This new BMW i4 M50 one of the most interesting M Performance cars of all because it’s not truly an M car. BMW sometimes calls it an M car, it has M car power and M car performance, but it’s not actually the real thing. It’s an M Performance car, which is a normal BMW that’s been tweaked by the M Division. And yet, it’s faster than many M cars and packs more power, too. So is it worth of its M badging? In this new video from Harry’s Garage, we get to find out.
First, let’s start with what the BMW i4 M50 is. It starts off as a 4 Series Gran Coupe but then BMW throws out all of its internal combustion gubbins and stuffs in an all-electric powertrain and some batteries. The result is a dual-motor, all-wheel drive, fully-electric sedan with 536 horsepower and 586 lb-ft of torque. For reference, that’s 33 horsepower more than an M4 Competition and more than 100 more torques. Though, due to its massive weight disadvantage, it’s actually a few tenths slower to 60 mph, doing the sprint in around 3.9 seconds.
So it has the power and performance to match most M cars but its weight is a problem. Can it actually hang with its proper M cousins? There’s no questioning its acceleration. Put your foot down and the i4 M50 certainly accelerates like an M car. In fact, it accelerates harder, more often. It might not launch off the line like an M4 Competition but the i4 M50 will likely beat an M4 Comp in a rolling race. However, it’s just not sharp enough for fun enough to be considered a proper M car. Harry Metcalf also noticed particularly poor efficiency, with it failing to achieve anywhere near its claimed max range.
In fact, Metcalf doesn’t seem to like the i4 M50 much at all, calling it his first real disappointment of 2022. So to answer the question, is the BMW i4 M50 worthy of those M badges, Metcalf says no.
