[SDB]

Hi everyone.

Tough choice this year, I've been waiting years for an M3 Touring but I've also been waiting for a car which would persuade me to switch to electric. Unfortunately the M3 Touring came too late and a new salary sacrifice scheme at work meant the time was right to go EV. I've driven BMW's for over 12 years and while I'm always open to try a different brand, I hadn't really found anything else to tempt me away.

However when it comes to EV's I did look around. I'm not a fan of Tesla, I appreciate all that they have done to move the EV market forward but I don't like the styling and the interiors are bland. As most of my charging will be at home and I'm in NI where there is no supercharger there was no good reason to look at them. I also despise SUV's, I did drive an e-tron just to see if I was missing something but that confirmed they certainly weren't for me, way too far off the ground. I'd ideally like an estate car (station wagon for those of you in USA) but the options are few. So I shortlisted the BMW i4, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo (almost an estate) and the Polestar 2 (no local "space" so have been unable to see one in the flesh let alone drive one).

The Taycan is phenomenal, from a driving point of view it was the best. I was prepared to be very light on the options list to get the price of one close to i4 but the issue became size, its a huge car, 5m long and nearly 2m wide. If I drove to work and had on site parking etc it would have made sense but we end up in tight public parking garages with typical bays being no more than 2.4x4.8m or on street parking so we concluded that it would become tedious and having then to deal with the inevitable damage it would pick up. And despite being frugal on the options it was still an expensive car........it is fantastic though!

So we decided on the i4 and then it was a question of eDrive40 or M50. We managed to drive the 40 around Christmas time and while it was a short test drive I was a little underwhelmed, I guess its the adjustment of big HP numbers but pushing a lot of weight so the performance isn't quite what you have in your mind. Otherwise though a great car and plenty fast enough for the road. It did leave me wanting to try the M50 though. We also live about 160m above sea level accessed by steep rural roads and prone to snow in the winter. While I've managed with RWD BMW's with winter tyres in the past I also felt the M50 with its AWD would give us a bit more traction in the winter.

I finally managed to get an M50 for a couple of hours a few weeks back. I got to drive it on a variety of roads including the Antrim Coast Road and using all modes. One thing I wanted to be sure of was that it could be sensible for daily driving, ie not trying to kill you at every slippery corner! Its easy to drive the car normally, but when you want it the power is very addictive. I have a Caterham 7 with 250bhp weighing just over 500kg so around 500bhp per tonne and with a sub 4s 0-60. For the M50 to weigh 2300kg and match that 0-60 is quite amazing, ok it isn't the brutal assault on the senses which the Caterham offers but then you don't really want that on the daily commute. When running in eco pro there is less power available (could be down to throttle angle), I had heard the front motor is not engaged in eco pro other than if its required for traction which would make sense.

I'd watched reviews saying the edrive40 is more fun, and maybe if I'd had time to get to know both and could really push them on my favourite roads I might come to the same conclusion but I came away from the M50 with the same smile I'd gotten from driving the taycan. The Porsche's steering is better and I prefer their separate throttle and brake approach but given the price difference the M50 is right up there. My wife love's BMW's and she really liked that the car was familiar.

So this is what we have ordered:

BMW i4 M50
San Remo Green
Extended Shadowline
19" 861M Alloys
Blue Calipers
Black Vernasca with grey stitching
Sunroof
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim
Front lumbar support (only drivers side apparently due to chip shortage)
I've left off loads of other stuff as I consider most of it unnecessary and just more things to go wrong.

Still going through our work scheme process so I don't believe the order is with a dealer yet, just waiting on them to confirm, so no dates other than being told its about 24 weeks from point of dealer order. Given what others are saying here I'm not inclined to believe that until I see it in ink.

 

[Flyingman]

Hi everyone.

Tough choice this year, I've been waiting years for an M3 Touring but I've also been waiting for a car which would persuade me to switch to electric. Unfortunately the M3 Touring came too late and a new salary sacrifice scheme at work meant the time was right to go EV. I've driven BMW's for over 12 years and while I'm always open to try a different brand, I hadn't really found anything else to tempt me away.

However when it comes to EV's I did look around. I'm not a fan of Tesla, I appreciate all that they have done to move the EV market forward but I don't like the styling and the interiors are bland. As most of my charging will be at home and I'm in NI where there is no supercharger there was no good reason to look at them. I also despise SUV's, I did drive an e-tron just to see if I was missing something but that confirmed they certainly weren't for me, way too far off the ground. I'd ideally like an estate car (station wagon for those of you in USA) but the options are few. So I shortlisted the BMW i4, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo (almost an estate) and the Polestar 2 (no local "space" so have been unable to see one in the flesh let alone drive one).

The Taycan is phenomenal, from a driving point of view it was the best. I was prepared to be very light on the options list to get the price of one close to i4 but the issue became size, its a huge car, 5m long and nearly 2m wide. If I drove to work and had on site parking etc it would have made sense but we end up in tight public parking garages with typical bays being no more than 2.4x4.8m or on street parking so we concluded that it would become tedious and having then to deal with the inevitable damage it would pick up. And despite being frugal on the options it was still an expensive car........it is fantastic though!

So we decided on the i4 and then it was a question of eDrive40 or M50. We managed to drive the 40 around Christmas time and while it was a short test drive I was a little underwhelmed, I guess its the adjustment of big HP numbers but pushing a lot of weight so the performance isn't quite what you have in your mind. Otherwise though a great car and plenty fast enough for the road. It did leave me wanting to try the M50 though. We also live about 160m above sea level accessed by steep rural roads and prone to snow in the winter. While I've managed with RWD BMW's with winter tyres in the past I also felt the M50 with its AWD would give us a bit more traction in the winter.

I finally managed to get an M50 for a couple of hours a few weeks back. I got to drive it on a variety of roads including the Antrim Coast Road and using all modes. One thing I wanted to be sure of was that it could be sensible for daily driving, ie not trying to kill you at every slippery corner! Its easy to drive the car normally, but when you want it the power is very addictive. I have a Caterham 7 with 250bhp weighing just over 500kg so around 500bhp per tonne and with a sub 4s 0-60. For the M50 to weigh 2300kg and match that 0-60 is quite amazing, ok it isn't the brutal assault on the senses which the Caterham offers but then you don't really want that on the daily commute. When running in eco pro there is less power available (could be down to throttle angle), I had heard the front motor is not engaged in eco pro other than if its required for traction which would make sense.

I'd watched reviews saying the edrive40 is more fun, and maybe if I'd had time to get to know both and could really push them on my favourite roads I might come to the same conclusion but I came away from the M50 with the same smile I'd gotten from driving the taycan. The Porsche's steering is better and I prefer their separate throttle and brake approach but given the price difference the M50 is right up there. My wife love's BMW's and she really liked that the car was familiar.

So this is what we have ordered:

BMW i4 M50
San Remo Green
Extended Shadowline
19" 861M Alloys
Blue Calipers
Black Vernasca with grey stitching
Sunroof
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim
Front lumbar support (only drivers side apparently due to chip shortage)
I've left off loads of other stuff as I consider most of it unnecessary and just more things to go wrong.

Still going through our work scheme process so I don't believe the order is with a dealer yet, just waiting on them to confirm, so no dates other than being told its about 24 weeks from point of dealer order. Given what others are saying here I'm not inclined to believe that until I see it in ink.

SDB, congrats on an excellent decision. Well thought out. Now lets just hope and pray we live to see these cars! Meantime I'm loving my 2016 328d!

 

[Kayanarka]

Hi everyone.

Tough choice this year, I've been waiting years for an M3 Touring but I've also been waiting for a car which would persuade me to switch to electric. Unfortunately the M3 Touring came too late and a new salary sacrifice scheme at work meant the time was right to go EV. I've driven BMW's for over 12 years and while I'm always open to try a different brand, I hadn't really found anything else to tempt me away.

However when it comes to EV's I did look around. I'm not a fan of Tesla, I appreciate all that they have done to move the EV market forward but I don't like the styling and the interiors are bland. As most of my charging will be at home and I'm in NI where there is no supercharger there was no good reason to look at them. I also despise SUV's, I did drive an e-tron just to see if I was missing something but that confirmed they certainly weren't for me, way too far off the ground. I'd ideally like an estate car (station wagon for those of you in USA) but the options are few. So I shortlisted the BMW i4, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo (almost an estate) and the Polestar 2 (no local "space" so have been unable to see one in the flesh let alone drive one).

The Taycan is phenomenal, from a driving point of view it was the best. I was prepared to be very light on the options list to get the price of one close to i4 but the issue became size, its a huge car, 5m long and nearly 2m wide. If I drove to work and had on site parking etc it would have made sense but we end up in tight public parking garages with typical bays being no more than 2.4x4.8m or on street parking so we concluded that it would become tedious and having then to deal with the inevitable damage it would pick up. And despite being frugal on the options it was still an expensive car........it is fantastic though!

So we decided on the i4 and then it was a question of eDrive40 or M50. We managed to drive the 40 around Christmas time and while it was a short test drive I was a little underwhelmed, I guess its the adjustment of big HP numbers but pushing a lot of weight so the performance isn't quite what you have in your mind. Otherwise though a great car and plenty fast enough for the road. It did leave me wanting to try the M50 though. We also live about 160m above sea level accessed by steep rural roads and prone to snow in the winter. While I've managed with RWD BMW's with winter tyres in the past I also felt the M50 with its AWD would give us a bit more traction in the winter.

I finally managed to get an M50 for a couple of hours a few weeks back. I got to drive it on a variety of roads including the Antrim Coast Road and using all modes. One thing I wanted to be sure of was that it could be sensible for daily driving, ie not trying to kill you at every slippery corner! Its easy to drive the car normally, but when you want it the power is very addictive. I have a Caterham 7 with 250bhp weighing just over 500kg so around 500bhp per tonne and with a sub 4s 0-60. For the M50 to weigh 2300kg and match that 0-60 is quite amazing, ok it isn't the brutal assault on the senses which the Caterham offers but then you don't really want that on the daily commute. When running in eco pro there is less power available (could be down to throttle angle), I had heard the front motor is not engaged in eco pro other than if its required for traction which would make sense.

I'd watched reviews saying the edrive40 is more fun, and maybe if I'd had time to get to know both and could really push them on my favourite roads I might come to the same conclusion but I came away from the M50 with the same smile I'd gotten from driving the taycan. The Porsche's steering is better and I prefer their separate throttle and brake approach but given the price difference the M50 is right up there. My wife love's BMW's and she really liked that the car was familiar.

So this is what we have ordered:

BMW i4 M50
San Remo Green
Extended Shadowline
19" 861M Alloys
Blue Calipers
Black Vernasca with grey stitching
Sunroof
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim
Front lumbar support (only drivers side apparently due to chip shortage)
I've left off loads of other stuff as I consider most of it unnecessary and just more things to go wrong.

Still going through our work scheme process so I don't believe the order is with a dealer yet, just waiting on them to confirm, so no dates other than being told its about 24 weeks from point of dealer order. Given what others are saying here I'm not inclined to believe that until I see it in ink.

Wow, I wish we had an M50 to test drive around here. I am interested in getting one to replace my very old M3. I drove the I4, and fell in love, but I want to feel that M power. I hope to go get myself on the list Monday. Oh why did I wait so long. Grats on your order.

What is the salary exchange program you are talking about?

 

[612]

Welcome SDB.
I hope you can/will stay with us for a long time, and keep contributing to this amazing forum

BTW: nice choice of car...

 

[SDB]

What is the salary exchange program you are talking about?

UK Government incentive. Its an all inclusive lease (car, maintenance, tyres, insurance) paid for out of gross salary so saving on income tax. Its designed to encourage people to move into EV's and bring the cost down to be more in line with an ICE car. You don't own it of course but there is an option to purchase at the end of the lease deal for market rate, but due to the nature of the scheme that value can't be declared until a few months prior to end of lease deal.

 

[Chris_ni]

UK Government incentive. Its an all inclusive lease (car, maintenance, tyres, insurance) paid for out of gross salary so saving on income tax. Its designed to encourage people to move into EV's and bring the cost down to be more in line with an ICE car. You don't own it of course but there is an option to purchase at the end of the lease deal for market rate, but due to the nature of the scheme that value can't be declared until a few months prior to end of lease deal.

I had no idea about this. Does your company need to participate, or is it something you can engage in independently? I was planning on just buying for cash, but if this is paid out of Gross Pay this scheme may make more sense..

 

[SDB]

I had no idea about this. Does your company need to participate, or is it something you can engage in independently? I was planning on just buying for cash, but if this is paid out of Gross Pay this scheme may make more sense..

Your company need to sign up but there are also benefits to the company. Ours is with Octopus EV but there are other options.

 

[J_P]

What is the salary exchange program you are talking about?

UK Government incentive. Its an all inclusive lease (car, maintenance, tyres, insurance) paid for out of gross salary so saving on income tax. Its designed to encourage people to move into EV's and bring the cost down to be more in line with an ICE car. You don't own it of course but there is an option to purchase at the end of the lease deal for market rate, but due to the nature of the scheme that value can't be declared until a few months prior to end of lease deal.

Salary Sacrifice is much broader than that. It allows an employer to provide anything to an employee in return for an agreed reduction in their salary. Whatever is provided doesn't have to be subject to a leasing agreement (but for high value items it is common). There are tax savings for company and the employee, so there is an incentive on both sides.

As an example of a Basic Rate tax payer:
An employer provides a benefit that costs £1000/month and the employee's pay is reduced by £1000/month. Because that £1000 is no longer subject to PAYE and NI charges - this is the saving.

On that £1000/month the company saves £150/month, Employers NI
On that £1000/month the employee saves £335/month. Employees NI and PAYE

As you can see, the savings can be significant but there is a catch. Some benefits have an additional tax (BIK - Benefit in Kind). There is a BIK liability for cars. On an ICE, the BIK depends on the CO2 emissions of the car. A 4 Series Gran Coupe would be at least 30% BIK, so your net saving with a Salary Sacrifice scheme would only be £335 - £300, £35/month (hardly worth bothering). And that example is for the Gran Coupe engine with the lowest CO2 emissions. Some of the engines would mean a higher BIK and you would end up worse off under the scheme.

However, the BIK for an EV is only 2%, so, in our example, it would only cost you £20/month BIK, and your net benefit would be £315/month. This is why salary sacrifice is so attractive.

Something similar applies to EV company cars. The BIK is only 2% for an EV. The company can write off 100% of the purchase cost against company profit as annual investment allowance (but can't reclaim the VAT element) and the employee only pays 2%/annum of the new cost of the car. However, for the company to benefit from the annual investment allowance, the car has to be purchased, not leased. If a company car is leased, the lease payments can be written off against profit and 50% of the VAT can be recovered.

 

[SDB]

My order has progressed through our internal systems and is now with a dealership, just waiting to hear how long, lease provider is saying 32 weeks so mid November. Wait times have extended 8 weeks in the last fortnight.

 

[SDB]

This morning our lease provider was confirmed the order has been placed with a BMW dealer on 11th April 2022 and the current estimated delivery date is 30th September 2022. So just under 6 months but I'm prepared for that to slip given demand etc. Also still waiting on BMW order number and access to the order tracker.

 

[Chris_ni]

There’s an order tracker‽… are you sure? I’ve not seen any such thing for the UK..

 

[SDB]

There’s an order tracker‽… are you sure? I’ve not seen any such thing for the UK..

Allegedly, pretty sure someone on here said they found a way to get status updates, but only once you have the right order code.

 

[SDB]

As of this morning still on Status 047 - Order without dealer allocation
Order placed 11th April 22, Estimated Delivery 30th Sept 22

 

[J_P]

As of this morning still on Status 047 - Order without dealer allocation
Order placed 11th April 22, Estimated Delivery 30th Sept 22

I would take the estimated delivery date with a big pinch of salt to avoid disappointment and manage your expectations. As BMW haven't even accepted the order (status 047), that date is either the dealers best guess or an outright lie to keep you on the hook. Your dealer, you judge!

Before your order can progress, the dealer needs to get another allocation from BMW (and that assumes the allocation is big enough to include your order, they may have other orders at 047 ahead of you). I don't know if any dealers even know when the next allocations will go out. Once your car gets an allocation and the order is accepted by BMW (status 111), BMW will then issue an estimate of when your car will be built. That should at least have some basis in reality, rather than what your dealer was told in a dream he had that night 😉. Even then, there can still be significant changes to the actual production date of your car. Unlike the i4 itself, be prepared for a bumpy ride.

 

[SDB]

I would take the estimated delivery date with a big pinch of salt to avoid disappointment and manage your expectations. As BMW haven't even accepted the order (status 047), that date is either the dealers best guess or an outright lie to keep you on the hook. Your dealer, you judge!

Before your order can progress, the dealer needs to get another allocation from BMW (and that assumes the allocation is big enough to include your order, they may have other orders at 047 ahead of you). I don't know if any dealers even know when the next allocations will go out. Once your car gets an allocation and the order is accepted by BMW (status 111), BMW will then issue an estimate of when your car will be built. That should at least have some basis in reality, rather than what your dealer was told in a dream he had that night 😉. Even then, there can still be significant changes to the actual production date of your car. Unlike the i4 itself, be prepared for a bumpy ride.

I'm well aware the estimated date has no firm basis. I've challenged both the lease company and the dealer on it. I can only assume they have suggested this based on their experience of when they feel they might get allocation and the number of orders they have. As there is no other option I'm going to sit it out.

 

[J_P]

That's good then 🙂. Not everybody has a full understanding of how the allocation system works when buying a new car, so when people post they have been told a certain estimated date (and don't post "I know this is probably a crock of ----") it is sometimes worth explaining it. You clearly know how it works 👍.

Scrolling back now I can see that you knew that the estimated date could slip. I probably even read that at the time but, hell, I can barely remember what happened yesterday, let alone a month ago.

Edit Mod: Bad language

 

[612]

That's good then 🙂. Not everybody has a full understanding of how the allocation system works when buying a new car, so when people post they have been told a certain estimated date (and don't post "I know this is probably a crock of ----") it is sometimes worth explaining it. You clearly know how it works 👍.

 

[SDB]

I had a call from lease company today to say dealer had pushed delivery back by 1 month to end October 2022. Quick check on live chat and we are still status 047

 

[SDB]

Status changed to 111 today with anticipated production week of 5th September 22.

 

[Squirrel1974]

Status changed to 111 today with anticipated production week of 5th September 22.

I’m still trying to work out the allocation logic. Is it truly this random? I was changed to status 111 in early May 2022 (ordered December 2021) and my production week is mid-September. Do BMW not realise people compare notes these days?

I’m not bothered, I’m just curious as to how on earth BMW manage to retain customers!