[Mani59]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

A video from BMW on all you need to know about the i4.

[c00lbeans]

Originally Posted by Mani59

A video from BMW on all you need to know about the i4.

All I need to know is I can't afford them.

[M2Cmtl]

Originally Posted by c00lbeans

All I need to know is I can't afford them.

What sucks is that you need to step up to the M50 to get AWD. By design I know...

But yeah they are pricey as heck. From a $$ standpoint they still don't make much sense.

[Eddien123]

Way too expensive

[NightWriter]

Originally Posted by Eddien123

Way too expensive

Not sure I agree; consider that the M440i xDrive GC starts around $58k. The i4 M50 offers a similar platform/size but with better performance. Although it starts at $66k (about 8k higher), I believe it should be eligible for the $7500 federal tax credit (and potentially state tax breaks as well), which should make it price-neutral... and likely lower maintenance and running costs (electric vs gas).

[NoImDirtyDan]

Affordability is one of the main attractions of all electric vehicles imo. All these new electric car companies have 100k+ cars and think they can rival Tesla when the best selling models are sub 50k. Most who can afford these can afford to pay $5 a gallon in gas and whatever maintenance that comes along with traditional ICE vehicles. So unless the consumer wants a "fancy" electric car, I don't see* a huge market for these vehicles.

[G4BR13L]

Originally Posted by NoImDirtyDan

Affordability is one of the main attractions of all electric vehicles imo. All these new electric car companies have 100k+ cars and think they can rival Tesla when the best selling models are sub 50k. Most who can afford these can afford to pay $5 a gallon in gas and whatever maintenance that comes along with traditional ICE vehicles. So unless the consumer wants a "fancy" electric car, I don't need a huge market for these vehicles.

Don’t forget that there are more countries in the world than just the USA. In most parts of western Europe we pay a lot of taxes on cars with a high co2 and big engines. Just to get a license plate for my M4 cost me 3.500 euro. Because I am a company owner and the M4 is a company car I have to personally pay EVERY MONTH (!) about 650 euro of taxes because of the “advantage” I get from the company car. Enter EV’s and as a company owner located in Belgium an EV is basically free compared to the M4.

[Tallest]

Originally Posted by G4BR13L

Don’t forget that there are more countries in the world than just the USA. In most parts of western Europe we pay a lot of taxes on cars with a high co2 and big engines. Just to get a license plate for my M4 cost me 3.500 euro. Because I am a company owner and the M4 is a company car I have to personally pay EVERY MONTH (!) about 650 euro of taxes because of the “advantage” I get from the company car. Enter EV’s and as a company owner located in Belgium an EV is basically free compared to the M4.

Well, free is a very shaky term here. You are subsidised by likes of yourself paying a tax on ICE engines. Once the tide shifts, and more people live off the subsidies than there are subsidies to be had from ICE engine owners, the party will end and EVs will be taxes properly.

Like it is in Denmark already, where initially EVs were untaxed.

I dont know what it is in Belgium, but in Denmark, the car taxes contributed to couple of points of GDP, so a massive amount - if lost it would hurt. Government if faced with a choice will not settle for "cleaner air in exchange for less taxes". They will take cleaner air and more taxes. Always (until they are thrown out, but in EU people are happy to pay taxes for a while yet as they still want the pensions, but not sure about growing younger population, but thats another matter of course).

So enjoy this while it lasts, you probably can save quite a bit of money until this loop hole runs out, but it will close, guaranteed. Question of when, not if.

[MPSdriver]

All you need to know...
and nothing about how it drives

I test-drove an iX3 the other day and I was positively impressed, much more than I was of the 330e hybrid I got to try, so I'm genuinely curious how an i4 feels to drive.

[mbchris]

I am a current Chevy Bolt EV owner.

My thoughts:
1. May or may not spontaneously combust
2. This could be the first BMW you can purchase instead of lease. Think less mechanics to break down and low service costs. Brakes last 100k miles etc
3. Price is competitive to a similar Ford Mustang EV. And those are selling well.
4. Federal and local tax credits and rebates.
5. Deposit is refundable.
6. My cost for electricity is 1.25 cents per mile for home charging. 37.5 cents for 30 miles. For my Bolt. i4 may be 1.5 cents per mile?
7. Insurance for EVs is more expensive.

My assessment- the best overall EV that balance heart and head. Plus it's a BMW. If you don't want an EV, no EV Bolt, Taycan, i4, Rimac etc will ever be for you.

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by NoImDirtyDan

Affordability is one of the main attractions of all electric vehicles imo. All these new electric car companies have 100k+ cars and think they can rival Tesla when the best selling models are sub 50k. Most who can afford these can afford to pay $5 a gallon in gas and whatever maintenance that comes along with traditional ICE vehicles. So unless the consumer wants a "fancy" electric car, I don't need a huge market for these vehicles.

Just because you can pay $5 doesnt mean you want to.

Many customers do want fancy electric, Taycan's are flying off the shelf. Most of the S class, 5 and 7 Series crowd are looking electric (myself being one). They were never going to be volume.

As for Tesla Model 3 being a sub $50k car, good luck with that. There are almost zero of the $35k base Model 3's out there.

Used ones are going for over $50k.

I am not saying the i4 is a great car but it's not way overpriced considering it's bigger than the Model 3 and the interior isn't made from low-rent materials.

[Cortexiphan]

Originally Posted by Eddien123

Way too expensive

It's cheap for what it is.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by mbchris

2. This could be the first BMW you can purchase instead of lease. Think less mechanics to break down and low service costs. Brakes last 100k miles etc

My assessment- the best overall EV that balance heart and head. Plus it's a BMW. If you don't want an EV, no EV Bolt, Taycan, i4, Rimac etc will ever be for you.

I suggest going one more round of leasing until the current batteries are replaced by solid state batteries, expected mid-decade for several OEMs.

[KaptainKloss]

Battery range on the m50 is trash. If their goal was to have this compete with a model S or high performance model 3 they have already failed. Otherwise, the car had potential.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by KaptainKloss

Battery range on the m50 is trash. If their goal was to have this compete with a model S or high performance model 3 they have already failed. Otherwise, the car had potential.

If you're comparing range, almost anything that's not Tesla is a fail. As a car overall, the pricing isn't terrible if your driving or commute doesn't require you to have Tesla range. If you're someone ok with the range whether it's an base i4 or M50i, the pricing is typical BMW - this isn't meant to convert all 3er/4er customers.

[KaptainKloss]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

If you're comparing range, almost anything that's not Tesla is a fail. As a car overall, the pricing isn't terrible if your driving or commute doesn't require you to have Tesla range. If you're someone ok with the range whether it's an base i4 or M50i, the pricing is typical BMW - this isn't meant to convert all 3er/4er customers.

Yea but I don't know what matters anymore besides range. If I'm paying upwards of 50K for an electric car I want to have the maximum range possible so it can at least handle a road trip.

It doesn't matter if it's a BMW, how "cool" the car looks, or how much potential it has. Failing to deliver on potential is going to run some OEM's into bankruptcy during the next 10 years. They have to push forward with range and getting some kind of self driving out the door if they want to survive.

[cfm56d7b]

10 points to the video production company that created these videos.

No points just yet to BMW's i4. Will wait for at least 6 months worth of reports from early adopters.

[Prazision]

Fundamentally, they are building a jack of all trades master of none. Until they go full BEV chassis, this thing will always lose to Tesla, and Lucid, and insert any new car company that isn't half assing a chassis.

[Game]

Well I think that iDrive8 curved screen is awesome. That Apple map was HUGE.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Prazision

Fundamentally, they are building a jack of all trades master of none. Until they go full BEV chassis, this thing will always lose to Tesla, and Lucid, and insert any new car company that isn't half assing a chassis.

This may not be your brand. For the foreseeable future, including the next generation platform to replace CLAR later in this decade, BMW's strategy is to develop a more versatile platform that can allow for a variety of powertrains. It may not be until the 2030s or later before they converge to electric only, if the market eventually supports that direction. It's not "half-assing"...it's a deliberate strategy as they watch less than 10% of the market indicate an EV as their first choice preference using 2020my data. What matters to the market is not the platform architecture, but the deliverable attributes. If BMW cannot compete on range, performance, and the vehicle interior package space, they may feel the consequences of their strategy. My best guess is that they will more than meet the general market's expectations, even if they disappoint some forum members.

[B530e]

Originally Posted by NightWriter

Not sure I agree; consider that the M440i xDrive GC starts around $58k. The i4 M50 offers a similar platform/size but with better performance. Although it starts at $66k (about 8k higher), I believe it should be eligible for the $7500 federal tax credit (and potentially state tax breaks as well), which should make it price-neutral... and likely lower maintenance and running costs (electric vs gas).

100% agree. When I purchased my 530e, I qualified for the full 10k plus 5k in dealer incentives on a 62,010 sticker. My lease worked out to 398 plus tax. MSRP isn't the only factor. Thanks for your observation

[KaptainKloss]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

This may not be your brand. For the foreseeable future, including the next generation platform to replace CLAR later in this decade, BMW's strategy is to develop a more versatile platform that can allow for a variety of powertrains. It may not be until the 2030s or later before they converge to electric only, if the market eventually supports that direction. It's not "half-assing"...it's a deliberate strategy as they watch less than 10% of the market indicate an EV as their first choice preference using 2020my data. What matters to the market is not the platform architecture, but the deliverable attributes. If BMW cannot compete on range, performance, and the vehicle interior package space, they may feel the consequences of their strategy. My best guess is that they will more than meet the general market's expectations, even if they disappoint some forum members.

It has nothing to do with brand, it's about building a competitive product. Let's be honest, do you feel comfortable buying this car knowing that a Model 3 and Model S have more range and FSD will eventually be coming?

Individuals outside these types of forums don't care about brand loyalty, especially when it comes to EV's. We have to throw out this archaic excuse for inferior products because eventually the market will decide the winners and losers. And this time around lack of innovation will lead to devastating losses.