2026 BMW i4 eDrive35 review

Some cars are good for your soul. They are just fun and make you happy.

Imagine if they could also be good for the environment, practical, and not cost all that much money.

It took a while for Australians to get on board with this electric Bimmer, but once the car maker introduced an entry-level version at a hot price, more and more people started to take notice.

Before you get too excited, though, BMW is giving it the axe early next year and replacing it with the new i3.

Should you grab one while the going is good? Or is it worth waiting for the Neue Klasse electric 3 Series, which may also come in wagon form?

The i4 offers exceptional bang for your buck and is the most affordable BMW of its size. Only the 1 Series, X1, iX1 and iX2 are cheaper. 

There is just one variant now: the base eDrive35, which costs from $88,900 plus on-road costs. Gone are the mid-spec eDrive40 and top-of-the-range M50.

Honestly, the i4 is well equipped. I don’t think you’re missing out. Sure, those variants had more power and were a tad more luxurious, but they were also a fair bit pricier. If that’s a deal-breaker, there’s always the i5.

The i4 encapsulates the luxury and performance that are attainable for anyone looking for something nicer and sportier than your average sedan, without spending megabucks.

Since the other variants were cut from the line-up, the i4 has risen slightly in price by $1100, but you’re getting more for your money than before.

It now comes with the M Sport styling kit, previously unavailable on the eDrive35, which includes M Sport bumpers and sills, shadowline dark exterior trim, and 18-inch M light alloy wheels.

As standard, it comes with an electrically operated glass sunroof, powered and heated sports front seats with lumbar support, a head-up display, a 10-speaker audio system, faux leather upholstery, and a wireless phone charger.

It lacks the personalisation of the now-departed higher grades, with limited interior options, but the two you can choose from are both available at no extra cost.

There are seven exterior paint choices, although only Alpine White is free. This car wore Fire Red, which is striking. Totally worth the $2000 extra. In fact, all of the premium options are attractive. If you really want to turn heads, then opt for the M Portimao Blue.

You can size up to 19- or 20-inch wheels with differing designs for either $1616 or $3847, respectively, but I think the 18s are the smartest choice for comfort, more on that later on. 

The Tesla Model 3 currently starts at $54,900 for the Premium Rear-Wheel Drive, while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 costs $67,300, and the Polestar 2 Standard Range Single Motor is priced from $62,400, all before on-road costs.

The overall driving range of the i4 is not headline-grabbing, but it’s not bad.

A full charge of the 66.4kWh battery will get you 448km. 

It wasn’t fully charged when I received it, but I drove around 350km during my week with the car, including some time in Sport mode, and it had 60km left before I took it to the charger, so it feels on the money.

The claimed energy consumption is 16.3kWh per 100 kilometres, and I found I averaged 16.2kWh, which is impressively close.

BMW says the i4 can charge from 10 to 80 per cent at 180kW in 32 minutes, and I found 14 to 50 per cent was put away in 15, so that tracks pretty well.

The Ioniq 6 has a similar driving range in its base guise, with 429km on offer, while the Model 3 is good for 520km and the Polestar 2 for 554km.

It’s worth noting that the new BMW i3 is set to offer a massive 900km of WLTP range.

BMW covers the i4 with its industry-standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with eight years of free roadside assistance.

In line with other BMW models, the i4’s servicing is condition-based, meaning the car uses on-board sensors to monitor component wear and tear, with a warning appearing on the driver’s display when a service is due.

The Tesla Model 3 is now covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, bringing it up to the industry standard from its previous four-year/80,000km offering.

Servicing is also condition-based rather than at set intervals, with the car notifying owners when it detects a fault.

Hyundai covers the Ioniq 6 with its five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, though newer models are eligible for an extended seven-year period if serviced exclusively with the brand, and servicing is every 24 months/30,000km.

Meanwhile, the Polestar 2 has the same warranty and servicing intervals as the Ioniq 6, but the car maker throws in five years of free scheduled servicing as a bonus.

All come with an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, except for the Model 3, which Tesla covers for up to 192,000km.

The BMW i4 eDrive35 will cost $4091.17 to comprehensively insure based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW.

Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The BMW i4 has a four-star ANCAP rating from 2022, making it the first BMW tested locally to not achieve a five-star result.

The result was based on Euro NCAP testing at the time. 

Although the i4 achieved good scores for adult, child, and vulnerable road user protection, its safety-assist technology fell short.

ANCAP said local examples of the i4 were better equipped, with AEB and lane-support systems of a higher standard than those in Europe, but BMW opted not to submit a car for retesting.

The safety organisation also noted that the i4 lacks a centre airbag for protecting the driver and front passenger from a potentially deadly head clash in a side-impact collision.

Despite missing out on five stars, the i4 does have an extensive list of safety features, as outlined in the table below, as well as six airbags and BMW’s Parking Assistant Plus.

None of the safety features are nagging, they’re just quietly there doing their job. The only slight annoyance is that it lacks lane-centring, so it can drag slightly to one side or another when the cruise control is activated. It does now come with lane-keep, though, which earlier versions did not.

All three of its rivals have five-star ANCAP ratings. Tesla and Hyundai’s from 2023, and Polestar’s from 2021.

The i4 is a medium sedan that is similar in size to a 3 Series or 4 Series BMW. At almost 4.8m long, it has a real presence on the road.

At the front, a combination of the vertical, honeycomb-patterned kidney grille, prominent lines along the bonnet for aero, and large side air intakes give it a sharp, aggressive appearance, while in profile, it looks sleek and sporty. 

At the rear, it has slim tail-lights, and the M Sport bumpers heighten the athletic aesthetic.

Pillarless doors contribute to the i4’s premium allure, even if it is 'just' the base model, and I actually quite like how low it rides to the ground. Yes, it can be tricky to get in and out of, but it makes it easier for kids to get in by themselves, and that’s a win.

It’s not just relying on its badge to turn heads. The whole package is attractive, more so than any of its direct competitors in my mind.

Despite being the entry-level offering, you know you’re in a BMW, and the overall quality of the interior is high.

There are some hard plastics used on the dash and lower down, but they are still solid and not cheap-feeling or looking at all. With the rest of the black interior, they blend in well, and you have to go looking for them; they don’t stand out.

The i4 I had on test had all-black synthetic leather, which is not easily marked, but I think the Cognac brown/tan would feel more special. 

The fine-brushed aluminium trim is really nice, too, and would be my preference over the optional grey open-pored fine-wood alternative.

It all feels more traditional luxury than its competitors and less space-age. If you’re used to an internal combustion-engined car and are thinking of making the switch, this is definitely the one that will make that bridge easier to cross.

Space in the front is not overly generous; it leans more into the sportier side of things. It’s a driver’s car. The driver and front passenger are hemmed into the sporty seats, which are pleasant and comfortable despite reasonable amounts of bolstering.

The door space is adequate, as are the central cupholders, though slotting a keepy cup into them can be hard work as the retractors are quite stiff.

A small bin under the centre armrest provides just enough space for a few small items, such as sunglasses and wallets, but it’s not overly practical.

This theme continues in the second row, where the door cards have limited room, even for smaller bottles, and there are no map pockets on the backs of the front seats.

What rear occupants do get, however, is a panel for their own climate controls, as the i4 has a tri-zone system, as well as two USB-C ports for charging to join the one USB-C, one USB-A, and 12V socket in the front.

A high floor in the middle means it’s more of a 2+2, as taller folk will find there’s a distinct lack of leg room, room for feet under the front seats, and not much head room either due to its low-slung coupe body style.

The i4 shares a platform with the 4 Series Gran Coupe, which is why it retains the hump in the floor, because it’s where the transmission tunnel would normally be, though the floor has also been raised to accommodate the battery.

It redeems itself in space when it comes to the boot, though, which is not just large but also easily accessible thanks to its liftback styling, rather than using a hinged lid like a traditional sedan.

This also makes putting in child seats much easier than in a regular sedan, because you can access them from the boot over the top of the headrests as you do in an SUV. 

The rear seats fold down in a handy 40:20:40 configuration too.

If you’ve been in a new BMW recently, the infotainment system in the i4 will feel very familiar.

The 14.9-inch infotainment screen and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster are combined into a single, long, horizontal panel that integrates well into the dashboard.

The display is crisp and responsive, and the general layout makes sense, but there are far too many apps to choose from. 

Many relate to things you usually find in Apple CarPlay, such as Spotify and Messages, but have been separated out, presumably to make them easier to find if you’re not in CarPlay at the time. But in reality, the whole thing is a minefield. 

It’s cluttered, confusing, and hard to find anything while you’re driving without being distracted. 

For example, adjusting regenerative braking has to be done via the menu, since there isn’t a separate button for it, and despite using it multiple times during the week, I never got the hang of finding it quickly off the top of my head.

There’s an ‘automate habits’ function that reorders them based on your preference or most used, but I wasn’t able to access it without a BMW ID profile.

Overall, there just aren’t that many buttons, which, if you’re coming from an older ICE vehicle, you might find bewildering or just purely frustrating. 

On the centre console, there are some button shortcuts to things like navigation, media, phone, and driving modes, but the climate controls (aside from the front and rear demisters) are contained within the infotainment system.

And thank goodness, there is a real on/off button, which is not a given in an EV these days – the Model 3 and Polestar 2 don’t have one.

The 10-speaker sound system is a surprise hit. It’s not a branded unit, but it projects the sound nicely around the cabin without being tinny and has good bass.

If you’re a BMW owner, the car maker offers its My BMW connected services app, which allows users to check vehicle status, control functions remotely, plan trips, and manage charging. Some features do require a subscription at an added cost.

This is not the most powerful i4 there has ever been, as the base version, and the headline numbers (210kW/400Nm) don’t set the world alight.

But unless you have grand designs on taking it around a track, it’s more than enough for any eventuality.

That 210kW comes from just one electric motor and is delivered to the rear wheels via a single-speed automatic transmission.

Even in Eco mode, it’s quick. Power is delivered without hesitation, but in Sport mode you are propelled off the line so fast you’re thrown back into the seat. 

You just don’t need any more performance than that for everyday driving. Stopping the two-tonne beast is easy work too. The i4 has adaptive regen, adjusting to the situation as needed, but you can also set it manually to low, medium or high.

Eco and Comfort modes are slightly softer, but there’s less compromise in the ride in Sport mode than you’d think; it’s not firm and remains compliant and enjoyable regardless of the surface. The only time you’ll feel the difference is if you hit a massive pothole or speed bump.

It helps that the BMW isn’t overwheeled here; the 18s are perfect. Sure, massive wheels are fun, but I would keep the standard set in this case.

Of all the car makers, BMW’s steering setup is probably one of the best, and the i4 demonstrates that perfectly. It is intuitive and agile, really helping the driver connect to the road.

It glides elegantly through the twisties and feels well controlled and planted, aided by good grip from the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo tyres, with only a little movement in the body in Comfort. 

If there’s a chink in the armour, it’s a creak that rears its head when you’re backing off the driveway or going through a chicane/swerve where there’s some flex in the body. It’s not a good look for a premium car, and testing should have been able to eke out the problem.

The Hankooks also do a good job of not kicking up too much noise from the road, and the cabin is well insulated from the wind too. 

The i4 launched in 2022 as a small seller for BMW, but this entry-level eDrive35 variant has done the heavy-lifting in propelling model sales up the charts.

And there’s a good reason for that. In fact, there are many.

It’s attractive, it drives beautifully (awkward creak aside), it’s quiet and comfortable, it conserves energy well, and the liftback makes it practical for use as a sometime family car.

Then, of course, there’s the price. For your money, you get a lot. It comes under the LCT limit for fuel-efficient cars and is exempt from FBT (for now) as well.

There aren’t really equivalent vehicles yet in the traditional luxury car space for the same money until the electric Mercedes-Benz C-Class arrives.

The Model 3, Ioniq 6 and Polestar 2 are all great cars, but they just don’t quite feel special enough to compete with the i4, and if you want an EV that just feels like a normal car, this one is it.

A born-and-bred newshound, after graduating from a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Kent, Kathryn worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two award-winning regional newspapers, before joining the UK's biggest newspaper, The Sun. More recently, she has served as News Editor for Wheels, MOTOR, Street Machine, and 4x4 Australia magazines, and is one of only a few women to have served as a Wheels Car of the Year judge. Winner of the Newspress award for Scoop of the Year in 2025, Kathryn is best known at Drive for her powerful investigative feature writing, although she can also be found putting new cars through their paces and breaking news.

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