4 Series (G22) [Official] BMW i4 (G26)

[Serpens]

I do get the sense that M-B-and especially VAG-are far more committed to dedicated BEVs'. M-Bs' EQXX concept and VAGs' SSP matrix seem to be setting the tone as far as the future "German" vision of electric mobility goes. Interesting is Porsche insisting on developing its' own brand-specific version of the SSP platform. Am I wrong in suspecting that Lucid will be the subject most attentively scrutinized in terms of benchmarking ?

I will note that while for Mercedes MB.EA (evolved EVA2), AMG.EA, and VAN.EA platforms are electric-only, the MMA platform is "electric first". But yes I agree BMW seems to be hedging its bets that it's strategy of not moving too fast into full-BEV will pay off.

I'm not so sure Lucid will the most scrutinized simply because they aren't really producing anything at scale. I'm sure each automaker is eager to tear one down for analysis though.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

I will note that while for Mercedes MB.EA (evolved EVA2), AMG.EA, and VAN.EA platforms are electric-only, the MMA platform is "electric first". But yes I agree BMW seems to be hedging its bets that it's strategy of not moving too fast into full-BEV will pay off.

I'm not so sure Lucid will the most scrutinized simply because they aren't really producing anything at scale. I'm sure each automaker is eager to tear one down for analysis though.

In a perfect world this Lucid would be made by Mercedes or BMW.

 

[Sunny]

Autocar - i4 M50 vs base Taycan - no hard data or anything, just usual Autocar fluff piece... blah, blah... i4 not as good to drive as Taycan... blah, blah.

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[Deleted member 57437]

The i4 will appeal to unwavering, dyed-in-the wool BMW loyalists.

And that's all I have to say about that.

 

[Sunny]

The i4 will appeal to unwavering, dyed-in-the wool BMW loyalists.

There are few here.

Meanwhile, couldn't help but notice this "premium" fit and finish on the i4 -

 

[Deleted member 57437]

There are few here.

Meanwhile, couldn't help but notice this "premium" fit and finish on the i4 -

Alas, this can be an issue for any German manufacturer. Including even my beloved Porsche.

 

[klier]

The i4 will appeal to unwavering, dyed-in-the wool BMW loyalists.

And that's all I have to say about that.

You're vastly wrong.

The i4 will become one of the default lease cars for companies, and people will gobble them up left and right.

 

[klier]

Meanwhile, couldn't help but notice this "premium" fit and finish on the i4

F'ing lol. BMW is not premium anymore, the new thing to say here on this forum.

It's becoming more ridiculous here by the day, hehehe
The hot takes are amazing. Truly they are.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I very much doubt this is all you will say about it. But we'll see.

 

[Deleted member 57437]

You're vastly wrong.

The i4 will become one of the default lease cars for companies, and people will gobble them up left and right.

Should most fleet managers be unwavering, dyed-in-the-wool BMW loyalists...well...maybe.

 

[klier]

Should most fleet managers be unwavering, dyed-in-the-wool BMW loyalists...well...maybe.

Maybe in your imaginary world. But in real life, the i4 will be an amazing choice for many people, including the employers who pay for it all.

So sane person will ever buy one of these 'early' EVs with their own money, here in Europe at least. They will be worth ZERO in a few years. Tesla doesn't even buy its old cars back, they simply refuse them because they know they're f'ing old garbage and a new battery costs like 40k.

What is going to happen to all these EV cars??? God knows.....

 

[Sunny]

Alas, this can be an issue for any German manufacturer. Including even my beloved Porsche.

Indeed. Take a magnifying glass to any mass manufacturer, you see blemishes galore.

F'ing lol. BMW is not premium anymore, the new thing to say here on this forum.

BMW competes with Kia!

No, jokes aside, besides the price tag, what is premium about the i4? Honest question, not being rhetorical. And I completely agree that BMW makes many "premium" vehicles. But I don't think this is one of them. It is a hack. A decent one at that. But not a well engineered vehicle at the sharp end of it's class.

 

[klier]

Indeed. Take a magnifying glass to any mass manufacturer, you see blemishes galore.


BMW competes with Kia!

No, jokes aside, besides the price tag, what is premium about the i4? Honest question, not being rhetorical. And I completely agree that BMW makes many "premium" vehicles. But I don't think this is not one of them. It is a hack.

Look, I don't even know what I am supposed to see in that pic of the i4? Something wrong with the shutlines I suppose?

And premium is in the eye of the beholder, lets leave it at that. You will have an extremely hard time convincing some random person that a 3er is more premium than a Passat, and it's not much different with an i4 vs let's say an Ionic 5.

You almost make it sound as if people are going to willingly pay premium for something that isn't.

 

[Deleted member 57437]

Maybe in your imaginary world.

MY imaginary world ??

That's RICH, young man .

But, by all means, keep it up. You're really entertaining

 

[Matski]

The i4 will appeal to unwavering, dyed-in-the wool BMW loyalists.

Almost certainly.

In fairness though, despite the negative opinion that anything not built on a dedicated platform gets around these parts, road testers and journos seem to be giving it generally favourable scores. The Autocar review above covers the base Taycan, a car they've scored at 5/5, they scored the i4 eDrive 40 at 4.5/5... which kinda makes sense given the 40% uplift in price for the Porsche. A quick aggregate of scores for the i4 from a few pages of Google results equates to ~8.7/10... it's a perfectly valid choice for buyers that aren't unwavering, dyed in the wool brand loyalists, as well as those that are.

 

[klier]

Almost certainly.

Because they are avid EV lovers?
I always thought these dyed in the wool BMW loyalists had other spear points historically....

The i4 will mostly appeal to people who want a good (and they will fill the 'good' part in themselves) EV at a low monthly price without gasoline costs.....and there's very little options in this price range if EV is a requirement (which it mostly is these days over here for company lease cars)

 

[Deleted member 57437]

Almost certainly.

In fairness though, despite the negative opinion that anything not built on a dedicated platform gets around these parts, road testers and journos seem to be giving it generally favourable scores. The Autocar review above covers the base Taycan, a car they've scored at 5/5, they scored the i4 eDrive 40 at 4.5/5... which kinda makes sense given the 40% uplift in price for the Porsche. A quick aggregate of scores for the i4 from a few pages of Google results equates to ~8.7/10... it's a perfectly valid choice for buyers that aren't unwavering, dyed in the wool brand loyalists, as well as those that are.

What makes me skeptical regarding the i4s' success as an electric company vehicle is its' packaging. While the ICE G20/21 3ers are favourably received by fleet managers (here in Germany, often No. 3 in segment registrations following the more pedestrian VW Passat and Skoda Octavia and just in front of the Audi A4), the vast majority of these cars are diesel-engined estates. With the cards currently being reshuffled in favour of BEVs', I suspect that the pendulum will swing in favor of more efficient (also in terms of packaging) cars such as the Tesla Model 3, which is already becoming increasingly popular with fleet managers-and that rapidly. VWs' upcoming "Aero" sedan/Variant BEV entry is almost certain to make a big splash with fleet managers. Of course, perhaps a Neue Klasse BMW 3er successor will swing that pendulum in BMWs' favour. The same would apply should "dumping campaigns" make the i4 an offer that could not be refused.

Granted, this remains conjecture at this point. I'll graciously eat crow if proven wrong.

 

[Sunny]

Look, I don't even know what I am supposed to see in that pic of the i4? Something wrong with the shutlines I suppose?

And premium is in the eye of the beholder, lets leave it at that. You will have an extremely hard time convincing some random person that a 3er is more premium than a Passat, and it's not much different with an i4 vs let's say an Ionic 5.

Strip away all the marketing and brand bs and the 3er will still stand apart from a Passat - a more sophisticated drivetrain. Less engineering compromises. Performance specifications at the sharp end of it's class.

None,of that is really true for i4. Take away the marketing/brand bs and it is a hack job. Cause right or wrong, the company was too risk averse to invest.

The i4 will become one of the default lease cars for companies, and people will gobble them up left and right.

Since "Left and right" is not a number, how many do you expect BMW to sell a year? Or more importantly how many does BMW expect to sell?

 

[Deleted member 57437]

No, folks-I AM NOT this fella lurking behind the "Oida" pseudonym ...

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I do enjoy his videos though. And he does often make a lot of sense to me.

 

[Serpens]

Should most fleet managers be unwavering, dyed-in-the-wool BMW loyalists...well...maybe.

I’d love to know BMW’s sales target for the i4 in the U.S. The road tests have been quite favorable so I’m looking forward to some comparison tests stateside. If BMW makes the pricing attractive I don’t think this car will fare too badly here. It won’t sell in Model 3 numbers but I don’t think they’re expecting it to.

 

[Matski]

I’d love to know BMW’s sales target for the i4 in the U.S. The road tests have been quite favorable so I’m looking forward to some comparison tests stateside. If BMW makes the pricing attractive I don’t think this car will fare too badly here. It won’t sell in Model 3 numbers but I don’t think they’re expecting it to.

I reckon that they need to be targeting 200,000 group BEV sales globally in 2022 to meet their stated goals. USA represents about 15% of the sales mix, so call it 30,000 EV's in the USA between iX, i4 and Mini Electric... maybe 20/60/20 mix (?), so perhaps 20,000 units for i4? It's fag-packet maths and doesn't account for US Market trends in EV's, but I suspect it'll be in that ball-park.