I'm taking the plunge - BMW i4 eDrive 40 on order
Discussion
Well I never thought I'd see the day but I have placed an order for a 'stock car' via my works salary sacrifice scheme for an EV. I took a look at several cars, read and watched the reviews and the i4 seemed to tick the boxes for me including being most like a normal car...........in my humble option of course. I had looked at the Audi Q4, Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and the BMW iX3.
Styling wise, it's Marmite but I'm in the camp of 'oh that looks lovely' but my original Portimao Blue colour choice was quickly swapped to Brooklyn Grey to keep the wife happy of course. I feel I might regret this given the number of Grey i4's I've spotted this past week. M-Sport spec with a few pre-selected options means I'll be taking delivery at the end of July which gives me time to install a house charger and look for an EV tariff.
We are a two car house hold so the wife's car is in the process of being sold and I still have my old Ford Focus ST for old-skool sounds and smells of a petrol car. I think I'll keep the ST for a while yet due to the time, effort and money keeping her in VGC with some subtle performance mods.
I would be interested in hearing if there are any other i4 owners with some miles under their belt and your initial impressions.
I plan to document my ownership/lease here with the good, and the bad I'm sure. For me the 300 mile real world range, potential of a cossetting ride, being back in an auto and hopefully some brilliant Bavarian build quality is exactly what my creaky old arse needs at my age.
Styling wise, it's Marmite but I'm in the camp of 'oh that looks lovely' but my original Portimao Blue colour choice was quickly swapped to Brooklyn Grey to keep the wife happy of course. I feel I might regret this given the number of Grey i4's I've spotted this past week. M-Sport spec with a few pre-selected options means I'll be taking delivery at the end of July which gives me time to install a house charger and look for an EV tariff.
We are a two car house hold so the wife's car is in the process of being sold and I still have my old Ford Focus ST for old-skool sounds and smells of a petrol car. I think I'll keep the ST for a while yet due to the time, effort and money keeping her in VGC with some subtle performance mods.
I would be interested in hearing if there are any other i4 owners with some miles under their belt and your initial impressions.
I plan to document my ownership/lease here with the good, and the bad I'm sure. For me the 300 mile real world range, potential of a cossetting ride, being back in an auto and hopefully some brilliant Bavarian build quality is exactly what my creaky old arse needs at my age.
Good choice! This is the one I went for too. I considered the M50, but I’d rather have the range than the performance these days.
I’ve had mine since last November, I’ve done about 2300 miles in it. Build quality is great, there are no annoying creaks or other noises, it just wafts silently (or with the Hans Zimmer iconic sounds, if that’s what floats your boat). The 300-mile range is only really achievable in summer, in winter I was getting about 250-260. BMW recommends charging to 80%, and to 100% only in exceptional cases. Charging is very straightforward, the display is nicely customisable, the HK sound system is pretty good.
Personally, I’m still miffed with BMW for removing some of my specced options ‘because semiconductor shortages’ - but mostly because they returned those options to the cars a week or so after they built mine and wouldn’t let me defer so that I could have the car I wanted.
I’ll probably buy something other than a BMW next time, just because that annoyed me so much!
The most common problem seems to relate to the charging door, which can jam without warning - and there’s no manual release for it. I haven’t experienced this problem yet, but quite a few people have.
It’s worth signing up at i4talk.com - most of us on there are friendly.
I’ve had mine since last November, I’ve done about 2300 miles in it. Build quality is great, there are no annoying creaks or other noises, it just wafts silently (or with the Hans Zimmer iconic sounds, if that’s what floats your boat). The 300-mile range is only really achievable in summer, in winter I was getting about 250-260. BMW recommends charging to 80%, and to 100% only in exceptional cases. Charging is very straightforward, the display is nicely customisable, the HK sound system is pretty good.
Personally, I’m still miffed with BMW for removing some of my specced options ‘because semiconductor shortages’ - but mostly because they returned those options to the cars a week or so after they built mine and wouldn’t let me defer so that I could have the car I wanted.
I’ll probably buy something other than a BMW next time, just because that annoyed me so much!The most common problem seems to relate to the charging door, which can jam without warning - and there’s no manual release for it. I haven’t experienced this problem yet, but quite a few people have.
It’s worth signing up at i4talk.com - most of us on there are friendly.
I’ve got an M50 and done 5,000 miles since Jan.
Came from an A6 2.0 tdi, so the BMW feels like and absolute weapon in comparison.
My first BM after 5 new Audis in the past 10 years and I can’t see me going back.
I love everything about it, looks, cost, performance, running costs and it even swallowed luggage for 4 for a fortnight on hols. Something I was nervous about coming from an A6 avant.
Only negative is rear space as my sons car seat covers the seatbelt and it’s pain to plug him in.
Overall, an amazing bit of kit IMO.
Came from an A6 2.0 tdi, so the BMW feels like and absolute weapon in comparison.
My first BM after 5 new Audis in the past 10 years and I can’t see me going back.
I love everything about it, looks, cost, performance, running costs and it even swallowed luggage for 4 for a fortnight on hols. Something I was nervous about coming from an A6 avant.
Only negative is rear space as my sons car seat covers the seatbelt and it’s pain to plug him in.
Overall, an amazing bit of kit IMO.
I have had an i4M50 since June last year - worst BMW I have ever owned in terms of reliability (and I have owned lots of BMWs). Car has spent nearly as much time off road at BMW UK and at the dealers with battery issues, control units issues, software update failures, drive train failures etc which rendered the car unmoveable and undriveable. After a protracted dialogue with BMW UK and my dealer, the car has been returned and a replacement is on order.
Hopefully you have better luck with the replacement.
I bought rubber mats off a guy who got rid of his after a month as there was a problem and the wait for the part was 6 months! He swapped for a 530e and I lucked out and got mats for half price.
Touch wood I’ve had no issues in 5,000 miles.
I bought rubber mats off a guy who got rid of his after a month as there was a problem and the wait for the part was 6 months! He swapped for a 530e and I lucked out and got mats for half price.
Touch wood I’ve had no issues in 5,000 miles.
Mahalo said:
I have had an i4M50 since June last year - worst BMW I have ever owned in terms of reliability (and I have owned lots of BMWs). Car has spent nearly as much time off road at BMW UK and at the dealers with battery issues, control units issues, software update failures, drive train failures etc which rendered the car unmoveable and undriveable. After a protracted dialogue with BMW UK and my dealer, the car has been returned and a replacement is on order.
I have one on order, arriving in a few weeks. I hope your awful experience was an exception..I haven't heard or general reliability issues, although due to lead times I guess there's relatively few M50's on the road just yet.
Fingers crossed.
I've had my eDrive 40 for a couple of months, done around 3k in it.
It's a fantastic car, has some quirks but overall it's great.
I've been averaging 4 miles/kwh but managed 4.4kwh over an entire charge last week, going at or above the speed limit, meaning I could have got near enough 350 miles on a charge if I'd kept going.
It's a fantastic car, has some quirks but overall it's great.
I've been averaging 4 miles/kwh but managed 4.4kwh over an entire charge last week, going at or above the speed limit, meaning I could have got near enough 350 miles on a charge if I'd kept going.
I've had my i4 M50 since August last year. Done around 10k in it. Came from a 440i Gran Coupe so it was a similar car in terms of size and spec. I love it. Had zero problems with it since delivery. It goes like the clappers but is silent for cruising for the most part. Well screwed together and the ride is better than the 440 (or a recent 520i I went jn).
I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
rmcoboy said:
I've had my i4 M50 since August last year. Done around 10k in it. Came from a 440i Gran Coupe so it was a similar car in terms of size and spec. I love it. Had zero problems with it since delivery. It goes like the clappers but is silent for cruising for the most part. Well screwed together and the ride is better than the 440 (or a recent 520i I went jn).
I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
I’m the same, can see me getting another M50. The only other EV that I like is the Taycan but the spec is poor in comparison and by the time you add decent wheels and spec it is ££££. I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
Can’t fault the M50 so far.
SGirl said:
Personally, I’m still miffed with BMW for removing some of my specced options ‘because semiconductor shortages’ - but mostly because they returned those options to the cars a week or so after they built mine and wouldn’t let me defer so that I could have the car I wanted. I’ll probably buy something other than a BMW next time, just because that annoyed me so much!
You mean you didn’t get some of the options you ordered. Did you get the option to reject the Cara’s it wasn’t what you ordered? I’ll probably buy something other than a BMW next time, just because that annoyed me so much!carl_w said:
bad company said:
You mean you didn’t get some of the options you ordered. Did you get the option to reject the Cara’s it wasn’t what you ordered?
Problem is if you reject you're into another 9 month wait. Thankfully BMW switched to a system of holding inventory of limited supply components and not making cars available for order unless they have the components required - or unless the customer is informed of the missing features in advance.
This is why some variants simply disappeared from the website - the iX 50 for example. For quite a while dealers were telling customers to not order an i4 M50 either, because they were already waiting months for new build slot allocations to come through for orders they had already taken - before BMW sorted the situation out.
JLR are the same. The basic HSE and Sport spec of the iPace at launch/refresh included surround cameras. But today, that feature is gone and not even available as an option (in your £80,000 luxury car..)
zj2016 said:
rmcoboy said:
I've had my i4 M50 since August last year. Done around 10k in it. Came from a 440i Gran Coupe so it was a similar car in terms of size and spec. I love it. Had zero problems with it since delivery. It goes like the clappers but is silent for cruising for the most part. Well screwed together and the ride is better than the 440 (or a recent 520i I went jn).
I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
I’m the same, can see me getting another M50. The only other EV that I like is the Taycan but the spec is poor in comparison and by the time you add decent wheels and spec it is ££££. I get about 250 miles in the summer and more like 190-200 in the winter, but I do a lot of motorway driving and don't hang about. Couple of lads in the office have the e40 version and confirm that the range is a bit better. Charge at home and work though so never needed public charging.
Great car. Unless something radically better comes along in the next couple of years I might get another.
Can’t fault the M50 so far.
bad company said:
I fancy an i4 edrive 40. What’s concerning me is the loss of performance compared to my current G20 340 xdrive.
I could go for the M50 but that’d sacrifice range.
The real world range difference is not that great, certainly less than the performance difference!I could go for the M50 but that’d sacrifice range.
I've driven both and the 40 is good, it's actually very tail happy which is amusing but even that aspect is spoiled a little by the cars very obvious weight - it's nice to kick the back end out in theory but it can be a bit of a job to collect it neatly when you're essentially driving a softly sprung pendulum... The 50 with it's adaptive damping and rear air suspension sorts that out no end.
In my view the M50 is the i4 they designed, and it makes sense and is a great car. The 40 is the same car with some expensive bits removed for the sake of making an entry level version. As a result, the M50 is probably the better value car - it's the car as it's supposed to be.
The M50 should also ideally be specced with the larger wheels - which further reduce range, chiefly because they have wider performance tyres which results in more rolling friction. Happily also more grip which is very useful in a car that frequently gets recorded hitting 60 in less than 3.5 seconds.. the bigger wheels also result in a lower profile, firmer tyre which further helps combat the weight of the car.
Will the reduced range really hamper you based on your typical usage?
I picked up my M50 last Friday so cannot say anything about reliability but really love it so far.
Like the above poster, I drove the 40 and 50 and much preferred the latter. Also, you will find the price difference between the two is not as great as first appears, because the 50 comes with lots as standard, which the 40 does not.
Like the above poster, I drove the 40 and 50 and much preferred the latter. Also, you will find the price difference between the two is not as great as first appears, because the 50 comes with lots as standard, which the 40 does not.
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