[marsb007]

So everything that I've read so far states that this car should be getting about 20 US miles of range on electric. We all know that's also probably BS...

BUT...

On a Full charge in the morning, my car has always shown 13 Miles of range, and that's with me not even rolling out of my driveway. I've only had the car for 2 days...

Suggestions?

As background, it's charging on a level 2, maximum rate. My charger reports approximately the same range. I do all preconditioning with the car hooked up.

I just expect the car to at the very least lie to me and start off with 18-20 miles off the bat. Then go ahead and tank it..

[Chem14]

For some reason if you precondition it drops the range to 13 instantaneously. It then has to charge back up to 18-19 miles. I am not sure why the instant drop? I could understand if the range drops as it warms up the car and battery, but instantly??

If I don't pre condition, mine usually has 18-19 miles of range. Not sure if the variability is due to the weather?

[jettie1767]

My 530e has always shown 14-15 miles at full charge.

[Ghanziang]

For the first week I had mine it always stated 13 (or sometimes 12 ) miles range. As I backed out of the garage it always went to 12 almost immediately. Then after a week of commuting it started finding more range. It now states 15 or 16 before I back out of the garage. I am not sure if the range has increased, or it figured out that I live at the top of a hill and it has 2 miles before I have to actually press the go pedal. It has never said 18 or 19 for me. When I picked it up at the dealer it said 12 miles range when completely charged.

G.

[marsb007]

Well, apparently my car thinks differently than yours, as I've lost 2 miles. I'm now at 11 miles range fresh off the charger.

[Chem14]

It's 35 out today, not sure if weather affects range. I'm at 17 fully charged. I usually get 17-19 fully charged. The only other thing I can think of is if your driving habits are calculated into the range??

[marsb007]

Apparently my car thinks I'm an asshole...

I have eco pro on, and don't floor it from stops or anything since I'm still breaking in the car. Ohh well. I'm curious how bad my range will be if I just leave it in comfort mode.

[SteveinArizona]

I have had my 5303 about a week. It started at 11 miles and this morning it went to 15 so it is slowly climbing.

In my prior 330e driving in sport mode pretty much kept the charge stable so I was generally able to figure out to end up with no charge. And I almost always drove in sport mode.

In the 530e it seems that sport mode uses electricity a lot more and the battery seems to run down fairly quickly. I don't care that much about mpg (I didn't buy a BMW for mpg and, besides, I don't put a lot of miles on my ride anyway) but I do like to reduce my usage of carbon fuels.

Hopefully my number will continue to rise and I will become more familiar with how the different modes operate.

[BananaCar]

I have no preconditions set. It always show 14 mile range. Hopefully this changes but not sure what else I can do. I am in comfort mode.

[venom21]

Put in ecopro and max edrive, turn off everything (radio, climate control), feather the throttle as best as possible and I can at best stretch the range to 28kms or 17.3miles. Of course, its winter now and the heater etc has to go on so forget about it.

[PopeHamish]

I get pretty good range out of mine - 21 miles if I've done a long journey previously or 18/19 miles if I've done a series of short journeys.

I find if I precondition, it drops about 3-4 miles off the range over a few minutes.

Now - whether I actually achieve those miles is another thing. If I'm on a long journey and can get a few miles back through regeneration I may then get 16 miles.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by venom21

Put in ecopro and max edrive, turn off everything (radio, climate control), feather the throttle as best as possible and I can at best stretch the range to 28kms or 17.3miles. Of course, its winter now and the heater etc has to go on so forget about it.

Everybody buys autos for different reasons. Many who purchase a 530e are doing so for better mpg. That makes sense for someone who drives a lot every year but does a lot of local driving and/or has free or affordable charging options at work.

But others of us have different reasons. For me, the principal reasons for purchasing my 530e was environmental, ability to continue to drive in the car pool lane at any time (grandfathered from previous ownership of a Prius), and the ability to remotely turn on the AC with the phone app (In Arizona, this is a very useful feature).

Would I like more power...of course. If I didn't, why the heck would I buy a BMW. But my experience has demonstrated that for me, the 530e has adequate power. I drive almost exclusively in sport mode...although I have been trying out the adaptive mode as well. I am almost always the first off the line at a red light and have never lacked passing power whether on a local road or on an interstate with a 75 mph limit.

My ideal car would be a 2 series (M240i or M2) but it would have to fit my golf clubs and I would like the feature set of a 5 series. But, alas, I know that is probably impossible, at least currently.

I do periodically track my mpg but only as an imperfect proxy for limiting the amount of carbon I throw into the air.

A puzzle to me is that the 530e has 25 more HP than a 330e and a bigger battery pack but delivers the same estimated range and HP. Where did the extra HP and battery capacity go?

This is a long winded explanation of explanation of where I stand on my 530e. As I stated, everyone has different reasons for purchasing a car.

[Chem14]

I think BMW should program the car to use the plug power instead of the battery to condition the car before a trip so that battery range is not affected.

[Ginuwine209]

If you turn off all of the climate control here and just have your heated seat on you will get 17-19 miles. I had the same issue as many of you and saw 11 to 12 mile. A buddy who has the same car with almost identical commute as me Would get 21 miles per charge. I am close to19 miles all electric. Only thing is you have to sacrifice a little comfort in having the cabin warm in order to do so. It doesn’t bother me much at all.

[Chem14]

Originally Posted by Ginuwine209

If you turn off all of the climate control here and just have your heated seat on you will get 17-19 miles. I had the same issue as many of you and saw 11 to 12 mile. A buddy who has the same car with almost identical commute as me Would get 21 miles per charge. I am close to19 miles all electric. Only thing is you have to sacrifice a little comfort in having the cabin warm in order to do so. It doesn’t bother me much at all.

Before getting in the car, if it is plugged in and you have set the car to condition before you leave, it should draw power from your house power or charging station power and not the battery. This would then allow the range to be unaffected once you get in the car and leave.

[Ghanziang]

I have my car set to pre-condition the cabin. I am in the US, and using the 110 charger. I have my schedule set to be ready to leave at 7:05AM. When I normally leave (about 7:30AM) the car is nice and warm, but the batter is still charging as it uses way more energy to pre-heat the cabin than the wall charger can provide. If it is cold in the garage (today was about 45f) it was not even fully charged at 7:45AM. :-(

G.

[Chem14]

Originally Posted by Ghanziang

I have my car set to pre-condition the cabin. I am in the US, and using the 110 charger. I have my schedule set to be ready to leave at 7:05AM. When I normally leave (about 7:30AM) the car is nice and warm, but the batter is still charging as it uses way more energy to pre-heat the cabin than the wall charger can provide. If it is cold in the garage (today was about 45f) it was not even fully charged at 7:45AM. :-(

G.

I think when you set the precondition it draws power from the battery, not the wall. Also I have tried when plugged into a level 2 charger and the same thing happens. Immediate loss of 3-4 miles. Seems like a something a software fix could take care of?

[hantsxlg]

Uk based 530e with a 240v 32amp charger (though car won't pull more than 16amp). With preconditioning and cabin warmer i always have 100% charge when i leave. 18-21 mile ev range shown and i do get about that on my 23 mile commute..

[Ghanziang]

@hntsxlg I wish the US car had the option to come with the 240v charger. I would have installed that outlet in no time. Instead it is a $500 option. I wonder why your stated range is so much higher than mine. I once had it say 18 miles, but most mornings it now says 16. Could be the -5c temperature outside? It is in a fairly warm garage, around 13c.

G.

[marsb007]

So my range went from 13 to 16 recently for an odd reason... I used a different charger.

I have an Emotorwerks JuiceNet device, 40 amp. I was out and about visiting my parents, so I decided to try out the 110v slow charging while there. Car charged to 16 miles.

Went home and charged it. 13 Miles. So it was the charger.

I dropped my amperage to 24A, and it charged to 16 Miles again. I haven't tried dropping it to 16 yet, but I'm fairly sure that's the max the car can use anyway. No change in charge time either, which for me is about 2 hrs.

I thought these devices were supposed to be smart and only draw what they need...

I'll report back on 16A charging.

[jukkha156]

Its amazing how much range (3/4 miles) you can gain by turning the heating off altogether. Gets a bit cold and steamy though!

[marsb007]

So changed to 16A. My range went to 15 Miles. I'm assuming the car also looks at your driving style to estimate range? Dunno. I give up.