[drsvijay]

Originally Posted by anishpraji

Congratulations! Hope to get your review soon!

Sure. Eagerly waiting for the delivery

[carthick1000]

BMW i4 M50 - Rapidgating

For all those interested in BMW i4, a serious and sad news. It seems that the i4 is rapidgating like a 1st gen Nissan Leaf. This is regarding a BMW i4 M50. So not sure if it might be applicable to eDrive40. M50 is supposed to be a performance version and if that rapidgates, it is really a bad sign.

Rapidgating or Thermal throttling is a process in which, to prevent overheating of battery pack, some EVs reduce their DC charging power and also limit driving power for some duration until the battery temperature is back to "normal" levels. This type of phenomena is seen in 1st gen Nissan leaf which uses air cooled battery pack instead of modern coolant cooled packs.

But BMW seems to have designed i4 in such a way that if you precondition the car or keep the Airconditioning running while fast charging the car, then the battery does not cool down sufficiently, leading to overheating of the battery. This results in reduced DC charging speeds. This seems to happen especially if charged upto 50% or less. Also it takes about 25 minutes for the battery to come to normal levels. This means the driving power is also restricted to half until about 25minutes.

Bjorn Nyland, an EV vlogger, who is one of the best in the business of reviewing EVs has found this out during his 1000km test (He usually does this 1000km test to see how long it takes for an EV to go 1000km including charging stops) few days ago. This happened in Norwegian summer temperatures of about 27 degC. He also noticed that if charged until 69-70% (in other words charge a bit longer at fast chargers), this is not seen. So for Indian conditions, it might be even worse given higher ambient temperatures. Only good thing is we have only 50kW DC fast chargers in most places, so no one probably might encounter this in India for sometime. In a few years, if more high speed chargers find their way in Indian highways, this will become an issue.

After my driving impressions of i4, and the recent efficiency tests by Bjorn, I was really impressed by i4 inspite of it's non-ground-up EV design. But this is a serious issue and if BMW doesn't fix it, serious buyers of i4 are going to be looking for other options.

Here is the video of the test. Also see the youtube video comments for more discussions on the topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0LaUx5I_28

Cheers,
Karthik

[anishpraji]

Originally Posted by drsvijay

Sure. Eagerly waiting for the delivery

Hello Vijay, did you take the delivery ?

[drsvijay]

Originally Posted by anishpraji

Hello Vijay, did you take the delivery ?

Not yet buddy. They have not informed me about the delivery date yet.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

BMW i4 M50 - Rapidgating

Seems problem with that particular test car, low coolant in the car is the said cause.

https://youtu.be/lCTDT_hM1Eo

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Seems problem with that particular test car, low coolant in the car is the said cause.

Thanks for sharing. I would expect some sort of warning/indication that there is an issue with the level of refrigerant/coolant or even a possible leak in the system. It is quite strange that the power is limited without any warning. But we will see in his re-do of 1000km challenge. So far this issue is not widely reported and hence we shall give the benefit of doubt to BMW.

On a side note, it is good to know that BMW prioritizes passenger comfort (cabin cooling) over battery cooling. That is one of the reasons for buying a premium brand after all.

[Turbanator]

I had booked casually at the launch, and the car is at the dealership and I am




Now, these M-Kits are to be fitted at the dealership level but are ordered separately by the dealer; in this case, they were not done yet despite being ordered as an M variant. So I cannot see it in person. These Kits will include primed bumpers and some other parts, including window shadow lines & front grill. This will involve opening & retrofitting new bumpers after painting at the dealership, and the shadow line (mat aluminium currently) will be replaced with black. I am not comfortable changing factory-fitted stuff with a workshop, especially parts like a shadow-line. Tyres swap is not a concern.



What will be the opinion of members if I should continue with OE trim or consider swapping for M-Kit? It's going to cost additional 6 lac and has to be done before delivery only.

This is how it looks now, bumper, grills, tyre and shadow line. Honestly, I am past the age for flashier things; the only thing that's bothering me is the standard alloys as the one in M- kit look fab. But the dealership cannot make partial changes.

This is how one in M looks, I think in Black, the difference is less, and the Aluminium mat shadow lines look better.

[black12rr]

Get the alloys, smoke/carbon black or black out the grill and be done. It looks good in stock.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

What will be the opinion of members if I should continue with OE trim or consider swapping for M-Kit? It's going to cost additional 6 lac and has to be done before delivery only.

The OE trims looks elegant and classy. Please do keep it as it is. 17inch wheels on OE trim is also good for comfortable rides, as the car is supremely heavy. 18inch and above are just going to compromise the primary ride for Indian roads. With rear air suspension and adjustable with drive/suspension modes, secondary ride should also be very smooth.

Nice colour choice btw! Enjoy the electric experience!

[Turbanator]

I went again yesterday to check the car. The dealership is also not comfortable in doing this makeover to M as a lot of parts have to be changed, and most of those, if not all, will be a waste for them. BMW will reimburse them a fixed amount, and the balance they have to manage by selling the OE parts. Given the low number of such cars, it can be a while before they are able to sell those bumpers or those alloys to a non-M car. Tyres may be the easiest to go.

I sat in the car for a while, and unlike BMW's, it smells more like a Japanese I guess, due to non-leather seats. Overall, the interiors though simple and minimalistic, I couldn't get connected. Even the steering felt very different (cheap?)

Then this guy who handles the ordering of accessories and has known me for a while tells me that this is not a car for me. I was already in doubt as I had gotten used to different interiors. I am ok with a simple cloth interior like we get on an Innova, but fake leather-like stuff, I don't get comfortable.

Why do I need this, and will I be able to enjoy it, apart from the EV acceleration? Tough day ahead, and I am not sure if I will go ahead. They have a long wait list so, I guess there won't be any cancellation charges.

Are these too similar

[M00M]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Why do I need this, and will I be able to enjoy it, apart from the EV acceleration? Tough day ahead, and I am not sure if I will go ahead. They have a long wait list so, I guess there won't be any cancellation charges.

The biggest issue I personally have with the i4 is the low GC. It is just too low for India. I advise you to wait it out if you dont need it right now and let some initial reports come in of people using them on our roads. I personally feel Skoda Enyaq EV wiil be a better option as an EV but there is no details on its launch.

[anishpraji]

Finally we took the delivery of the i4 on the 28th of October, drove around for about 300kms now.

Some glimpses from the delivery,

https://youtu.be/9dFB2-8p-tI

[drsvijay]

Originally Posted by anishpraji

Finally we took the delivery of the i4 on the 28th of October, drove around for about 300kms now.

Congrats buddy.

When did they inform you about delivery?

Kindly post your feedback about GC issue and will it harm the car?

Also have u opted for M package ?

[anishpraji]

Originally Posted by drsvijay

Congrats buddy.

When did they inform you about delivery?

Kindly post your feedback about GC issue and will it harm the car?

Also have u opted for M package ?

The ground clearance is low, but very much manageable. Actually since the wheel base is smaller, its comparable to the G30 5 series.

No I have not opted for the M Kit, the 17 inch's will have better ride compared to the 18's on the M Kit. Also increasing the wheel size affects the range too.

My sales manager at KUN Exclusive - Mr. Raja Saravanan, followed through with me and did his best at all times to get the car delivered at the earliest.

[drsvijay]

Originally Posted by anishpraji

The ground clearance is low, but very much manageable. Actually since the wheel base is smaller, its comparable to the G30 5 series.

No I have not opted for the M Kit, the 17 inch's will have better ride compared to the 18's on the M Kit. Also increasing the wheel size affects the range too.

My sales manager at KUN Exclusive - Mr. Raja Saravanan, followed through with me and did his best at all times to get the car delivered at the earliest.

Thanks a lot, that's much reassuring. I am talking with my salesperson about canceling and going in for 340i M since i thought it may be practically less drivable with this GC from what people say.