[AF]

I test drove the 2021 540i xdrive yesterday at my dealer, my salesman gave me the keys so I had a lot of time on my own to drive it around, it was an Msport so to compare I drive a 2019 540i xdrive msport with the dynamic dampers.

Driving a car with the msport suspension I was expecting a harsh ride but the ride was great, can I tell you the dynamic dampers make a difference, if anything it is minor. The m suspension felt very planted and dare I say flatter when handling a turn.

The steering also felt a little heavier then mine but this could just be a variation from one car to another.

The auto start stop is just as obvious on this car as it is on mine .... not a bad thing in most cases except it still cuts down the hvac system to half. It also seemed to kick in at every stop, not at a quick stop sign stop but if you sat there for a few seconds it would go off, in my car I do not notice it kicking in as much, there are times I am at a light and mine doesn’t turn off at all, it could be the weather which was in the low 70’s so maybe the AC didn’t need to work as hard but I did notice at a light that was long the car was getting warm enough inside I put the car into sport model to Eliminate this feature. It really bothers me you can’t shut it off in comfort mode. The other thing I noticed is in comfort mode the tach changes to some type of electric gauge, i’m not quite sure what it is measuring though someone here can probably give more information. The bmw genius said it was showing the brake regenerating but that doesn’t make sense being the more I accelerated the more the electric tach went up to the higher numbers.

The part that bothers me about the auto shut off feature is it shuts down the hvac system to 1/2 which I find really noticeable, maybe all hybrids do this ... I don’t know.


As far as the hybrid part, truthfully I tried to listen to see if the engine was off at super low speeds but it seems to kick in when I hit the gas pedal from a stop just like my car, if you didn’t tell me it was a 2021 model I would not know there was an electric motor.

The new idrive seems cool, who knew they could come up with even more cool animations plus there was some ‘mode’ thing I came across, maybe someone here can elaborate because I don’t remember what it was called but I went into one of the modes, the car played some type of song and opened the sunroof shade, another mode it played a different song and closed the sunroof shade.

Almost forgot to mention the seats, the 2021 had some type of sport seat (Are these the seats everyone complains about ?), pretty tight and while it was not bad it is no where near as comfortable as my multi-contour seats. For reference I have the vented and massage feature which some have said they do not find as comfortable as the same seat without this feature.

As far as the exterior updated look, the rear is a huge improvement, it just looks so much more better then mine, the front looks good too and the new msport wheels are nice improvement.

So i’ve got a dilemma here, my lease is up in December, do I go for another 540, I am going to leave my car with the auto start feature on for the next couple of weeks and see if I can live with it, it just makes no sense we are now forced to have it on though my salesman made a good point, he said instead of hitting the off button you just need to hit the sport button so technically you are still hitting only one button and you could set up the sport individual to all comfort mode so the only difference would be the dashboard changes to sport mode but the car is in comfort mode.

[stein_325i]

Thanks for the mini-review. Its a shame to hear that the start-stop system wasn't very effective in these new B58 motors. In my CLS I also have a mild-hybrid system with an electric supercharger and find the system to work seamlessly, never have to turn stop-start off, can even reverse only using electric! Was hoping BMW would have caught up with their implementation of this technology.

As for having to get use to it, I'm sure there's a way that you can code it to permanently be off.

[AF]

Originally Posted by jstein55

Thanks for the mini-review. Its a shame to hear that the start-stop system wasn't very effective in these new B58 motors. In my CLS I also have a mild-hybrid system with an electric supercharger and find the system to work seamlessly, never have to turn stop-start off, can even reverse only using electric! Was hoping BMW would have caught up with their implementation of this technology.

As for having to get use to it, I'm sure there's a way that you can code it to permanently be off.

How is the drivers seat in the CLS, after I test drove the 540 I headed over to the MB dealer and sat in the E but found the headrest really pushes your head forward ... i saw a CLS also on the showroom floor but it was locked and my regular MB salesman was with another customer at the time and I had to get to the office for a zoom meeting so I didn’t get to sit in the CLS.

I love the looks of that car, Mercedes did an awesome job on it.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by AF

How is the drivers seat in the CLS, after I test drove the 540 I headed over to the MB dealer and sat in the E but found the headrest really pushes your head forward ... i saw a CLS also on the showroom floor but it was locked and my regular MB salesman was with another customer at the time and I had to get to the office for a zoom meeting so I didn’t get to sit in the CLS.

I love the looks of that car, Mercedes did an awesome job on it.

I love the looks too, except for the damn US plate bumpers that all MB coupes have because of US regulations. As for seats, depends on the model. I have the CLS53 which has the AMG-Sport seats which some may find too stiff, but I'm just fine in, not as plush as the multi-contours in my previous G30, but still plenty comfortable and more bolstered. I usually get an E450 Wagon as my loaner car and found the seats pretty good in that, haven't had any headrest issues, but I usually tilt mine forward anyways and angle the seat pretty far back. The headrest is weirdly half electric (up and down) and half manual (forward and back) so you may need to play around with it to find a preferred position. Overall love my CLS, been a great vehicle and first non-BMW in 20+ years!

[LogicalApex]

Great write up!

I would say the HVAC experience you have doesn't exist on the 530e. On the 530e the HVAC system is run purely from the hybrid battery so you don't lose any AC or Heat performance when the ICE motor is shutoff. So, your experience isn't true for all hybrids.

It is a shame as I was hoping BMW would have smoothed all of the Auto-Start Stop negatives with this shift to make it usable by more people. Maybe they'll have it improved with the full platform refresh in a few years.

[MauiSteve]

Let's hope the Bimmercode app will work on the LCI model to supress the auto start stop in comfort mode.

Hopefully somebody with a '21 will let us know soon.

[XavVD]

Originally Posted by AF

I test drove the 2021 540i xdrive yesterday at my dealer, my salesman gave me the keys so I had a lot of time on my own to drive it around, it was an Msport so to compare I drive a 2019 540i xdrive msport with the dynamic dampers.

Driving a car with the msport suspension I was expecting a harsh ride but the ride was great, can I tell you the dynamic dampers make a difference, if anything it is minor. The m suspension felt very planted and dare I say flatter when handling a turn.

The steering also felt a little heavier then mine but this could just be a variation from one car to another.

The auto start stop is just as obvious on this car as it is on mine .... not a bad thing in most cases except it still cuts down the hvac system to half. It also seemed to kick in at every stop, not at a quick stop sign stop but if you sat there for a few seconds it would go off, in my car I do not notice it kicking in as much, there are times I am at a light and mine doesn’t turn off at all, it could be the weather which was in the low 70’s so maybe the AC didn’t need to work as hard but I did notice at a light that was long the car was getting warm enough inside I put the car into sport model to Eliminate this feature. It really bothers me you can’t shut it off in comfort mode. The other thing I noticed is in comfort mode the tach changes to some type of electric gauge, i’m not quite sure what it is measuring though someone here can probably give more information. The bmw genius said it was showing the brake regenerating but that doesn’t make sense being the more I accelerated the more the electric tach went up to the higher numbers.

The part that bothers me about the auto shut off feature is it shuts down the hvac system to 1/2 which I find really noticeable, maybe all hybrids do this ... I don’t know.


As far as the hybrid part, truthfully I tried to listen to see if the engine was off at super low speeds but it seems to kick in when I hit the gas pedal from a stop just like my car, if you didn’t tell me it was a 2021 model I would not know there was an electric motor.

The new idrive seems cool, who knew they could come up with even more cool animations plus there was some ‘mode’ thing I came across, maybe someone here can elaborate because I don’t remember what it was called but I went into one of the modes, the car played some type of song and opened the sunroof shade, another mode it played a different song and closed the sunroof shade.

Almost forgot to mention the seats, the 2021 had some type of sport seat (Are these the seats everyone complains about ?), pretty tight and while it was not bad it is no where near as comfortable as my multi-contour seats. For reference I have the vented and massage feature which some have said they do not find as comfortable as the same seat without this feature.

As far as the exterior updated look, the rear is a huge improvement, it just looks so much more better then mine, the front looks good too and the new msport wheels are nice improvement.

So i’ve got a dilemma here, my lease is up in December, do I go for another 540, I am going to leave my car with the auto start feature on for the next couple of weeks and see if I can live with it, it just makes no sense we are now forced to have it on though my salesman made a good point, he said instead of hitting the off button you just need to hit the sport button so technically you are still hitting only one button and you could set up the sport individual to all comfort mode so the only difference would be the dashboard changes to sport mode but the car is in comfort mode.

Thanks for the review.
Also looking for a 5 series in m sport (in my case more likely a 530i xdrive Touring). Did a test drive with standard m sport suspension, 19" wheels and multi contour seats and I was also very positively surprised by the level of comfort and the handling of the car.
But it looks way better with 20" wheels. Here they are sold with RFT. I am wondering if there is a need to opt for variable damping suspension then.
So I am quite curious about wheel/tyre set up you had on your test car!

[LuvMyE92]

Thanks AF. I'm with you (and most of us here I suspect) in not liking how BMW did the autostart/stop, and have it permanently off in my car. If in fact we get the point where we can't code it off, it may become a deal breaker for me, and I'll focus on older cars rather than buying a new BMW every few years. Or take a closer look at Mercedes or Audi.

I can't forget one day, I was in a parking lot and some poor soul was driving some kind of cheap Chevy product, trying to do a 3-point or "K" turn in about 9 turns, and every time she stopped to go from drive to reverse or back, the engine would briefly turn off. And then back on. And off. And on. And off. It was laughable. At least BMW (as it currently is) will stay running in a similar situation. I just don't like the way it shuts off in my car, a split second before the car comes to a stop. It makes for a jerky feel.

I suspect my "sport line" car has the sports seats, and I find them very comfortable and good for long drives. I am slim of stature, so that may help.

[AF]

Originally Posted by XavVD

Thanks for the review.
Also looking for a 5 series in m sport (in my case more likely a 530i xdrive Touring). Did a test drive with standard m sport suspension, 19" wheels and multi contour seats and I was also very positively surprised by the level of comfort and the handling of the car.
But it looks way better with 20" wheels. Here they are sold with RFT. I am wondering if there is a need to opt for variable damping suspension then.
So I am quite curious about wheel/tyre set up you had on your test car!

The 2021 had the 19” M wheels 845M with all season run flats, my car has the M Sport 19” wheels also with all season run flats.

[440xiGCMSport2]

I have a 540 xdrive with 20inch wheels with M suspension and not the adjustable suspension and it is in my opinion very close to the adjustable suspension. I would say the M suspension is right in the middle of the adjustable suspension. It isn't as stiff as the Sport mode but it isn't totally as soft as the comfort mode.Maybe about 30-40% stiffer but still compliant. The weird thing it does seem flatter on corners than the adjustable suspension in sport mode like the OP indicated.

[XavVD]

Originally Posted by 440xiGCMSport2

I have a 540 xdrive with 20inch wheels with M suspension and not the adjustable suspension and it is in my opinion very close to the adjustable suspension. I would say the M suspension is right in the middle of the adjustable suspension. It isn't as stiff as the Sport mode but it isn't totally as soft as the comfort mode.Maybe about 30-40% stiffer but still compliant. The weird thing it does seem flatter on corners than the adjustable suspension in sport mode like the OP indicated.

Thank you for this very interesting feedback! Do you have run flat tyres on your 20"?
With regards to the more present rolling on the adaptive suspension, I am not surprised since the vehicle seats higher with it, probably to allow more suspension travel in comfort mode. But as a result the centre of gravity of the car is higher and it probably leads to more rolling even in even in sport configuration.
The car seems to look better on passive m suspension for this reason.
The anti-roll bar might also be less stiff (lower diameter) on adaptive suspension.

[COBodom]

Originally Posted by AF

I test drove the 2021 540i xdrive yesterday at my dealer, my salesman gave me the keys (...)

Nice insight. Thank you

How did you find the exhaust note compared to your car?

[440xiGCMSport2]

Originally Posted by XavVD

Thank you for this very interesting feedback! Do you have run flat tyres on your 20"?
With regards to the more present rolling on the adaptive suspension, I am not surprised since the vehicle seats higher with it, probably to allow more suspension travel in comfort mode. But as a result the centre of gravity of the car is higher and it probably leads to more rolling even in even in sport configuration.
The car seems to look better on passive m suspension for this reason.
The anti-roll bar might also be less stiff (lower diameter) on adaptive suspension.

yes I have 20" runflats. Like the look, ok on bad pavement, but a killer on manholes and bigger imperfections.

[XavVD]

Originally Posted by 440xiGCMSport2

yes I have 20" runflats. Like the look ok on bad pavement but a killer on manholes and bigger imperfections.

Can't be worse than my 19" with RFT with adaptive suspension and uncomfortable narrow sport seats on my current X1... clearly a bad pick, looking forward to get a new car next year

[AF]

Originally Posted by COBodom

Nice insight. Thank you

How did you find the exhaust note compared to your car?

Damn the one thing I didn't pay attention too ... sorry I should have since I saw a YouTube video noting this ...

Though I will say I don’t notice much exhaust note on my 540 now especially compared to my sons 2017 340i xdrive ... his car gives off a much better exhaust noise.

[ShiftTab]

Android Auto is a component I know will be included in the 2021 5 series. I'm looking into a 2020 540i but not sure if AA will be included.

Am I missing out on any other major features going with a 2020 instead of the 2021 540i?

[COBodom]

Originally Posted by AF

Damn the one thing I didn't pay attention too ... sorry I should have since I saw a YouTube video noting this ...

Though I will say I don’t notice much exhaust note on my 540 now especially compared to my sons 2017 340i xdrive ... his car gives off a much better exhaust noise.

Np

Yeah, my current car 540xi msport 2018 is completely mute.

I just ordered a 2021 540xi msport. Soon enough (8 weeks) I will have a definite answer to the exhaust question.

[DAYINAZ]

Originally Posted by ShiftTab

Android Auto is a component I know will be included in the 2021 5 series. I'm looking into a 2020 540i but not sure if AA will be included.

Am I missing out on any other major features going with a 2020 instead of the 2021 540i?

I did the Software update in August on 2020 on my 2020 540 and Aindroid Auto is a breeze.

[user1811]

Just wondering how all this stop-starting might affect engine longevity.

I've had my eyes on the G30 540ix ever since it came out, been wanting to do a custom factory order. For various reasons it hasn't happened yet. But now with the mild-hybrid gimmick I'm not so sure.

[AF]

Originally Posted by user1811

Just wondering how all this stop-starting might affect engine longevity.

I've had my eyes on the G30 540ix ever since it came out, been wanting to do a custom factory order. For various reasons it hasn't happened yet. But now with the mild-hybrid gimmick I'm not so sure.

The big picture is all the new cars have this so you really cannot escape it ... the only downside on the 540 is now you don't have the on/off button though like I pointed out above you can set the individual sport mode to all comfort and when using it, it shuts off this feature.

[dlf750]

Just a little hint and I didn't read through all of these so I don't know if it was mentioned - set your sport individual to comfort settings. That way the start/stop is always off, at least on mine. Then if I want real sport, I push the sport button again.

[AF]

Originally Posted by AF

like I pointed out above you can set the individual sport mode to all comfort and when using it, it shuts off this feature.

Originally Posted by dlf750

Just a little hint and I didn't read through all of these so I don't know if it was mentioned - set your sport individual to comfort settings.

I just said this above your post great minds think alike