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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum 2017+ BMW 5 Series (G30) General Discussions Tips for maximizing mpg for the 530e

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      03-07-2018, 04:44 AM   #45
JOHNBMWM5
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Originally Posted by planehazza View Post
Very nice! This 530e is the 'poshest' car I've had, and this one is a lease so not even mine

Where abouts in the UK are you? Up here in Newcastle I'm lucky that I can go to rural roads fairly easily, but even in a small city like Newcastle, the traffic is just horrific even when 'quiet'.
Moved to Norfolk 20 years ago, roads here now are full of PLOD hiding up lay-bys, lazy bastards, don't come round if your home is burgled but happy to nick you for speeding, times have changed.
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      03-18-2018, 04:56 AM   #46
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Originally Posted by planehazza View Post
Very nice! This 530e is the 'poshest' car I've had, and this one is a lease so not even mine

Where abouts in the UK are you? Up here in Newcastle I'm lucky that I can go to rural roads fairly easily, but even in a small city like Newcastle, the traffic is just horrific even when 'quiet'.
I’ve come to terms that it IS yours without any of the downside. You just have the option to return it faster. No one is paying that in one lump sum, n if you have that sorta money you know better than to waste on buying a new bmw. What’s the difference vs financing? You not paying the tax or taking the hit on it’s instant depreciation? A bank or BMW has the title til you pay it off. It’s almost a way for buyers to pat themselves on the back.

I laugh at those folks, I get bored of cars too quick n nowadays there’s far more to go wrong within its lifecycle and cars are rapidly changing. I swore I would have kept my current 4 series, but then I had eclectronic issues with the cameras now always flickering, in the shop for a month, recoded and replaced... and still flickers. Has only 15k miles on it too after 3 years. It made me sure glad that I could return it, plus it’s buyout is way too high vs what it’s worth. You chose wisely. I think i’d only buy if used, cheap and Japanese at this point but I am still going to lease a new BMW that would make me depressed if I purchased and had a single thing go wrong... with a lease... not so much.

BMW is also notorious for incentivizing you when you do have problems and actually contact them vs any other company I’ve ever dealt with, very Apple like, they know their audience is chock full of advocates and influencers, so there’s that too.
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      03-20-2018, 11:18 PM   #47
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Hey guys. New 530e owner but I have experience with other electric vehicles. I am still getting to know the behavior of the 530e regarding the edrive logic but I can tell you the #1 killer to electric vehicle efficiency is wind resistance (speed). People with more highway miles will get worse mileage. Sorry, it's physics. The 2018 auto edrive seems to do a great job managing power. As noted earlier, you want the battery to be depleted when you arrive at your destination to maximize efficiency. I have made several commutes and I'm flat or 0 on the display when I arrive at home. I do 11mi each way (6mi highway, 5mi city) and the car displays 51 mpg avg without charging at work. I set my address as "home" in nav. I'd like to think it can learn our habits without activating nav like any modern cell phone. Previous bmw edrive cars I tested did not do this.

I charge mine on a 110v gfi outlet on max. No risk of fire.

Your route and driving style will be the biggest factors in efficiency.

Charge whenever you can. If you can't then it's ok. You still get the benefit of a hybrid and the car still drives amazingly well if you only want short bursts for passing, highway ramp acceleration, etc.
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      03-20-2018, 11:56 PM   #48
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Originally Posted by Ghanziang View Post
The fun part is that I don't think anyone on this forum purchased a BMW 5 Series because they wanted to save money. There are many less costly vehicles that can transport you from point a to point b for a much lower cost per mile than any BMW.

G.
I'm all ears. What vehicle has better features/service/room/comfort/handling/acceleration/fit/finish/cost per mile than my LCI f10 diesel?

I can wait.....

PL
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      03-21-2018, 12:14 AM   #49
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Bmw 5 series is probably my favorite vehicle. I'm on my 4th one. I chose a 530e because it is efficient without much sacrifice. If I was needing to save money I'd start with: running shoes, bicycle, bus pass, smart car...
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      03-21-2018, 10:06 AM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre Louis View Post
I'm all ears. What vehicle has better features/service/room/comfort/handling/acceleration/fit/finish/cost per mile than my LCI f10 diesel?

I can wait.....

PL
Well now if you want to invoke room, comfort, fit and finish, then that is a whole different ball game. Those things have a very high value to me, and to others, but if you are looking only at cost of getting from point A to point B at the lowest possible cost to yourself, then a nice Geo metro (if you remember those) would be a nice bet.

Personally I love diesel's and I am really pissed at the emissions scandals have caused such a negative view towards them. My wife had a ML320CDI for 5 years, put over 100k miles on it and loved being able to drive 750 miles between fill ups, (until the swirl flap motor gave up the ghost. :-( ).

G.
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      03-22-2018, 01:18 AM   #51
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Originally Posted by Ghanziang View Post
Well now if you want to invoke room, comfort, fit and finish, then that is a whole different ball game. Those things have a very high value to me, and to others, but if you are looking only at cost of getting from point A to point B at the lowest possible cost to yourself, then a nice Geo metro (if you remember those) would be a nice bet.

Personally I love diesel's and I am really pissed at the emissions scandals have caused such a negative view towards them. My wife had a ML320CDI for 5 years, put over 100k miles on it and loved being able to drive 750 miles between fill ups, (until the swirl flap motor gave up the ghost. :-( ).

G.
Which is exactly my point. You were begging the question. Much of what brings people to BMW is that they were frugal enough to have the money to spend, ha ha.

The argument that we shouldn't care about fuel economy (or cost for that matter) if we spend X for whatever high end car being discussed, is a fallacious meme often found among members in high level car forums, often ridiculing diesel versions. Why not just get a Prius or Geo Metro and be done with it....

Cheers

PL
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      06-20-2018, 06:11 PM   #52
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Originally Posted by Chem14 View Post
I still have not filled up the gas tank since I purchased two months ago. My commute is 11mi so I usually hit max edrive before I leave the house and then fill up for free at work, which gets me back home on battery only. Agree with others that slowing down will likely help.

I have noticed that using level 1 vs level 2 charging gets you different fill levels for battery.
Which one gets you more?
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      06-20-2018, 06:21 PM   #53
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Which one gets you more?
Level 2 will by far n way faster.
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      06-30-2018, 07:10 PM   #54
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Originally Posted by Bogey4me View Post
I keep telling myself that, but with a 50 mile commute each way that ends up being 25 minutes more commuting every day! My other car is an F85 X5M which gets 13 mpg, so the 530e is helping me for days when I don't want to have such an involved commute, but not willing to take much more time. At this point it's more of a challenge to see how good I can get it without driving in the slow lane.
Oh interesting I have a 50mile commute to LA as well. I've been seeing approx. 50MPGe for the trip which typically averages around 2 hours.

I notice around the 35mile mark, I'm trending above 70+ MPGe but dramatically drops after that point.

**note, these numbers are simply from the trip computer per the car.
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      08-23-2018, 10:17 AM   #55
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530e best mode for highest MPG

Hi every one!

I am a very happy new buyer for the 2018 530e iperformance xdrive. What a car! I have seen many posts on trials to max mpg. Until now i can charge at work ( by the way 2.5 hours on level 2 for charging and 6-7 hours on level 1) So i have been running on Max edrive. but soon it will end as i will be able to only charge at home.

So i am curious if anyone has tried to play with battery control and eco mode or comfort to maximize mpg ? my drive is 10 miles each way. down hill on the way and up hill back, curvy back roads type in PA. i have seen the posts of using nav with auto edrive - but i want to try to conserve battery as i would be around 40% by the time i get to work which would get me to be fully empty on the way back.

So i am thinking of using Battery control to 60% / eco or comfort on the way to work taking advantage of the downhill drive and max e drive in the back end and compare with auto/eco round trip.

any tips are welcomed
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      08-24-2018, 10:35 AM   #56
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You describe my commute almost exactly. I have a 3000 foot elevation change each day. I trust in the car in standard comfort mode most of the time. The main exceptions are that it will use battery all the way up to 67MPH or so, which uses a lot of energy that the ICE could better handle, so when traffic limits speed to 65 or so, I force it to switch to the ICE. I like to be on battery in my neighborhood, so I reserve 30% which gets me from the entrance of my neighborhood to my driveway almost exactly.

G.
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      08-24-2018, 01:48 PM   #57
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Originally Posted by Pierre Louis View Post
Which is exactly my point. You were begging the question. Much of what brings people to BMW is that they were frugal enough to have the money to spend, ha ha.

The argument that we shouldn't care about fuel economy (or cost for that matter) if we spend X for whatever high end car being discussed, is a fallacious meme often found among members in high level car forums, often ridiculing diesel versions. Why not just get a Prius or Geo Metro and be done with it....

Cheers

PL
You make a valid point. There is no single reason why an individual buys a BMW. In my case I bought the 530e for three reasons: (1) to reduce pollution; (2) to be able to drive in the high occupancy vehicle ("HOV") lane at any time and day; and (3) to have a car that performs well (I do wish they had made and sold a 540e). Luckily for me, these all work well for me.

Others may have bought the car for the fuel economy, especially if they work in a place reasonably far from their homes and have the ability to charge at work.

Bottom line is that whatever your reason, make the result enjoyable to you.

Years ago I was running a meeting with about 100 of the people who worked for me. I made the point that if one doesn't enjoy ones work, one should look elsewhere because one spends too much of one's waking time working. One of my employees demanded to know if I was trying to get rid of him. I had difficulty getting him to understand my point.

But it is the same point here. Hopefully everyone who buys a BMW is enjoying the experience (reliability problems aside as that tends to be anecdotal) no matter which features are turned on or off by that individual.
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      08-24-2018, 05:54 PM   #58
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Originally Posted by Bogey4me View Post
I have a 50 mile commute each way. It's probably 46 miles on the freeway at 80 mph and 4 miles of City driving. The best I've been able to do is 46 mpg, but that was only once with no freeway traffic. I've found that keeping in Auto eDrive is best until I get about 15 miles out and I usually have around 50% left on battery I'll put on Max eDrive to fully deplete the battery for last part of journey home. I'm thinking it's probably not possible to get the 67 MPGe? My life to date is 37 MPG. I've only had the 530e for a couple of weeks. Any tips from more experienced 530e owners?
I am getting about 100 mpge lifetime, "all in". I have driven the car 3100 miles so far. I would say 60-70 percent of those miles have been purely electric. Anyone getting that percentage of "all electric" miles should be getting an MPGe of 90+. Also, I get about 16-18 miles of "pure electric" with an average charge, based on how I have driven the car, etc.

Here is how I drive it:

- My commute is 12 miles each way to and from the office, covered each way by MAX eDrive since I charge both at home and work. That is really the best case scenario for a car like this. My shorter commute is one of the reasons I got this car.

- When I go on longer journeys, I use Auto eDrive and Eco Pro or Comfort, and I use the nav most of the time. As others have pointed out, the car does great thinking for you in this scenario. The more accostomed to it you get, you can almost predict when the electric motor will kick in. This kind of driving typically nets me about 35-50 mpge, depending on hills, AC use, how I drive, etc.

- "Climatizing" or pre-conditioning the car while plugged in prior to departure is something I do when I remember to do it. I assume this helps.

- Fast accelerations are a battery killer in MAX eDrive. So if I want to drive it like a BMW off the line, I go into sport mode, MPG be damned, and the car is fun, it gets up and goes, it corners aggressively, etc. When you are in Sport mode and you get the best of both motors, this car is a lot of fun to drive. I do this sometimes in the middle of journeys and then back to MAX eDrive. I like to mix it up.

At the end of the day, it's fun to have a new, luxurious BMW .. and to get SICK MPG numbers. It is also fun to put it in sport mode and not give a damn about mileage, and feel the signature BMW handling. This is the perfect car for someone who wants both.
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      08-25-2018, 02:57 AM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clintorama View Post
...

- Fast accelerations are a battery killer in MAX eDrive. So if I want to drive it like a BMW off the line, I go into sport mode, MPG be damned, and the car is fun, it gets up and goes, it corners aggressively, etc. When you are in Sport mode and you get the best of both motors, this car is a lot of fun to drive. I do this sometimes in the middle of journeys and then back to MAX eDrive. I like to mix it up.
Good to see you using the car in the best environment, maximum use of the EV potential. Ideal use and what they are really for.

What concerns me is the part highlighted, not just for you but any of us considering a PHEV. How do you use the ICE, before giving it a hard acceleration? Is it from cold? Do you just floor it when necessary?

For me, considering my potential use, it goes completely against the engineer in me to work a cold engine. We have enough trouble with waiting for an engine to warm anyway, before we drive hard. To think of driving on battery only and wanting that full on acceleration, to do so, I'd be cringing if the ICE hadn't been running and some heat in it ahead of a hard acceleration.

The other issue, if you run out of battery just before you get home... Running the engine for lots of short (cold start) periods, just doesn't sit well with me. Seems the worst case use of an ICE.

What's the consensus guys? Forget all the perceived wisdom of the past and just go for it? Longevity? Mechanical sympathy?
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      08-25-2018, 03:41 AM   #60
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Before I had a Level 2 charger installed at home I was getting about 24 mpg in town and 33 on the road. Since I've had my charger, my daily driving is mostly electric and I'm getting about 140 mpg since it was installed on the 16th. I've used roughly 1/8 tank of gas during that time, so a tank should last me close to 2 months if I don't make any road trips.
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      08-26-2018, 11:18 PM   #61
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Before I had a Level 2 charger installed at home I was getting about 24 mpg in town and 33 on the road. Since I've had my charger, my daily driving is mostly electric and I'm getting about 140 mpg since it was installed on the 16th. I've used roughly 1/8 tank of gas during that time, so a tank should last me close to 2 months if I don't make any road trips.
so there's a difference in MPG via level 1 and level 2 charger? Thought the difference was solely just for amount of charge time needed (L2 being less time needed.....)
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      08-27-2018, 07:14 PM   #62
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so there's a difference in MPG via level 1 and level 2 charger? Thought the difference was solely just for amount of charge time needed (L2 being less time needed.....)
Not necessarily - I never used a level 1 charger at home. I got a 2 for future proofing. Maybe my next car will be fully electric.
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      08-27-2018, 09:07 PM   #63
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I’ve come to terms that it IS yours without any of the downside. You just have the option to return it faster. No one is paying that in one lump sum, n if you have that sorta money you know better than to waste on buying a new bmw. What’s the difference vs financing? You not paying the tax or taking the hit on it’s instant depreciation? A bank or BMW has the title til you pay it off. It’s almost a way for buyers to pat themselves on the back.

I laugh at those folks, I get bored of cars too quick n nowadays there’s far more to go wrong within its lifecycle and cars are rapidly changing. I swore I would have kept my current 4 series, but then I had eclectronic issues with the cameras now always flickering, in the shop for a month, recoded and replaced... and still flickers. Has only 15k miles on it too after 3 years. It made me sure glad that I could return it, plus it’s buyout is way too high vs what it’s worth. You chose wisely. I think i’d only buy if used, cheap and Japanese at this point but I am still going to lease a new BMW that would make me depressed if I purchased and had a single thing go wrong... with a lease... not so much.

BMW is also notorious for incentivizing you when you do have problems and actually contact them vs any other company I’ve ever dealt with, very Apple like, they know their audience is chock full of advocates and influencers, so there’s that too.
I have no problem with leases as I have done it in the past (E.g. some smoking deals on e93 M3s). So, I am not one to bash anyone's financial decisions on their cars. They are almost always ill-advised financial decisions to spend more than absolutely necessary on depreciating assets.

I've also paid cash for my BMWs (including the g30), and I assure you I didn't do it to pat myself on the back. Laugh all you want if that makes you feel better/superior.
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      08-28-2018, 02:53 AM   #64
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I have no problem with leases as I have done it in the past (E.g. some smoking deals on e93 M3s). So, I am not one to bash anyone's financial decisions on their cars. They are almost always ill-advised financial decisions to spend more than absolutely necessary on depreciating assets.

I've also paid cash for my BMWs (including the g30), and I assure you I didn't do it to pat myself on the back. Laugh all you want if that makes you feel better/superior.
You paid 45-80k cash on a new BMW? It doesn’t make me feel superior, I’m
Empathetic as hell, I’d wonder why the heck someone would do this without some business write off or otherwise. I only laugh at those boasting buying is superior. I hate to see anyone waste or lose money. I grew up poor... it hurts to see someone taken by anyone for their money. Luxury cars amongst any kind are the worst to purchase. It’s completely different for an exotic or a much cheaper car based on the negligible depreciation / average time of ownership. Giving a dealer $45-80k in one lump sum seems not so great.
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      08-28-2018, 02:00 PM   #65
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It is a cycle. Once you buy off your first car, it would always be your deposit when it is time to trade in (hefty deposit like 30 to 40% of the total cost of the new purchase). Thus the amount you finance and monthly payments would subsequently be lowered than somebody leasing.

The other advantage is you could sell off the car at any time and still get some money back when you are hard pressed or need money for your business, investments, family or health related issues

The other advantage is psychological that you own it and not in debt and could do whatever you like and put as many miles on it as you like

Neither is better or worse. It depends on our personality, life experience, how long we tend to keep cars, stage in life, how secure we feel in our job etc
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      08-28-2018, 03:02 PM   #66
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It is a cycle. Once you buy off your first car, it would always be your deposit when it is time to trade in (hefty deposit like 30 to 40% of the total cost of the new purchase). Thus the amount you finance and monthly payments would subsequently be lowered than somebody leasing.

The other advantage is you could sell off the car at any time and still get some money back when you are hard pressed or need money for your business, investments, family or health related issues

The other advantage is psychological that you own it and not in debt and could do whatever you like and put as many miles on it as you like

Neither is better or worse. It depends on our personality, life experience, how long we tend to keep cars, stage in life, how secure we feel in our job etc
Also, people tend to look at MSRP when deciding on the hit they will take based on depreciation. But as one can see from these postings, most purchasers get a significant discount off MSRP. So the real analysis should be depreciation off actual purchase price. No question that there is still a big hit but it is not as big as some say.
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