400 kW Gran Coupé
Article by James Herne
BMW is known for making cars for people who really enjoy driving. A very high percentage of BMW owners are loyal to the brand, and therefore BMW cannot afford to let its customers down.
The BMW Motorsport (BMW M) department was founded in 1972, and since then BMW has consciously focused on enhancing the joy of driving. This is also the year BMW produced its first electric cars. BMW is headquartered in Munich, and two electric BMW 1602 were built to escort the 1972 Munich Olympic Marathon.
In the eighties, a few electric BMW E30 cars (incl. Touring version) were built, and in the nineties, a batch of E36 electric cars for testing in real life.
The series production of the first electric BMW started in 2011. It was the electric version of the 1-Series coupe. More than 1,000 of these cars were made, but they were not sold, only leased, and later collected by BMW, which is why you can’t find them on used car lots.
We can postpone talking about greenhouse gases, but the climate change is the biggest problem in the world. If we try to place ourselves in the future and look back from there, we will see that the sooner we make smart decisions, the better.
Following the 250,000 BMW i3 compact cars sold, along came the hero of this story, the BMW i4 Gran Coupé.
After the test drive with the i4 Gran Coupé M50 version, I can say that it is a driver’s car. Driver’s car means handling, brakes, power.
The suspension is perfect, it’s not too stiff. From a handling perspective, it’s important to have the center of gravity as low as possible. Electric cars have their batteries inside the floor, and that’s one of the reasons they’re so good to drive. BMW says the i4’s center of gravity is 1.5″ / 37 mm lower because it’s an electric car. In the world of sports cars, it’s serious tuning when you can lower the center of gravity that much. From a handling perspective, it’s also good if the weight distribution is a little biased towards the rear axle. In the case of the BMW i4 M50, the weight distribution is 48/52.
The M-version comes with larger brakes both front and rear.
In addition to the brakes, the motors are also used for braking (which also charges the battery). I drove a lot a full day on winding and up-and-down roads. It was a complete pleasure. It’s especially cool to drive in one-pedal driving mode—in this case the deceleration depends on how quickly (or slowly) you release the accelerator pedal. The more you release the accelerator pedal, the more the motors start to produce electricity and this slows the car down. Generally, you don’t need to use the brake pedal.
The BMW i4 M50 has two motors. There’s a 190 kW motor in the front and a 230 kW motor in the back. So, according to mathematics, this car could even produce up to 420 kW of power. German car manufacturers generally do not boast, and the official power figure is 400 kW.
For me, good acceleration is one of the most important features of a car. If you floor the accelerator pedal of the i4 M50 instantly, then the slap from the acceleration that the occupants experience is brutal. I measured the acceleration of the i4 M50 using a special GPS device:
1.59 sec. 0-30 mph
1.65 sec. 0-50 km/h
3.63 sec. 0-60 mph
3.80 sec 0-100 km/h.
In my opinion, 0-30 mph or 0-50 km/h is the most important indicator.
The car is very good, but not flawless. In my opinion, the navigation software is not very good. I prefer Google Maps. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in luxury cars and therefore I miss double-layered side windows also a bit. The third minus I found, was caused by a plus! Namely, since the windshield is quite upright, it gets dirty quickly, like on a classic car. A more upright windshield adds old-school style to the car. Beauty has its price.
As befits a modern car, eSIM for internet connection and OTA (Over-The-Air) software updates are standard equipment.
BMW’s renowned driving characteristics and the power of electric motors are the perfect combination. If you’re looking for a sporty electric German car, the i4 is a solid choice. It’s the best-priced electric German performance car, a premium-class machine, the pinnacle of German engineering. Strange to say, but it’s thanks to the climate problem that BMW made us the perfect car.
The i4 is both a modern and classic driver’s car, proving that you don’t need to produce CO2 to experience full driving pleasure. For me, driving a good car is one of the greatest pleasures and in my opinion BMW saved the hobby of driving.
A sporty day’s driving with the M50 is a prime example – the same fun, but without the guilt. With an internal combustion engine, I would have produced about 100 cubic meters or 3500 cubic feet of exhaust gases that day. The BMW i4 is a car you just go for a drive in, and life is beautiful.
My day was 16 hours long – I started at 7 in the morning and finished at 11 in the evening. Two hours in total were spent on breaks (charging and eating) and 14 hours in total on driving. I drove approximately 6 hours on straight roads and 8 hours on winding roads. It sounds like a long day, but at the end of the day I felt almost no fatigue. I could have driven for a few more hours if my home had been further away. Do you think I’m a young guy? I’m not. If such a long drive doesn’t exhaust the driver at all, then it’s a proof how good the car is. The BMW i4 is a source of joy and energy. This car gives the driver energy. Just as the driver charges the i4, the i4 charges its driver!
| BMW i4 Gran Coupé | Power | Battery |
| eDrive 35 | 210 kW | 67 kWh |
| eDrive 40 | 250 kW | 81 kWh |
| xDrive 40 | 295 kW | 81 kWh |
| (xDrive) M50 | 400 kW | 81 kWh |
