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  • EV M vs. ICE M - BMW G80 M3 Competition xDrive vs. BMW i4 M50 drag races

      • EV M vs. ICE M - BMW G80 M3 Competition xDrive vs. BMW i4 M50 drag races

        Published on 01-20-2022 06:16 PM
        8 Comments Comments
        Whether you want to cal the i4 M50 an M car or not electrification undeniably will become a bigger part of the BMW M strategy. It is unavoidable. What we will see happen is more of these comparisons between enthusiasts on each side and even within the same brand.


        Call it sibling rivalry if you want but the G80 M3 is the strongest M3 BMW built to date (at least power wise) and for many of us represents the old guard.

        Even though it is still internal combustion it hardly resembles a classic M3 itself with all wheel drive, an automatic, and turbos. But it's fast... very fast.

        How does the i4 M50 stack up? It's heavier but on paper more powerful.

        In practice? The i4 M50 gives the M3 a run for its money to 200 meters. Now, 200 meters is just shy of an 1/8th mile. Not exactly a full drag race and that is done on purpose to give the I4 M50 the win and create controversy for clicks.

        We want to see a full 1/4 mile with timeslips. And we eventually will. That said, watch out for i4 M50's at a stoplight.


        This article was originally published in forum thread: M3 Competition xdrive vs i4 M50 started by bmwsport View original post
        Comments 8 Comments
        1. bmwsport's Avatar
          bmwsport - 01-21-2022, 12:53 AM
          Kind of interesting how close the i4 is running against the M3 at 100mph speeds given its 1000lb handicap. Give the M3 the 1000lbs and you can imagine the results. Seems like the M50 has more than a 26hp advantage.
        1. spool twice's Avatar
          spool twice - 01-21-2022, 08:09 AM
          Honestly, this thing should trap between a RWD M3 and an AWD M3, I say this because one of the most recent specs based on a dragy run shows the i4 M50 trapping 113.70 mph at the 1,000ft mark.

          Most cars gain 55% of the delta between the 1/8th mark to the 1,000ft mark, and 45% from 1,000ft to the 1/4 mile.

          Given that the the 1,000ft trap on the i4 M50 is right near the G8x RWD M3 (actually even higher in some cases I've seen), I tend to believe the i4 M50 may be right up there in traps and may hang right next to them right up to its 140mph electronically limited top speed.

          The powerband of the i4 M50 is relatively flat from 73mph beyond it's top speed (peaks at 8,000rpm - 17,000rpm, redline is 20,000rpm), so it's making "536" HP consistently which is why it's top-end is impressive in it's EV class.
        1. bmwsport's Avatar
          bmwsport - 01-23-2022, 11:12 AM
          Both these cars are trapping around 105mph in the 1/8 mile according to this video. I looked at the top 5 Model 3 Performance times on Drag Times. Some of those running 11.2x qtr mile times, yet their traps don't crack 100mph. They run 97-98mph pretty consistently. A 7mph trap speed in the 1/8th is pretty significant. The i4 M50 should definitely trap over 120mph which is crazy for a 5000lb car. Someone should plug these numbers into a HP calculator to see the results. I can't get the one on the Dragtimes website to work.I tried some other calculators and they state for a 5000lb car running a 11.5 ET@121 mph takes 650+ HP? We need to see one of these on a dyno I suppose.
        1. spool twice's Avatar
          spool twice - 01-31-2022, 09:45 PM
          What are your thoughts on just upgrading the cooling + rear motor output increase to meet the iX M60?
        1. spool twice's Avatar
          spool twice - 01-31-2022, 09:46 PM
          What are your thoughts on just upgrading the cooling + rear motor output increase to meet the iX M60?

          I can't imagine the battery would suffer any different than the iX M60, aside from perhaps cooling capabilities which is part of battery management
        1. bmwsport's Avatar
          bmwsport - 02-02-2022, 03:45 AM
          The ix battery is significantly bigger to supply the necessary current for greater HP.
        1. spool twice's Avatar
          spool twice - 02-02-2022, 11:42 AM
          That is a good point, the iX has a higher AH @ approx 265AH. It is interesting that they dialed up power though from the same battery capacity between the iX 50 and iX M60, which makes me think it may be possible to at least add some power to the i4 M50's rear motor, if not enought to total the rear motor of the iX M60, but perhaps at least half of the difference between both.
        1. bmwsport's Avatar
          bmwsport - 02-03-2022, 10:41 AM
          If they would offer a 100hp update option for $2k, I would be in for it. Tesla Model 3 long range update runs about that much for what I believe is a .5 sec 0-60 improvement.