Launched in Canada for the 2022 model year, the i4 undergoes a mid-cycle update for 2025. Updates include the grille, fascia and headlights up front and restyled taillights out back. The cabin revisions include revised finishes as well as the latest version of BMW’s roto-dial iDrive system.

The i4 is slightly larger than BMW’s traditional 3 Series sedan. It is available is a truly dizzying variety of motors and driver configuations for a low-volume model. Rear-wheel drive variants are offered in eDrive 35 (282 horsepower) and eDrive 40 (335 horsepower). The dual-motor all-wheel driver variants can be had as the xDrive40 (396 horsepower) and M50 xDrive50 (536 horsepower). The 35 is powered by a 68.7 kWh battery pack, with other variants motivated by an 84.3 kWh battery pack. Driven in rear-wheel drive eDrive 40 form, the i4 is very quick and very quiet.
The prodigious power of the eDrive 40 is transmitted to the rear wheels with ease, even during rainy conditions on the day it was driven. Despite enormous wheels and low-profile tires the eDrive 40 features a firmly compliant ride combined with reassuring handling. The steering is nicely geared and precise but feels numb. Despite their regenerative function, the brakes have a very conventional feel. The i4 has a very quiet drivetrain but there is little noise emanating from the wind or road, resulting in serene progress.

Like many other BMWs, the i4 driver faces a wide but shallow computer tablet. The graphics of the tablet are precisely rendered but the graphics, including the boomerang motif that surround the gauges, are unattractive.

Like many other BMWs, the i4 is fronted by an oversized version of BMW’s twin-kidney grille that is the antithesis of attractive. Other than the front fender piercings and the odd boomerang-shaped accents on the front fenders, the i4 is elegant and contemporary. The taillights incorporate novel laser light tubes.

Inside, the cabin is dominated by a wide and shallow computer tablet that is fast becoming ubiquitous in cars regardless of market segment. The driver faces a vehicle operation screen of stupendous visual quality, but its design, using vertically arrayed boomerang elements at the edges of the display, is unattractive. The right side of the tablet displays navigation and audio information in its main field. The forward part of the centre console houses a crystal-like gear selector toggle as well as the iDrive controller which combines a rotary dial and buttons for Media, Telephone, Home, Map and Navigation. Cabin materials are plush, with a vinyl called Sensatic, attractive faux-alloy fillets and great lashes of genuine open-pore wood that cover the dash, centre stack and console. The front seats are comfortable, if a bit narrow, and the driver sits low and feels hemmed in by the centre console and door. Access to the front seats is fairly easy but the rear seat makes ingress-egress a bit of an adventure and once in, the seat is oddly shaped and positioned, legroom is tight and there is no room for feet under the front seats. The hatchback trunk is both commodious and luxuriously finished.

At a bit less of $60,000, the base i4, the eDrive 35, is quite expensive. Moving up the the eDrive 40 adds $9000 to the price tag. Opting for the dual-motor, all-wheel drive system on the 40 drivetrain costs $5910. The most powerful i4, the M50 xdrive, is priced nearly $11,000 more than the xDrive 40. Most metallic paints cost $900 but the hyper premium colours can cost from $1500 to $6000 extra.

BMW provides scheduled maintenance for three years as part of its pricing. There were no government subsidies for electric cars in April of 2025.

Newish, low-volume vehicle. Not rated. Below average reliability is expected.