Shared DNA: iX xDrive50 v i4 M50

Shared DNA: iX xDrive50 v i4 M50 Words: Will Beaumont Pictures: BMW

Homogenous blobs, only identified by the badges on the front. White goods that all behave the same, look the same, drive the same. Other than range anxiety and phenomenally high purchase costs, it’s the concerns that electric cars will be all too similar to one another that really worries us car enthusiasts and makes us want to eschew the idea of EVs.

Ido not want to choose my car purely on its practicality and then settle for how much luxury I can afford, which seems to be the purchase model that many people fear is being introduced. But, for some time, I’ve suspected that the mass adoption of electric cars will not create such bland, unidentifiable disposable products.

Why? Manufacturers are already experts in sharing components across multiple models, sometimes across different brands, and tweaking things here and adjusting bits there, so that, with even a common make-up, each car has its own character.

There’s a whole community of Volkswagen Group hot hatches that use the same engine, gearbox, differential, chassis and body structure and each one has its own identity. A Golf GTI is not like a Skoda Octavia vRS or a SEAT Leon Cupra.

BMW are masters of it too. Take the B58 engine, BMW’s single-turbo threelitre straight-six. My quick calculations suggest it’s been plonked into over 15 cars, all BMWs with the 40i badge, not to mention the Toyota Supra and Morgan Plus Six. Many of those BMWs also share gearboxes, suspension components and back axles. You’ll find similarities in their structures, too.

Yet, still, no two cars are exactly the same. Oh yeah, similar, for sure. They all try to behave and act like BMWs, but you’ll never confuse an X3 M40i with an M440i. Even an F31 440i and M240i, cars with a lot in common, are easily identifiable from behind the wheel.

However. Despite using an engine as an example of my confidence in the variety we could have in the future, my faith wavers because of internal combustion engines. Or lack of them. Not just because I love them. No, thanks to the noise they make and how easily that can be altered with different length pipes, clever valves, strategically placed or omitted sound deadening, a car’s voice can handily be changed. And the way a car sounds is certainly a significant part of its character.

As luck would have it, though, I got a chance to experiment, take a glimpse into the future and drive two of BMW’s new electric cars back-to-back to see what diversity will be available. Not just any two, but the iX xDrive50 and the i4 M50. Both cars have the same electric motors at the front and back that drive all four wheels, they share all sorts of technology and have a fundamentally similar layout.

There are some differences. The iX has a slightly larger battery, 111.5kWh compared to the i4’s 83.9kWh. The iX

also has rear-wheel steering, but then it’s a taller SUV that weighs 2510kg, so needs a helping hand in the stability and agility stakes. The i4 M50 is 295kg lighter, and with a little bit more power (537bhp to the iX’s 515), it’s 0.7 seconds faster to 62mph with a time of 3.9 seconds. But both have 50 in their names, so BMW is happy to announce that these cars are similar.

Time to find out if the only difference between these electric cars is the driving position and whether you can see over hedges or not.

I am not going to discuss the looks of these cars, you can make your own minds up about them. I will say, however, like a lot of BMW’s latest creations, the iX is nowhere near as garish and as wild out on the road mixing it with Nissan Jukes, Honda Civics and even larger SUVs. It doesn’t suddenly become the car equivalent of a Riva Aquarama, all class and elegance, absolutely not. But it is less outrageous.

The inside is a very different matter. There’s no other word for it, it’s beautiful. Before the iX, one of my favourite modern car interiors was that of the i3. It was kitted out like an expensive modern Scandinavian log cabin. It was fresh and interesting, like it wasn’t constrained by previous car interior rules. It also felt luxurious. The iX’s interior seems as though it’s been created by the same designer. Only, they’ve matured in the intervening years, spent some time in Paris, lounging on a chaise longue and smoking some Gauloises. There’s that same sense of space as the i3, but the finish and the details are more opulent. The materials are softer and the colours are less austere. The bronze metals add warmth, the big screens make it contemporary, and the little nuggets of crustal on the doors and centre console make it feel expensive and a little bit decadent. There’s no doubt about it, it’s a special place to be.

One element I am not totally convinced by in the iX is the hexagonal steering wheel. It looks great, it fits with the shape of the digital dials, but where you put your hands – at a quarter-to-three – is at too great an angle. The bottoms of your hands are pointing inwards, twisting your wrists unnaturally. It’s certainly uncomfortable for my creaky carpal tunnel-burdened forearms. If you’re a ten-to-two-er, the angle is more natural, but there’s a big bulge for you to wrap your hands around.

Nothing else about the iX is at all awkward, however. In fact, it’s eerily simple. Foot down, and it’s off. Like most electric cars, there’s a thrilling jolt of forward thrust as soon as you touch the pedal. There’s also the incredible way that, despite such vast and instant performance, it remains composed. Especially as my test drive is on cold, wet and slimy tarmac. There’s no wheelspin, no heart-in-your-mouth moment when it feels wildly out of control. Nothing like

the sort of adrenaline rush you’d expect if a petrol-fed power unit unleashed such torque, 564lb ft of it. It’s mightily impressive that computers can adapt to such changing environments and still control the electric motors to such an extent that you’d think the iX’s tyres had limitless traction. Precise and incredible it may be, but it does mean the actual excitement the car can generate is fleeting. There’s only so many times you can be stunned by a blisteringly quick 2-second 0-30mph time.

That’s okay, though, isn’t it? The iX is not an enthusiast’s car, it’s premium transport. Is it, perhaps, the sort of car we fear the future holds? A bit sterile just with a fancy interior? No, it’s better than that. It’s competent and energetic enough for anyone to be happy for it to wear a BMW badge.

This i4 promises much more. It’s not just a BMW, there’s the letter M somewhere in its name, M50, and that’s sacred. It might not be a full-on M car, but the recent M Performance range has included some wonderful driver’s cars with real grit.

The i4’s interior lets you know there is a vast difference between it and the iX. It’s BMW 3 Series territory here, welldesigned, logically laid-out, luxurious enough, but there’s none of the dazzle, sparkle and glamour of the iX. And I miss it.

Especially because, with a more ordinary interior, it’s super simple, fussfree drivetrain, that feels identical to the iX 50’s, doesn’t add any magic. Oh dear. Again, like the iX, the i4 M50 is fast and deeply impressive. Technically brilliant. Plus, thanks to being saloon shaped, it’s a tiny bit more nimble than the iX and no less comfortable.

But where’s that M car-lite persona the badge alludes to? There are Sport modes for the drivetrain, suspension and steering. Maybe you have to fiddle with those to find its performance car zeal. After meandering around in a few different configurations, I start to discover some of that tough bold M car character. But it isn’t until I tickle the traction control button that the car’s M50side is truly exposed.

Press the TC switch, let the computers release a degree of control, and the i4 hands the reigns to you. Stamp on the throttle and you can feel each wheel claw at the tarmac for grip, each one grabbing, slipping, then grabbing again. It’s no slower, it seems, but it’s like the torque has been turned up. Like it’s giving you the car’s full 586lb ft, rather than the same as the iX… Because it isn’t limiting it so massively to maintain traction, I guess it sort of is.

Back off the stability control too, with a long press of the TC button and you have even more to deal with, torque that really manipulates the car’s behaviour. Now, I’ve really got to be on my game, or I could find myself in real trouble. The i4 M50 oversteers if you’re eager with the right pedal, and it’s quite different from the way an internal combustion-engined

car slides. It’s rapid, jolty, like the way it accelerates, and as the car responds instantly to your inputs, you can put an end to any tail-out action immediately with a lift. That’s not so satisfying, it feels stunted and cumbersome. Without any revs or noise, without being able to sense if the motors are under load, you can’t read the car as well as one that grumbles from under the bonnet. It’s a bit like jumping on a computer game. On the PlayStation, or whatever, a car behaves the same way as in reality, but without the same feedback or g-forces, it takes you some time to get into the groove of how to drive again.

The i4 M50 is more exciting than a computer game, it’s real life, but there’s that same requirement to adapt. You need to learn it, get used to it, understand it. I didn’t get on top of it during my test drive, I didn’t feel like I could manage it expertly enough to be truly satisfied. But I know, given time I would get more and more from it. I’d be able to read it, understand it better and, after hours of wheel time, I’d have more and more enjoyable drives in it. And boy do I want to spend some time learning it.

The i4 M50 is the first time I’ve experienced an electric car where the manufacturer has had the confidence to give a driver too much, too much torque, too much performance. Yes, that means it might slide about. But even if that’s not your thing, or you don’t have access to anywhere to do that safely, being trusted to take full control, rather than leaving it up to computers or too much mechanical grip, is a trait great driver’s cars have.

What’s most remarkable is not how different these two cars are, straight out of the box they are really quite similar indeed. Both are nippy yet laid back usable transport. What is surprising is just how the i4’s character can be developed by prodding some buttons and breaking down some safety barriers.

It’s not totally unconventional, either. It behaves broadly the same way as any hot four-wheel-drive car, an M440i driver would not find it totally alien. But there is something new, something to adapt to. And learning how to get the best from an electric car will be another string to our bows, a valuable skill to learn. And if driving the i4 M50 has taught me anything so far, it’ll be a thrill working it all out.

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