40e Insight

[HansRobert]

We are about to put an order in for a 40e. I've researched this vehicle fairly thoroughly but there is nothing quite as good as experience.

I'm interested in hearing both positive and negative reports from my esteemed colleagues on this forum!

Thanks!

[r33_RGSport]

Interested in knowing also.
I may ask my Sales Rep to let me do extended test drive.

[athanyel]

I had an extended test drive of a 40e back in January and strongly suggest anyone else considering the 40e to do the same. You really should run around with a 40e and experience the big catch yourself: you must be able to charge the vehicle to get the most out of it. If you can't/won't charge it regularly, I'd say use the same money to get a 35i with DHP.

Personally, I will be ordering a 2017 40e as soon as my local dealer can...but the 40e makes a lot of sense for me. I live close to work (5 mile roundtrip) and have access to level 2 charging at work. I have an S1000RR (BMW sport bike) for when I want tear up the hill country.

All that said, I can definitely agree with other postings on the forums that it's not for everyone. Request an extended test drive and let us know what you think.

Here are some quick pros and cons:

PROs:
Can run short commutes (<15 miles) at city speeds completely on battery!
Electric torque and no turbo lag!
It's silent in Max eDrive mode!
Recharges pretty quickly!
Nearly 5k tax rebate if you qualify!
Rear air suspension included!
Very little cargo space lost to the battery!

CONs:
35d has better MPG for commutes of more than 15 miles...
35i is as fast as the 40e and the 50i is WAY faster...
Exhaust note is lacking compared to the others (IMO)...
Drains battery a lot faster than I'd like...
It costs almost $5k more than the 35i...
DHP not available with 40e...
No spare and no third row...

[Line Drive]

There's lots of good info here on the 40e in previous threads. I'd suggest reviewing those.

As was said above, the key is short commutes with the time and ability to recharge. My commute is about 20 miles each way, and I have a level 2 charger in my office garage. I'm averaging at least 55 MPG on my weekday commute, sometimes more than 70 MPG, depending on traffic.

On the weekends -- lots of short trips with kids, grocery store, errands, etc -- it's a different story. Even a level 2 charger will take nearly three hours to fully recharge the battery, and it's about seven hours with the OEM charger. That makes battery usage impractical on the weekends, at least based on my usage.

With my 40e, I'm kind of a split personality. During the week, I try to maximize battery usage and only sip gasoline, but on the weekends I like driving in sport mode and use the X5 as it was meant to be.

If you fit into the demographic of a short commute with an ability to recharge, the 40e can be a good choice. If you don't fit into this demographic, the extra cost for the 40e would be a wasted IMO.