2025 BMW i4 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The BMW i4 adapts the architecture of the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, which incorporates the battery pack, electric motors, charging system, and other hardware and software necessary for a modern EV. The result is nothing short of miraculous when you consider that other car companies are spending billions to develop dedicated EV platforms. And that’s why this car looks like a 4 Series and not something wild and crazy like BMW’s previous i3 and i8 models.

The i4 debuted for the 2022 model year and received minor design changes for 2025. Highlights include new lighting, grille detailing, wheel designs, and colour choices. Inside, there’s a new steering wheel, revised air vents, and updated upholstery and trim selections. The changes don’t substantially alter the i4, and if you liked it before, you’ll still like it now. And vice versa.

Aside from the grille and the stylistic excess of our test car’s M Sport Package, we think the i4 looks terrific. It has a dramatically sloping roofline because it’s a “sportback,” which is one way of describing a four-door hatchback. But BMW calls the i4 a Gran Coupe, and its four doors might lead some to classify it as a sedan. Whatever. The point is that when you lift that hatch and fold the back seat down, the BMW i4 offers a surprising amount of practicality and utility.

Similar to many German cars, the i4’s interior is cold and technical, though you can add some traditional luxury by choosing a warmer upholstery colour and open-pore wood trim. The test car’s perforated Sensatec artificial leather felt close enough to the real thing that an upgrade wasn’t necessary, though it can feel a little sticky.

In Canada, BMW offers the 2025 i4 in four model series: single motor, rear-wheel drive (RWD) eDrive35 and eDrive40 models; a dual-motor, all-wheel drive (AWD) xDrive40; and M50 (performance-tuned dual-motor AWD). Prices ranged from $58,278 to $84,038 at the time of writing, including a destination charge of $2,555. The base eDrive35 model is priced to qualify for provincial and territorial EV rebate programs where they still exist.

Our test car was the i4 eDrive40 equipped with extra-cost Portimao Blue Metallic paint and the M Sport, Premium Enhanced, Premium Excellence, and Advanced Driver Assistance option packages. Those upgrades bring the Canadian manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $84,578, including the destination charge.

The single-motor i4 eDrive40 provides the longest driving range of all i4 models and boasts traditional RWD dynamism. However, it lacks the outright speed and AWD traction you’ll find in the dual-motor xDrive40 and M50 models. With BMW estimating the eDrive40 will accelerate to 96 km/h in 5.5 seconds, we’ll accept those trade-offs.

The eDrive40’s motor generates 335 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, with an 81-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack providing the juice. When equipped with the M Sport Package’s larger 19-inch wheels, the eDrive40 provides 475 kilometres of range while consuming electricity at the rate of 20.1 kWh per 100 kilometres, according to Natural Resources Canada. Stick with the standard 18-inch wheels, and those values are 512 km of range and 18.7 kWh/100 km.

Three selectable driving modes are available, including Eco Pro, Comfort, and Sport. Individual mode allows you to mix and match settings to personal preferences. We drove the i4 primarily in Eco Pro mode and rarely felt the car was lacking for power or acceleration. On the evaluation route, we used Sport mode when traveling across the mountains. Our observed efficiency was 22.4 kWh/100 km, a consumption rate higher than the official NRCan estimate.

With the battery showing a 35% charge, we sought out a DC fast charger in a suburb. After some effort, we found a 100-kilowatt station that was open, operational, and not being used. It took 30 minutes to reach an 80% charge.

If you’ve driven a BMW 3 Series or 4 Series with an internal combustion engine, the added weight of the i4's battery and electric motor are palpable at first. However, with time, you cease noticing it unless you travel over a particularly bumpy surface.

In addition to the appealing 19-inch wheels, the M Sport Package includes an Adaptive M Suspension and variable sport steering. Since we mainly used Eco Pro mode, the suspension supplied a reasonably smooth ride, while retaining a good feel for the road, and the steering was light.

After switching into Sport mode for a ride down a twisty canyon road, the i4’s character changed. It responded more urgently to accelerator pedal inputs, the ride firmed up, and the steering gained some heft. Those traits made our test car fun to hustle on that mountain road, but in a slightly antiseptic way that you don’t sense in a 3 Series or 4 Series. Does the BMW i4 offer a one-pedal driving mode? Yep. Just shift into the “B” mode using the switch on the centre console. Drive without it, and the brake pedal feels entirely natural. Also, it likely goes without saying, but on the highway, the i4 is near-silent inside.

One reason people prefer crossover SUVs to traditional cars is that it’s easy to get in and out of them. That’s not the case with the BMW i4. It sits low to the ground, the centre roof pillar is intrusive, and the door openings are small. Furthermore, the Sensatec simulated leather feels a little sticky, and the i4’s outer seat bolsters can be something of an impediment to an easy exit.

However, once you’re settled into the snug cabin, the i4 delivers plenty of comfort for front and rear-seat occupants. Front-seat comfort is excellent, and the rear seat offers a higher and more supportive seating position than expected. However, six-foot-tall adults will find just enough foot-, head-, and legroom with little margin to spare. Note that in some i4 models, heated front seats and other heated features are not included as standard, and only available via a package at an extra cost.

Practical storage space is equally spare. The bin under the centre armrest is sizable, but the front cupholders and the wireless smartphone charger battle for dominance under a cover that hides them from view. You can actively use one or the other but not both. Back-seat passengers have cupholders embedded into the centre armrest, small trays on each side armrest, and bottle holders in the lower door panels—but that’s not much in practice.

While the i4’s interior might be on the small side, BMW somewhat makes up for it with impressive utility. On paper, it doesn’t seem promising. When the i4 debuted, BMW claimed the trunk measured 283 litres, which really isn’t much. However, it seems like BMW didn’t consider the fact that you can remove the cargo cover and pack the trunk to the glass, or the small-item storage space beneath the cargo load floor. Fold the 40/20/40-split rear seat flat, and the car offers appreciably more volume.

The BMW Curved Display—which marries a 12.3-inch driver display with a 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system beneath a single piece of curved glass—carries over for the 2025 model year. But BMW has upgraded the infotainment system to iDrive 8.5 with Quick Select. The latter refers to a new “flat” menu of shortcuts to iDrive 8.5’s various native applications. Filters include All Apps, Infotainment, Vehicle, and Recently Used. Choose All Apps, and common shortcuts are listed first, followed by deeper functions in alphabetical order. The design is logical, but for best results, use it when the car is parked rather than on the move.

Fortunately, iDrive 8.5 includes BMW’s excellent Intelligent Personal Assistant. This conversational voice recognition technology allows you to perform numerous tasks using voice commands, and this test car’s iteration of the system was the best version we’ve ever tested. It successfully avoided making the same errors we’ve observed in other BMWs while turning in a nearly flawless performance.

The new iDrive 8.5 infotainment system also adds Augmented View technology to the navigation system. Program a destination, and it uses the forward-view camera and graphic overlays to help you find the right lane to use and exactly where your next turn is. Augmented View is always helpful, but this is particularly true at night when traveling in unknown territory.

The navigation system adds a new ability to optimize routes based on charging station availability in addition to charging station locations. We programmed a cross-country trip and, based on topography and expected range, the i4’s navigation system showed us where we could recharge the car and the status of those chargers at any given time.

Charging the BMW i4 is easier now, too, with the new Plug & Charge authentication technology. Thanks to partnerships with certain providers, you can pull up to a charging station, plug in, recharge, and disconnect without worrying about having an app or using a credit card. Billing is automatic through the Plug & Charge system.

The iDrive 8.5 infotainment system adds a row of climate controls to the bottom of the 14.9-inch touchscreen. This wasn’t a problem, and the only complaint we have about the 2025 i4’s BMW Curved Display technology related to using the radio. We programmed numerous favourite SiriusXM stations, but accessing that list via the touchscreen took too long, and the user experience can be confusing, leading to distraction. So, just say, “Hey BMW, tune to Alt Nation,” and be done with it. Or you can use iDrive 8.5’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and bypass the native tech altogether.

BMW equips every i4 with forward collision warning and automatic high beams as standard. Depending on the model, other features are either standard or available in a package, including automatic emergency braking, active blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, and rear cross-traffic alert.

The Advanced Driver Assistance package adds adaptive cruise control as well as Driving Assistant Professional, which includes lane-centring assist, lane-change assist, evasive steering assist, and emergency stop assist. The Traffic Jam Assistant, also included with this package, is a hands-free driving feature for use on limited-access highways at speeds under 60 km/h.

During testing in traffic, the driving system worked well. We did not find the lane-change function particularly helpful, but only because where we live, seemingly whenever space opens in a lane, there is an aggressive driver quickly moving into it. That real-world lane-shopping reality is incompatible with any technology that must take time and care to make assessments.

As for how the i4’s other driver aids operated, the lane-keeping system consistently misread pavement scars from completed construction projects, such as lane lines. Also, when driving on a winding road with cars parked on the shoulder, the automatic braking technology mistakenly identified the parked cars as obstacles.

We also experienced the i4’s Active Protection System. While driving on a mountain road, we rounded a corner to discover sizable rocks that had fallen onto the blacktop. An immediate, hard panic stop activated the seatbelt pretensioners and closed the windows, securing us within the i4’s cabin. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary, but it was a good reminder that this technology exists.

Crash-test ratings for the i4 from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) were incomplete at the time of writing.

The most affordable version of the 2025 BMW i4 starts at just under $60,000. That’s on a par with a Hyundai Ioniq 6 or a base Tesla Model 3, neither of which offers the convenience of the BMW’s sportback body style.

If that added utility is important, you could instead choose a Ford Mustang Mach-E, which has available BlueCruise hands-free driving at a greater range of speeds. The Kia EV6 is another money-saving alternative.

But those are not luxury rivals (no, not even the Tesla). Over at the Audi store, there isn’t a direct rival in price and configuration to a BMW i4, though the new A6 e-tron comes close at the i4’s top end. The same goes for Acura, Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo—all SUVs. So, it seems the BMW is, for now, a one-off of sorts.

And it’s a terrific one-off. We really like this car, and although it’s based on a platform developed for an internal combustion engine, BMW’s engineering wizards have transformed the 4 Series Gran Coupe into a legitimately competitive EV.