BMW i4 M50 EV | Impressively Normal

Summary

The BMW i4 is an electrified vehicle with a mix of traditional and modern design elements, offering a blend of old-school BMW interiors with new features. Despite some ergonomic and electronic quirks, the i4 provides a solid driving experience with impressive acceleration and a unique sound designed by Hans Zimmer. It's a capable contender in the electric vehicle market, offering a more traditional car feel compared to other EVs.

Takeaways

• 🚗 The BMW i4 is part of BMW's electrified vehicle lineup, offering a mix of traditional and new design elements.
• 🌐 It shares similarities with the 4 Series Gran Coupe in terms of exterior and interior design, but includes modifications for its electric powertrain.
• 🔋 The i4 features a dual-motor setup in the M50i variant, providing all-wheel drive capabilities and significant power output.
• 🔌 The battery pack has a capacity of approximately 81.5 kWh, with a focus on efficient thermal management and fast charging capabilities.
• 🎶 Renowned composer Hans Zimmer contributed to the i4's artificial engine sound, aiming to enhance the driving experience for electric vehicle drivers.
• 🚀 The i4 offers impressive acceleration and a sporty driving mode called 'Sport Boost', which temporarily increases the power output.
• 🛋️ The interior of the i4 blends traditional BMW elements with a modern dashboard design and the latest iDrive 8 infotainment system.
• 💰 The price point of the i4 M50i starts in the mid-60s, with additional options and features potentially increasing the cost further.
• 🔄 The i4's suspension has been adapted from the internal combustion versions, with changes to accommodate the electric motors and battery pack.
• 📊 The i4's driving dynamics offer a balance between sportiness and comfort, though some differences are noted compared to traditional BMW models.
• 🔍 Overall, the BMW i4 is considered a strong competitor in the electric vehicle market, providing a luxury driving experience with the benefits of an electric powertrain.

Q & A

What is the BMW i4 and how does it fit into BMW's vehicle lineup?

The BMW i4 is an electrified vehicle that is part of BMW's lineup, sharing exterior and interior design elements with the 4 Series Gran Coupe, which is a hatchback style vehicle.

What changes have been made to the exterior design of the BMW i4 due to its electric nature?

The exterior design of the BMW i4 has been altered to include a flat piece of plastic in place of the traditional grill, allowing for more design flexibility. Additionally, the car has been built on a traditional BMW CLAR architecture, which carries over many elements from internal combustion cars, including the body.

How does the interior design of the BMW i4 differ from traditional BMW interiors?

The interior design of the BMW i4 is a mix of older BMW interiors with a new design approach. The dashboard architecture appears more traditional, and the door panels are solid and easy to use, retaining many physical buttons and controls that users are accustomed to.

What are some of the ergonomic issues mentioned in the BMW i4?

The BMW i4 has some ergonomic issues such as the placement of the bottle holder in the door, the electrical switch for the hatch directly underneath it where water could leak, and the USB port placement next to the cup holders.

What are the starting prices for the BMW i4 variants?

The base rear-wheel-drive version of the BMW i4 starts at about $55,000, while the car in the discussion, a BMW i4 M50i, starts in the mid-$60,000 range.

How does the BMW i4's dual-motor setup differ from other electric vehicles?

The BMW i4 features a dual-motor setup with a smaller, less powerful motor in the front and a more powerful motor in the rear. It also includes a pseudo rear differential actuator that helps simulate a rear differential, although it does not have a traditional e-diff like some other electric vehicles.

What are the charging and battery characteristics of the BMW i4?

The BMW i4 has an 81.5 kilowatt-hour battery capacity and uses a three-circuit cooling system for the batteries and electric motors. It also features an integrated heat pump for efficiency and has a range of about 250 to 260 miles when fully charged.

How does the BMW i4's iDrive 8 system differ from previous versions?

The iDrive 8 system introduces a new design with threaded screens and a more graphically heavy interface. It moves the HVAC controls to the touchscreen, eliminating physical buttons, and replaces the physical controls under the screen with capacitive touch button controls.

What is the purpose of the fake engine noise feature in the BMW i4?

The fake engine noise feature, designed in collaboration with renowned composer Hans Zimmer, aims to enhance the driving experience by providing a premium and immersive sound that changes based on throttle input, vehicle load, and driving conditions.

How does the BMW i4 compare to the Tesla Model 3 in terms of driving dynamics?

The BMW i4 offers a more traditional car-like driving experience with a balance of luxury and performance, whereas the Tesla Model 3 is more focused on the electric vehicle experience with an emphasis on minimalism and driver assistance features.

What are the final thoughts on the BMW i4 M50i?

The BMW i4 M50i is a capable and quick automobile that offers a fairly organic feeling drivetrain and a refined, quiet ride. Despite some dynamic quirks, it provides a good substitute for traditional luxury vehicles and is worth considering as an alternative to competitors like the Tesla Model 3.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Overview of the BMW i4 and its Features

This paragraph introduces the BMW i4, an electrified vehicle part of BMW's lineup, and compares its exterior and interior design to the 4 series grand coupe. It discusses the changes made to the design elements to accommodate the electric nature of the vehicle, such as the replacement of the grill with a flat piece of plastic. The paragraph also touches on the carryover features from internal combustion cars, including the body and physical buttons and controls. It ends with a critique of certain design choices, such as the placement of the bottle holder and electrical switch for the hatch, and mentions the car's price point of over $70,000.

05:02

🎵 BMW i4's Interior and Infotainment System

The focus of this paragraph is on the BMW i4's interior, particularly the iDrive 8 infotainment system. It discusses the graphical heaviness and design of the system, the transition from minimalistic UI to more graphically intensive interfaces, and the impact on usability. The paragraph highlights the removal of physical HVAC controls in favor of touchscreen controls and the introduction of a capacitive touch button control setup. It also mentions the car's sound system, noting that despite the lack of a premium audio system, the Harman Kardon unit performs adequately. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on the mechanical changes to the i4, including its dual-motor setup and the challenges of adapting a gasoline-powered platform for electric motors.

10:02

🔋 BMW i4's Battery and Performance

This paragraph delves into the technical aspects of the BMW i4, including its battery capacity, cooling systems, and the integrated heat pump. It discusses the car's preconditioning feature for optimal fast charging and the electronic control of various functions. The paragraph also covers the car's driving dynamics, mentioning the sport boost function and the unique fake engine sound designed by Hans Zimmer. The sound is described as premium and adding to the overall driving experience, setting it apart from other brands' approaches to artificial engine noise.

15:05

🚘 Driving Experience and Comparison with Tesla Model 3

The paragraph discusses the driving experience of the BMW i4, comparing it to both traditional internal combustion engine vehicles and the Tesla Model 3. It highlights the i4's balance, suspension, and body control, as well as the differences in electronic programming between the i4's motors and those found in other BMW vehicles. The paragraph also touches on the limitations of the i4's power delivery and handling characteristics, particularly when driven aggressively. The discussion concludes with thoughts on the target market for the i4, suggesting that it may be best suited for those who prefer a smooth, quiet ride and are interested in the electric vehicle experience, rather than traditional BMW drivers seeking high performance.

20:05

🏁 Final Thoughts on the BMW i4 M50i

In this final paragraph, the speaker wraps up the discussion on the BMW i4 M50i by summarizing its key features and performance. It acknowledges the engineering improvements BMW has made over their earlier electric vehicle attempts, translating those lessons into a more enjoyable driving experience. The paragraph also reiterates the unique sound design collaboration with Hans Zimmer, emphasizing how it enhances the driving experience. The speaker concludes that the i4 is a worthy substitute for other luxury vehicles and electric competitors like the Tesla Model 3, especially for those who value a traditional car feel with the benefits of an electric powertrain.

Keywords

💡BMW i4

The BMW i4 is an electrified vehicle part of BMW's lineup, which is highlighted in the video as a significant step towards electric mobility for the brand. It represents a blend of traditional BMW design and engineering with new electric vehicle technology.

💡Electric Vehicle (EV)

An electric vehicle, or EV, is a car that is powered by an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The BMW i4 is an example of an EV, which the video discusses in terms of its design, performance, and the technology it incorporates.

💡Design Elements

Design elements refer to the visual and aesthetic features of a product, in this case, the BMW i4. These elements can include the shape, color, and materials used, as well as the overall style and look of the vehicle.

💡iDrive 8

iDrive 8 is the latest iteration of BMW's infotainment system. It represents a significant update in terms of user interface and functionality, incorporating touchscreen controls and advanced graphical interfaces.

💡Battery Technology

Battery technology refers to the systems and components used to store and manage energy in electric vehicles. The BMW i4's battery technology is discussed in terms of its capacity, cooling systems, and thermal management.

💡Performance

Performance in the context of the BMW i4 refers to the vehicle's speed, acceleration, handling, and overall driving experience. The video evaluates the i4's performance against traditional internal combustion engine vehicles and other electric vehicles.

💡Suspension

Suspension refers to the system of springs, shock absorbers, and other components that connect a vehicle's wheels to its frame, affecting its handling and ride comfort. The BMW i4's suspension is discussed in terms of its design and functionality.

💡Sound Design

Sound design in the context of the BMW i4 refers to the intentional creation and incorporation of artificial engine sounds to enhance the driving experience in electric vehicles, where traditional engine noise is absent.

💡Price Point

The price point refers to the cost or selling price of a product, in this case, the BMW i4. It is an important consideration for potential buyers and is often compared with the value and features offered by competitors.

💡Driving Dynamics

Driving dynamics encompass the behaviors and responses of a vehicle during motion, including aspects like acceleration, braking, cornering, and overall handling. The BMW i4's driving dynamics are discussed in the context of its electric powertrain and suspension setup.

Highlights

BMW i4 is part of BMW's electrified vehicle lineup.

The exterior and interior design follows the 4 Series Gran Coupe, a hatchback style vehicle.

Design elements were changed for better or worse to accommodate the electric nature of the vehicle.

The i4 retains a traditional BMW look on the exterior, similar to a normal car.

The interior space feels like a traditional mix of older and new BMW interiors.

Physical buttons and controls that drivers are used to have been retained.

The i4 has some design quirks, such as the placement of the bottle holder and electrical switch for the hatch.

The car is priced over $70,000, with certain features missing for that price point, like a manually adjusted steering wheel and premium audio system.

iDrive 8 introduces a new design with threaded screens and a more graphically heavy interface.

The i4 uses a dual-motor setup with a single-speed gearbox, providing around 460-470 horsepower.

The car has an 81.5 kWh battery capacity with a three-stage cooling system for optimal thermal management.

BMW worked with composer Hans Zimmer to design premium fake engine noise for the i4.

The i4 offers a unique driving experience compared to traditional internal combustion engine BMWs and other electric vehicles.

The vehicle's electronic programming of the motors may not be as refined as desired, leading to a disconnect between the front and rear axles.

The i4 is a capable and quick automobile with a fairly organic feeling drivetrain.

The i4 is a worthy substitute to other electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3.

BMW has translated lessons learned from previous EV attempts into a more enjoyable vehicle to drive.

The i4 offers a balance of luxury and performance that is expected from BMW.

The car's sound design adds to the driving experience rather than being a mere gimmick.

Transcripts

[Music]

the bmw i4 what does that mean

i'm not quite sure but i can tell you

it's a part of their electrified vehicle

lineup

in this car's case exterior and interior

it follows that of the 4 series grand

coupe which is a hatchback style vehicle

the exterior changes up some design

elements for better or for worse because

this is electric you lose some of the

grill for a flat piece of plastic that

allows a little bit more design

flexibility in terms of style but

because this is built on a traditional

bmw clar architecture that means a lot

of the the things that are carry over

here from the internal combustion car

including the whole body so at least on

the exterior it looks like a normal car

and on the interior space it feels like

a traditional mix of older bmw interiors

with a new one the design of the dash

architecture looks more traditional the

door panels of course are

very solid and very easy to use they've

remained a lot of the physical buttons

and controls that you're used to

and there's just everything kind of

looks and feels like where you would

expect everything to be at now one of

the things that doesn't make sense here

and this is bmw stuff why you would have

the

bottle holder here in the door and then

have an electrical switch for the hatch

right underneath it where water is going

to leak same thing in the cup holder

area where you have cup holders and then

a usb port right there there's some of

like this weird electronic stuff that

you would think you would figure out but

i don't know you know it is what it is

in terms of design of everything this is

pretty much maxed out this is over 70

000 for this car and i'm gonna let you

decide if that's ridiculous or not but

there's certain things that bother me

for that price

manually adjusted steering wheel uh you

don't get a premium audio system you're

kind of saddled with the harman kardon

unit which we've typically reviewed to

be very very average in this car i don't

know what it is if it's speaker

placement or they've changed some

electronic tuning with idrive 8 but it

sounds vastly more tolerable and in most

music namely electronic stuff it it has

a really good level of clarity and

imaging despite the screen here i was

worried about this high level screen if

it would interfere with that center

speaker and it sounds good and it tests

pretty decent as well so don't be afraid

of that back seat space is what you

expect there's pretty decent leg room

there even with the front seat back i

can pull some shenanigans back there and

of course because this is a hatchback

following that grand coupe you could put

down the rear seats and there's plenty

of storage space back there and you take

off that little kind of hide tray that

kind of hides your cargo stuff once that

hatch is up there's a lot of room back

there i fit all my gear i mean it's just

it's a very usable platform a very

usable car without having to go to like

or x3 so in that element it's good all

the ergonomics and all the knobs buttons

and switches in here are mostly solid

now the big change here really is

they've gone to idrive 8 and what does

that mean well the new design of idrive

connects these threaded screens and

you're going to see this on the icars

the like ix you're going to see it

retrofitted in things like the x7 and

some other products you get rid of the

screens that really are integrated into

the dash

either gauge cluster and infotainment

now they just have this stuck on

threaded screen which you're seeing from

hyundai you're seeing from mercedes and

probably a lot of other brands because

let's face it it's just cheaper to stick

the screen on than trying to integrate

this in the dash and if they need to

change design well they can just change

the screen without having to relay out

the dash architecture now on one part it

looks

way cheaper it looks hyper generic and

this and i'm going to go back to

something i said before and i was really

critical on bmw's last generation design

i'm like all the cars look the same the

interior has like no wow factor but now

as a bmw owner of that last generation

design i really appreciate how

everything was physical and that's

something that i drive eight attempts to

reverse they've moved all your hvac to

the touchscreen which means you're

constantly having to do this there's no

more muscle memory for hvac control you

have to go into a sub menu have to tap

there's no like sliding or swiping here

so that's really a it's it's a

frustrating thing you're going to get

used to but it's far less usable

the lower area of the center stack where

the

physical controls used to be for hvac

and the

like memory functions are gone to this

solid piece of like kind of capacitive

slash like physical touch button

controls that mimic almost that of the

volvo sensor setup where you have a

volume knob you have like buttons for

forward and back track and then like

defroster and that's all it is now and i

think it really is a step backward

overall in terms of usability in terms

of idrive 8 which is again their next

generation stuff it is far more

graphically heavy something that you

know is

you've seen ui designers go back and

forth between minimalistic design kind

of like

accessibility levels of just high

contrast black and white and now you

have graphics gradients again a lot of

color a lot of graphical design but the

good thing here is at least it's got

good gpu and cpu power to power the

multiple screens everything is really

quick i just find that you're constantly

over acting or over interacting with all

of these menus and it's not as good like

losing the shortcut buttons i can't just

one touch press a bottom function that

i'm in like android auto i could hit one

or two or three or four or turning off

screen or common functions no longer go

there so you have to deal with these

like panels or panes or widgets whatever

you want to call it

um so there's far more interaction

required to utilize this thank god the

idrive rotary knob is still here because

with this system really

to minimize distraction it's way better

to use the controller to get in and out

of menus especially when you're driving

when you're static you know it's easy

you can look at it interact with it

you're not distracted but it's just

really weird and graphically heavy and i

guess in terms of an electric car you

don't need a lot of information on the

screen to be honest you just really need

your speed because you don't need a

tachometer or all the other information

i need to know my speed my song and how

much range i have and that's essentially

what it does so really it does work well

and like most things new things people

just get used to it but let's head into

the shop and talk about the mechanical

changes to this car

mark we're underneath the new bmw i4

m50i this is the dual motor i-4 which is

the electrified variance of the 4 series

or 3 series grand coupe and let's just

briefly hit over the price points

because i didn't talk about it in the

interior what's the base it's rear-wheel

drive only it starts at about 55 000.

this car starts in the mid 60s however

this being a bmw you have to add options

like a harman kardon audio system or the

parking sensors or the driving aids so

realistically if you're going to get

into either of these vehicles you're

looking at a five to seven thousand

dollar delta over the base price which

puts this in an interesting position

from a price comparison you know the

price you can assume whatever value or

not value there is

let's talk about what this car is trying

to do first off it's built on an

internal combustion platform so this was

designed to have a gasoline-powered

engine first and now the car

architecture has been

heavily updated to accept electric

motors in the front and rear part of

this which means in the back they've had

to shrink down the multi-link five-link

multi-link suspension it's far more

compact the subframes have been changed

front and rear and in the back they've

had to add reinforcement and bracing on

the m-sport version or the this 50

version

under the hood basically it's a huge

chasm of wasted space for the electric

motor where that engine would go so when

we say it's been modified if this was a

clean sheet design this front half of

the car they'd think about okay we can

integrate storage we can integrate all

that stuff which is not here it's just a

giant plastic cover and they've added uh

support bars or strut tower bars to

reinforce the front end so

that's some of the things that have been

different here but a lot of the the bmw

things that they've traditionally done

on all the 4 series 3 series cars are

all the same strut front all aluminum

pieces you have dual ball joints in the

front which

improves dynamic handling it decreases

that toe angle change under compression

and load and then the back again changes

in suspension there but what else are we

talking about so to be fair to this car

mark yes it's built on car but much like

the tycon video we just did

most if not basically none of these

suspension commands on this car will

probably translate directly to the

equivalent four series they've had to

make pretty radical changes the thing to

talk about does specifically to the i4

is you have two different suspension

setups you have the base i-4 which is a

non-active damper or on the m sport

variant you get more aggressive spring

rates and more aggressive dampening

loads and they are also now active

dampers but you do have rear air shocks

in this car to deal with the added

weight and cargo carrying capacity of

the specific vehicle and it does auto

level itself as well and lower itself

when you get out to get into the load

floor easier the other thing to talk

about in this car is yes this is a dual

motor vehicle and unlike the ticon it is

more traditional in its setup where

there's a single speed gearbox you have

a smaller less powerful motor in the

front with a more powerful motor in the

rear i i think the total output is about

460 or 470 horsepower and there is a

slight over boost function when you put

this thing in launch control

and there is a pseudo rear differential

in this car so there is a slip actuator

in the rear motor that is supposed to

help put down the power and simulate a

rear differential but unlike again like

the tigon which is a traditional e-diff

this car does not have that which in my

opinion leads to some interesting

driving dynamics at the limit and the

sport boost function it's it's like

sport plus essentially with sport boost

that's where that mode will add the

60 plus horsepower of extra juice when

you push down the pedal in certain

conditions like launch control or

various conditions where the system

deems hey i can give you more voltage or

power to the electric motors so combined

when it's doing that again we talked

about this on other electric cars it's

all electronically controlled you

probably won't get the same performance

twice in two different conditions but it

can go over like 520 horsepower total

which

you know

is it necessary is it needed it's really

a number and it's not something you can

quantify driving it compared oh is this

feel the same as this car it's just

different every time you get on the

throttle so the other thing i'm going to

talk about mark is the battery packs so

both the rear drive and the dual motor

have the same battery capacity you're

looking at about 81.5 kilowatt hours and

they share the same cooling systems

again much like the ticon they have a

three stage or three circuit three

circuit cooling system you have a low

mid and a high grade and depending on

whether it's the the batteries that need

to be warmed or cooled the electric

motors et cetera et cetera it will

manage the thermal loads accordingly and

it does have an integrated heat pump so

really it's using the the heat from the

electric motor and the drive train to

heat the battery without having to use a

high voltage heater to get all that so

they've integrated and they've done this

as best as possible to make the the this

car is efficient to not degrade the pack

or drain the battery pack to give you

the most range possible so fully charged

at 100 it's about 250 to 260 again

condition wise that's all different but

it also involves preconditioning that

battery before you get to a fast voltage

charging point so if you put in the

infotainment in the navigation i want to

go to a dc fast charger it will get that

battery pack up to temperature before

you get there so you can get the fastest

charging possible if you're outside of

those windows either high or too low a

temperature it's not going to charge as

fast so again it's the electronic

control of this car that makes it way

more complicated in some ways than

internal combustion before we take the

i4 for a drive mark i want to talk about

one other thing and that's sound because

yes bmw got han zimmer to finally design

some very premium fake engine noise yeah

so renzo vitale who's in charge of this

division for well the sound and electric

motor the experience and then han zimmer

they contracted him out who is a

composer he's done movies like gladiator

and dune and when you listen to him he's

also done a master class if you've ever

watched that he's an interesting guy

because he approaches things on a very

practical level like he doesn't like to

over complicate things and and he's even

admits like sometimes working with the

right

brand okay well that's okay good good

point but traditionally in his his

scores he even self admits he likes to

just boil it down to some of the bare

essentials like

the the sound the way that we hear

things you can make it very impactful

without making you know making it hugely

complicated in terms of sound so he took

that approach with this but it's very

different than any other brand has ever

done this so one one way traditional

cars have done this with fake engine

noise with gasoline powered is they

license like blackberry

licenses them a piece of software they

can bake into the infotainment that they

can synthesize tone so you program your

sound a couple people can do it it's

really easy and it just changes the

pitch based on throttle input

they did not want to do that for these

cars they know sound is important so

really to compose all these special

elements it's not just one tone it's all

these multi-layered frequencies from low

to medium to high the pleasing sounds

the ear which is that mid-range and

having it really change based on load

not just like half throttle but full

throttle the way you lift off throttle

like a regular gasoline car it changes

that tone under load it's doing all this

to create this sonic like warm feel it's

not just a casio keyboard yes honestly

if it sounds better than what they did

in the m3 i'll be happy well when you

compare those back to back and to be 100

fair this is this is something you could

keep on and and feel like it's pretty

neat it's yes it's a gimmicky but it

does it's it is very pleasing it's not

horrible right exactly

jack

bmw i4

sport boost on traction off in b mode

for max regen regen's on we're going to

do launch control give me the full imax

experience mark

so

since we stopped at the shop segment

talking about the sound what do you

think

i think compared to what porsche just

did on their tycon and what hyundai has

done

this

does not annoy me at all and in fact in

some ways it adds to the experience

you're right there's a sense of like

i i know it's cliche theater to it like

it really does add something to the

experience well it doesn't perfectly

mimic i think what you're doing or what

you're expecting as we talked about it

feels like there should be a like a

second peak or something louder than

it's currently doing right it tapers off

at the top yeah like warp speed yeah you

know like after a certain

a certain mile per hour it should like

go to the next level like

but i i think honestly

one of the addictive parts of naturally

aspirated engines or cars that rev out

was you chase that high of like

constantly revving it and i think

responsibly they looked at like okay

we don't need to be building up the

sound anymore because you just want to

push it faster and you know i'm talking

about the sound because in terms of a

fun car this is an m

uh type car

that experience is lost in evs so you

have to augment it somehow and when we

talked to porsha i had a pretty deep

conversation with calvin about like the

mentality of like what do you lose

having sound gone and this is one of the

most interesting things i've seen done

in a modern like eve and they put a lot

of effort into this and it's very clear

so let's talk about the other stuff

obviously sound is just one part of it

i'm going to put this in comfort for

right now and it kind of just diminishes

the sound or you can completely turn it

off if you don't like it so how does

this function as a car just as a vehicle

that you're going to spend in this car's

case 76 thousand dollars and some change

what do you think of this vehicle to me

it feels like a stiffer

4 series like a 3 series right i mean

it's still all the good things about bmw

the damping's really good here as you

move up to the higher end when you go in

comfort it soaks everything up if the

interior cabin feels like a normal car

aside from the infotainment the steering

is basically as dead as an internal

combustion engine but it's not any worse

or any better and when you're driving it

you forget you're driving an ev it's

super refined it's super quiet the

suspension tuning is great and what i

really like about this and i've seen

some complaints about linearity of

throttle because now it's all

everything's digital brake by wire

throttle by wire and you're gonna get

the steer by wire but

for me when you're in v mode when it's

in max regen when you lift off

it's

basically you get used to almost that

one pedal braking effect

but when you go back

and you put it in a sporty mode the

throttle gets a lot more sensitive

obviously but when you jam on it

even with traction and stability control

off

uh there is like smoothing that it does

on the throttle so when you jam on it

foot to the floor it doesn't like snap

your head it it has that like

millisecond delay of smoothing before

the throttle goes full so what it does

is it does not upset the car as much it

doesn't upset you or me it's a far less

nauseating experience and it's still

super fast

now in sport boost which is like sport

plus that's where you get the extra

power from launch control and i you know

again i'll do it one more time for the

hell of it but a lot of people say that

there's a lot of hop in the back from

this drivetrain in the back the wheels

hop up quite a bit and to me it feels

more like traction stability control

cutting in

i think where you notice the strangeness

is when i drove this earlier and i was

driving this thing like an absolute

monkey because it's not a traditional

weird differential yeah it doesn't quite

feel like a

bmw product when you're trying to get

the slide around like when you think of

an m product i know this is an m sport

but you think of a clutch based rear

diff yes it allows you to pull power

slides like hell in the m240i we just

drove yeah

this car doesn't have that so i want to

i want to ask you two questions first

off is how does this feel as an eevee

people who are going to be buying this

thing may not looking may not be looking

for a traditional internal combustion

vehicle anymore how does it stack up

against the model 3 i i love the way

that it feels i love the balance of it

the solidness of it it's not an echo

chamber like the model 3 with the glass

roof

uh it still has great balance and

suspension and body control like if

you're not pushing it 100 you still get

the balance of a regular bmw car car

which you know three or four series

the difference here is their electronic

programming of the front and the rear

motors is definitely not as figured out

so when i say figured out you'll come

out of a corner and with everything off

you'll feel that it is limiting the

power out of a corner it's not giving

you full power so

again it's that smoothing effect that

they're giving so you don't get all the

power to upset this car so it's that

transition the power to when you get out

of a corner then you feel it and then

also there's a lot of front end like

wash out so it's hard to get this you

know like

it grips and it it puts you in the

intended direction but there is a

disconnect between the front and the

rear axle far more than you would get in

a normal 3 series or even like a model

3. that disconnect is far more here so

my next question then and this is

because it is a bmw we both agree that

what's good about this car versus a

tesla it's the same thing that i said in

the tycoon video is bmw builds cars yes

and this is a four series that happens

to be electric a tesla product is a ev

vehicle that unfortunately is driven by

people right that's their philosophy as

a corporation they want to eliminate the

driver yeah so this still feels like a

normal car which is what you and i both

like about it but if you're coming from

a bmw you know the equivalent vehicle in

a three or four series has the b58 at

this price point it is one of the best

inline sixes or best internal combustion

engines currently sold that are you know

relatively mass market in a luxury

product and a luxury product this is now

this ev powertrain is no longer

substituting a box you know

rattling four four-cylinder like you do

in the kias and some of the other cars

i don't see the advantage in america

where gas is still relatively

inexpensive

uh of this drivetrain versus the b-58

that drive train is so good so smooth

relatively fuel efficient that the price

delta you are paying for this which is

about 10 grand i don't necessarily see

the benefit i don't know i think there's

better driving dynamics at the limit

with the b58 and the the zf gearbox they

this is not completely sorted out so who

this is for is like what we're doing

right now you want the ev drivetrain

where it's buttery smooth all-wheel

drive you get the thrust of the straight

line acceleration some of the sound and

the gimmicks of the car and you want to

lease one of these

i would have zero problem doing that if

you wanted more fun and you wanted a

better driving experience you just go to

the regular three or four series with

the b58 i think it's better at this

point but this is not far behind and it

this will exceed it yes in the next

generation car it will exceed it so if

you want this

definitely lease or you live in a

country where you need to be driving an

ev now yeah no i mean

in most regards in most situations this

is better it's just doing this

but you know again when you start to

hustle it

it depends on who you are yeah it

depends on the type of driver you are

you want to be at the limit all the time

or you just want to cruise around and if

you're just cruising around this is

better if you can live with like the 250

mile like range cap

which depending on where you are you may

or may not have the necessary

infrastructure to support it but with

that mark i think it's time for us to

head into the final thoughts sir sounds

good jack

[Music]

final thoughts on the bmw i4 m50i bmw

took engineering lessons they learned

from some of their early ev attempts

like the bmw i3 and translated those

lessons into a far more usable and

enjoyable vehicle to drive weather

updates to thermal management strategy

of the batteries the battery technology

itself and the electric motors this i-4

is a fairly good substitute to a more

traditional luxury vehicle and for the

most part it has a fairly organic

feeling drivetrain while yes there is

some weirdness in its dynamics

specifically between the front and the

rear and how they communicate that is

not found in its internal combustion

counterparts it's still a very capable

and quick automobile so what do i think

about the car as a whole well i think

the fact that bmw added back sound

something that's missing in so many eb

vehicles and not just noise for the sake

of noise by consulting with real music

industry experts and using the

shepherd's tone the noise that's being

generated in this vehicle actually adds

to the experience versus the tracks from

it and i'm sure in the future with otas

and everything else you'll get some nice

sound dlcs

so with that thanks for watching and i

really do think this bmw i4 is a worthy

substitute to something like a tesla

model 3 as worth checking out

[Music]

you