The BMW i4 Remains A Cracking Drive as Newer Rivals Close In

Four years after launch, the BMW i4 is still the electric saloon keen drivers keep circling back to. It is the battery-powered take on the 4 Series Gran Coupe, and none of the brand’s hard-won chassis nous has been lost in the switch. Auto Express holds it at four stars out of five, calling it sophisticated, superbly built and easy to recommend. Put it in a group test against five electric company car rivals, and it finished second only to the Tesla Model 3, largely on the strength of how it drives.

The line-up is simple enough. The rear-driven eDrive35 makes 282bhp and dispatches 0-62mph in 6.0 seconds from a 70.2kWh pack, good for a claimed 319 miles. Step up to the eDrive40, and you get 335bhp, 5.6 seconds and 380 miles from the larger 83.9kWh battery. Then there is the M60, a twin-motor monster with 593bhp and a 3.9-second sprint that will embarrass a fair few sports cars, though its claimed 338 miles reflects the extra mass and driven front axle. Every version clears the 300-mile mark, and every version gets a heat pump as standard, so cold mornings do not gut the figures.

On the road it feels like a BMW first and an EV second. Over two tonnes should blunt things, yet the i4 turns in cleanly, grips hard and steers with real precision, with no lazy understeer to spoil the flow. It was the quietest car in that company car megatest, beating even the reworked Model 3 for hush. Adaptive dampers, standard on the M60 and optional on M Sport trim, let you soften everything off for a motorway slog or firm it up for a B-road. One-pedal driving via the regen system proves its worth the moment traffic clots. Pick the smaller wheels and the trick suspension, and it becomes a seriously accomplished long-haul machine.

The cabin is where the i4 shows its age most gracefully. The twin curved screens, a 12.3-inch instrument panel and a 14.9-inch touchscreen, still look terrific, and the iDrive clickwheel and shortcut buttons remain so intuitive you barely glance down. BMW is phasing that layout out in favour of the iX3’s next-generation setup, which is a genuine shame. Build quality is faultless as ever, with soft-touch materials and brushed metal throughout. Practicality is patchier. The hatchback tailgate and 40:20:40 split bench beat the letterbox boots of the Model 3, CLA and Ioniq 6, and there is 470 litres back there rising to 1,290. There is no front boot, though, and the transmission tunnel hump means the rear is really a four-plus-one rather than a proper five-seater.

So where does that leave it? The gripes are real. Depreciation is steep, the Euro NCAP score stalled at four stars in 2022 while the Ioniq 6 and EV6 managed five, and charging tops out at 180kW for the eDrive35 or 207kW for the rest. Newer machinery goes further and refills faster, and BMW’s own i3 arrives on Neue Klasse underpinnings with a 112kWh pack, over 550 miles of range and 800-volt charging that adds 248 miles in ten minutes. The i4 will be eclipsed on paper. It will not be eclipsed on feel. If you want the best-driving car in this class, the eDrive40 M Sport remains the pick, and it still deserves your attention.