[Greg-Bimmer550e]

I am 600 miles in to my awesome car. I will make a few posts to this thread as I use my care more and more.

I am very fortunate to find a fully loaded 550e on the lot over in my area.

Sapphire Black / Black perforated Venganza seats
Executive Package
Driving assistance professional package
M Sport professional package
Luxury Seating package
Bowers and Wilkins Sound system
21" Individual Aero Bicolor tires.

I previously had a BMW X7 m50i (hence my name) and then I had a very brief hiatus from BMW with a GMC Yukon Denali for a couple of years. After I was having issues with my Yukon I decided I wanted to return to BMW. I looked at the X5 xdrive50e and the 550e. It was a very difficult decision but I decided to go with the 550. I wanted to give a sedan a try after driving SUVs all my life. The 5 series was always my "first love". First time I stepped into a BMW dealership I sat in a 21 5 series and was blown away with how luxurious it was, but I wanted an SUV at the time. This time I went with the sedan.

Exterior: Absolutely love the look of this car. I have always loved how the 5 series looked and this one is no exception. It is aggressive up front without being over the top like the 4 series. I have the m sport package which is blacked out. The blacked out look with the Sapphire Black color is simply gorgeous and clean. And at night it goes perfect with the lit kidney beans. I am not sure why people have complained about the G60's looks. I think its simply a sharp looking vehicle. I protected it with full body PPF and ceramic to prevent swirls.

Interior: After having a 21' X7 with the old interior, I figure I would have to get used to the newer design. I have rented newer X5s with this interior. Over time, I have grown to love the interior. The materials are high quality. The ambient lighting is one of the reasons why I chose this over the X5. I liked how it looks better. I also like how the center console is arranged on the 550 better than the X5. Seating is very comfortable. I love the Black perforated Venganza seats with the black wood trim. It would be nice to have a few more physical buttons, but I have gotten used to the idrive interface.

Powertriain: This car is simply fun to drive, whether in electric or ICE mode. I just simply love that if I run out of charge, it switches to the awesome B58 engine which runs as smooth and powerful as ever. It is truly the best of both worlds and I don't lose anything. The BMW 8 speed transmission was and still is the best transmission of any car I have driven. From my limited experience the switch between electric and ICE is very seamless. I am getting 41mpg with electric mode on. I am getting like 30 on ICE only. It took 600 miles to finally fell my tank with gas. As far as electric, I am getting 35-36 miles of charge in the winter. I am looking forward to the warmer weather to see how much I can get. I got the Tesla Universal Charger at my house so I charge every day in the garage.

Drive/Ride: I love how luxurious, composed yet nimble this car is, especially for its size. I particularly love the IconicSounds. Its trivial but I like the futuristic feel. Some people says it "rides like a boat". I am assuming they are saying relative to other BMWs, because compared to a full size SUV it is nothing like that. The only package that was missing on my car is the Dynamic Handling package. Honestly, I have zero complaints with how the 5 series handles and rides. I test drove two of them, neither with DHP and I loved them both. I felt it was not worth the wait to order one just for that package.

Interface/Infotainment: My only complaint of this car is how cryptic the driving modes are and the lack of customizability. I obviously know what sport mode and efficient is but what exactly do the other drive modes (expressive, digital art, etc) do to the drive other than the cosmetic interior/lighting changes? As an aside, I think the digital art mode is gorgeous at night. Furthermore, the electric settings are a bit confusing. I would have loved to have a simple turn on and turn off hybrid/ICE/electric system instead of the vague prioritizing settings (Electric, Electric automatically, maintain charge, etc).

All in all I love this car so far and will write subsequent updates as I get to my first oil change.

[SkykingUSA]

Congratulations on your new car and thanks for the review. The car looks great, and I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am enjoying mine. :-)

[nacs]

Appreciate the well written review. I’m about 1100 miles (100 electric/1000 gas as I really wanted the break in period over) into my 550 and am also loving it. If you go into adaptive view once a mode is selected you get additional context sensitive screens. Not all of which makes sense to me but I’m still trying to find time to take solo drives and play w/ settings solo so I can interpret things for myself and at my pace. Eg do I like this driving view after 5 miles? Do I still like it after now driving in city vs country roads.

[aherman18]

Congratulations.

I'm also new to the 550e. I have about 1000 miles on the car. However, only about 120 gas. Looking for an excuse for a road trip. I need to use the wonderful B58.

I only show about 30/32 electric, but then again short trips and high temps only around 30 degrees. Hopefully warmer this week.

Keep us up to date with your impressions.

Best,

Andrew

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E4d7hShyN/

Here is my car having the PPF/Ceramic placed. My guy did an awesome job, if anyone is in the DFW area.

[AiredaleDad]

Congratulations. Beautiful car. Finally yet another new G60 5er owner who is singing the praises instead of pointing out the flaws. I love my 2025 540iX. It really is the best driving car I have owned. And a prior BMW owner to boot. I have noticed that most of the people who love the new 5er are first time BMW owners, or people like me, who have not owned one for an extended amount of time. And it seems like most of the people who moved into it, especially from the G30 will talk endlessly about how much better their G30 is/was. So it is a relief.

[Vindicator3]

Great review, thanks. I'm loving my 540 so far as well. For comparison on the mpg, after 500 miles of very well-behaved driving in efficient mode (break-in period and all), I'm averaging 32 mpg in a mix of driving, maybe 60-70 percent highway and the rest city, but no real heavy stop and go. I typically got about 29-30 in my smaller, lighter Acura with a 4-banger, so I'm pretty amazed.

[mwilson122]

I really like the design lines of my i5. Much more so than the G30 before it, and frankly couldn't care less about so-called experts' verdict on looks and ride. To me, and this is coming after 3 S-class MB, it's a perfect and super fun car.

[MongoTom]

Originally Posted by Greg-BimmerX7

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E4d7hShyN/

Here is my car having the PPF/Ceramic placed. My guy did an awesome job, if anyone is in the DFW area.

I’m curious. If you got full PPF, what’s left to ceramic coat?

[LVBMW]

I agree that digital art is gorgeous at night. Great looking car!!

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by MongoTom

I’m curious. If you got full PPF, what’s left to ceramic coat?

Good question. I think the ceramic coating goes on top of the PPF to help keep the car easier to keep clean. Some would argue that you're getting less benefit from it because it's not on the paint directly, but nevertheless, it should still make the car easier to clean and care for. The downside of course is that the coating is gone if you remove the PPF.

I'm not sure I would do it, but I'm open to the possibility.

[Valvecap]

Good review and sounds like u are enjoying the car. Great news. Regarding ceramic coat, I had mine done n not regretted it. Car gleams when washed. The I drive is something you get used to, but I agree, it has its moments! Seem to find a new discovery each day (a month in!) todays was that if you hold down the ‘set’ button, it temporarily disables the speed limit alarm (til you turn off) - occasionally an advantage! Now going to hold down all other buttons to see secondary functions! Anyone else know any?

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by Valvecap

... Now going to hold down all other buttons to see secondary functions! Anyone else know any?

If you hold down on some of the buttons at the bottom of the screen, it lets you pick options. For example, if you hold down the media button, you can select the media source. If you hold down the nav button, you can pick the nav source (useful if you have your phone connected and you want to choose between Google maps or BMW nav for example).

You can also hold down on almost any settings option to get a menu to pop up which lets you assign that button to a shortcut or a gesture.

You can assign an "assistant" of your choice to the microphone button on the steering wheel, so that when you hold it down (instead of a quick press), it activates your third party assistant like Siri or Google assistant. In my car for example, I can use the following.

• Press the steering wheel mic button once for BMW assistant.
• Long press the steering wheel mic button for Google assistant.
• Just say "Alexa" to use the Amazon assistant that I integrated using the myBMW app.

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

Originally Posted by MongoTom

I’m curious. If you got full PPF, what’s left to ceramic coat?

Most likely an added layer of protection. My guy does a 3 year ceramic protection for free with the PPF so its win win.

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

I finally discovered the sports setting mode and figured out how to completely run the B58 (sport drivetrain). I ran it for a 30 mile trip to help break in the engine. I swear BMW underrates their engines. This is supposed to be a down tuned version? The power of this engine is effortless. More powerful than I remember driving various xdrive40i x5's.

[nacs]

Originally Posted by Greg-BimmerX7

I finally discovered the sports setting mode and figured out how to completely run the B58 (sport drivetrain). I ran it for a 30 mile trip to help break in the engine. I swear BMW underrates their engines. This is supposed to be a down tuned version? The power of this engine is effortless. More powerful than I remember driving various xdrive40i x5's.

Yep I’ve been pretty impressed as well!

[AiredaleDad]

Originally Posted by Greg-BimmerX7

I finally discovered the sports setting mode and figured out how to completely run the B58 (sport drivetrain). I ran it for a 30 mile trip to help break in the engine. I swear BMW underrates their engines. This is supposed to be a down tuned version? The power of this engine is effortless. More powerful than I remember driving various xdrive40i x5's.

Hopefully someone will have their car Dyno'd at some point after break in to see what the true HP is. I don't have a facility near me, but curious to know.

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

I was today years old when I found out that IconicSounds also amplifies the B58s sounds as well as the electric. I learn something from this car every day. It makes it sound almost like the N63 4.4 V8.

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

Past 1000 miles. I am so glad I bought this car. It's so much fun to drive. There's never a dull day in this car.

I just wish there was a way I could run it on gas only with comfort drive train (without the loose gears on sport mode). I supposed doing "maintain charge" is the closest way of doing it aside from letting the battery run out.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Thank you for sharing

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

First time my battery mileage reached 40. Keeps getting better. I presume it's because the weather is a little warmer or maybe breaking it in. Not complaining!

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by Greg-BimmerX7

First time my battery mileage reached 40. Keeps getting better. I presume it's because the weather is a little warmer or maybe breaking it in. Not complaining!

Most likely the warmer weather. The 550e batteries would function the same as the ones in my i5. In winter when it's cold (like now) I get 260 miles range, but in the summer when it's over 75 degrees Fahrenheit, I can get over 300 miles.