BMW i4

MJohnston · 17-03-2021 8:42pm #1

Finally fully unveiled, and I’m into it. Weirdly enough I think that front number plate really negates the gaping mouth of the false radiator.

spuddy · 17-03-2021 8:59pm

Anyone else here underwhelmed? Looks are very mainstream, perhaps that was the idea, but with the "i" brand, thought they'd be more adventurous. That grill is still a mistake!

MJohnston · 17-03-2021 9:10pm

spuddy wrote: »

Anyone else here underwhelmed? Looks are very mainstream, perhaps that was the idea, but with the "i" brand, thought they'd be more adventurous. That grill is still a mistake!

I kind of think that’s the point. It’s there to mop up the 3 series market, and it might!

bambam · 18-03-2021 7:20pm

underwhelmed?, big time.
Nothing interesting about the exterior. not liking the chrome, the blue accents nor the grill. I'm hoping the interior is more appealing, assuming it's going to be similiar to the iX.

The_first_BMW_iX_Highlights_10.jpg?resize=2048,1365

The_first_BMW_iX_Highlights_10.jpg?resize=2048,1365

pdpmur · 18-03-2021 8:02pm

A while back, BMW stated that all of its EV offerings would be on shared platforms (i.e. shared with ICE powertrains).
So everything has to be viewed in that context. This is just the electric version of the 3-series.

the_amazing_raisin · 18-03-2021 8:53pm

They need to make the number plate bigger to hide that grill, it looks like a pair of butt cheeks, and not good ones at that

Kramer · 19-03-2021 9:08pm

cruisey1987 wrote: »

They need to make the number plate bigger to hide that grill, it looks like a pair of butt cheeks, and not good ones at that

Nope, not seeing butt cheeks there. I've tried staring at it now too, for quite some time. No, no butt cheeks.

Buck teeth - yep - just like this emoticon

.

I'm underwhelmed by it - it's just muh.
Disappointing.

MJohnston · 19-03-2021 9:48pm

I’m good with how it looks, but I’m most curious about how it will drive. An EV with real 3-series pedigree is very exciting, they’re just simply one of the best cars out there as ICE.

Kramer · 19-03-2021 10:06pm

MJohnston wrote: »

I’m good with how it looks

Apart from the buck tooth grille (& gaudy enough looking wheels), it's just a plain Jane, unassuming, uninspiring, unremarkable, unexciting & boring, new car.

That's not what I'd want from BMW for €70k plus (probably a BIG plus, at that :pac:).

MJohnston · 19-03-2021 11:10pm

Kramer wrote: »

Apart from the buck tooth grille (& gaudy enough looking wheels), it's just a plain Jane, unassuming, uninspiring, unremarkable, unexciting & boring, new car.

That's not what I'd want from BMW for €70k plus (probably a BIG plus, at that :pac:).

Beauty in EVs is sorely, sorely lacking, so I do think this is one of the better looking of a really bad bunch.

But I’m an i3 owner so I really could not care less about how a car looks. It’s all about how it drives for me.

slave1 · 19-03-2021 11:33pm

Looks like a Mazda from side view, also chunky front end, poorish drag?

ewj1978 · 22-03-2021 9:44am

Any pricing/range info available?

PaddyFagan · 23-03-2021 8:26pm

ewj1978 wrote: »

Any pricing/range info available?

They’re saying “up to 600 kilometres (WLTP)” https://www.bmw.ie/en/all-models/bmw-i/i4/2021/bmw-i4-preview.html

No Irish pricing yet, but I’d say the guesses above are close.

Paddy

unkel · 02-06-2021 7:09pm

So I see it's a hatchback.

Now that is good news. Also the wheel base is 2.86m, which is more than a typical large SUV like say a VW ID.4, so should be big enough. Anyone know yet about Irish pricing and availability?

carsfan2 · 02-06-2021 7:53pm

unkel wrote: »

So I see it's a hatchback.

Now that is good news. Also the wheel base is 2.86m, which is more than a typical large SUV like say a VW ID.4, so should be big enough. Anyone know yet about Irish pricing and availability?

https://www.completecar.ie/car-news/article/10975/BMW-i4-EV-priced-from-63565-in-Ireland

pdpmur · 02-06-2021 8:34pm

unkel wrote: »

So I see it's a hatchback.
Also the wheel base is 2.86m, which is more than a typical large SUV like say a VW ID.4, so should be big enough. Anyone know yet about Irish pricing and availability?

It uses the current 3/4 series body though - the cabin is pushed back because of the "engine" bay and so the usable cabin space is most likely a good bit smaller than the ID.4 (probably meaning less rear leg room). The sloping hatch also makes the boot space a bit smaller.

sk8board · 02-06-2021 9:04pm

carsfan2 wrote: »

https://www.completecar.ie/car-news/article/10975/BMW-i4-EV-priced-from-63565-in-Ireland

“ When it goes on sale in November 2021, the Irish range will start with the BMW i4 eDrive40 Sport priced from €63,565 on-the-road, while the M Sport version using the same powertrain will be €65,405. If you want the performance of the i4 M50 then you'll be handing over €78,315. To put this into perspective though, the M4 Competition currently starts at €129,456, making the i4 M50 seem like a bargain.”

pretty competitive prices considering it’ll be priced roughly the same as the Tesla model3 LR and performance, but probably competes more with the Model Y - and looks to be landing here in Ireland before the Tesla model Y too.

I like it.

MJohnston · 02-06-2021 10:47pm

I have a feeling this might be my new car when my 3 years on my i3 run out

bambam · 03-06-2021 8:34am

sk8board wrote: »

“ When it goes on sale in November 2021, the Irish range will start with the BMW i4 eDrive40 Sport priced from €63,565 on-the-road, while the M Sport version using the same powertrain will be €65,405. If you want the performance of the i4 M50 then you'll be handing over €78,315. To put this into perspective though, the M4 Competition currently starts at €129,456, making the i4 M50 seem like a bargain.”

pretty competitive prices considering it’ll be priced roughly the same as the Tesla model3 LR and performance, but probably competes more with the Model Y - and looks to be landing here in Ireland before the Tesla model Y too.

I like it.

So €78,315 for the M50. Decent range and <= 3.9 to 100kph

It'll be interesting to see what 'extras' that comes with.
It's priced like a 440i/440d. I wonder will it follow the same pricing approach around 'extras'

I had a 4 series and typical of German manufactures you had to pay extra for features like 'extended storage', a small storage compartment to the right of the steering wheel and storage on the back of the drive/passenger seats. I kid you not.

And then a lot of faff, in that you can only get a certain feature by buying an entire package which costs thousands and may have stuff you don't even want.

Performance-wise it would be competing with a Model 3 Long Range + acceleration boost (€61K). Though I'd wager the BMW having way more consistent build quality.

I curious to see how they would compare on the 'extras' front...

AMGer · 03-06-2021 9:32am

I’m tempted by the M50, that’s a lot of performance for under €80k

unkel · 03-06-2021 10:14am

AMGer wrote: »

I’m tempted by the M50, that’s a lot of performance for under €80k

A lot less performance though than the Tesla Model 3 P, for under €70k. If the performance was on a par (and the spec similar - does the BMW come with decent level 2 autonomous driving as standard?), then the BMW might be worth the €10k extra. Because it's a BMW. As is, I'm not so sure.

MJohnston · 03-06-2021 10:36am

I'm wondering what's under the bonnet in this thing — literally I mean — as I heard someone say there was no frunk at all, which would be crazy to me.

ELM327 · 03-06-2021 11:02am

MJohnston wrote: »

I'm wondering what's under the bonnet in this thing — literally I mean — as I heard someone say there was no frunk at all, which would be crazy to me.

You can't even open it going by the iX reviews

unkel wrote: »

A lot less performance though than the Tesla Model 3 P, for under €70k. If the performance was on a par (and the spec similar - does the BMW come with decent level 2 autonomous driving as standard?), then the BMW might be worth the €10k extra. Because it's a BMW. As is, I'm not so sure.

There's no comparison between this and a tesla model 3. This will be leagues ahead.

bambam · 03-06-2021 11:02am

MJohnston wrote: »

I'm wondering what's under the bonnet in this thing — literally I mean — as I heard someone say there was no frunk at all, which would be crazy to me.

Bjorn had a video recently, he said that with the iX, the owner of the vehicle cannot open the bonnet, it can only be opened by the service centre.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oejorlv84Z4

unkel · 03-06-2021 11:11am

ELM327 wrote: »

There's no comparison between this and a tesla model 3. This will be leagues ahead.

What do you mean with leagues ahead? I have no doubt that the Tesla Model 3 Peformance (which is €10k cheaper) has far better performance by any metric compared to the BMW i4 M50. Acceleration, time around a track, etc. That is the point I made responding to AMGer who said the BMW was a lot of performance for the money. It really is not, compared with the Tesla.

If you are talking about more subjective points like styling, driveability, build quality, desirability, etc. then I'm with you, I'd rather have the BMW myself

MJohnston · 03-06-2021 11:36am

bambam wrote: »

Bjorn had a video recently, he said that with the iX, the owner of the vehicle cannot open the bonnet, it can only be opened by the service centre.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oejorlv84Z4

That's a bit disappointing, not that I want a huge frunk or anything but it's nice to have somewhere separate from the boot to store the charging cable.

ELM327 · 03-06-2021 11:49am

unkel wrote: »

What do you mean with leagues ahead? I have no doubt that the Tesla Model 3 Peformance (which is €10k cheaper) has far better performance by any metric compared to the BMW i4 M50. Acceleration, time around a track, etc. That is the point I made responding to AMGer who said the BMW was a lot of performance for the money. It really is not, compared with the Tesla.

If you are talking about more subjective points like styling, driveability, build quality, desirability, etc. then I'm with you, I'd rather have the BMW myself

Have you seen the new model 3 performance though, in bjorns reviews, you can see that the performance is only really available at above 70% SOC. Below 60% the LR is actually quicker. The pre '21 model did not have this.

It's stuff like that that turns me off Tesla.

pdpmur · 03-06-2021 1:06pm

ELM327 wrote: »

It's stuff like that that turns me off Tesla.

Ah, you're just getting stuck in the weeds now!

What about all the really important youtube and instagram things, like
0-60 time..
The quarter mile...
Falling asleep in the back with the car on "full self driving"...

sk8board · 03-06-2021 8:17pm

unkel wrote: »

What do you mean with leagues ahead? I have no doubt that the Tesla Model 3 Peformance (which is €10k cheaper) has far better performance by any metric compared to the BMW i4 M50. Acceleration, time around a track, etc. That is the point I made responding to AMGer who said the BMW was a lot of performance for the money. It really is not, compared with the Tesla.

If you are talking about more subjective points like styling, driveability, build quality, desirability, etc. then I'm with you, I'd rather have the BMW myself

The performance, with an option or two, won’t be €10k cheaper from July, (I think?)

Bizarre that you’d make the case for the model 3 vs i4 sales here in Ireland by talking about dragtime and time around a track. They’re almost the least important thing for any normal driving, and on virtually every other metric the bmw will be better - (and they’ll take it back as a trade in after 3 years too!)
As stated above, in reality the Perf is actually very poor value when you consider the LR is faster much of the time - and at the speeds these EVs are doing, it’s almost impossible to discern the difference between 3.9s 0-100 and 4.3s , due to the quiet way they go about it - and you’ll look like a d|ck every time you do a big pull anyway

eddhorse · 03-06-2021 8:19pm

Wait until we get the stats to compare I guess correctly.
A bit expensive in my view but whatever gets rid of fossil fuels.
I welcome them all.

Casati · 03-06-2021 8:44pm

unkel wrote: »

A lot less performance though than the Tesla Model 3 P, for under €70k. If the performance was on a par (and the spec similar - does the BMW come with decent level 2 autonomous driving as standard?), then the BMW might be worth the €10k extra. Because it's a BMW. As is, I'm not so sure.

I think the rrp looks good, especially with Tesla’s going up by 5k post July. I would be concerned that BMW will murder you in extra’s, Adaptive cruise is an extra in the new M3 and M4’s abs I believe part of a 6k/7k pack but let’s see the specs.

Performance for me is the ability to handle well on challenging Irish roads, like between Mitchelstown and Mallow if any knows it. I can see the Beemer being the better steer here.

The lack of dealer network, poor quality and questionable styling especially interior will be enough to see Tesla stay as a niche choice while this i4 will pull sales from 3/4/5 series, A4/5/6 and others

BMW i4

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