BMW South Korea is really making the most out of its Driving Center in Incheon as it’s been shooting a lot of videos lately at the adjacent circuit. After taking the iX3 around the track, they decided to focus on another electric vehicle by putting the i4 through its paces. Both the eDrive40 and M50 were pushed hard to see how faster the M Performance model would be.
With a lap time of 1 minute and 28.22 seconds, the all-wheel-drive electric gran coupe was precisely six seconds faster than its single-motor, rear-wheel-drive sibling. To level the playing field, the two i4 models were driven by the same person on the very same day, so the conditions were virtually identical. The duo ended up faster than the iX xDrive50, which previously lapped the track in 1:33.
The fastest car tested so far at the BMW Driving Center in Korea wasn’t an EV, but rather the M4 Coupe (G82) by completing the course in 1:25. Other models that made it to the lap time board included the previous-generation 745Le (1:35) and the current 420i Convertible (1:39). Since we mentioned the iX3 in the beginning, the rear-wheel-drive electric crossover was clocked in at 1:35 or the same as the old long-wheelbase 7 Series plug-in hybrid.
It’s likely only a matter of time before BMW South Korea will get its hands on the company’s latest EV offerings to test at the facility in Incheon. We’re primarily talking about the cheapest and most expensive zero-emissions products, namely the iX1 and i7. The latter will spawn an M Performance derivative in 2023, bringing 660 horsepower for the M70 model.
Hopefully, we’ll also see how the 750-hp XM fares in this time attack event considering it’s touted as being BMW’s first dedicated M model since the iconic M1 mid-engined coupe from the late 1970s / early 1980s.
Source: BMW South Korea / YouTube
