[pharding]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

would you be able to share which dealer that is?

bill jacobs doesn't have the i4 apparently (or they won't let me drive it, idk), and i've been wanting to test it and/or the iX

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

would you be able to share which dealer that is?

bill jacobs doesn't have the i4 apparently (or they won't let me drive it, idk), and i've been wanting to test it and/or the iX

I test drove one at Knauz in Lake Bluff. They are the best BMW dealership in the Chicago area and I tried them all out over the last 22 years.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by pharding

I test drove one at Knauz in Lake Bluff. They are the best BMW dealership in the Chicago area and I tried them all out over the last 22 years.

Knauz is great. Ordered both my m340i and x5 through them. Only reason I'm not going with them this time is because they were quoting a 1.5+ year wait for a g80 order, but otherwise I have nothing but good things to say about them.

[edycol]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

We've also got an X7 on order, but if BMW offered a 3 row EV SUV that definitely would have been a serious consideration. The smoothness of the EV powertrain makes it perfect as a comfortable family hauler around town. I may go back and check out thr iX at some point but everything I've seen/read about it has been glowing.

We have Sienna AWD with V6. And if we were getting again family long hauler, we would go again minivan, this new hybrid Sienna. I really like X7, but it is impossible to beat minivan's practicality. We do long trips so EV would be impossible. And that is where the problem is. EV performance wise would be perfect for family vehicle, but charging etc. is still an issue and it will be for some time.

[23109VC]

Originally Posted by kjx

We've owned a full electric car before we went to the 45e, and agree with what you're saying about the smoothness of the drive in all conditions.

There are ways you can experience what you're saying in the 45e, but I personally never experience it since I know how to avoid it. Cases like where you are not in the right mode and you suddenly request a lot more power requiring the gas engine to come on. There's a fraction of a second where the engine comes on and then there's a surge in power since that has so much more available to it.

But in most cases, if you're a capable driver, there's nothing more to it in terms of skill than say anticipating what gear to be in in a full ICE car. Know you're likely to push very hard and pass someone at speed? Sport and/or gear shift to the left - the engine's ready and waiting with the electric boost on top. You can fly in this car. Not a good driver and sitting on pure electric and you floor the throttle past the resistance point at the bottom? - yeah, not the smoothest change-over since power delivery is not linear with the throttle application (a lot comes over in the kickdown as the gas engine comes on, and roars).

The biggest plus point of the 45e, and this is possibly true for the iX is the how quiet it is inside no matter what you're doing. Reviewers have compared it to the Bentley Bentayga in that regard. In the real world, combined with the default air suspension, what this means is that passengers don't remotely know when I'm doing 90 in it, but the same people in my M4 when it hits 90 say they feel anxious.

Another minor curiosity in the 45e is when you're in full electric and you ask for as much as it can give in full electric, you can feel gearshifts against the electric motor as very subtle variations in power.

Great review! I am also still a fan of ICE and am not fully ready to fully commit to an EV…maybe for a commuter car…. But for a "fun" car I'll still stick to something that makes real noise!

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by kjx

Interestingly, you don't need an EV to get the low-speed benefits of an EV. A PHEV like the X5 45e can give you instant torque from 0 and assist the ICE in ways that make it just about faultless without losing the character of an ICE at WOT.

The thing that is present in the best of supercars now, and soon coming to the next generation of ICE based ///M cars is electric assist to tide over all the low-rev and gear-shift-time shortcomings of ICE cars, while retaining what makes these cars so desirable.

In non-///M cars, this means that you can have the benefits of electric in even more use cases without worrying about things like range and stopping for charging. This is already true for a large number of people with the 45e given its range covers most daily driving with a nightly charge.

And to share my frame of reference fully, my other car is a 2022 M4 Comp M xDrive. I'd only take a full electric car as a third car in my garage, because it side-by-side long-distance drives with a Tesla Model Y (vs. X5 45e), I was able to gap it to the destination by an hour and a half in a 6 hour drive because I'm able to hold much higher speeds without losing range, and I didn't have to stop to charge for half an hour in the middle of the night (in fact, I didn't even have to get gas).

What's your total MPG and total monthly cost (electric + gas) and how many miles / month? I agree in many cases a PHEV makes the most sense. But I think the dominant market share now and in the future is electric. The dual powertrains aren't as low maintenance as EV, and the added complexity means more weight with less benefits, e.g., lack of third row seat and extra storage. Once EV's get to 500+ miles of range, they make more financial and pragmatic sense. However, all that being said, I would prefer the X5 45e to any EV or other PHEV for the overall experience including exquisite interior and ride quality. And that being said, I'd rather have a bmw 4-cylinder than the X5 (oh wait, I have both) for the ICE with lower weight. Until gas gets to $8 or $10 / gallon.

[kjx]

Originally Posted by M3macster

What's your total MPG and total monthly cost (electric + gas) and how many miles / month? I agree in many cases a PHEV makes the most sense. But I think the dominant market share now and in the future is electric. The dual powertrains aren't as low maintenance as EV, and the added complexity means more weight with less benefits, e.g., lack of third row seat and extra storage. Once EV's get to 500+ miles of range, they make more financial and pragmatic sense. However, all that being said, I would prefer the X5 45e to any EV or other PHEV for the overall experience including exquisite interior and ride quality. And that being said, I'd rather have a bmw 4-cylinder than the X5 (oh wait, I have both) for the ICE with lower weight. Until gas gets to $8 or $10 / gallon.

I daily drive the M4. My wife does the X5, and it's also the family car.

All daily running of the X5 is covered by the electric range. I always switch to Sport when driving on the highway since I'm spoilt by the M4. And I always drive it with no consideration to efficiency - higher speeds and sharper acceleration. It corners flat but suffers from squat and dive in acceleration and braking like most SUVs. For braking, I try to stay within regen range and try to avoid leaning on the M Sport brakes.

Without trying, I still manage 32-33 mpg for extended trips, and 27 mpg for short trips (all Sport mode). You may need to talk to people running in hybrid mode to understand what it's actually capable of since I'm always either in full electric or sport - with drive history reset, the car estimates it can do 520 miles or so on a tank + charged up battery FWIW.

Electricity costs in WA for the car is like $20-$25 a month? A tank with the current prices costs in the $70 range I think. The X5 usually only needs a top of gas once a month when a road-trip's not happening. And it charges fully overnight every night.

For comparison, I get 17 mpg on my M4 - but I always drive it in Sport and like its designed to be driven. I have to fuel it up once a week or so. The car estimates 215 miles to a tank of which probably 160-180 are usable before you're warned to fuel up.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by NYC_340i

Pretty much spot on with my opinions, also being a M340i owner. I autocrossed the i4 M50 at the NY UDE event and it was pretty fun. The instant torque off the line balanced out the worse handling due to the weight. I still am trying to get over the grill (on the G80 it has grown on me though) but I do thing the rear quarter angle is the best. Love how wide the rear end looks. However like you mentioned after finishing the UDE I started up my M340i and just thought to myself that I'll just stick with my car for a bit longer before jumping ship lol

I'm buying an M50 because I need a car.
I don't think anyone should dump a perfectly good ICE to go buy an EV. That makes no sense economically and it makes no sense environmentally.

The cost for the ICE is already sunk and the recovery period to be carbon neutral will take a while if you dump an ICE you already have.

My case is different. My ICE (E90 335i) car was 13 years old and I was planning on making it a track car. I was planning on an M4 to buy buy saw the i4 M50 announcement and put down the deposit.

A few months later my E90 was totaled.

If you have a perfectly good ICE BMW Insay keep it and drive it until the wheels fall off. You don't start seeing real benefit of ownership and reduced cost and savings until a car is 5 years old. I keep a car for at least 10 years.

[pharding]

After driving BMW 5ers for my car for 20 years, and periodically driving wifey's X3, in 2020 I leased a Tesla Model LR AWD. It has been awesome and a great value. My son traded in his 3er for a Tesla Y AWD Performance. He does long trips and he has never had an issue with charging while on long trips. You simply put in your destination into the GPS. It routes you to your destination via Tesla Superchargers if required. That works awesome. BMW makes better cars. However BEV for us is better than ICE cars. BEV trumps ICE. Tesla battery technology, charging infrastructure, and software are all better than BMW at this time. I have zero reservation about long trips in a BEV, especially a Tesla. In October, I will revisit the BMW i4 and possibly order one. The problem right now for me with the i4 is that residuals suck on it, like all BMW's. Money factor sucks. No deals sucks. $2500 deposit sucks. No Euro Delivery sucks. I always go for a good value with a preference for BMW. When my lease is up on May 1, 2023, I'll again go for a good BEV value between BMW, Audi, Tesla, and the Fisker Ocean. We'll see what happens. BMW doesn't give you $7,500 Federal BEV credit on a lease. I was told that Audi does. Hopefully that is true. I have a $250 deposit on a Fisker Ocean. In October I'll place a second order on the BMW i4 M50 or Audi Q4 eTron. Then it's a waiting game and search for the best value.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by pharding

After driving BMW 5ers for my car for 20 years, and periodically driving wifey's X3, in 2020 I leased a Tesla Model LR AWD. It has been awesome and a great value. My son traded in his 3er for a Tesla Y AWD Performance. He does long trips and he has never had an issue with charging while on long trips. You simply put in your destination into the GPS. It routes you to your destination via Tesla Superchargers if required. That works awesome. BMW makes better cars. However BEV for us is better than ICE cars. BEV trumps ICE. Tesla battery technology, charging infrastructure, and software are all better than BMW at this time. I have zero reservation about long trips in a BEV, especially a Tesla. In October, I will revisit the BMW i4 and possibly order one. The problem right now for me with the i4 is that residuals suck on it, like all BMW's. Money factor sucks. No deals sucks. $2500 deposit sucks. No Euro Delivery sucks. I always go for a good value with a preference for BMW. When my lease is up on May 1, 2023, I'll again go for a good BEV value between BMW, Audi, Tesla, and the Fisker Ocean. We'll see what happens. BMW doesn't give you $7,500 Federal BEV credit on a lease. I was told that Audi does. Hopefully that is true. I have a $250 deposit on a Fisker Ocean. In October I'll place a second order on the BMW i4 M50 or Audi Q4 eTron. Then it's a waiting game and search for the best value.

Awesome, unless you can do one better and get the road trip in without stopping to charge every 200 miles for half an hour. Are you sure about the residuals on the i4? Didn't the car just come out? As a former tesla 3P owner, I get the value of the tesla and the supercharger network advantage. But the quality and comfort of the tesla sucked compared to a BMW.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by pharding

After driving BMW 5ers for my car for 20 years, and periodically driving wifey's X3, in 2020 I leased a Tesla Model LR AWD. It has been awesome and a great value. My son traded in his 3er for a Tesla Y AWD Performance. He does long trips and he has never had an issue with charging while on long trips. You simply put in your destination into the GPS. It routes you to your destination via Tesla Superchargers if required. That works awesome. BMW makes better cars. However BEV for us is better than ICE cars. BEV trumps ICE. Tesla battery technology, charging infrastructure, and software are all better than BMW at this time. I have zero reservation about long trips in a BEV, especially a Tesla. In October, I will revisit the BMW i4 and possibly order one. The problem right now for me with the i4 is that residuals suck on it, like all BMW's. Money factor sucks. No deals sucks. $2500 deposit sucks. No Euro Delivery sucks. I always go for a good value with a preference for BMW. When my lease is up on May 1, 2023, I'll again go for a good BEV value between BMW, Audi, Tesla, and the Fisker Ocean. We'll see what happens. BMW doesn't give you $7,500 Federal BEV credit on a lease. I was told that Audi does. Hopefully that is true. I have a $250 deposit on a Fisker Ocean. In October I'll place a second order on the BMW i4 M50 or Audi Q4 eTron. Then it's a waiting game and search for the best value.

So I agree with most of what you said except that Tesla has superior battery and software. By what measure? Tesla AutoPilot and FSD are neither.

BMW at this point in time leads Tesla on driver assist package. BMW has GPS/ADAS aware Regen. Also BMW extended traffic jam Assistant supports hands off under 40mph. BMW lane change assist just works. I can go on but Tesla camera only system is flawed at it's core. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Cruise and Ford all do auch better job with driver assist and reliability of those features.

I have been doing automotive safety systems for years.

As far as battery tech. Everyone is on par. There have been no holy grails for solid state batteries discovered and BMW among others are heavily invested.

BMW uses excited motor with no rare earth materials and it allows the I4 to coast with virtually no parasitic drag when the motors are not engaged.

Also BMW leases do suck. Leases only make sense for manufacturers when there is a glut of cars. Right now if you don't lease a car, they don't care. The next guy will buy it. Also Tesla won't even let you buy the car at the end of a lease. They stopped buyouts of third parties first and now no end of lease purchase at all.

[Staszek]

Completely agree with the OPs assessment. I test drove the i4 M50 extensively and I really liked it a lot.

I was also a fan of the Han Zimmer sounds as well.

[usmabmass]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

would you be able to share which dealer that is?

bill jacobs doesn't have the i4 apparently (or they won't let me drive it, idk), and i've been wanting to test it and/or the iX

Bill Jacobs definitely has one, i drove by today and it was parked out front right next to the iX

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

would you be able to share which dealer that is?

bill jacobs doesn't have the i4 apparently (or they won't let me drive it, idk), and i've been wanting to test it and/or the iX

Knauz has one that is where I drove it.

[P1]

What's a Hans Zimmer sound?

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by P1

What's a Hans Zimmer sound?

Hans Zimmer, the German music composer who's composed music for tons of movies including the Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar, Inception, etc. Composed some sounds to be implemented into the i4 and iX associated with various functions such as turning on/off the car, accelerating under sport mode, etc.

It seemed very gimmicky to me when I first learned about them, but in practice i really appreciated the sounds especially under hard acceleration. It's no substitute for the roar of an ICE motor but they still go a long way to keep this EV from feeling like a soulless appliance.

[pimp4cheddar]

Totally agreed with OP's thoughts.

I daily drive an X3M and was blown away with the fit, finish, interior layout and overall feel of the I4 M50. It was definitely impressive and I went into the demo test drive wanting to NOT like it...I just couldn't do it.

They did an incredible job developing a fully electric car that doesn't feel like a fully electric car. It's easily the most normal looking car inside and outside - which I love. All the YouTube videos complain about the weight, but I didn't feel the weight at all...the car felt planted.

This is top of my list for next car. The sound and driving feel of an ICE is cool...but they did such an amazing job with the I4 M50 - the transition wouldn't be too much for me to get over.


The forum warriors will always rag on the car...but this happens every generation. People shitted on the E9x V8...then the F80 Turbo setup...now the grills...next the battery packs...etc. The car is amazing for anyone looking at a possible electric option - dollar for dollar miles ahead of the Porsche Taycan

[SteveinArizona]

I did a test drive a couple of days ago. Aside from the grille (if everything else was good I could reluctantly live with it in a dark car to partially hide it), I really liked it with one that to me is a critical exception: range. I need more range than the I4 can give me.

I am planning on test drives of the IX and Lucid Air.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I did a test drive a couple of days ago. Aside from the grille (if everything else was good I could reluctantly live with it in a dark car to partially hide it), I really liked it with one that to me is a critical exception: range. I need more range than the I4 can give me.

I am planning on test drives of the IX and Lucid Air.

I went for the "ultimate M50" build.
I got all options including 20" wheels.
The range isn't a deal breaker for me.
We have an X5 that's not going away.

I looked at the Lucid but availability and price had be drop it from my list. It starts at $80 and will climb to over $100k after taxes and fees. While I could afford it, I decided not.

That was really the only other car I considered.
My M50 will get here sometime this summer if they can keep Munich running with all the supply chain issues.

My car just dropped from scheduled to no build week today.

[Norbimmer]

I can only agree with several other posts after my first testdrive of the i4 M50. The car impressed me and not only by its acceleration, which was expected, but as a complete package.
- I really like the looks of the car, agreed I have never had a problem with the new kidneys on the G80, I actually like them.
- The interior is very nice and feels more exclusive than I expected.
- iDrive 8 and the screens look good, didn’t play around in the OS too though.
- The car feels very solid, no rattle or squeeking.
- Ride comfort was also better than expected, no slamming from the wheels etc. (I drive X5 45e for comparison which has AS)
- It is very fast, goes from 50 km/h to 150 km/h in sport mode before you know it, but it doesn’t feel dramtic at all since there is no roaring ICE, the performance is really masked apart from you being pushed into the back of the seat.
- Turn on the Iconic sounds and in sport mode you get a completely different feel of the performance accomanied by the sound. I liked it, thought it would be gimmicky.

Overall a very compelling and impressive package. Really enjoyed it and congrats to everyone with one on order.

[deutsch100]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I did a test drive a couple of days ago. Aside from the grille (if everything else was good I could reluctantly live with it in a dark car to partially hide it), I really liked it with one that to me is a critical exception: range. I need more range than the I4 can give me.

I am planning on test drives of the IX and Lucid Air.

I have been against the giant, oversized and unnecessary buck teeth double kidney grilles since they first debuted. IMO, they look absurd on the iX, but they look somehow amazing on the i4.

Once in a while I still have an "omg gasp" when I see mine, LOL, but I have gotten several compliments about how hot and cool the front of my car look. Somehow....the grilled works on the i4, especially the M50!

[Nahlem]

Originally Posted by deutsch100

I have been against the giant, oversized and unnecessary buck teeth double kidney grilles since they first debuted. IMO, they look absurd on the iX, but they look somehow amazing on the i4.

Once in a while I still have an "omg gasp" when I see mine, LOL, but I have gotten several compliments about how hot and cool the front of my car look. Somehow....the grilled works on the i4, especially the M50!

Kinda felt the same ever sens they introduced the new grill design, i never hated but i was never a big fan of it although it works better on the i4 due to the grill shape especially at the lower section is different the the regular gran coupe both in terms of size and form.

But as with many designs that comes and goes i am wondering where they will be going with this in the future, right now the grill is there on the i4 as an identifier of the car but further ahead i am wondering how BMW will stand them self out because in the end we don't need the grill on EVs so its gonna be exiting to see where it goes from here.

Then again the IX and the new XM makes me wonder about BMWs design that lies ahead. But to be fair a lot of the designs we see are planned years ahead. So when this new design debuted they probably already had a new one planned for further ahead.

So i am not sure of what to expect from BMW or what i would want from them. Sense i am not in the category of "BMW aint BMW any more" talks that's flowing in abundants on these forums.

But i aint a fan of the IX and XM either. The i4 does the trick well enough for me but for the future BMW should design cars without this type of grill sens the EVs don't need it to begin with but i don't want BMW to look to generic either. So i am well to put it mildly at a "confused" state for what i would want and what to expect.

Picture bellow to highlight some of the difference between the grills of the m440 gran coupe to the i4 m50 and the yellow line is the reference height line to show the cars are the same height next to each other.