’t be disappointed, because despite being heavier than the entry-level car it is still one of the best-handling executive cars currently on sale. The steering is precise, direct and well-weighted (something you can’t say about the BYD Seal) and body control is excellent. 

There’s also no need to step up to the all singing, all dancing i4 M50. Sure, it’s blisteringly fast – we clocked it at 3.8 seconds from 0-60mph – but it lacks the eDrive40’s fun, unflustered handling. Plus, the M50’s all-wheel drive and extra power mean lower efficiency, with an official range of 318 miles.

In terms of refinement, all i4s have the edge over the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3. At a cruise, road and wind noise are practically non-existent – something you can’t say about the Model 3 with its pillarless doors – and at lower speeds, motor whine is minimal. The M50 is a touch softer, but both versions ride superbly well as long as you’ve opted for the adaptive suspension. 

Special mention goes to the brakes. They’re far less grabby than most electric cars, making smooth stops a doddle. The i4’s regenerative braking system is well-judged, reclaiming energy without feeling intrusive. In Adaptive mode, it even uses the car’s sensors and sat-nav to adjust the regen effect automatically – coasting when the road is clear but slowing you down when a corner or speed limit is coming up.

If you prefer more control, B mode is so strong you can drive one-pedal style almost all the time. We were happy to let Adaptive do its thing though. And as for noise, well, there isn’t any – at least not engine noise. In Sport mode you’ll get a spooky electronic hum courtesy of Hans Zimmer. When you put your foot down it ramps up, like a soundtrack to your own personal sci-fi chase scene.

The BMW i4 looks like a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé and shares a lot of similarities on the inside too. The driving position, for example, is near enough identical and places you much closer to the road than you sit in a BYD Seal, Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3.

The driver's seat is comfortable and highly adjustable, and provides significantly better side support than the church pew you get in the Model 3. That's particularly important considering the performance on tap. 

The i4 also benefits from the impressive build quality that's baked into the 4 Series. Every surface you touch feels upmarket and it all seems beautifully screwed together. Only a couple of patches of hard scratchy plastic – around the starter button, for instance – thwart it from feeling quite as plush as more expensive electric cars including the Audi e-tron GT and the Porsche Taycan. 

The i4 has a newer infotainment system to the 4 Series, with BMW’s latest and greatest iDrive system, which is based around a new operating system and a big curved display. The display is made up of a 14.9in touchscreen and a 12.3in driver display (a little like the combination you'll find in the Mercedes EQC). 

It's striking to look at and the graphics are pin-sharp, the central screen is lightning quick to respond to inputs and the menus are logically laid out.

We also love the way BMW gives you the option of operating the central display using a rotary controller between the front seats because it's much less distracting on the move than the touchscreen-only interface in the Tesla Model 3. There's also a "natural speech" voice-control function, which works well most of the time.

The i4's interior isn't perfect though. There are no physical temperature control buttons, so unless you use the voice-control function (and we recommend that you do) you have to take your eyes off the road and delve into the touchscreen to adjust the climate control. The layout of the system is not particularly intuitive and the icons on the main menu are a touch too small, making them hard to hit on the move.

Up front, the BMW i4 shares similar dimensions to the BMW 4 Series so you’re unlikely to have any trouble with head or leg room. Storage space is plentiful too, with a generous-sized glove box, a cubby under the central armrest and door bins that are partitioned so loose items don't rolling around. 

In the rear, the dramatically curved roofline means you have less rear head room than in the BMW 3 Series saloon and the rear seat is a little higher than in the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé to accommodate the battery and electric motor underneath. As a result, passengers over six feet tall will have their heads touching the ceiling.

In addition, a large central hump in the floor makes life uncomfortable for a middle rear passenger. The BYD Seal and Tesla Model 3 are both better in the back, as are many other large electric cars – although not the Polestar 2.

The i4 features a hatchback boot opening and the seat backs split and fold down in a 40/20/40 configuration. The Polestar 2 has a hatchback opening but its back seats split 60/40, while the Model 3 has a saloon set-up and 60/40 split seats. In other words, the i4 should be the easiest of the three to load up. 

The i4’s boot capacity is higher than both the BYD Seal and Model 3, and there’s a handy underfloor compartment to stow your charging cables, keeping them clear of your luggage.

However, we managed to fit only seven carry-on suitcases under the i4’s tonneau cover – the same as the Seal, but one less than the Model 3. The Seal and Model 3 have a front boot, giving them room for an extra suitcase – something the i4 lacks.

The entry-level BMW i4 eDrive35 has a much higher list price than all of its closest rivals, including the BYD Seal, the Hyundai Ioniq 6, the Polestar 2 and the Tesla Model 3. However, thanks to reasonably solid (by electric car standards) resale values, PCP rates are fairly competitive throughout the range.

As with all electric cars, the i4 makes a huge amount of sense for company car drivers because of the enormous BIK tax savings on offer. Private buyers who can charge at home will spend a lot less on electricity to fuel an i4 than they might on petrol or diesel for a conventional car. 

The i4 can charge at up to 200kW (faster than a Polestar 2’s maximum charging rate of 150kW and just fractionally behind a Model 3 Performance’s 250kW), allowing you to charge the battery from 10-80% in just over half an hour.

There are not many public CCS charging points in the UK capable of delivering that much power at the moment. That’s why anyone planning to do very long journeys on a regular basis would do well to consider the Model 3, which gives you access to the Tesla Supercharger network for a greater choice of reliable fast chargers. 

If you go for the i4 eDrive35 or 40, there are two trim levels to choose from: Sport and M Sport.

Sport gets you 17in alloy wheels (18in wheels are a no-cost option), gloss-black exterior highlights, a sports leather steering wheel, sports seats, automatic air conditioning, a reversing camera and the curved infotainment display.

M Sport introduces aggressive-looking wheels, an M Sport steering wheel, Alcantara highlights, an M Sport spoiler and grey exterior highlights.  

The M50 gets 19in wheels, adaptive M suspension, M sport brakes, a "gurney flap" rear spoiler, a head-up display and lots of driving assistant functions. You can add to this with a number of packages – we'd recommend the reasonably priced Comfort Pack to get a heated steering wheel, comfort access and front-seat lumbar support. 

The i4 only achieved a four-star safety rating from Euro NCAP – it performed relatively well in the adult child occupant protection tests but underperformed in the safety assist section. For example, the automatic emergency braking system (AEB) failed to detect a pedestrian crossing a road into which the car was turning). The rival Mercedes EQE performed far better in this regard. 

BMW as a brand came eighth out of 31 car makers in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, beating Mercedes and Audi (in 22nd and 24th respectively).

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