BMW i4

Fitz II

I find most people massively overestimate the range they need, but at the same time the extra performance is also unnecessary and becomes boring very quickly for all the extra money.. Maybe try the base model and try cut the spec down to the bone. Lead in time on these will be massive, with the chip shortage and BMW's habit of launching cars a year before any customers get their hands on them.

Love the exterior colour, but the interior is a bit oppressively black, a lighter colour on the interior is usually good on a blue exterior

UhOh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098967#Comment_118098967

Just on the power available in drive modes. The 544PS isn’t on tap the whole time. In eco, comfort & sport it’s 469PS, still a lot I know. The full 544 is only available in the Sport Boost mode. An AWD drive version that doesn’t have that much power available would have been a nice option.

UK & Ireland dealerships still seem to be quoting March/April for delivery, however I know some parts of Europe are out to end of 2022 already.

rodge123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099153#Comment_118099153

Yeah my thinking with the range is we do a good few weekend trips to limerick, so a 400km round trip. In-laws don’t have a charger or outside socket, would be nice to be able to the round trip without having to pop into charging station.

Wont be making any decision this year I’d say anyway, will decide in new year. It’s to replace a 21 year old Ford Focus!

May well pick up a 2019 e class coupe instead next year depending on prices. May wait to get first electric car in another 7+ years when more options and longer ranges available with solid state batteries, trade in the current 2019 A6 then when it’s got plenty of mileage on it not that I’d get much trade in value.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099587#Comment_118099587

I'd use an extension cable through the window / front door to use a granny charger while you're there.

sk8board

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098967#Comment_118098967

Was just using the configurator for the 40 and couldn’t figure out why my final price is so high - one was extras, if you tick the €0 cost option for the 19” alloys, it’s actually adding €3k of stuff, - but mostly, the interest rate on the 40 is 8.9% :D :D

little wonder my Mrs is on our 3rd 0% pcp Golf.

i remember visiting the finance person’s office at Joe Duffy BMW when I bought mine and it was the same interest rate, maybe even 9.x - absolutely bonkers. I think they said it was about 60:40 split in favour of people using their finance. Must be just me. it’s also a lot of cash to fork out of course, while markets have been over performing.

UhOh

I’m seeing that the first customer i4s are starting to be delivered in parts of Europe. Anyone here get a build date yet?

v10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118238352#Comment_118238352

Last I was told was it'd be March (for a M50 anyway), dealer said they were expecting "showroom" idrive40s in December though. Where are you seeing deliveries ?

UhOh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118239047#Comment_118239047

Posted on another forum. Customer collections at BMW Welt in Munich, and deliveries to Sweden.

I’m still scheduled for March aswell, speaking with the dealership this morning if you were walk in and order an i4 M50 today you’d be looking at 2023 for delivery!

v10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118239274#Comment_118239274

Yeah delivery times for most cars are terrible at the moment, glad I have my order in! Good to see they’re making deliveries anyway, we might get to see some more thorough reviews. And hopefully the March dates don’t get pushed back 😬

sk8board

The i4 m50 won the saloon of the year category from Top Gear yesterday (irrespective of it being an ev).

pdpmur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118249243#Comment_118249243

Also despite it being a hatchback

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118252428#Comment_118252428

And despite no or very few customer cars are delivered...seems premature. However any award that includes the category "Paddy McGuinness car of the year" should be taken with a grain of salt.

UhOh

Looks like some European countries are getting customer cars before the rest of us - Belgium, Norway, Sweden. According to the Norwegian press release full worldwide launch is February, with full scale production from the middle of that month. I grabbed these pics of a customer car in Belgium, this is the Dravit Grey colour.

v10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118269178#Comment_118269178

Nice, you’d swear that was two different colours !

UhOh

Demo car from a dealership in Belfast. It looks good in the metallic Portimao Blue

v10

Looks nice, do any Dealers down south have them yet ?

AidenL

Yeah that does look great.

carsfan2

The 20” wheels really make it.

pity they compromise the range so severely.

carsfan2

BMW i4 eDrive40 M Sport 2021 UK review | Autocar

first review of the 40 model.

pdpmur

Surely BMW is missing a trick with the 40 model by pricing it at €3.5k above the cut-off for grants here in Ireland? If BMW took a leaf out of the Tesla playbook and limited the range by software with a corresponding price reduction by €3.5k then the OTR price would then reduce to €55k after grants. The car would then come into the radar of a lot more people. Its surely highly likely that people would subsequently fork out to upgrade the range at some time post-purchase and so BMW would sell more cars for no nett loss.

Maybe BMW knows that it could sell more than it can make and so isn't bothered about getting the interest of the hoi-polloi.

unkel

+1

It seems only Tesla is able to increase production significantly quarter on quarter. A friend of mine was ordering a €63k Mercedes C-class today, expecting delivery to take 4-6 months. When they told him it would be 2023, he didn't go ahead.

UhOh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327623#Comment_118327623

You hit the nail on the head with the last point, they’re selling more than they can make. Sold out for 2022, in Ireland at least.

UhOh

Another UK demo car from Twitter in Sapphire Black. This is the exact exterior options I’ve gone with

pdpmur

Nice! The gloss black paint definitely is a good colour for the car. It helps to quieten the busy front end and makes the plastic kidney fascia a bit more visually subtle. Debadge it and it becomes pretty stealth. Hopefully your wait won't be too long because the the itch must be getting more scratchy every day.

carsfan2

Here are the first deliveries in Norway with all the colours.

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1883602

UhOh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118332798#Comment_118332798

First time I’ve seen the i4 in sunset orange, looks good.

carsfan2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m5Nxez-KD8

another UK review. There must be a few cars out there now?

unkel

Nice review. WTF about that transmission tunnel though. This is not really an EV built from the ground up. Fine for a family of 4, but you can rule this car out if you are a family of 5 with 3 teenage kids...

I'm a BMW man first and foremost and I really, really want to like this car so much that I could strive to buy it. But for me on the above alone it fails. So I still do not have an appropriate successor to my current car, a Tesla Model S Performance.

UhOh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118340947#Comment_118340947

i5 & i7 coming in 2023, it’ll be interesting to see if they do get a dedicated EV platform or share it with the ICE series models like the i4. For me the i4 meets my needs, it doesn’t bother me that it’s identical to the petrol and diesel 4 series GC.

MightyMunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118340947#Comment_118340947

Small even for a family of 4, smaller than a Model 3 in the back let alone a model S.

He can barely fit his calves in let alone his knees