BMW may need to reevaluate its safety assistance systems in the i4 after the electric version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe only scored four out of five stars with the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP). The safety organization had only good things to say about the i4’s structural performance through its battery of crash tests, but when it came to the vehicle emergency lane keeping, it apparently didn’t perform as expected.
The EuroNCAP report is not detailed enough for us to understand what exactly the problem was, but the BMW i4 is marked as “Marginal” in the Emergency Lane Keeping subcategory of Lane Support, which itself is a subcategory of Safety Assist in their rankings. Interestingly, points were also knocked off for not having occupant detecting for the driver’s seat and rear passengers, although it did have it for the front passenger.
The vehicle also lacks Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for pedestrians when driving in reverse, a feature now required for full marks in the AEB category.
Gallery: BMW i4 EuroNCAP crash test
Points were detracted from other categories too, like Frontal Crash Protection, where knee airbags for driver and front passenger are needed for the maximum rating to be awarded. The vehicle also lacks a center airbag (placed in between the two front seats), side pelvis airbag support or side chest airbags for rear occupants.
Additional points were also detracted for only having Isofix child seat mounting points in the rear.
Even so, the i4 still offers excellent occupant protection (87 percent for adult occupants, 87 percent for child occupants), and good protection for pedestrians and vulnerable road users (71 percent) and it’s all dragged down by the mediocre Safety Assist category score of just 64 percent. It’s worth noting that EuroNCAP’s standards are growing ever more stringent and, for reference, the BMW 4 Series two-door easily got the five-star rating when it was tested back in 2019.
