Considering a 2016 X5 -- is the 40e likely to be as reliable as the 35i?

[jhallonline]

My wife's Lexus was totaled by a distracted driver and we want to get her in something larger. My mom has a 2001 X5 that she bought new that remains her daily driver today (granted it only has 90,000 miles) and I've always really liked BMW as a brand in terms of build quality and safety. That said, my older 530 had some very expensive maintenance issue and while I know German luxury vehicles will be more expensive to maintain than a Mazda or Hyundai, I want to know which X5 would be more reliable long-term between the 40e and the 35i?

I would say that 90% of my wife's driving is in-town, so the idea of electric driving is phenomenal even if it's limited to 15 miles per charge. That said, it seems like the 35i is a much more tried & true drivetrain and my concern with the 40e is that it's going to be a bigger headache in terms of maintenance in the future.

Anyone have any advice as to how reliable the 2016 40e would be if treated properly and serviced on time?

[DuSh]

So it has n20 engine that is produced since 2011 till present time. The main issue it had was a timing chain, but it was resolved by redesign and new cars since 01/2015 are free of that issue. N20 been used worldwide for a long time and it's a good engine. Not powerful, but I don't think it has any major flaws.
The only thing is that 15miles on electric charge might be optimistic, some report a lot less range. So I'm just saying maybe consider diesel lol? Economy probably will b same if not better, but with true long range capabilities.

[markymarc1979]

Dont bother with bmw's joke of a hybrid. The 35i will provide power and reliability you can count on for years to come.

[markymarc1979]

Btw in terms of "larger" the X5 is by now means a large vehicle. Coming from an MDX we are very disappointed in how small the X5 is compared to the MDX. I hope you don't have a lot of small kids.

[Staszek]

The 40e is not worth it, and I doubt it will be as reliable as the 3.5i due to the complexity. The 45e made some welcome changes in the 7 series, finally by the 740e was equally as bad.

Its a cool idea but it wasn't great execution, and there are not many of them out there so parts will be more rare and expensive in the long term. Not to mention the expense of the batteries.

The N55 is in a ton of cars, I would stay there if you want reliability, also they are faster then the 40e.

[jhallonline]

Thanks, guys. Very much appreciated. Looks like I will go with the 35i after all.

[mgbabe]

So far our experience with our 2017 40e is great gas mileage especially in stop and go driving. Half the time or more the engine isn’t even running so wear tear on that engine would be less. So far our problems with it have had nothing to do with the plug-in hybrid system but rather what could be common with any X5: tires, climate control system, sunroof and sunroof drain and a cel when we took delivery.

The only thing you might miss is no AM radio band, but there are HD radio equivalents. You won’t miss visiting the gas station though.

[smyles]

So what MPG are you getting?

[CarJunkie]

Originally Posted by smyles

So what MPG are you getting?

I have put 11k miles on my 2018 40e. I have a level 2 charger in the garage and use my standard level 1 charger at work. On my usual commute, I use NO gas. In good weather with no climate controls, 40-50 mph max, I have gotten over 17 miles on a charge. Using climate, especially using heat in very cold weather, the range drops a lot, but I still get 10-12 miles in those conditions. Our coldest mornings are about 25-30 degrees.

I get 25-29 mph on long highway drives at 70-75 mph.

I keep a spreadsheet that tracks fill-ups. My longest interval was 2.5 months and 2373 miles between fill-ups. Overall, I have gone to the gas station 9 times since purchase in March 2018, and have averaged 64mpg cumulatively since purchase. Not bad for a 5000lb SUV. We pay 7 cents per kilowatt hour, and I haven't really seen a change in my electric bill.

Other perks to the 40e:
Remotely climatize the car in advance. It eats up some battery range but is definitely worthwhile on the hottest and coldest days.
It's actually pretty quick in sport mode which uses gas and electric together.
It's the quietest car I've ever driven. You only know the ICE had come on because the tach tells you.
I believe it's the only AWD hybrid that has an electric motor that drives the transmission and transfer case. You get AWD even when running on battery only, or ICE only, or both. More importantly, regenerative braking also then works at all 4 wheels which is great in snowy weather.
I would estimate that the ICE has operated for about 2500 miles of the 11000 miles I've driven.
I leased it because I wasn't sure....I plan to buy the next generation when my lease is up.

[mgbabe]

Since we got the 40e mid-March 2018, we have averaged 8.7 l/100 km per the on-board computer - mix of long highway miles and city driving. We also have a level 2 charger at home, but no possibility to charge at work. (the 40e replaced a 2006 Pilot which got somewhere in the 14-15 l/100 km range, albeit on regular gas. So the 40e gets way better mileage, is faster and much quieter than the Honda. And it tows way better too - we have even towed our ~4000 lb boat/trailer on electric only with no problem although the range drops significantly. It tows much better than the Pilot ever did which always sounded like it was straining.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by mgbabe

Since we got the 40e mid-March 2018, we have averaged 8.7 l/100 km per the on-board computer - mix of long highway miles and city driving...

This is comparable to my 3.5d (8.4 l/100km same mix). Would be interesting to compare overall long term costs, after free maintenance; personally, I'm very skeptical of the BMW hybrid system longevity, but diesels haven't been poster boys either, so it could be a wash.

P.S. Nowadays my daily is Prius Prime (ha!), and and for <25 mile trips that thing is a winner.

[wilho]

Hi,

I have driven my 2016 40e now for about 48000km/30300miles. This was an ex-showroom car. Hybrid system works pretty well and I would not change the initial torque it provide, especially with ICE to a 35i nor 30d. Only option would be the M50d or 50i which is not available here. This 40e works even in -30C temperatures (-22F) even then the E range is non-existent.

Average consumption is about 6,5km/100l (36.19 U.S. MPG) for all of the trips. I'm using IFFFT app to list all my drives and keep record on refuelling, so that's very accurate. I have an option for type two (230V/16A) charger at home and I can charge at office with one way commute length of 16km/10miles.

But I have had many warranty repairs: brakes (front right caliber changed, also the main caliber), rear hubs (car was vibrating and dealer initially didn't believe me, also Nokian tires were part of the problem - this took many visits to get replaced), Initial rattle from displays (fixed with one visit)

But no problem with hybrid mode. I'm waiting to put my order of 45e. As comparison I test drove Audi Q8, even it's very nice the engine / transmission is horrible. You can calculate 1-2-3 slowly and when you reach 3 something starts happening with the engine. The new g05 was also very nice but I still prefer hybrid. Of course the extremely high taxation here impacts to my choice.

But my 2 cents from Finland

[Andy_Kay]

I'm on 102,000 miles on my 40e (I've had it since 97k - 13 months now). Apart from the standard spark plugs/coil change at 98k last year, it's been faultless.

We do 95% of our journeys in electric only. Still get around 17 miles (sometimes more if the terrain is flat and speed is low). When the wife puts on cabin heater and accelerates fast, the range is much less lol, but I drive it like a Granny