[Nahlem]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

So, the 1-year mark is coming up, sense I picked up my i4 m50 this will be a long post.

the wait for the car was long and by that, I mean I knew that an i4 was on the way a long time ago.
Before even the i4 was a thing I have been waiting for it for quite some time. I remember ordering it in 2021 right after the launch. And got it 2022 Late of march beginning of April. So, I have been driving it soon for a whole full year and have gotten to know the car a lot, both its good sides and some of its bad sides.

When i first took delivery of the car i didn’t really know what to expect from a 544 bhp beast, I drove the i3s before this and before that the X1 20d, also the m235i before all of them.

What I knew was well it is an EV so i suppose it will drive a bit like the i3s, but no that's where I was completely wrong. And also, right considering the highly debated B-Mode on the forums.

The i3 and the i3s we all know what they were all about, a practical city EV that is easy to commute with and boy did it do that well, and still among the fastest cars out there from 0 to 50 km/h. A fun little red-light runner. I have often wondered if I should simply get another i3 just for the winter commute and the easy daily living that came with it. But here I am almost a year later with the i4 m50.

So, what do I have to say about this wildly discussed car, that so many thought was an M car from the M division to begin with me included from the start until the pictured cleared a bit more and we now know it's more of a M lite version!

The design of the car has both is good and some bad sides, i haven’t really been bothered with the grill not even after the first ones started to appear with the new grill i kind of like it but at the same time i think some of this space could have been used for better purpose then having this grill on it especially considering its this black piano plastic thing that we see all over cars these days, i find this the most annoying about new cars but especially BMWs of late over using this piano black thing on all their cars.

This is so annoying not only does it make an 85000€ car look a bit cheap and plasticky it is cheap and plastic and it scratches so badly so this is a warning for anyone going the route of piano black, get it PPFD immediately as i did with the whole car except for the grill…..., my mistake clearly. The plastic scathes so easily it’s not even fun just looking at it makes it scratch, they should have replaced all of it with the carbon fiber look instead whether that be better or not that is up to each and everyone but i sure do dislike the black plastic. And they could have done a better job with the black/grey plastic trim down low, no idea why you would skip to make that in to the body color of the car at least. Seen some people paint it to the body color of the car and boy does it make the car look a lot better so a word of advice BMW stop using grey plastic on the outside of the car it makes it look unfinished and cheap. Paint it at least in the body color of the car.

But the other elements like the rear arches of this car does look good especially when going down from the C pillar to rear wheel arches the butter smooth transition is beautifully executed and the rear looks fantastic of the car i do like it a lot with carbon package, makes it look very good, they could have skipped the rear reflectors but then again there is the thing with laws and stuff like that to have in mind of course, and changed them to something else, was considering for a while to get the M4 CSL Rear lights but the Price tag on those, there god not even selling my kidney would cover the cost of those but they look great. Last time I checked it was like 5400€ for them.

The laser lights with the tinted option makes the car look fantastic in the front it makes it look very modern and high-tech witch i do like, the M Package makes it look very good specially when combining it with the carbon package the inlets look high quality but it immediately collides with the piano black plastic that looks cheap next to the inlets. Sigh this piano black thing i just keep coming back to this constantly so annoying, although it isn’t impossible to cover it over with some other vinyl look and make it look a bit higher quality i just simply can’t be bothered to find the time to do it yet.

The interior is what you expect from a BMW the high quality of the materials used is nice, some parts look and feels incredibly well made, the steering wheel feels excellent proper grip and the M Stitching on it looks nice and makes it pop out no need for Alcantara style on this but could have changed the aluminum for carbon also when choosing the carbon trim for the interior it kind of collides with the aluminum in the car. Then there is some extremely weird choices of plastic in the car like around the gear shifter or drive selector as it should be called the matt plastic is incredibly weird choice to use when a lot of the car is cladded with both the carbon trim and aluminum it is just weird at times.

I went with the carbon selector one of the first mods i made to the car, so that looks more proper the blue "i" look that you otherwise would have seen i also ordered early on when available the 50th anniversary badge for the whole car, but on the inside the steering wheel didn’t have it so it was the blue “I” BMW logo so i ordered from some German site a "sticker" that looks like the rest of the 50th anniversary badges on the car to cover the blue BMW i logo on the steering wheel. Also, will be modding soon enough the blue start/stop button for something else instead of blue.

So, to the other parts of the interior the "dread" love to be hated screen, well the screen to begin with is extremely nicely made the resolution is high and it isn’t slow as some other systems are but could have been a bit smoother if the display could show more than the lower hz that is has now would make it feel better when swiping left and right, because it isn’t slow but the refresh rate is a bit "low".

So, the design of slapping a "pad/tab" insert any random pad you want to call it a day, or simply a screen on everything might not be needed to be honest and design wise the integration could have been made a bit better but all in all i like the "floating" look of it although i would have wished for it to look a bit” floatier” if they could have added some more air gaps between the both screens.
Because between the both screens the speedometer screen and the idrive part of the screen there is this black edge between the both here is where they could have done something more for it to kind of make it more cohesive between the both.

The lack of buttons in the car is a taste thing i didn’t find it hard to set the temp in the car at all considering its always on display and shown but there is the question of burn in that could come with wear and tear and how pixels would work over time or if some of them could die, this remains to be seen for the foreseeable future.

The buttons that are on the i4 in terms of climate control is the rear defroster and the full front defroster which is what you will be using when the car starts fogging up, it is not a question of if but because it will happen at times with a lot of shifting temperatures. This is going to happen i for example have my car in a temperature-controlled garage that has +15c in there then going out to -20c will cause some fogging up. Might be a lot less if you have the car stored outside and use the preheater a lot this might not be a concern to begin with.

But buttons wise i don't find it to annoying compared to some other iterations of buttonless systems i think BMW have figured it out quite nicely here, a bit more work on this and it will be flawless, buttons as good as they are the voice commands can replace most of them today, witch i have used quite a bit for setting temperature to asking the car to take set my destination to the nearest location that i wished for.

It works quite well but as with any voice system there is limitations to it i myself am not a native English speaker so at times it will have a hard time to understand what i am asking from it not to the systems fault but maybe to my own fault when having a hard time to work something out correctly or when I forget some word. But maybe to understand the limitation with voice commands is to add a form of "tutorial" that can explain what it can and can't do with voice commands and what it understands and doesn’t but this is probably an ongoing development with BMW the more people use their voice systems the easier it will understand as with any "Ai" so to speak of it will learn more over time.

So, a proper "tutorial" might come later one.
So, this is a software thing i bet, and boy is there room for improvement on the software part, anything from annoying app integrations that collide with other apps on your phone to the annoying way of BMW releasing OTA so late and only once every now and then, as a person who has gotten used to the fast way tech companies update their software via app stores or when booting up steam on your PC for those that use it and see how fast an update come, this is where BMW needs to work a lot more and i MEAN a lot more.

Just an example there is these small issues with Spotify when listening to it depending on how you use it where it always restarts the shuffle this might be a local issue for me and my phone because some other people don't have this issue but stuff like this needs to get fixed in the beta stages of software. I know there is this enormous amount of phones out there that needs to work with different systems and IOS and Android version all over the place so i understand why this is hard but if we go down to the straight forwardness of it if you are an user of an iPhone or a top end Samsung phone and always updating your software to the latest version this kind of issues shouldn’t be a thing where you have one Spotify version in the car one in your phone and maybe one on your pc and all of them collides with each other causing all bunch of weird issue, again this is not only a BMW issue but an overall software issue.

There is this weird software glitches that appear from time to time with apps that’s loading up and causing some weird idrive issue no driving issue but simply infotainment issue all of this kind of stuff needs to be worked out faster and not for a yearly OTA update that BMW releases to its users when they feel for it, causing you to need to go in for faster updates via the retailers that sold the car to you. So here is where BMW needs to work better otherwise, they will lose to the competition later on.

Well, enough the software issue and such I am most certain it will be worked out sooner or later.
So, to the driving and range on the car itself, the car is a fanatic piece of machinery to drive it can be fun when you want it to be and it can also give you a proper relaxing drive when you want it. All in all, its a great tourer but that’s where i will put it because it might simply be the best out there among the tourers because of this fast way of shifting from going to calm behaved car to a proper fast car a beast to say the least, but would i call this a sports car well no and yes it isn’t an M2 forget that the M2 is its own class and that’s how this should be defined put against its equals and that is all, when BMW releases a car they do love using the marketing team a lot hyping this car that will put a new dimension to your driving and simply put it, it is both yes and no.
It drives well it is agile for its size the input is properly there where you want it to be a corner is never scary unless you start telling the car to go against the laws of physics and that’s where it starts to act up a bit weird it will never give you the feeling of tipping over as a SUV can do when cornering it to hard but on the Hankook tires that came with my car it will make you feel uneasy at times like it’s going to slide of the road because of the lack of grip even though it shouldn’t have lack of grip it can give you the sense if i take this corner to fast i might simply end up in the ditch like an old FWD car but with RWD characteristics witch is incredibly weird you simply don't know where you have it at times and that’s on a dry road when pushing it fast, and if we are talking about a "sports car" or as we would define a sports car with this great road feel and grip that will make you confident in every corner, this simply doesn’t do it, don’t get me wrong it is an incredibly competent car and will do for 98% of the population but if you are looking for a proper sports track car look somewhere else, again if we are defining a sports car by those old standards. So, the weight is there it is noticeable but only on the edge of driving. The steering feel is nice it lacks the hydraulic feeling of old but that is what we will have to get used to i guess, you feel safe when pushing the car a bit but not it is limits and it will shoot you straight forward like a freaking comet and overtaking is done way to easy especially with the x-drive during winter times here that it is now when writing this review here in Sweden it’s the stopping that gets ya i tell you that.

The car as a proper driving machine god yes it definitely delivers on that promise. But it isn't a track sports car, that title might be reserved for the real M, quad M motor i4 that might come later on. Or if they use that in something else, like the upcoming new i3 that will be a real 3 series but EV but let’s hope that the new battery tech from neueclass will help us out a lot with both weight and range and feel, because the i4 is fantastic when driving on longer trips i so far have taken it on some longer trips some 300 km+ and some less so yes that is a "Long" trip here in Sweden i know for you US folks that’s like the commute to work in the big US and A, the consumption on those spring/summer and autumn trips have shown an constant of 18,5-19,5KwH/100 km and on highway driving at 130 km/h not sustain constantly but in between 100 km/h to 130 km/h it is idling between 19,8 to 21,5 kwh/100 km witch is better than expected for this car. I am also not using the 20 inch 285 wheels but 19-inch 245/255 wheels so the trade of in grip might come in there. That i explained earlier when pushing the car. It takes you comfortable from A to B and even C when needing that, the charging is easy enough but the charging times could behave weirdly at times depending on what station you reach and if the car arrives with a preconditioned battery to the station this is where it gets hard to understand what is the optimal charging of this car when arriving to a certain station,
We have a lot of ionity stations here in Sweden and those have been my primary go to on trips when going further trips, but at times it gives you this ridiculous charging times and at times it goes fast as f* boy, at a maximum so far i have reached 190 kw for a few minutes to drop as low to 10 kw charging on these stations which is worse than my home charger that chargers at 12 kw/h and here is where the charging issue and range issue can become a thing, because you don't know if the station you are arriving to will do you well or not or if the car is going to precondition the battery for that specific station because there is no tell if the car has done it or not, i generally use the BMW navigation set it to the charger i am arriving to for optimal charging but it doesn’t have a tell if the Battey is optimized for it when arriving or what optimal % on charge you should arrive at. That’s where EV charging and range comes in to this thing where it makes it more "complicated" then needed, because us EV fans needs to understand that the average Joe/Joline doesn’t want to think about all of these steps when coming to fuel up or charge up not to mention to know if a station is broken or not, i have heard a lot and read a lot of issues in the US with the EA chargers over there.

But this thing needs to be eliminated, do i think this is as far away as 10-15 years as some petrol heads think? No, it isn't but it is at least 2-3 years away but this might be too far away for those who are considering to swap to an EV now, because these issues are prominent and do exist unreliable charging stations to unreliable charging times for the car.

This needs to me removed completely from the equation of EV owning and then range won’t be a thing to think of in the future but if the infrastructure isn't reliable as it needs to be then range anxiety becomes a real thing, i doubt that many EV dislikers on this forums would find range an issue considering they probably have an above average understanding of cars in general, but the points above I am mentioning wouldn’t be so much an issue as an inconvenience for a lot of the people on the forums.
But if the average Joe/Joline buys an EV they don't want to think of all of this stuff for the car to be usable for them, they might understand the difference between a chameo charger and ccs or even tesla charger but that’s as easy to distinct as to use either Petrol/Diesel or Ethanol as fuel at that level its easy but it’s when all of the other points comes in to play that’s when the EV owning becomes an issue, and not including home charging as most of us will do, this is an issue that needs some incentives from governments to make sure landlords and simply bought apartment complexes starts investing in to home charging. To enable the switch and not having to deal with too much unreliable EV infrastructure.

The range is for me enough in this car even with said above issue that i find easy to solve but other wont it shows me at 100% when going on longer trips around 520 km on one charge in "optimal" conditions an i believe it when the car says that, but day to day driving the GOM is simply put it trash. I have had the car at 80% when driving around town constantly it has given me everything from 350 km to 170 km on 80% when we had the worst temperatures of the winter this far at -20 to -25c and this is even worse than my i3 so the GOM well it is exactly that a guess-o-meter, this again is where the software thing comes in to play for BMW they need to fix those stuff and fast, a lot of people will not look at the % of charging like it was showing 76% charge the other day when arriving to work and had 150 km left on the charge. And that is simply not true but as i mentioned earlier the average Joe and Jolena will look at that and G-O-M "Gasp" and go to the dealer the car has a lot less range then said without fully understanding cold temperatures affect EVs and how you drive it roughly around town. And I understand that completely. Because around town is where i am seeing this low ranges and in town is where it should excel and it doesn’t according to the GOM but again i bet my sweet sorry a** that i would have to drive a lot of hours around town to reach 0% where the speed limit is at maximum 60 km/h.

Now i do drive around with the same winter setup as i have on my summer tires which is 245 front and 255 back studless Nordic winter tires not those all seasons that is a death sentence driving with those in the Nordic climate that we have with loads of snow, ice, rain and all the salt you could wish for during winter, so there is that, the first quoted setup i got for winter was the 18 inch 245 all-around tires witch i said no to and went with this setup but maybe that is a good thing and because now I had the chance to test the car on a 360 km one way trip with temperatures ranging from -1c to +5c on slush,snow,ice while having the heating set to 21c in the car and fans set to medium with a dog in the back and a fully loaded car with me and the wife and a backseat full off baggage that needed to come with us, so the first range of the trip the car consumed about 34 kWh total while averaging 23,2 kWh/100 km highway for a total of 146 km driving around 100-120 km/h sense you can’t drive faster then that during this part of the trip with all the snow and ice on the road, the next part of the trip the part before stopping and charging it was 59 km with an average of 25,1 kWh/100 km consuming 14,9 kw, witch was very surprising considering the speed dropped from 110 km/h to 80 km/h but the road and weather was a lot tougher this part of the trip, So we arrived at the Ionity charger with 38% left on the charge, then charging to 91% with speeds from 190 kw charging in the beginning then dropping to 50 kw charging, then I started the preconditioning and it jumped up to 80 kw charging and pushed the last 10% from 80 to 90% faster then I expected. The next part of the trip from the Ionity charger to the next stop we rested at so the dog could take another walk, it was a trip part of 83 km and the car did 20,7 kWh/100 km and consumed 17,2 kw still the fan set to medium and heating set to 21c. Then the next part of the trip was to another stop where I went in to a brushless car wash to rinse of all the salt and crap from the car because this stop was close to our arrival point the length was 25 km with a consumption of 23,5 kWh/100 km and the car consumed another 5,9kw. Then the last part of the trip was the 19 km and the consumption was 17,6 kWh/100 km and the car consumed about 3,4 kw. When we arrived at our destination, we had about 50% left on the charge. All this road driving was speeds between 50 km/h at the lowest to 120 km/h due to the road conditions here this was the best we could do without driving of the road, the car was set to ECO Pro mode all the trip. So, a total of 361 km covered speeds ranging from 50 km/h to 120 km/h and the total consumption averaged at 22,6 kWh/100 km with one charge stop from around 30-35% to 90% with road conditions varying from snow, slush, rain, ice and heating on with medium fan speeds.

If I compare this to the same trip, I did during the during summer the car delivers 19,5 kWh/100 km so there is some increasing in the car consumption but it wasn’t all too bad as I expected it to be.

There is some hurdles to overcome when going from ICE to EV but for the invested ones like the folks on this forums the switch isn’t that hard a lot of people here could today if they wanted to make the switch, should they well it depends on the life situation i guess but the excuse "what if i want" insert any random thing that is a reason for not switching to EV it doesn’t apply here, but what applies here is the ease of use and EV aint always that easy to use especially on longer trips with chargers that might mess up and such but daily driving most people could switch without an issue.

But will they want to? Well, that’s another thing that’s up to each and every one i guess out there, i made the switch it made economic sense with my life situation but not everyone can afford an 85000€ car far from it, but a lot of people on this forum could, and can switch if they wanted to but simply don’t because "car goes wrrrroooom" witch is what i won't be saying to my upcoming boy when he starts plying with little toy cars, "the car goes vooooooosh" i will say.

I will conclude this 1-year review by saying the i4 m50 is a proper car, it is fast, it drives well, it delivers on its promise of a full BMW experience but in EV format, its if after all a proper grand tourer but it does come with its drawback and issues but for me none of them is to that extent that feel the need to switch back to ICE car,
and i bet a lot of people would feel the same if they had the chance to own one for an extended period of time, but i guess this is where the issue comes "Why do i need to own it for a certain time before knowing i can live with it?" when i can get an ICE car and know that i can live with it even though the fuel costs are rising, but as of late the rate of the cost of power seems to be putting more issues in to the wheels of adopting EVs than anything else.

But also, i would think this is where EV's have a lot of work to do, it needs to be easier to live with and needs to be simply as easy as "I want that car no matter that its EV or not to buy" this feeling of buying a car on an emotion rather than all above why you should. Sense cars have a tendency to be an emotional buy rather than practical to say not always of course, still today when asking a rough customer what is one of the most important things for you to buy a car, they will say something like the color of the car or the safety and that is the hard cold truth, and so it should be for EVs also.

So, this is what leave you with.

Should i buy an i4? I don't know? I can't decide that for you, but could i live with it? Yes, you could sense most of you guys/gals have the know how to own vehicles like this and it wouldn’t be an issue, but should you from an emotional stand point, well i don’t know that either, but are EVs trash? No, they most certainly aren’t they are in pretty much better in every aspect then their ice counterpart. Except for a small few detail that might be the breaking point for some people to switch to EVs, but the sound isn’t one of them.

Time will tell what neueclass will deliver but i am extremely exited for the future, and I thank the ICE engines for their contribution as we lay them to rest for the long run and look forward to the next gen of cars.

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088 The Summer version of the same trip.

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/a...1&d=1672149088 The Winter version of the same trip.

[cupholder]

Thanks for the insight, very interesting read.
Mine gets delivered in 3 days and so looking forward to it. I'm pretty sure it'll tick most of my boxes which is good since I plan on keeping it long term.

[footie]

I’ll roughly around the same time with mine getting it March 18th. I am generally a fan of bigger motors having had both 5 series and 7 series before it and this is less to do with space and more to do will refinement but the i4 is more refined than its petrol/diesel counterparts and is probably why after this long I am still a huge fan of the car. I did consider the iX but it’s styling was a little too out there for enough me.

[DocWeatherington]

Thanks for the writeup

[playswcars]

Great writeup!

[cfm56d7b]

Thank for taking the time to share ownership observations. Very insightful.

[TheUltimateDrivingManiac]

Red Wings fan?

[TitanNut88]

If I was forced to buy an electric car today, this would be the only one I would even contemplate. Congrats on the car and on the post!

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by TitanNut88

If I was forced to buy an electric car today, this would be the only one I would even contemplate. Congrats on the car and on the post!

I wasn't forced to buy an EV, but last year I was forced to buy "a" car.

I drove an M3 and an M5, then they announced the i4 M50 and I was sold. With a refundable $1500 deposit I could get in line. Once I drove it right after driving a M3, I was really sold.

A car that delivers 75-85% of an M3 in an EV package. Nope, it's not an M3 but it can get me in just as much, if not more trouble than the M3.

Congrats to the OP on getting the car.
Mine is still about 3 months away. I can't wait!!

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by TitanNut88

If I was forced to buy an electric car today, this would be the only one I would even contemplate. Congrats on the car and on the post!

Concur wholeheartedly.

[TM5]

Thanks for detailed report on your experience to date - I’m a few years away from ev in part for the reasons you mentioned - nice to hear someone else’s strong dislike of the piano black trim - I think it does scratch just by looking at it! BMW would do everyone a favor by going to satin - wheels too.

[mypjorn]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

I wasn't forced to buy an EV, but last year I was forced to buy "a" car.

I drove an M3 and an M5, then they announced the i4 M50 and I was sold. With a refundable $1500 deposit I could get in line. Once I drove it right after driving a M3, I was really sold.

A car that delivers 75-85% of an M3 in an EV package. Nope, it's not an M3 but it can get me in just as much, if not more trouble than the M3.

Congrats to the OP on getting the car.
Mine is still about 3 months away. I can't wait!!

techwhiz1, Curious how you spec'd your soon coming i4 M50...Mine is being transported from Port Hueneme to SF as we're speaking.

[Vegas430iGranCoupe]

Thanks for the insight, I just received my 2023 430i GC, I debated going the EV route, but I just can't justify the premium for any EV over an efficient 2 liter engine that still delivers the fun driving experience.

I only put 46k miles over 6 years on my last car, E89 Z4, I will keep paying for expensive petro, California prices here in Las Vegas.

If I were in the market for a true M car, it would be hard to give up on a proper ICE, the pure visceral emotion, the sound and feel, the vibration created by the engines would be hard to give up.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by mypjorn

techwhiz1, Curious how you spec'd your soon coming i4 M50...Mine is being transported from Port Hueneme to SF as we're speaking.

My car will be tanzanite over individual tartufo full merino leather with carbon trim and 20" wheels with every option selected (except carbon exterior package and ventilated seats).
So laser lights, HK, DAPP, PAP, etc......

Currently have a VIN with a finish in week 3 (Jan 19, 2023).

[mypjorn]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

My car will be tanzanite over individual tartufo full merino leather with carbon trim and 20" wheels with every option selected (except carbon exterior package and ventilated seats).
So laser lights, HK, DAPP, PAP, etc......

Currently have a VIN with a finish in week 3 (Jan 19, 2023).

tanzanite over individual tartufo full merino leather with carbon trim and 20" wheels...very nice choice


Mine (AW, black vernasca leather w/blue contrast stitching, carbon trim, ZPP, ZTK, m 50 years emblems, HK, laser lights, wireless charging, eSIM 5G, blue calipers)

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by mypjorn

tanzanite over individual tartufo full merino leather with carbon trim and 20" wheels...very nice choice


Mine (AW, black vernasca leather w/blue contrast stitching, carbon trim, ZPP, ZTK, m 50 years emblems, HK, laser lights, wireless charging, eSIM 5G, blue calipers)

Nice.

Maybe we can meet up at a Cars and Coffee or a BMWCCA event?
I think I'll have my car before the first race at Sonoma in March/April. I'll be there.
Also at Laguna Seca at Trans Am and Motul de Monterey.

I'm a huge race fan.

[mypjorn]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

Nice.

Maybe we can meet up at a Cars and Coffee or a BMWCCA event?
I think I'll have my car before the first race at Sonoma in March/April. I'll be there.
Also at Laguna Seca at Trans Am and Motul de Monterey.

I'm a huge race fan.

Most definitely look forward to meeting up

[Bimmerfun82]

I charged at a non-Tesla Supercharger once, and it was charging at a rate of 6 miles per hour. I couldn’t believe it. The benefit was that the charger was in a parking deck af a Major League Baseball stadium during the World Series, and I could have lunch, go to the game, and leave 10 hours later … for free (because of the incentives they have for pushing EV adoption). So there’s that.

But if you’re commuting and relying on consistent outside-the-home charging, this type of inconsistency is a non-starter. And that’s Tesla’s real advantage. If they open the SC network to third party, it might be expensive for M50 and VW etc drivers - as it is already relatively costly vs charging at home for tesla owners - but it would help considerably with this very real problem to EV adoption and overall pragmatism.

However, my fear is the cost to charge at these stations even for tesla owners will eventually be nearly as much as fuel (maybe at $2 or $3 / gallon)… basically the use case for solely EV isn’t there yet, especially outside of major cities. And still the issue of battery management is a real problem with fast charging reducing range over time, as is the power grid limitations and issues. Not to mention cold weather vastly reducing range. You stated all these things, and I’m agreeing with you.

All that being said, I like the BMW for the whole package vs tesla… BMW needs to generate a crossover with more interior and trunk space to compete with the model Y, but they can’t get out of their own way. The iX is too expensive, and they don’t want to cannabalize their X3/X5 sales … at least in the US. And yet even if they do, there’s the lack of a supercharger network to rely on.

[footie]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

I wasn't forced to buy an EV, but last year I was forced to buy "a" car.

I drove an M3 and an M5, then they announced the i4 M50 and I was sold. With a refundable $1500 deposit I could get in line. Once I drove it right after driving a M3, I was really sold.

A car that delivers 75-85% of an M3 in an EV package. Nope, it's not an M3 but it can get me in just as much, if not more trouble than the M3.

Congrats to the OP on getting the car.
Mine is still about 3 months away. I can't wait!!

I stepped out of a 2020 M5 and into the i4M50, to me down a twisty road they feel remarkably similar, what the i4 has in extra weight the M5 makes up for is sheer size, of course the more questions you ask from the chassis it's the M5 that has all the answers and ultimately is the better handling car but up to 6 maybe 7 tenths they feel the same and trust me at this level you are properly motoring. Without driving the new M3 I can imagine that it's performance would be similar to that of my M5 and whilst both would probably overhaul the i4M50 at it approaches a 100mph neither of them can deliver the sheer thump that the i4's instant torque gives, this is probably something very unique to EV cars.

I've had mine the same length of time and I don't see myself ever returning to a ICE car.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by footie

Without driving the new M3 I can imagine that it's performance would be similar to that of my M5 and whilst both would probably overhaul the i4M50 at it approaches a 100mph neither of them can deliver the sheer thump that the i4's instant torque gives, this is probably something very unique to EV cars.

Yes. Vs the M5 the M3 feels smaller, more aggressive, sharper, and lighter - which it is, even in x drive form it's about a 400 lb (180kg) weight advantage and over 7" shorter (18cm). You're right about the difference in torque and acceleration. The M3 is a much more enjoyable acceleration experience vs my telsa model 3 perf, but it's also a much more expensive proposition as I'm sure you've experienced with your M5. If you push it in the M3 you'll get 12 mpg. It also draws a lot more attention.

[footie]

Originally Posted by M3macster

Yes. Vs the M5 the M3 feels smaller, more aggressive, sharper, and lighter - which it is, even in x drive form it's about a 400 lb (180kg) weight advantage and over 7" shorter (18cm). You're right about the difference in torque and acceleration. The M3 is a much more enjoyable acceleration experience vs my telsa model 3 perf, but it's also a much more expensive proposition as I'm sure you've experienced with your M5. If you push it in the M3 you'll get 12 mpg. It also draws a lot more attention.

The attention was one of the main reason I changed from the M5, when you overtook something on a B-road you were sure to turn heads in disapproval due to the noise from the engine and exhaust but in the i4 I could drive like a loon and no one would notice.

[GOLFFRR]

thanks for the write up. should be very helpful to a lot here on the forum.