2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Driven: It’s The E30 Of EVs

Simplicity is no longer a word we associate with today’s automotive industry. Sure, we still have access to back-to-basics sports cars like the Subaru BRZ and Mazda MX5 Miata, but the age of the simple, stripped-out, no-nonsense automobile is far behind us, a car that shines bright not because of how many screens it’s got or how fast it can lap the Nürburgring, but by how well its chassis and drivetrain were calibrated.

Slate may be the savior we need for a return to bare-bones motoring, but we’re still a fair distance away from an actual production car and, well, a car company that can stay afloat long enough to be competitive. I’m genuinely curious about that company, even more so about the cute, modular little truck they suggest. But for now, we don’t have much in terms of simplicity, at least not in the electric vehicle (EV) space. Yet, somehow, through all the noise, the BMW i4 eDrive40 I had the opportunity to live with for an entire week felt like just that. Simple. Straight forward. No nonsense, and, dare I say it, a bit like a modern E30.

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 First Impressions: A Cleaner And More Coherent Design

I say that the i4 is an electric 3 Series, but in reality, it’s more like an electric 4 Series Gran Coupe, since it also wears the Gran Coupe name. But, fundamentally, both the 3 and 4 Series share the same basic platform.

For the 2025 model year, BMW has slightly massaged the i4’s styling to be a little cleaner, more coherent and less polarizing versus its gasoline-powered brothers. The main change happened in the front grille area, or should I say, the large plastic slab that pretends to be a grille. It’s less, in your face, and integrates better with the i4’s design. There’s a new LED illumination pattern inside the headlights which also helps harmonize things a little better. The rear bumper and taillights have received some stylistic changes as well. Overall, it’s still the same well-packaged and properly-sized small BMW sedan that doesn’t make a big deal out of being electric. I quite like that.

I’ll add that my tester’s Cape York Green paint, which is new for the 2025 model year, fits the i4 like a glove. Sadly, the gunmetal gray 18-inch wheels my car was wearing didn’t work all that well with that color. I’m also quite fed up with the whole hockey-stick side vents BMW has been milking over the past few years.

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Exterior Dimensions

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40: Differences Between The U.S. And Canadian Market

Other changes for the 2025 model year include a reshuffling of the i4’s trim hierarchy, which constitutes the main distinction between the U.S. and Canada. For instance, in the U.S., the eDrive40 is now the entry-level model since the eDrive35 has been dropped. In Canada, it’s still available.

The U.S. also gets an additional paint color within the non-metallic hues: Jet Black. Both markets, however, sell the same seven available wheel packages, and most of the optional packages, while not cheap, are relatively identical on both sides of the border. For reference, my test vehicle was fitted with the $3,100 M Sport package, called M Sport Pro in Canada ($2,500 CAD).

U.S. Versus Canada Lineup Breakdown And Starting MSRP (model tested in bold below)

Driving Impressions And Performance: A Good Amount Of Power, With A Firm, Balanced Chassis

The reason I referenced the BMW E30 in the title isn’t because the 2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 is lightweight. It isn’t. The darn thing weighs close to 5,000 pounds. It’s also about twice the length of the original BMW sports sedan from the late 1980s. There’s also nothing analog about this electric car. But just like how the E30 went about its business being an unassuming, well-put-together and marvelously-engineered German sedan, in that respect, the eDrive40 feels the same way.

The basic hardware is all familiar stuff. The i4, like almost all of BMW’s current cars and SUVs, rides on the excellent CLAR multi-energy architecture, which allows the automaker to build both gasoline-powered vehicles and EVs on the same assembly line. But underneath this Gran Coupe’s floor lies an 84.3-kWh, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack, which powers a single, current-excited synchronous AC electric motor fitted to the rear axle. Output, according to BMW, is rated at 335 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, which leads to a manufacturer-claimed 0 to 60 MPH time of 5.5 seconds.

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Technical Specifications

Indeed, humble specifications, and humble performance, like an E30. The beauty of how the eDrive40 exhibits its performance, however, is how well-balanced and optimized it all is. Acceleration is swift, but never brutal. It’s enough to get you up to speed quickly, and more than plenty to overtake thanks to the electric motor’s instantaneous thrust. Throw the i4 hard into a corner and its hyper-firm chassis and quick steering allow it to elegantly weave its way through a winding back road.

The lack of a front electric motor also gives the eDrive40 a much lighter-feeling front end, and a simple stab at the accelerator with traction control off will have the rear gently kicking out, but never in such a frantic manner as to be intimidating. It’s all refined, well-balanced. That’s the sort of dynamic grace I expect from a BMW. The eDrive40 isn’t trying to be an M car, because it isn’t one. It’s just trying to be a great BMW sports sedan, and in that respect, I reckon it does a better job of doing that than BMW’s own 330i.

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Energy Consumption Range And Charging

What’s also great about the i4 is that, while it still provides the expected BMW driving experience, it never loses its focus on being a great EV. The fact that it’s only powered by a single electric motor, but also fitted with the larger available battery, means the eDrive40 is the range king of the lineup at 318 miles, as per the EPA. It also fast charges rather quickly thanks to a claimed 205 kW on a compatible DC fast charger. The onboard charger, for Level 2 AC home charging, is equally competitive at 11 kW.

I spent most of my time with the i4 charging it on my own 7.2-kW Flo G5 home unit, which had me leaving the house with a 100-percent charge each morning. Since I was driving the i4 during early spring, where temperatures ranged between the freezing point and 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Farenheit), I averaged a combined energy consumption of 104 MPGe, which translates into a real-world range figure of 260 miles. In such conditions, that’s very good.

EPA And As-Tested Energy Consumption And Range

Interior Design And Comfort: Classy And Well Put Together, But A Little Tight

Inside the i4, there’s very little indication that this thing runs solely on electrons, which helps drive the point home that it’s all but another BMW sedan. You also get what you expect from this automaker, like an excellent build quality and above-average fit and finish. My example had a beautiful tan leather interior that married itself rather well with the car’s light green paint.

Just like in a 3 or 4 Series, general ergonomics in an i4 are second to none. Everything is where it should be, everything rests well in your hands and fingertips and there’s general common sense in the physical and even touch-operated controls, which I’ll get back to in a bit. Unfortunately, just like the 3 Series, the i4’s cabin remains rather small, even up front.

Yes, the seats are comfortable and supportive, but if you’re tall, you’ll need to pull that seat back so close to the B pillar that it’ll constantly be there in the corner of your left eye. Rear legroom isn’t any better, especially if tall people are sitting up front. And if you plan on fitting a rear-facing car seat back there, prepare to have to move the front passenger seat forward quite a bit. So, in essence, the i4 is comfortable alright, but only for four short adults, or two tall ones carrying children.

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use: Relatively Easy To Use, But Still A Hot Mess Of Tiles

BMW’s iDrive infotainment system, still operable with a center-mounted knob dial in the i4, remains one of the best systems in the business due to its quick response times, clean graphical interface and generally great user experience. But I’ve accused its latest iteration of being a hot mess of tiny tile icons on the main screen, which are not only difficult to grasp while driving, but not necessarily ordered in a way that makes any sense.

What used to require a simple press of a button on the steering wheel to remove adaptive cruise control now means digging into a set of menus. This is the case for several of the i4’s fundamental controls. As for the rest, like wirelessly connecting to Android Auto (in my case), and rapidly giving me access to valuable energy-consuming and charging data, the i4’s technology is spot on.

Cargo And Storage Space: Thank You, Gran Coupe!

What allows the i4 to distinguish itself from the 3 Series in the cargo space department is the fact that, thanks to its Gran Coupe treatment, it’s been fitted with a liftback trunk. This gives the i4 a somewhat hatchback configuration, allowing more space for taller objects as well as a larger total cargo area when the rear seats are folded flat. For reference, the i4 has a larger trunk area than a Polestar 2 (14.4 cu-ft), but contrary to the Polestar, the i4 also isn’t equipped with a front trunk (frunk).

2025 BMW i4 eDrive40 Cargo Space

One Of The Hidden Gems Of The EV World

For the new generation of buyers interested in buying a new EV, the BMW E30 probably has very little significance, except for being that cool old BMW they spotted over the weekend at the local classic car meeting.

But although its purpose was never to bring back the past, and that, from a technical standpoint, the i4 has absolutely nothing in common with its ancestor, there’s a consistent dynamic lineage between both cars that helps the eDrive40 shine bright as the underdog of the i4 lineup. The M50 may be the M-fighting electric alternative to the iconic gasoline-powered BMW sports sedan, but the eDrive40 is the quiet, yet sophisticated and overachieving business sports sedan that’s best appreciated in the backdrop.