How the 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 Honors BMW's Legendary Heritage

Some of you BMW loyalists out there aren't ready for EVs and you might even think that BMW's latest range of EVs are a compromise when it comes to the brand. But what if I told you, you might be wrong and this i4 is all BMW. What's it like? Buckle up and let's go for a drive. I'm your host Brian Maxx, racer and lover of driving fast fun things and on this channel you get reviews for drivers from drivers. Now this i4 is a whole new thing for BMW and yes we've driven the rear drive and the more powerful all-wheel drive models but this is sort of the entry-level all-wheel drive model in this part of the world at least. And before we get into what this is like to drive let's have a look at this in a little more depth. We've driven the i4 already a couple of different variants but this i4 xDrive40 is all new for 2024 and it is of course my favorite body style of modern BMWs and that is the four-door hatchback but they call it a grand coupe. With xDrive in its name it means it's got two electric motors one at each axle. In total they make 396 horsepower and 443 pounds of torque. The battery is 81 kilowatt hours, maximum DC charging is 205 kilowatts, promised range is supposed to be 307 miles or 494 kilometers, steering's variable ratio, variable assist, the front suspension is the double joint spring strut axle, five-link suspension design at the rear, there are adaptive dampers here, four piston front calipers, single piston at the rear, wheels and tires are 18s or 19s, we are rocking the 19s, curb weight is about 200 pounds heavier than the rear wheel drive i4 xDrive40 and that puts it just shy of 5,000 pounds. Did you know that about 80% of you are not subscribed? Yes it's true, I checked the data and 80% of you are not subscribed so if you enjoy the content on this channel do me a solid hit that subscribe button while you're at it be sure to like this video and share it and if you don't mind drop by our merch store there's lots of great stuff for driving enthusiasts like us including our very popular line of Save the Manuals merch. Now back to your regularly scheduled episode. As with all modern BMWs it seems the driver interface, my interface to this machine is just spot on, it's essentially perfect at the first level, great relationship to the steering wheel, it's shaped perfectly, encourages you to have your hands at nine and three and I've got great relationship to the pedals as well. Other than the Sensatec upholstery on this particular model I'm in love with the seats as I often am in BMW land, this seat is absolutely perfect, lots of support, lots of adjustment and I'm very very comfortable even on longer drives, just a fantastic seat. After that ergonomically what we do have is modern BMWs so we've got 24 inches of digital screens here, we've got the instrument cluster which is all digital as well as the big infotainment screen and I find these are basically flawless in terms of their ability to display information in all kinds of light. I really dig these for that however the iDrive interface is, well it's on the needs improvement side of the line, just not as intuitive as I'd like but I tend to use it on Apple CarPlay anyway. What's also interesting is the second and third level ergonomics are exactly what you'd expect from BMW and if you didn't know this was an EV you couldn't tell otherwise because ergonomically this is fundamentally identical to all modern BMWs and it works exactly the same way. There are some cues here and there like the blue start button but otherwise it's exactly what you've come to expect from modern BMW and works exactly the way it should which for me thankfully is very much driver-centric. They definitely know how to build cars for drivers at BMW. Even with this sloping Grand Coupe roof line there's actually a decent amount of room in the back seat. A couple of adults can sit there quite comfortably and I can actually fit behind myself in the seating position. The best part about this i4's body style is of course the hatch and the way I would use this, this just works perfectly for me. Lots of room under the hatch, there's actually a little bit of storage underneath the floor under the hatch as well there is split and folding rear seats so you can put big items in your i4. This would just work absolutely perfectly for me on a day-to-day basis. In terms of visibility it's what you come to expect from modern BMW, great forward visibility. There's maybe a little bit of compromise when you're looking through the rear view mirror because that rear glass tends to look a little on the small side but otherwise there's no trouble with visibility all around in all directions. Of course this one also has parking cameras so there's no trouble parking this one either as well. The driving experience from behind the wheel is dominated by how quiet this is. It's very very quiet because it is an EV of course and they do have their funny sounds that they sort of pump into this thing which do add a sense of speed and acceleration and I do appreciate it because they've tuned that very well. Yes this isn't the most powerful i4 but it's still pretty quick. It'll do 0 to 60 in about five seconds which is reasonably quick. You are left a bit wanting of the additional power of the extra i50 at least from my perspective but this is a 0 to 65 second car so it's very much quick enough. Top speed of course is electronically limited to about 115 miles an hour. The one thing that can't be beat with an EV is the responsiveness of the electric motors. They've been tuned perfectly here and this i4 has no trouble putting down power anytime you ask for it and I think engineers have a little bit finer control over electric motors than they do a fully mechanical drivetrain which I do appreciate because there's a little bit more precision when it comes to its dynamics especially when applying power exiting a corner that really works for me but the way they've tuned these electric motors works just flawlessly. Launch control is completely drama free. When it comes to handling this is simply an incredible compromise between ride and handling. The ride quality is excellent. It is impeccable and that is difficult to do with something that weighs almost 5,000 pounds. Body and wheel control is excellent and what I've done is I've set up my sport individual drive mode to have the dampers set to comfort rather than sport which makes a lot of sense. We're in a part of the world where the road surfaces are very rough so we want that suspension to work so that the suspension can keep the tires in contact with the road. There's no reason to put these dampers in sport mode unless you're taking this on the racetrack. These are adaptive dampers and they just do an excellent excellent job here. Steering feel and feedback is fairly muted. There is a bit of chassis feel so you can get a sense of what it's doing around its limits but yeah there's not a lot of feel or feedback from the steering wheel however it's got a really strong on-center feel. Definitely wants to be on center like it is now and that is a bit of a highlight for me. I like how strong it is to get back on center and that makes sense for something that is performance oriented like this BMW. Braking is well above average. Feel and feedback is pretty good. I'd like a firmer brake pedal but I think this will appeal to most buyers of the i4. That said they've done an excellent job blending the regenerative braking and the brake actuation. You really don't notice any change in feel or braking power when you go from regenerative braking. I do drive this in the B mode which is kind of like a one pedal mode and here if I lift off the throttle transition onto the brakes there's no real difference and the feel the pedal feel is kind of natural. They've done a great job with these brakes. Where this car comes together however is in its handling and like any good BMW it's extremely satisfying when you're playing with this. Who knew that a 5,000 pound EV could be fun to throw around in the corners but it absolutely is and that's what a BMW should be. I think what brings it all together is the excellent suspension as well as how they've tuned the electric motors to distribute power and as I've discovered even though this is all-wheel drive with two electric motors not a mechanical system this thing is not neutral. It is a little rear drive biased when you're playing with it near its limits. It's exactly what you'd expect from a BMW performance sedan. It is remarkably good and I was very surprised. I was expecting this to be a little less neutral around its limits but no it is rear biased and does exactly what I want it to do when I'm playing around its limits. You can slide this around a little bit. I'm very very impressed with the balance and for fun we're going to play on a little curvy road here that has a lot of bumps in it and yeah it's a bit unnatural not having gears but the responsiveness of this i4 is incredible. Wow this does exactly what I want it to do. Yeah rough road but the damping here is spot on and not a lot of feel out of the steering wheel but it is direct steering is fantastic very predictable but what I'm finding is that with the electric motors I have a little bit more precise control with the throttle. It's incredible. How do you spec yours? Well this is a fairly easy question to answer. You are looking at sunset orange metallic on the outside and just black Sensatec on the inside. Base price in the U.S. is $61,600 in Canada it's $69,900 and essentially this has every option including the M Sport Pro package, the Advanced Driver Assist package, everything except the leather interior. So as tested this is a tick over $70,000 in the U.S. and $85,200 in Canada before freight taxes and incentives. From a driver's perspective there's just one thing you really need to keep an eye out for and you want to make sure you get the M Sport brakes. Other than that pick your colors inside and out. I'd suggest getting the leather because it is a better interior. BMW does great leather. Not a fan of the Sensatec although it is very durable. I'd just do a cool leather and paint combination and be happy with my i4 xDrive40. My verdict? Well let's talk about range for just a second. I have to admit that I have not approached this scientifically so I don't have a good handle on range. One thing I will say is I suspect this gets better mileage on the 18s rather than the 19s plus we've switched over to winters in this part of the world already so we're not getting the best range but that's beside the point. Off the top we talked about how you might be wrong if you think BMW's new line of EVs are a compromise when it comes to the brand but I'm going to tell you clearly from my driving experience this is a BMW through and through. It just happens to be electric. It does exactly what a BMW should do. Paints a smile on my face. Handling is excellent and I'm very very comfortable behind the wheel so no this is not a compromise. It's an EV that is absolutely a BMW. Thanks for hanging out with me today and having a look at this 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40. Hope you like this episode and if you did you're not new to YouTube you know what to do. Smash the subscribe button, turn on your notifications, like this video and as always sharing is caring so please share this with especially on Reddit because on Reddit they really need to see reviews for drivers from drivers. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments below. We'll get back to you as soon as I can and if you want to support the channel please hit up our merch store. Links here, links below. Lots of great stuff for driving enthusiasts like us including EV enthusiasts but also our very popular line of Save the Manuals merch is there as well. Thanks again for watching. We'll see you again next time and remember cars don't understeer by themselves, not even BMW EVs.