Hi!
I took delivery of my BMW i4 M50 last November . After more than two months of driving it, I figured it's time for a review.
Ordering the car
I've described the start of my journey towards an i4 in my member introduction. In short, it started in the summer for 2021 while looking for a new car and realising the i4 might be the car for me. I finally ordered in January 2022 and changed my order twice because of changing preferences on my end and parts shortages/changing packages on BMW's end. In the end I got the car I wanted.
It doesn't have the factory standard 20" 868 M rims, but I did get the after market Night Gold 20" 868 M rims which I'm looking forward to putting on the car when summer comes. It also doesn't have Active Protection or Drive Recorder, although I was able to add the latter through ConnectedDrive. I did a one week trial and forgot to activate it. I guess I don't need that option. 🤷♂️ I did get the kick trunk opener (yeah!) and the iDrive controller touchpad (whatever).
Throughout the process my dealer, van Poelgeest Amstelveen, was communicative and helpful. I did always doublecheck the updated specs and once find one option that suddenly dropped off. I've learned from remodelling my current and previous house, that it pays to painstakingly double check every order and invoice you get. While people on the other end will usually try and do a good job, I'd be the one that has to "live" with the consequences of something not being done to spec, if it's not (easily) reversible.
Delivery was nicely organised. The dealership sent me a video with a sneak preview of part of my car the day before. Picking up the car was fast and efficient. The sales guy I had been working with was on holiday, so a colleague of his took over. He did a good job. He wanted to explain all of the features but when I told I'm an IT geek that likes electronic gizmos and have been reading the manual front to back and back to front for the last six months, he was a little disappointed. 😁 After he showed me how to access the Harman Kardon "Experience the Sound" video, which isn't in the manual, I was on my way.
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Automotive tire]()
The car
As you can see in the picture above, my car is a BMW i4 M50 in Dravit Grey with the M Sport Pro package (859 19" rims, red brake callipers, M sport seatbelts and M shadowline headlights), extended shadowline package and the 50-year M logo's. It also has M Sport Seats with Vernasca Cognac leather, carbon fibre trim, sunroof, comfort access, Harman Kardon sound, DAPP and PAP.
![Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design Steering part]()
The colour is amazing and changes all the times. Here are some pics with different lighting and from different angles. I've reduced the size of pictures in here for formatting. You can get the full size by using your browser's "View Image" functionality.
![Wheel Tire Vehicle Car Hood]()
![Wheel Tire Vehicle Car Automotive tire]()
![Car Wheel Land vehicle Tire Vehicle]()
![Tire Wheel Vehicle Car Grille]()
![Wheel Tire Lexus is Car Grille]()
I'll post some more pics when the car has been shod with the Night Gold 868M 20" rims.
Driving the car
Driving the i4 M50 is great. I named this review "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" because the car truly has many different modes. I've driven a 420d Gran Coupe and a 435i Gran Coupe before this. In both cars, the ECO Pro mode was so sluggish that I've only used them once in each car. Of course the Sport mode was a blast, especially in the 435i Gran Coupe. But since they both had non-adaptive M suspension, the ride was harsh (but too too harsh) in all modes. In the i4 M50 all three modes work well and make the care behave in a totally different manner.
In ECO Pro mode the car is perfect long distance tourer, where you use DAPP to just go with the flow on the motorway and are relaxed enough to listen to podcasts and play games with your family. Unless you push the pedal further, acceleration is limited to what most other cars on the road do. And what is comfortable for your passengers. This is Dr Jekyll.
In Comfort mode, the car gets a little faster, but unless you floor it, the acceleration does not feel too brutal for your passengers. And for other people on the road. This is the mode I use when driving around Amsterdam and the surroundings.
And finally, Sport Boost mode is where Mr Hyde comes out. The car accelerates like it was shot out of a canon. And then it goes where I want it to go. The feeling of being able to just "point and shoot" reminds me of the liter bike (Yamaha R1) I had 15 years ago. See where you want to go, think it and you're there. This is also the mode that might make you lose your license and has passengers getting sick in your car. I'm amazed to read that some people always drive in Sport mode.
Letting the car be driven
Many people like to say that Tesla's are computers on wheels, but to be honest, a BMW i4 is also a computer on wheels. It does a very good job of feeling and driving like a regular car, but messing with all the driving settings does feel a bit like tinkering with my WiFi setup. I'm a geek and I like that but I can imagine "regular" folk getting confused by all the combinations that are possible.
For example to slow down or stop:
Even though there are a lot of options, they do make sense, at least to me. It's mostly a matter of how "guided" you want to be. For example, on the motorway the car will warn you if you're about to leave your lane without using your indicators and then push you back (in The Netherlands the car won't remember that you turned that off). Or you turn on Lane Keep Assist and let the car do it for you.
My previous cars only had basic cruise control. The change to adaptive cruise control was bigger than I had expected. In my previous car I used to manually set it to 3 km/h over the speed limit. The i4 does that for me automatically. More importantly, when a car in front of me is driving a little closer I don't have to choose between braking (and disengaging the cruise control) or overtaking (and annoying quicker cars on the faster lane, unless I accelerate). My car will just slow down. When it's really too slow for me, I'll wait until I find some room to overtake, steer to the left and let it accelerate again. I've gotten so relaxed this way that I've been slowed down by 15 km/h before noticing. 🐌
Charging the car
To charge the car I've mostly used public AC charging. I don't have my own charging setup and have not needed DC charging yet. The rates with BMW Charging are very good. They've gone up from €0.29 per kWh to €0,39 this year because of changing tax rules and rising energy prices, but that's still lower than the electricity rates from my energy provider (€0,66 per kWh) or even the max. energy price (energieplafond) of €0,40 per kWh set by the Dutch government. I've gotten some free charging at my in-laws and hotels, so charging has been pretty cheap for me.
Of course, whether driving the car is cheap also depends on the efficiency. When I just got the car, it was freezing in The Netherlands and I was doing a lot of short drives. Efficiency could be as bad as 35 kWh/100 km (1.8 Mi/kwH) and I was getting a little worried about road tripping across Europe in the summer. But then it got warmer and I went on longer trips. I've gotten a very decent 17,5 kWh/100 km (3.5 Mi/KwH) driving back from my in laws (after preconditioning while charging) and 18,5 kWh/100 km (3,5 Mi/Kwh) on a 221 km (138 Mi) trip from Gent to Amsterdam. This was on ECO Pro + DAPP, driving mostly at103 km/h (65 Mi/h) on the motorway and some bits at 133 km/h (83 Mi/h).
Last summer we drove around Europe where we drove at most 600 km (375 Mi) per day. That should be easily doable with a single charging stop in the middle of the day.
As for local usage; I now know the percentage I need for the trips I take regularly. That allows me to figure out when I'll need to charge next. Charging is easy with four public AC charges within 100m of my house. I did have to quickly run out and charge my car for two hours because my plans for the day changed. So while it's not as care free as driving a petrol car, it is very doable.
Conclusion
So, do I love the love this car? Yes, I do!
When I ordered the car I worked on Hilversum, a 35 km/20 Mi drive from Amsterdam. Now I work in Amsterdam and cycle to work in 10 minutes. So I don't use the car that much during the week, but whether I'm driving around doing chores or going on longer trips, it's the prefect companion. It's comfortable and fast. And it looks great to boot!
I took delivery of my BMW i4 M50 last November . After more than two months of driving it, I figured it's time for a review.
Ordering the car
I've described the start of my journey towards an i4 in my member introduction. In short, it started in the summer for 2021 while looking for a new car and realising the i4 might be the car for me. I finally ordered in January 2022 and changed my order twice because of changing preferences on my end and parts shortages/changing packages on BMW's end. In the end I got the car I wanted.
It doesn't have the factory standard 20" 868 M rims, but I did get the after market Night Gold 20" 868 M rims which I'm looking forward to putting on the car when summer comes. It also doesn't have Active Protection or Drive Recorder, although I was able to add the latter through ConnectedDrive. I did a one week trial and forgot to activate it. I guess I don't need that option. 🤷♂️ I did get the kick trunk opener (yeah!) and the iDrive controller touchpad (whatever).
Throughout the process my dealer, van Poelgeest Amstelveen, was communicative and helpful. I did always doublecheck the updated specs and once find one option that suddenly dropped off. I've learned from remodelling my current and previous house, that it pays to painstakingly double check every order and invoice you get. While people on the other end will usually try and do a good job, I'd be the one that has to "live" with the consequences of something not being done to spec, if it's not (easily) reversible.
Delivery was nicely organised. The dealership sent me a video with a sneak preview of part of my car the day before. Picking up the car was fast and efficient. The sales guy I had been working with was on holiday, so a colleague of his took over. He did a good job. He wanted to explain all of the features but when I told I'm an IT geek that likes electronic gizmos and have been reading the manual front to back and back to front for the last six months, he was a little disappointed. 😁 After he showed me how to access the Harman Kardon "Experience the Sound" video, which isn't in the manual, I was on my way.
The car
As you can see in the picture above, my car is a BMW i4 M50 in Dravit Grey with the M Sport Pro package (859 19" rims, red brake callipers, M sport seatbelts and M shadowline headlights), extended shadowline package and the 50-year M logo's. It also has M Sport Seats with Vernasca Cognac leather, carbon fibre trim, sunroof, comfort access, Harman Kardon sound, DAPP and PAP.
The colour is amazing and changes all the times. Here are some pics with different lighting and from different angles. I've reduced the size of pictures in here for formatting. You can get the full size by using your browser's "View Image" functionality.
I'll post some more pics when the car has been shod with the Night Gold 868M 20" rims.
Driving the car
Driving the i4 M50 is great. I named this review "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" because the car truly has many different modes. I've driven a 420d Gran Coupe and a 435i Gran Coupe before this. In both cars, the ECO Pro mode was so sluggish that I've only used them once in each car. Of course the Sport mode was a blast, especially in the 435i Gran Coupe. But since they both had non-adaptive M suspension, the ride was harsh (but too too harsh) in all modes. In the i4 M50 all three modes work well and make the care behave in a totally different manner.
In ECO Pro mode the car is perfect long distance tourer, where you use DAPP to just go with the flow on the motorway and are relaxed enough to listen to podcasts and play games with your family. Unless you push the pedal further, acceleration is limited to what most other cars on the road do. And what is comfortable for your passengers. This is Dr Jekyll.
In Comfort mode, the car gets a little faster, but unless you floor it, the acceleration does not feel too brutal for your passengers. And for other people on the road. This is the mode I use when driving around Amsterdam and the surroundings.
And finally, Sport Boost mode is where Mr Hyde comes out. The car accelerates like it was shot out of a canon. And then it goes where I want it to go. The feeling of being able to just "point and shoot" reminds me of the liter bike (Yamaha R1) I had 15 years ago. See where you want to go, think it and you're there. This is also the mode that might make you lose your license and has passengers getting sick in your car. I'm amazed to read that some people always drive in Sport mode.
Letting the car be driven
Many people like to say that Tesla's are computers on wheels, but to be honest, a BMW i4 is also a computer on wheels. It does a very good job of feeling and driving like a regular car, but messing with all the driving settings does feel a bit like tinkering with my WiFi setup. I'm a geek and I like that but I can imagine "regular" folk getting confused by all the combinations that are possible.
For example to slow down or stop:
- Use adaptive D mode to slow down when you lift off the accelerator and there is car in front of you.
- However, you'll still need to brake to get to a full stop. Unless you really get too close. Then the collision detection will stop you (jarringly).
- Once stopped, you'll need to keep pressing the brake pedal. Unless you activate auto hold.
- You could also activate B mode, in which case the car will slow down whenever you lift the accelerator and even comes to a complete stop without you having to press the brake pedal. But then it won't coast.
Even though there are a lot of options, they do make sense, at least to me. It's mostly a matter of how "guided" you want to be. For example, on the motorway the car will warn you if you're about to leave your lane without using your indicators and then push you back (in The Netherlands the car won't remember that you turned that off). Or you turn on Lane Keep Assist and let the car do it for you.
My previous cars only had basic cruise control. The change to adaptive cruise control was bigger than I had expected. In my previous car I used to manually set it to 3 km/h over the speed limit. The i4 does that for me automatically. More importantly, when a car in front of me is driving a little closer I don't have to choose between braking (and disengaging the cruise control) or overtaking (and annoying quicker cars on the faster lane, unless I accelerate). My car will just slow down. When it's really too slow for me, I'll wait until I find some room to overtake, steer to the left and let it accelerate again. I've gotten so relaxed this way that I've been slowed down by 15 km/h before noticing. 🐌
Charging the car
To charge the car I've mostly used public AC charging. I don't have my own charging setup and have not needed DC charging yet. The rates with BMW Charging are very good. They've gone up from €0.29 per kWh to €0,39 this year because of changing tax rules and rising energy prices, but that's still lower than the electricity rates from my energy provider (€0,66 per kWh) or even the max. energy price (energieplafond) of €0,40 per kWh set by the Dutch government. I've gotten some free charging at my in-laws and hotels, so charging has been pretty cheap for me.
Of course, whether driving the car is cheap also depends on the efficiency. When I just got the car, it was freezing in The Netherlands and I was doing a lot of short drives. Efficiency could be as bad as 35 kWh/100 km (1.8 Mi/kwH) and I was getting a little worried about road tripping across Europe in the summer. But then it got warmer and I went on longer trips. I've gotten a very decent 17,5 kWh/100 km (3.5 Mi/KwH) driving back from my in laws (after preconditioning while charging) and 18,5 kWh/100 km (3,5 Mi/Kwh) on a 221 km (138 Mi) trip from Gent to Amsterdam. This was on ECO Pro + DAPP, driving mostly at103 km/h (65 Mi/h) on the motorway and some bits at 133 km/h (83 Mi/h).
Last summer we drove around Europe where we drove at most 600 km (375 Mi) per day. That should be easily doable with a single charging stop in the middle of the day.
As for local usage; I now know the percentage I need for the trips I take regularly. That allows me to figure out when I'll need to charge next. Charging is easy with four public AC charges within 100m of my house. I did have to quickly run out and charge my car for two hours because my plans for the day changed. So while it's not as care free as driving a petrol car, it is very doable.
Conclusion
So, do I love the love this car? Yes, I do!
When I ordered the car I worked on Hilversum, a 35 km/20 Mi drive from Amsterdam. Now I work in Amsterdam and cycle to work in 10 minutes. So I don't use the car that much during the week, but whether I'm driving around doing chores or going on longer trips, it's the prefect companion. It's comfortable and fast. And it looks great to boot!
