I worry that readers think I am overly positive about cars (except the electric Mini) and that I am some sort of captured shill for the high-end motoring industry.
But this is the kind of car you want to take home to meet your parents.
This is the kind of car that has you telling your friends after the first drive: “I think it might be the one.”
This is the electric car that makes you feel things you didn’t know were still possible.
This is the BMW i440 M50 – the first M series EV.
It is like my own 2016 BMW 330e plug-in hybrid has taken a tonne of steroids to prep for the Tour de France, transforming from a fun, fast car to a super nova.
Range of 510km
Officially, it will do 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds, but people who are smart enough to test these things say it is much faster. It has 400kW of power and up to 795Nm of torque, thanks to its two electric motors.
It has an official range under the worldwide harmonised light vehicles test procedure (WLTP) of 510km using an 84kW/h battery, and a sound system that can be likened to the singing of angels.
The base price is $137,900, which is not massively more than a new 330e plug-in hybrid or Tesla Model 3 Performance once you are in the $100k-plus category for a new car.
It is, though, massively cheaper than the Audi e-tron GT, which I would compare it with. And that was previously my favourite electric car, partly because it just drives like a BMW, with a rear-biased set-up that feels like a rear-wheel drive and clean steering that makes cornering fun.
Wide-screen technology gives enough screen to make any couch potato happy. (Image: Supplied)It doesn’t do a few things, though.
It doesn’t turn heads. It looks like any other high-end Beamer, though with the giveaway electric grille.
And it is electric, so sometimes you might struggle to recharge it.
I called in to Sylvia Park mall in Auckland to make use of its row of chargers, only to find them all full. It looks like Ford must have secretly released an electric Ranger because one was hogging a precious EV charging park, and I am sure no Ranger driver would do that just to annoy EV owners.
Foiled, I drove over to Highbury and its 135kW ChargeNet station, where it took about 15 minutes to give me more than enough juice for the final couple of days. Fast charging at up to 210kW will move it from 10% to 80% in just 31 minutes. It will easily do the same overnight on a home wallbox.
Pleasure to drive
My plan had been to find some nice roads south of Auckland, out towards Waiuku, but the geniuses at Auckland Transport have made all of the roads either 80km/h or 60km/h, because reducing the speed limit is mostly what they know how to do. (Never thought I’d say this, but go Wayne Brown!)
But whatever the speed, it is a pleasure to drive. It is like the engineers at BMW have created a really pleasant environment that happens to move you around. That is the same with plenty of high-end vehicles now and I am fully behind the trend.
The i440 M50 comes with a five-year warranty, five years of roadside assist and three years of free servicing. The version I tested came with $13,400 of extras, including the M Carbon exterior package at $5,500, leather instrument panel for $2,300, M seatbelts for $500 and a $500 tyre-pressure monitor, which should be standard on a vehicle of this price.
Green energy
From an environmental point of view, it is produced with 100% green energy and its motors feature no rare-earth minerals – although presumably the batteries do.
There is also an i4 eDrive40 for $109,900. Like the i440 M50, it shares its base with the petrol-powered 4 Series Coupé. The i4 eDrive40, though, has only one motor and nearly half the power and torque of the M version. Rarely has $28,000 been more valuable when it comes to luxury vehicles.
It is compared elsewhere with the Tesla Model 3 Performance, which would set you back $103,900 with no options other than a non-white colour. But if you are willing to spend that much on a car, $138k for the BMW is worth it in terms of build quality, interior design and not funding Elon Musk.
The i440 M50 should not be as good as it is. For a start, it is not even built on a pure-electric platform like the Audi e-tron, Tesla or even the BMW iX series, but it just is superb.
Big blue: the i440 M50. (Image: Supplied)
