BMW i4: First details of the facelift

After a few days in the i4 base model, my colleague Clemens Gleich stated boldly: "I'd take it". This comes as little surprise because, like many of his colleagues, he has a soft spot for the classic values attributed to the brand, and the i4 delivers: The drive and chassis are excellent. BMW intends to follow up with a facelift in the summer. This is slowly becoming necessary, as the competition is wide awake and the i4 is also facing new internal rivals.

More power in the top model

As part of the announcements for all model series, BMW has revealed a few initial details about the revised i4. The top model will in future be called the i4 M60 xDrive and will have more power than the previous top model, the i4 M50 xDrive. Instead of 400 kW, the driver will then have access to up to 442 kW. BMW promises a standard sprint time of 3.7 instead of 3.9  seconds.

The drive remains untouched in all other versions. However, there have been minor advances in the battery. BMW promises that the use of silicon carbide semiconductor components in the power electronics will reduce consumption and thus enable a slightly longer range. However, this apparently only applies to the models with rear-wheel drive. A comparison of the technical data known to date:

	i4 eDrive35	i4 eDrive40	i4 40 xDrive	i4 M50 xDrive	i4 M60 xDrive
WLTP consumption so far	15,1 to 18,6	15,4 to 18,6	16,7 to 19,8	17,6 to 21,9	-
Consumption WLTP new	17,5	17,8	-	-	20,9
Range to date in km	406 to 500	491 to 600	459 to 546	416 to 520	-
Range new in km	428	510	-	-	433
Battery in kWh (net)	67,1	81,3	81,3	81,3	81,3
Power in kW	210	250	295	400	442

There has been no progress in terms of charging power. It remains at 205 kW at the peak at the DC charging station and 11 kW on alternating current. However, BMW may be optimizing the charging curve. The brand has not yet provided any information on possible changes to charging times. However, the i4 falls well short of what BMW promises for the models based on the "New Class" in terms of charging performance. It continues to use a voltage level of 400  volts. Most public charging stations only supply 500 amps anyway. With 400 volts, the maximum charging power is then limited to 200 kW. The "new class" uses 800 volts and will therefore also be able to charge faster at 500 A charging stations at peak times.

(mfz)