Yahoo Autos 2022 BMW i4 M50 Road Test Review: Why get the gas version?
On our way to a future dedicated to EVs, BMW has taken transitional steps, placing electric powerplants into some vehicles previously dedicated to internal combustion. Case in point: the BMW i4.
An i4 appears to be just another 4 Series Gran Coupe. It doesn’t look cyber-anything. If you failed to spot the i4 badge in back or the lack of tailpipes, you’d never know. You won’t even find a frunk, since all the electric bits went where the greasy bits used to be. Under the hood is a vast plastic cover that stretches fender to fender (or a big hole if you get the single-motor i4 eDrive40).
The oversized 4 Series grille remains a visual stumble, and a paradox for a car that doesn’t need a grille at all; it’s mostly hiding sensors, its expanse broken up by the license plate strapped across the middle. Look past the nose, and the i4 appears to be a typical, handsome BMW sports sedan (this one with the convenience of a liftback).
But this is the i4 M50, so how it looks is one thing, what it does quite another. Two electric motors spin all the wheels and whip up all kinds of performance — peaking at 536 horsepower and 586 pound-feet of torque that can be summoned in 10 seconds of Sport Boost. That’s more than an M4 Competition; in terms of torque, it’s way more. Car and Driver clocked the i4 M50’s 0-to-60 performance at 3.3 seconds, two-tenths faster than the M3 Competition.
I recently took an i4 M50 on a quick road trip, and in normal driving you’d never know the car had superpowers. But hit the metaphorical gas and awaken a monster. (Will "hitting the gas" become a language vestige like "dialing the phone"?) We often use the terms “head-snapping” or “bonkers” around here to describe acceleration, and it's true. Every noggin in the car bonked off the headrests — including my own, despite the fact I knew what was coming and braced for it. Cue the Hans Zimmer soundtrack. Good thing the steering wheel controls feature a speed limiter.
On a cruise up I-5 from the Seattle area to Bellingham, Wash., and then back down while clinging to the edge of mountain and sea on scenic Chuckanut Drive, we logged 164 miles. The car arrived home with 33% charge remaining, enough for another 91 miles by the computer’s reckoning. So that’s theoretically a total range of 255 miles, beating the car’s 227-mile EPA rating — pretty good considering most of the trip was at 70-plus mph, and interstate speeds typically do EV range no favors. The miles per kilowatt hour average was 3.0 (from an 83.9 kWh battery).
With that range, we could have driven in one sitting from Seattle to Whistler, B.C., or Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast for a vacation (with luggage). Walla Walla wine country or Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, would be slightly out of reach unless you stopped for a charge — or if you settled for the more sedate i4 eDrive40 with a rating of 301 miles. (The M50’s 20-inch wheels and second motor drastically shrink the official rating.) I did not need to publicly charge the car on this outing, but it's capable of flowing 200 kilowatts from a 350-kW DC charger. That's among the fastest in the industry. In Autoblog’s first-drive review of this car, contributor Lawrence Ulrich experienced a quick-and-easy charge.
For a full rundown on the car’s performance, you should check out that review, where Ulrich asks, “Why would anyone want the gasoline version?“ You should also consult our i4 overview and buying guide. Today’s assignment, however, is to simply spend a day in the i4 M50.
That day in a word? Nice.
A one-motor base BMW i4 Gran Coupe has a starting MSRP of $56,985 including its $995 destination charge. Stepping up to the M50 takes the starting price to $66,895. For that money, you get a lot of good things, including the attractive Cognac brown interior with perforated seating. (Like every modern BMW’s seats, these made my butt nostalgic for the Recaros in my first BMW 40 years ago. Why don't all seats have thigh extenders?)
This example in Mineral White Metallic (a $550 option) totaled $77,070. Other add-ons included Shadowline black accents, driver assists, those 20-inch M-style wheels, even a drive recorder.
