The presence of the sky blue, navy blue and purple band, symbolizing the sports subsidiary Motorsport of BMW which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year, announces the color.
Under the guise of the latest generation of the 4 Series Gran Coupé, the M50 version of BMW's first electric sedan conceals a fiery temperament.
Judge for yourself: its performance is similar to that of an M3 Competition with which it shares the same platform.
Without emitting CO2 or fine particles.
Thanks to two wound-rotor electric machines, 190 kW (258 hp) at the front and 230 kW (313 hp) at the rear, the i4 M50 thus boasts 34 horsepower more than the 6-cylinder in-line 3 liter of the latest M3 (510 hp).
Add in a generous 795Nm of torque available from start-up, and that gives a glimpse of the i4's possibilities.
Fabian Kirchbauer
Each acceleration nails the occupants to their seat, fortunately well enveloping.
The M50 only needs 3.9 seconds to reach 100 km/h.
Resumptions are also expedited, a guarantee of safety when it is necessary to avoid a potentially dangerous situation.
This demonstration of force is accompanied by a chassis with bluffing efficiency.
With four-wheel drive, the i4 adds widened tracks and a center of gravity lowered by 53 mm compared to the 3 Series, a reinforced rear axle and air suspension at the rear.
This saloon offers a particularly successful compromise between comfort and dynamism.
Approaching the bends that she swallows riveted like on rails, you are surprised to try to lower the gears using the paddles.
Wasted effort.
The i4 has only one automatic gear but it is possible to activate a virtual brake which acts as energy recovery.
It operates on four levels, from very low to high and adaptive.
Mode B on the gear lever triggers maximum regeneration each time you take your foot off the accelerator.
The habit helping, it is quite pleasing to be exempted from regularly soliciting the brake pedal.
The system goes until the complete stop of the vehicle.
Depending on your mood, you can choose the characteristic hiss of an electric traction chain or the sound developed by Hans Zimmer,
the composer behind the music for The Lion King.
Truth be told, it's too artificial to feel like driving a GT.
Series 4 qualities
Adrian Cortesi
On the Perche roads where our test took us, consumption did not exceed 21.2 kWh/100 km, which corresponds to the high range announced by the manufacturer.
Battery of 83.9 kWh full (80.7 kWh useful), the on-board computer showed a range of 426 km.
This is almost 100 km less than the radius of action advanced by BMW.
But its on-board technology accepting a charging power of 205 kW makes it possible to recover watts quickly.
On a fast terminal, ten minutes are enough to recover more than 140 km of range.
Going from 10% to 80% takes around 30 minutes.
It will take almost as long to go from 92% to 100%!
The route planner simplifies the driver's life, marking the recharging stops on the route, but traffic in the central 14.9-inch screen is not easy.
You have to grope before understanding its operating logic.
Fans of the brand will also be confused by the replacement of the classic instrument cluster with a digital screen.
The needle counters give way to half-octagons.
To live, we find the qualities of the 4 Series Gran Coupé, namely a high quality finish, generous roominess and the advantage of a 470-litre trunk accessible from a tailgate.
Its capacity can even be extended to 1,250 liters by retracting the rear seats.
Versatile, this electric sedan with GT genes is billed at 71,650 euros.
The needle counters give way to half-octagons.
To live, we find the qualities of the 4 Series Gran Coupé, namely a high quality finish, generous roominess and the advantage of a 470-litre trunk accessible from a tailgate.
Its capacity can even be extended to 1,250 liters by retracting the rear seats.
Versatile, this electric sedan with GT genes is billed at 71,650 euros.
The needle counters give way to half-octagons.
To live, we find the qualities of the 4 Series Gran Coupé, namely a high quality finish, generous roominess and the advantage of a 470-litre trunk accessible from a tailgate.
Its capacity can even be extended to 1,250 liters by retracting the rear seats.
Versatile, this electric sedan with GT genes is billed at 71,650 euros.
Adrian Cortesi
