[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by greatness10

This last pic that says electric in edrive zones, how do you get to it? I don't seem to have this in my car. Also, with electric turned off, I still deplete battery so fast. Full charge, electric turned off, battery gone after about 25-30kms. Any ideas?

You need to activate 'maintain battery charge' to do that, works great. I have it as a shortcut on my idrive. Open 'drive settings' app, open 'drivetrain + settings' and 'maintain battery charge' is on your 1st list of options.

Or if you cannot be bothered, ask your bmw to 'activate maintain battery charge' and it will give you the menu on screen. Then save it as a shortcut if, like me, you will use it a lot. Unlike others who drive in sport mode all the time

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by greatness10

Don't you find it crazy that you have to plug this thing in every night though? I drive tops 35kms per day and it's fully depleted after being charged to 100%. Extremely disappointing. I've contacted BMW Canada because I want to return this car. No way should it cost $15,000 more and have a battery that essentially does nothing.

Disheartening to hear. With colder weather on the horizon, it seems like the electric only range is very modest at 35kms. I understood that the hybrid feature was always active, regardless of the state of charge, so you didn't HAVE to plug it in every night. If that is not the case, this is going to be a problem.

[nacs]

I pick mine up on Friday so I’ll start experimenting w/ it but may not be until after the holidays when I actually have more free weekends to just go for drives and really see what options are.

[MiGs550e]

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Trumpeter

You need to activate 'maintain battery charge' to do that, works great. I have it as a shortcut on my idrive. Open 'drive settings' app, open 'drivetrain + settings' and 'maintain battery charge' is on your 1st list of options.

Or if you cannot be bothered, ask your bmw to 'activate maintain battery charge' and it will give you the menu on screen. Then save it as a shortcut if, like me, you will use it a lot. Unlike others who drive in sport mode all the time

I tried this the whole weekend and it does help a lot. I was driving using the battery for a good deal of time and watched the ICE turn on and start charging the battery from time-to-time and consistently kept the battery at the same level minus maybe a mile or two from startup. it definitely works and seems the better way to drive conservative with electric and keeping your battery more charged during your travel. I kind wish it was just an at startup option and not have to go the shortcut route.

[aherman18]

I wish they had a battery control mode so the ICE could recharge the battery to a certain point.

[greatness10]

So every time I turn on the car, i have to activate this? Seems kind of crazy, no? Shouldn't this just be a setting that once you turn it off, it's off, until you want it back on?

Either way, I've done this, and the battery still depletes, any idea why?

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

You activated 'maintain battery charge' and your battery charge still goes down? Something is wrong.

It has to be set for one or the other and likely the majority want to start in battery mode so that was preferred. I agree the last setting should be saved though, but activating it with a couple of screen touches when required is no big deal really.

But obviously it is if it does not work and BMW need to fix it. What a pain.

[greatness10]

Yes, i hit 'activate once' and it activates, but then goes off by itself while driving. As far as I'm concerned, when i do that, the battery should not drain at all while driving, but it still does. If you activate it and leave it on that screen, you'll see when it goes on and off by itself. I also had 25km of range on my battery friday night when i got home, didn't drive the car saturday, then sunday morning turned it on and had 14km of range. Love this battery. Feel like I got totally ROBBED on this car.

[MiGs550e]

Originally Posted by greatness10

Yes, i hit 'activate once' and it activates, but then goes off by itself while driving. As far as I'm concerned, when i do that, the battery should not drain at all while driving, but it still does. If you activate it and leave it on that screen, you'll see when it goes on and off by itself. I also had 25km of range on my battery friday night when i got home, didn't drive the car saturday, then sunday morning turned it on and had 14km of range. Love this battery. Feel like I got totally ROBBED on this car.

Yeah that does not sound right. I would see what the service center has to say about that.

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by greatness10

Yes, i hit 'activate once' and it activates, but then goes off by itself while driving. As far as I'm concerned, when i do that, the battery should not drain at all while driving, but it still does. If you activate it and leave it on that screen, you'll see when it goes on and off by itself. I also had 25km of range on my battery friday night when i got home, didn't drive the car saturday, then sunday morning turned it on and had 14km of range. Love this battery. Feel like I got totally ROBBED on this car.

Something very wrong, the 25km dropping to 14km does not sound good at all, never mind the 'maintain charge' going off again. A dealer visit is essential sadly

Obviously the battery spec is different from the European models going by reported range but that is strange given it is likely the same gen 5 phev battery and similar warranty. It was 1c / 34f here at the weekend and I charged to 100% for a change to check the range. I had a 40m / 65km run and did it on battery at 60/65mph with a little bit to spare.

Good luck getting it checked out, hopefully just a software issue.

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Trumpeter

Something very wrong, the 25km dropping to 14km does not sound good at all, never mind the 'maintain charge' going off again. A dealer visit is essential sadly

Obviously the battery spec is different from the European models going by reported range but that is strange given it is likely the same gen 5 phev battery and similar warranty. It was 1c / 34f here at the weekend and I charged to 100% for a change to check the range. I had a 40m / 65km run and did it on battery at 60/65mph with a little bit to spare.

Good luck getting it checked out, hopefully just a software issue.

I have learned that the Canadian (North American?) cars have a net battery capacity of 14.4 kw/h vs the higher 19.4 kw/h in Europe. Further still, it looks like the cold weather affects the real world performance more drastically.

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by PeterC4

I have learned that the Canadian (North American?) cars have a net battery capacity of 14.4 kw/h vs the higher 19.4 kw/h in Europe. Further still, it looks like the cold weather affects the real world performance more drastically.

Fair enough, but why? There is no need and the warranty is so similar.

Like many things BMW, it makes no sense.

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Trumpeter

Fair enough, but why? There is no need and the warranty is so similar.

Like many things BMW, it makes no sense.

It's unfortunate, many 550e's were sold/ordered here in Canada with only European performance as a reference. The Gross Battery Capacity is the same at 22.1 kw/h but the net/real world performance is less than expected.

I've read various explanations for why this is different, including useful life/warranty expectations.

[greatness10]

I figured out why it deactivates on its own. If you touch the paddles at all, it'll deactivate after you activate it, which again, makes absolutely no sense. I've complained to BMW Canada about this, seems like they could care less. I don't see why they'd sell a hybrid that does nothing, and charge an extra 15k for it. So discouraging knowing that the old 550i was a beast!

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

If you touch the paddles you are effectively changing the driving mode. If you do not want to drive it as a typical phev, stick it in sport all of the time.

[greatness10]

But then what's the point of the battery if it still drains the second you touch a paddle? Pointless.

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by greatness10

But then what's the point of the battery if it still drains the second you touch a paddle? Pointless.

It is a phev in the hybrid world we live in now. Drive it in hybrid mode then you can maintain the battery if you want with the full hp still available.

Or if you want it like your old 550i, drive it in sport. Even the M5 is hybrid now.

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Trumpeter

It is a phev in the hybrid world we live in now. Drive it in hybrid mode then you can maintain the battery if you want with the full hp still available.

Or if you want it like your old 550i, drive it in sport. Even the M5 is hybrid now.

So the question for you is: In your experience, does the depletion of the battery adversely affect horsepower, or just fuel economy?

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by PeterC4

So the question for you is: In your experience, does the depletion of the battery adversely affect horsepower, or just fuel economy?

Just economy is affected a little, the full horsepower is always available for rapid acceleration etc. Initially, I tested it at many charge levels. Being a phev, the car always keeps sufficient power in the battery for this and does so as soon as you lift off the gas.

If there were extreme circumstances where you could use max power for any length of time it could be a phev problem, for sure. But with near 500hp, I hate to think where you would end up in half a minute. Sport mode does a great job of managing power and charge level and the car is a beast then if required.

This is my 3rd bmw phev because they suit my requirements, fortunately. A lot of local battery running and a regular 400+ mile return day trip with time restraints. The 60 litre tank covers that on it's own easily so not even a fuel stop, never mind a charge. I maintain battery charge and only use ice on these trips and economy is great at around 8m / litre anyway. However, I do charge regularly and use it as designed.

Phevs do not suit everyone but are well manageable once you get used to them and appreciate what you are driving. And we all have so few options now. If you want an ice only 5 in the UK for example, you have a 520i pea shooter.

I am not sure any car ticks all the boxes.

[AiredaleDad]

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Trumpeter

Just economy is affected a little, the full horsepower is always available for rapid acceleration etc. Initially, I tested it at many charge levels. Being a phev, the car always keeps sufficient power in the battery for this and does so as soon as you lift off the gas.

If there were extreme circumstances where you could use max power for any length of time it could be a phev problem, for sure. But with near 500hp, I hate to think where you would end up in half a minute. Sport mode does a great job of managing power and charge level and the car is a beast then if required.

This is my 3rd bmw phev because they suit my requirements, fortunately. A lot of local battery running and a regular 400+ mile return day trip with time restraints. The 60 litre tank covers that on it's own easily so not even a fuel stop, never mind a charge. I maintain battery charge and only use ice on these trips and economy is great at around 8m / litre anyway. However, I do charge regularly and use it as designed.

Phevs do not suit everyone but are well manageable once you get used to them and appreciate what you are driving. And we all have so few options now. If you want an ice only 5 in the UK for example, you have a 520i pea shooter.

I am not sure any car ticks all the boxes.

I think they do that because the UK is pushing hard towards BEV only for new vehicles by 2030. So if the only ICE vehicle they are allowed to offer has an underpowered Go-Kart engine, wouldn't you rather have a PHEV or BEV that can be so much quicker? If BMW did not offer the 540iX in US Spec, I would have gone elsewhere. Likely for the Audi A6 55 with the V-6 which is in the same general price range as my 540. I was in the UK last week and all the UBER drivers told us that their new vehicles in London are now required to be BEV.

[Dragonfly Trumpeter]

Originally Posted by AiredaleDad

I think they do that because the UK is pushing hard towards BEV only for new vehicles by 2030. So if the only ICE vehicle they are allowed to offer has an underpowered Go-Kart engine, wouldn't you rather have a PHEV or BEV that can be so much quicker? If BMW did not offer the 540iX in US Spec, I would have gone elsewhere. Likely for the Audi A6 55 with the V-6 which is in the same general price range as my 540. I was in the UK last week and all the UBER drivers told us that their new vehicles in London are now required to be BEV.

Indeed, the sale of new vehicles in the UK will, allegedly, not include ice only from 2030. No doubt the changing situation is a major issue.

But if BMW can sell a 520i here now, why would they not be 'allowed' to sell a 6cyl 540i? And it is still only 2024. Your point re going elsewhere if the 540 was not available simply emphasises the bmw marketing shambles.

The UK sales of ice cars may be in high demand in 5 years time

[greatness10]

Why is it if you drive it in electric mode, the fuel tank still depletes, on basic city driving, never going more than 60km/hr? Also, was on the highway today, all electric abilities were enabled, I got to 135km/hr to pass someone and then the car wouldn't go any faster, and the ICE wouldn't kick in. Any idea why? Still say this car is a POS. Totally regret it.