If you’re in the market for an electric entry-level luxury sedan, the BMW i4 is likely your best overall option, and the 2025 BMW i4 brings some small yet meaningful updates that should enhance usability while making this Bavarian machine easier to look at.
Granted, pickings are slim in this segment. You’ve got the Polestar 2 which isn’t as competitive as it used to be, and some might argue that the Tesla Model 3 is a luxury car although they’d be wrong. The facelifted Model 3 is a noticeable improvement, but it also doesn’t feel any nicer than a Hyundai Ioniq 6. So, that leaves us with the BMW i4 to blend actual luxury with the form factor of an entry-level electric sedan, and this facelifted model seems to do just enough to appear somewhat fresh.
Let’s start with toning down appearances. The most contentious part about the i4 is that it has a kidney grille silhouette like a fully-spread hotdog bun, and because much of it isn’t really a grille, it came across as unnecessary peacocking. Well, BMW’s designers have been figuring out how to tone down the giant kidneys, and this is the solution for 2025.
Alright, so the radar sensor is more exposed than on the outgoing model, but thematically blending the actual kidney grille openings with the lower grille mesh visually shrinks the kidneys, and that seems like a good thing. Oh, and new headlights feature daytime running lights with a close enough angle to the jowls in the front bumper to tone down the bumper contouring.
Around back, updates are confined to new taillights with laser-illuminated fibre optic elements, while in profile, new wheel designs round out the looks for 2025. We’re talking about a subtle facelift here, but an improvement nonetheless. Granted, styling improvement over the outgoing model doesn’t seem particularly hard, but that’s low-hanging fruit.
However, the big upgrade to the 2025 BMW i4 is found in the interior, where an important infotainment upgrade should make a real difference. The outgoing i4 features iDrive 8, and it might be the worst variant of iDrive from a usability perspective, and that includes the original VxWorks kernel system found in the Bangle butt 7 Series. Think heated seats buried in submenus, to start. The 2025 car gets the iDrive 8.5 upgrade which actually docks quick access to stuff like heated seats, your tunes, an app launcher, media, and the home menu. You know, stuff that should’ve always been docked. Achieving what should be the bare minimum isn’t something worth celebrating, but it’s definitely worth noting.
Other upgrades to the 2025 BMW i4 include new interior trims and upholstery options, including black-and-red upholstery on the M50 xDrive that looks like a scene kid’s backpack, and more minimalist center HVAC vents with illumination. Also on deck? Two new steering wheel designs and available augmented reality in the heads-up display that will give drivers Midnight Club-style arrows for navigating confusing intersections. Again, not game-changing, but nice to have.
With mildly toned-down styling and a mildly tuned-up interior, the 2025 BMW i4 certainly looks promising as an entry-level luxury EV. We liked the pre-facelift model we drove in 2022, and all the little alterations for 2025 promise to make this thing slightly easier to live with. Expect pricing to be announced later this year, as the refreshed i4 is set to enter production in July.
(Photo credits: BMW)
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Another fugly vote. Are we just getting used to these atrocities like we’re getting used to political insanity these days?
It looks less like a beaver in front, and more like a TLX in back, so it is a definite improvement.
It’s still ugly AF.
Faux grille, faux side vents — and faux exhaust? Looks like they’re lamenting the CO2-farting ICE that they’d rather be selling.
That front end is hideous.
I haven’t driven it, but if it were a pedal car with stone tires it would drive better than it looks. 🙂
The front, sides, and back are still gashy messes. Love you Thomas, but on this one, you might not be correct.
Surprised nobody mentions the horizontal hood shut line above the lights. Makes the car cheaper to insure lower repair cost in case of an accident) but destroys the visual harmony of the front- not that there was much to start with, given the beaver teeth. Look up the last gen Jaguar XJ, especially in light colors (but even in darker ones) and you’ll see
BMW has been doing that panel gap since the F30 days or even before. It has never looked right. It’s awful. The whole car is, but that’s the shit cherry on top.