[diinky]

Originally Posted by immx

Mine is a company car, currently a 520d, so with the expected upcoming doom for diesels and the BiK saving, I've decided to go for the 530e.

I ordered before I'd driven one, but after having one for the day yesterday, I'm thoroughly pleased with the choice!

Now for the long wait! Build week 51

Ive also ordered one without driving it first. What was it like?

[remmib]

Originally Posted by hio

Thanks for sharing and nice photos. The moonstone paint looks very nice.
My dealer called my today and informed that my 540i has production week 36.
I am so happy

I guess you mean Bluestone, Moontone is a silverish Individual color.

[immx]

Originally Posted by diinky

Ive also ordered one without driving it first. What was it like?

It was very nice. I was a little disappointed that the dealership hadn't bothered to charge it before I picked it up! It had a 50% battery charge, so I would expect better economy if you charged it fully. I did around 50-60 miles in it, mainly in auto edrive. By the time I got it back to the dealers it had returned around 44mpg. That was about 60% motorway 40% town driving.

In auto edrive, When it has charge in the battery, it wants to use that as much as it can. It's only if you floor it or get over about 50mph does the engine kick in.

It maybe because I'm coming from a 520d, but it was so quiet, even with the engine running, it's near silent. To the point you start noticing other noises, like the sound your of hands moving round the steering wheel, or the sound of your shoe touching the brake pedal! Hahaha!

The one I drove was an msport on 20" wheels without adaptive suspension, so I thought it would be a harsh ride, but it really wasn't. I'm glad I didn't bother listening to the press saying you need adaptive. In normal driving, you really don't IMHO.

Overall, the biggest disappointment with the car was the size of the cubby hole above your right knee is tiny compared to the F10! If that's the worst thing I can find wrong with the car, it's a bloody good car!

[morellomax]

Even the 2 litre diesel seems very quiet in the G30 installation. Maybe a couple of dB quieter than the last F10 version and of course quite a bit more refined than the pre-B47 version (was that pre-2014 ? Can't remember now)

[en1gma]

I test drove a Mercedes E350 Bluetec diesel hybrid three years ago before choosing my current car. When moving from standstill, and in the low speed electric mode in general, it was very eerie that there was no engine noise! And you do start picking up on all the other noises you previously wouldn't notice!

Stop-Start was less of a nuisance as the car would move immediately under electric power, so any lag you would normally get was not there before the engine kicked-in.

As an overall package, it just wasn't as nice as the BMWs I've become used to over the last 20-odd years... Hence went to a 520d.

The 530e was not in my company car scheme; which they've now closed anyway so have to get my own car. And it is out of my price plan (even after discounts); so looking at a 530i petrol.

[AP]

Yeh looks like the 530e is ~£4000 more than the 530i give or take.
Also looks like there has been a price increase recently as well if I'm not mistaken.

[diinky]

Originally Posted by immx

It was very nice. I was a little disappointed that the dealership hadn't bothered to charge it before I picked it up! It had a 50% battery charge, so I would expect better economy if you charged it fully. I did around 50-60 miles in it, mainly in auto edrive. By the time I got it back to the dealers it had returned around 44mpg. That was about 60% motorway 40% town driving.

In auto edrive, When it has charge in the battery, it wants to use that as much as it can. It's only if you floor it or get over about 50mph does the engine kick in.

It maybe because I'm coming from a 520d, but it was so quiet, even with the engine running, it's near silent. To the point you start noticing other noises, like the sound your of hands moving round the steering wheel, or the sound of your shoe touching the brake pedal! Hahaha!

The one I drove was an msport on 20" wheels without adaptive suspension, so I thought it would be a harsh ride, but it really wasn't. I'm glad I didn't bother listening to the press saying you need adaptive. In normal driving, you really don't IMHO.

Overall, the biggest disappointment with the car was the size of the cubby hole above your right knee is tiny compared to the F10! If that's the worst thing I can find wrong with the car, it's a bloody good car!

Sounds very nice, glad the ride was good on 20" wheels. I have gone for the 20" wheels with adaptive dampers so ride should be comfortable and then firm it up a bit in sport mode.
Out of interest, did you drive it with the battery charge on absolute minimum? if so, was there any sort of power loss not having the battery charged?

[immx]

Originally Posted by diinky

Sounds very nice, glad the ride was good on 20" wheels. I have gone for the 20" wheels with adaptive dampers so ride should be comfortable and then firm it up a bit in sport mode.
Out of interest, did you drive it with the battery charge on absolute minimum? if so, was there any sort of power loss not having the battery charged?

None that I noticed. Having said that, I don't think I completely floored it while the battery was flat. It doesn't stay flat for long because as soon as you coast or brake, the regen puts a bit back in.

[SLOWER]

Check out Dr Leather cleaner and dye blocker for the seats.

Once treated, any jean blue that transfers is easy to wipe away with the cleaner. I use it on my Oyster leather and it's fantastic.

[AP]

Thanks

Mentioned these items in other threads but worth mentioning here again.

The traffic jam assist (at least I think this is what was in operation was pretty amazing today. ON a motorway with stop start traffic and with ACC on along with lanes assist, the car simply drove for me , stopping and starting and for longer than 3 seconds as I had previously see when I think it was just ACC on. Of note is that at these lower speeds the prompt to put your hands back on the wheel takes longer to popup than when travelling at speed. When at motorway speeds, the prompt is after around 5 seconds, but in traffic jams , it was lot longer, perhaps 30 second possibly.
So in these circumstances, the car really feels like it is doing everything.

As regards the air conditioning, I noticed today with temps around 18C outside that when I put the car into eco pro mode I got warm air from the foot wells, so put it back into comfort mode again. Upon further investigation, I noted that the air conditioning was ticked and controlled by the eco pro mode which I thought I had unticked previously. Anyway how I unticked it again and issues gone away and a/c working as I would expect.


Posting another picture here following some colour correction as this looks good to me.

[kenw]

Hi AP
Thanks for your excellent review of your 540i.
I too have purchased a very similar car although the SE variant. I thought I would share with you my experience so far and ask a few questions
I have owned a 5 series since 1988 all have been new and all have been 3 litre engnes three petrol and one 530d. All have been SE variants.
My E28 in 1988 was a 525e which had a low revving engine, superb for motorway cruising.
My E39 in 1990 was a 528i SE touring and I loved that car. I kept it for 12 years and sold it to a friend who is still running it. I had virtually no problems with it except a harsh suspension problem from new, which was cured by changing the rear sub frame mountings in the first month or two, under warranty.
My 2014 E11, again a touring, was a 530d SE and was the most comfortable all rounder. Equipped with VDC the comfort+ setting provided an exceptional ride. Sport and Eco Pro settings transformed the car in both dimensions and made it unrecognisable from the Comfort+ tourer.
Thinking that the new 5 series would be the same with the advantage of new tech I changed to a G30 540i SE Xdrive in June this year. I spec'd it similar to the E11 with VDC, 18" wheels and comfort seats. I also added the Technology Package and the Driving Assistant Plus , HUD, Adaptive headlights+ High Beam assist, LED fog lights, folding mirrors and Bluestone paint.
You will have gathered by now that I prefer a comfortable, but responsive car. There is a lot to love about this 540, and responsive it certainly is, but comfortable it certainly is not. I have now covered 2590 miles and am averaging 30.3mpg (imperial). Its now run in so I have been driving it positively for a week or two and thats not helped the mpg!
Over good tarmac surfaces the ride is fine, but this car thuds over ruts in the road and fidgets over uneven road surfaces, even with adaptive dampers fitted. When negotiating turns over uneven surfaces the car can also jump off line an inch or two which can be disconcerting.
So I read with interest that several new owners have found that the suspension is really good. Of the four 5 series cars I have now owned, this has definitely the worst suspension and is a world away from that in the E11. So I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a G30 and feels that the suspension is too harsh.


I had Oyster seats in my last car and they did suffer from the 'jeans' discolouration problem, but you can remove it easily enough with AutoGlym Leather Cleaner.
I agree with you on the door stowage pockets, why have BMW dispensed with the velvet lining to these? and the shape of the long area means you cannot get your hand into the rear whilst seated. Pretty basic stuff that I don't expect BMW to get wrong these days.
The glove box and the small stowage box on the drivers side are all smaller than before, so convenient places to store sunglasses, wallets etc are at a premium now.
Wireless charging with my Samsung S7 works a treat though and charges the phone quickly.
The Head up Display is brilliant and already I dont want another car without it. A real safety improvement as you do not have to take your eyes off the road very much at all.


I did not opt for the more expensive BMW Icon Adaptive Headlights instead I upgraded the standard LED lights to be Adaptive with High Beam Assist. This is bright enough and works fine, but the inner two headlamps have no function. The LED beam has a strange blue vignette pattern at the top of the dipped beam which is very evident when the lights are on full beam. Strange that a company like BMW cannot produce a pure white beam. Have other owners experienced this?
The difference between standard and the more expensive Icon lights is that all four headlamps are used and you get the intelligent high beam assist, which dynamically blanks out parts of the beam. In the basic version they just go on and off like traditional lights. I would probably pay for the Icon lights next time. The brochure is very poor at describing these different features, and the sales staff did not know either.


Variable Damper Control - As I have indicated I am not impressed with the version in my car. There is no perceptable difference in suspension feel between ECO/Comfort/Sport/Adaptive settings. In sport you can feel the steering and gearbox tighten up, but not much difference in ride quality. It certainly does not mask all but the worst in the road.
What do other owners think?
I agree with your comments on the comfort seats. If you can afford the extra £1750 then they are worth it.



Driving Assistant Plus
I like most of the features in this package. I do not have Lane Change assist as my vehicle was pre July, but BMW have agreed to give me a software update to turn this on.
I did not initially like the 'tug' on the steering wheel when you crossed a white line, so I turned that off but have left everything else on .
I am not sure if the Lane keeping Assistant is really fit for purpose yet. I have experienced the car 'hunting' back and forth between the centre white line and the inside white line particularly when the camber influences the car to steer to the left. I dont think I would encourage anyone to take their hands off the wheel and leave it up to the car to drive itself (even for 30 seconds!). Too often it cannot cope with the situation and turns itself off. If you are not watching and alert to this you could easily get into trouble.

Active Cruise Control with stop and go is brilliant, and the Stop function works great in all but a few situations (when a vehicle in front is half in your lane, the radar sometimes does not detect it, so does not slow down!) but I find that when in a queue of traffic the Go function does not start very often. I have been advised by BMW that it will only restart by itself if you have been stationary for less that 3 seconds! Seems an awfully short time period.
It will start if you press the throttle or the steering wheel button. Is your car the same?

So in Summary
I too love most of this car, EXCEPT THE SUSPENSION and would welcome feedback.

I think its fair to say I am disappointed that I have not found my new F11!

Improvements I would introduce:-

I would re-introduce VDC COMFORT PLUS suspension mode and make it available as a retrospective upgrade to existing owners who want it .

I agree about iDrive screen integration. Mercedes have the edge in this area and it would be simple to extend the dash over the top of the screen to integrate it more.

I hate the carpet pile in the boot. Why use this coarse pile that everything gets matted with. Trim the boot with the same carpet as used internally, as is done on the Touring version.

Bring back the temperature control knob for the front centre air vents. I don't want to have to find this setting in iDrive when my wife says she is too cold!

ASS off by default should be an option particularly as BMW have said it leads to premature component wear and poorer fuel economy.

Provide with the car a printed handbook for the Navigation, Entertainment and Communication features. Having this available at a £30 premium is ridiculous on a £55000 car. Its not available in iDrive either as some sales staff think, and you can only access the handbook when stationary.

Ken

[AP]

Kenw
Interesting read and good to have another opinion on the 540i here in the UK.

As regards finding the ride harsh , I guess this may depend upon where you are coming from. My previous F10 had 19 inch wheels on passive msport suspension and whilst I wouldn't describe it as uncomfortable , I was certainly aware of every road imperfection. the E39 prior to that (18 inch wheels again on passive msport suspension) was arguably just a tad firmer. So for me the G30 on 20s with VDC is a more comfortable ride to me. Its good but the bigger bumps are known about but not uncomfortable in anyway.
As regards the car jumping an inch to two in corners, I experienced this in the F10 previously and once in the G30 this weekend and although I'm not an expert in such matters, my guess is that might be down to run flat tyres. I don't recall my E39 doing that. I'm used to it so know what to expect but agree it's a little odd and feels probably worse than it really is.

Haven't noticed any prism effects with the adaptive LED lights but will look out next time I get into the car, I guess there will always be a very small amount but nothing to really be an issue. Worth taking a photo against a bright wall if possible see how bad it might be?

Haven't used sport yet as still running in so hoping the difference is noticeable. I think the suspension will be the same in ECO pro as it is in comfort. I've used adaptive as well but as I'm not pushing the car yet I doubt it has selected the sport settings itself yet.

Glad BMW have agreed to offer a software update to address this, I know there is another thread talking about this . I used it quite a few times on the M40 yesterday really more for my entertainment than anything else , a cool party trick.

In terms of the car tracking the lines, it does hunt between the lanes a bit but you get used to it but as BMW state , its not really for you to leave your hands off but to assist. Like any automation system, you do need to keep an eye on it and keep yourself in the loop.

The 3 or 30 seconds thing is something I'm not 100% sure of yet but I think (and I stress think - happy to be corrected) the difference is when traffic jam assist is on or not.
If I use ACC (and no lane assist) my experience is that it is 3 seconds before you have to press RES or touch the gas pedal.
However I noticed yesterday on the M40 that with ACC and Lane assist both on the car recognizing the lane markings, the car would stop for more than 3 seconds (but less than 30) and restart again without having to press RES . or the gas pedal. It would also not prompt me to put hands on the steering wheel for quite a lot more time. So I think traffic jam assist was on in this scenario and this really means it will drive by itself unaided for quite a while.
So I think lane assist has to be on and that it can recognize the lane markings and possibly also the car in front? to be active.
The Manual is not clear to me and I've also seen a tech doc on this website for the US that states 30 seconds as well so its also possible the differences may be market specific. It's not clear though to me. Those are my findings to date but still learning.

Good point about a manual for the Navigation as it's missing from the main manual. Why couldn't it have been included? There is info on this with the BMW app that you can download but agree its penny pinching.

Have you tried voice input for the SATNAV? I've not had much success with that so far.

Shame its not your new F11.

[babaikram]

The LED beam has a strange blue vignette pattern at the top of the dipped beam which is very evident when the lights are on full beam: I have not noticed this on ICON LED adaptive light.

Regarding the satnav. Thick nuance voice recognition box on idrive and just order the satnav. For example 'Take me home'. 'Take me to 59 something road, Sunderland' 'Take me to Macdonald on something road' it does really work well

[morellomax]

Hi Ken and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your disappointment with the ride quality, but at least you are among fellow obsessives now and I'm sure a few of us will be keen to help

Looks like you are on the standard SE 619 style 18" alloys, so that's the best possible start, as they are very light. What tyres are you running ? Tread pattern looks like Michelin Primacy 3, if that's not too nerdy...

I have just swapped from an F10 with adaptive drive, which I ran on various wheels including 18s on non-RFTs, to a G30 with passive MSport suspension, which came with staggered 19s and Good Year Eagle F1 3 RFTs, but I have swapped to the style 619 18's with non-RFT Uniroyal Rainsport 3s

I am certain that the ride quality on my G30 is at least as good overall as on my F10, and the impact harshness of cats' eyes and potholes is actually slightly better absorbed. I'm sure the suspension subframe and bushing of the G30 allows less shudder into the rest of the vehicle body.

Are your tyre pressures correct as per idrive recommendations ? Probably 32psi cold front and rear ? Assuming they are, I'd say it's 99% certain the fault lies with the tyres and maybe 1% chance the adaptive dampers aren't working as intended.

[morellomax]

ps a full set of Rainsport 3's in the right size is about £400....

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b2829s...5_18_245_45R18

[kenw]

Hi Morellomax
Thanks for the welcome, I hope I can make a useful contribution.
You are spot on with the wheels and tyres. 619 18" with Michelin Primacy 3.
Nobody ahs yet been prepared to say to me that I can use non-rft's on these wheels. I will keep in mind the Uniroyal as a tactic to improve things.
At present I have just filled the tyres with Nitrogen (only £10 at my local tyre dealer) and that has seemed to improve the ride. I had nitrogen on my F11 too.
They are inflated to 2.1 bar. Definitely doesn't expand as much as air and when hot keeps the pressure within 0.1 bar of cold start pressure.
BMW have offered to facilitate a trial on another set of tyres and wheels for me but I am having to wait for a set to be found.

BMW have also checked the underside for any obvious signs of problems, but have declined to change any components.

Strange thing is that VDC seems to do very little. It was much more obvious it had got firmer or softer when you changed it on the F11.

I will keep you informed what happens when I get a tyre swap but dont expect it to be for several weeks.

AP. Thanks for the info on the start stop system. i will try it with ACC and Lane Assist tomorrow and let you know what happens.

I have actually got a printed copy of the manual, the dealership got it for me.
They know I am disappointed about the suspension and are trying to facilitate!
Interestingly it still doesn't explain how you delete an audio track on the HDD. On the F11 it seemed to only want to delete the whole thing and on the G30 it deletes everything in a folder that it creates each time you copy one or more albums to the HDD.
I cant seem to find out how to delete a single album or a single track.
Any ideas?


Ken

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by kenw

.....They are inflated to 2.1 bar. Definitely doesn't expand as much as air and when hot keeps the pressure within 0.1 bar of cold start pressure.
BMW have offered to facilitate a trial on another set of tyres and wheels for me but I am having to wait for a set to be found.

BMW have also checked the underside for any obvious signs of problems, but have declined to change any components.

Strange thing is that VDC seems to do very little. It was much more obvious it had got firmer or softer when you changed it on the F11.

Something doesn't appear to be right, if you can't sense much difference with VDC. I'd suggest your garage get you into another example, (even if it's on a different wheel size), simply to make a comparison, to see if your car is normal or not. I view that as essential to satisfying your concerns.

Your tyres, is 2.1bar high enough? If you only gain 0.1bar at working pressures, I'd be tempted to run a higher setting pressure to experiment. Prove you are not on the sidewalls and getting a more unsettled ride quality. I'm an advocate of running higher pressures with RFTs. I'm in an F11 with 18" wheels and have Adaptive Drive, so know what VDC and RFTs do in combination on the F11 chassis. I run 2.4bar front, 2.6bar rear, setting pressures, to get the best ride and least road interference once the tyres are warm.

Experimenting with pressures costs you little, except a bit of running time.

[kenw]

HP
Thanks for that I will give it a shot.
I have tried a 530d Xdrive before I bought the 540i and that seemed ok.
I have also tried two others one which was similar to mine one which was harder, but that was an Msport on 20" without vdc. Thus the dealership have concluded its the way it should be.
So I am trying to find out on this forum if anyone is similarly affected.
Not giving up just yet!

[morellomax]

Hi Ken,

Whereabouts in the UK are you ?

Re the audio tracks on the hard disk, can't help. Have always found it much more convenient to plug in a USB stick or an ipod. Actually my Android phone is controlled quite neatly over USB in the latest car, so may use that.

[Rob500]

I share Ken's thoughts about the VDC as I've also been a little disappointed in the ride in comfort mode and don't feel there is any very noticeable difference in the ride quality between the different modes. It may be slightly harsher in Sport but if it is then it is only slight and it may be that I'm expecting it to be and fooling myself! Before I bought the car I saw lots of comments from reviewers and others saying how amazing the ride was with 18inch wheels and VDC so I was expecting to be hardly able to feel road bumps at all in comfort mode but this has not been the case although I think it has improved gradually as the mileage has increased. Perhaps I need to wait longer as I'm only up to just under 2,000 miles so far. I tried asking my dealer about it but all they did was look in the car's diagnostics and said there were no errors. In case it helps I have a 530i SE with 18inch 684 alloys with Pirelli run flats.

Other than that though I'm delighted with the car! I also think the traffic jam assist is brilliant although I have not yet fully understood how it decides how long to wait after a stop before it will drive off by itself. Sometimes I have to press the accelerator or resume button after only a couple of seconds while other times it seems to re-start the engine and move off by itself even after more than 30 seconds. I'm still trying to fully understand it but I also think it can wait longer when both ACC and Lane Assist are on.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Rob500

I share Ken's thoughts about the VDC as I've also been a little disappointed in the ride in comfort mode and don't feel there is any very noticeable difference in the ride quality between the different modes. It may be slightly harsher in Sport but if it is then it is only slight and it may be that I'm expecting it to be and fooling myself! Before I bought the car I saw lots of comments from reviewers and others saying how amazing the ride was with 18inch wheels and VDC so I was expecting to be hardly able to feel road bumps at all in comfort mode but this has not been the case although I think it has improved gradually as the mileage has increased. Perhaps I need to wait longer as I'm only up to just under 2,000 miles so far. I tried asking my dealer about it but all they did was look in the car's diagnostics and said there were no errors. In case it helps I have a 530i SE with 18inch 684 alloys with Pirelli run flats.

We know the G30 has only two base modes, compared to the F10/11. Ken is familiar with the three mode VDC, and like me know there are positive and discernible differences between the base modes.

I've no experience in the G30 with VDC, but would expect there to be a definite difference, due to only having the two modes. Even if not so wide a difference as the spread of the three F10 base modes, there still should be a noticeable change and feel to switching. I would expect it to be similar or even more noticeable than just changing one step (mode) in the F10/11.

I assume the cars are definitely configured to have the suspension/chassis changing on the modes toggle?

[kenw]

Originally Posted by morellomax

Hi Ken,

Whereabouts in the UK are you ?

Re the audio tracks on the hard disk, can't help. Have always found it much more convenient to plug in a USB stick or an ipod. Actually my Android phone is controlled quite neatly over USB in the latest car, so may use that.

Morellomax,
Hi again, I am in Dorset near Bournemouth