For around $55,000, you have your choice of two different four-door coupe BMWs — the BMW M440i Gran Coupe ($58,200) and the BMW i4 40 ($55,400). They’re very similar in a few ways and completely different in others but customers with around $55,000 to spend on a four-door BMW will have the choice between the two. So which one should they buy?
Years ago, the choice would be simple, you buy the electric car if you live in a city or an urban environment where range isn’t needed. You bought the gas-powered car for all other locations. However, both cars are now capable in all circumstances, now that the i4 40 has a range of 300 miles. So it’s actually a bit tricky. Especially when the cars themselves are so similar.
Aside from price, the BMW i4 and 4 Series Gran Coupe have quite a lot in common. They’re both based on the same chassis, both share the same basic body shape, they around around the same power (382 horsepower for the M440i and 335 horsepower for the i4 40), and they both have the same hatchback tailgate.
The obvious difference comes from their powertrains. The BMW M440i Gran Coupe uses a 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engine to make 382 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. That engine is paired with an eight-speed automatic, and xDrive all-wheel drive. While the BMW i4 40 uses a single rear electric motor to make 335 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque. It only gets a single-speed gearbox built into its electric drive unit, and powers only its rear wheels.
It’s no surprise that the most powerful car is faster, as the M440i Gran Coupe can get to 60 mph in a claimed 4.6 seconds, while the BMW i4 40 takes 5.5 seconds. Still, the BMW i4 40 feels every bit as quick as the M440i in the real world, due to its instantaneous and uninterrupted electric torque.
Another difference is inside. While the cabins of both cars are mostly identical, the BMW i4 40 comes with sharper tech. The i4 comes with the same iDrive8 system as the BMW iX, which not only gives it a new iDrive screen with loads more tech but a new instrument panel as well. Not only are the new digital gauges sharper looking, they’re more customizable, too.
For around the same money, with only a few thousand dollars between them, you can get either the gas-powered, faster, grippier BMW M440i Gran Coupe or the all-electric, more high-tech, more unique BMW i4 40. If it were my money, I’d actually go for the BMW i4, as 300 miles of range is far more than enough for me and so is its power and I like the idea of a rear-wheel drive electric BMW. Which would you choose.
