BMW i4 M50 Review

BMW took the 4 Series Gran Coupe, removed the engine and fitted two motors, and the compromise everyone predicted turned out to matter less than expected. The i4 M50 makes 536 horsepower, reaches sixty in under four seconds, and rides and steers like a properly sorted BMW rather than a science project. The liftback boot is genuinely useful, the rear seats fold flat, and iDrive remains the best infotainment in the industry once you learn the rotary controller, which BMW sensibly kept alongside the touchscreen.

The costs of the shared platform are real. It carries a transmission tunnel it does not need, the floor is high and the seat sits you above it, and at over 2,200 kilograms it is heavy even by the standards of this class. Efficiency suffers accordingly, with 269 miles from an 84 kilowatt hour pack that should manage more. The face divides opinion violently. BMW's electric residuals have held up better than most of this field, which counts for something.