The comparable petrol version to the i4 starts at 44k – not quite sure why you went with a petrol 3 series instead of a petrol 4 series, but it quite obviously is kind of a.. worthless argument. Even comparing the i4 with a base petrol 4 series would be odd considering the severe difference in power. To state the obvious, yeah. A model higher in the range is going to be steeper by default.
What car is the i4 or 4 series based on?
My argument was based on entry level “Sport” models of each car irrespective of power however whilst the i4 is quicker 0-62 the 318i has a much higher top speed, useful in your home country!
To look it another way then. The entry level X1 s drive 20i £36k, The entry level iX1 £44.5k. Both cars have compareable power 170hp vs 201hp. The iX1 comes of worse, yet is £8k more expensive however, as I said power wasn’t a factor, rather going into a showroom and buying the entry level model of each car.