40e opinions

[sor]

Originally Posted by jhallonline

How are you liking the e40 so far?

If you're talking to me, we went with an XC90 T8 plug in. The 40e was too small for my wife's tastes, but otherwise they're quite comparable.

We love it, the battery capacity is a good balance, and we can use the full gas tank whenever we need but we generally have only filled up once a month. We get about 800-1000 miles per tank with the majority of daily trips being battery powered.

[kstinmb]

Originally Posted by jonboyglx

... I also coded the car to start in Sport mode so I get the extra brake regen.

Hey jonboyglx, can you explain this or cite a reference? "...coded the car to start in Sport mode so I get the extra brake regen"??

Thanks,

[-c-]

Originally Posted by deutsch100

BMW bought me out of my 2017 40e X5. The all electric range is rarely as high as stated. When the battery is depleted, you are driving around in a small 2.0 4 cylinder engine. Now, being fair....the 4 cylinder engine in the 40e is surprisingly peppy, but it sounds like shit IMO! I think it's crazy to spend over $70k for a 4 cylinder engine in a big, heavy SUV. If the battery was bigger/lasted longer then we would not have to rely on the small, little 4 banger....but TRUST me, even for short distances you will be using the gas engine, more than the battery. Also, 40e resale values are rubbish
Since the 40e is large and heavy, the 4 cyl. engine has to work hard, and I found mpg to be not great at all. BMW got me into a 2017 X5 xDrive 35d and I easily travel 500+ miles per tank, up to 600 miles easily on the highway. You will NEVER get this with the 40e.

That's your experience but mine is completely different.

I get 6 to 700 miles per tank and drive in emote and use the engine just fine.

The battery never depletes fully so when you need the boost the electric motor kicks in and your gone.

I came from a 35i and love the 40e more and more!

We work 6 miles from home and drive to michigan once a month.

We go over a month without refueling and sometimes drive on electric only all weekend.

It's great and don't have to worry about diesel costing you an arm and a leg later in it's life when it needs a full makeover.

The batteries are good for 20 years and even after 20 years they retain 75% of their full charge.

I wouldn't be surprised if their would be a way later to replace the batteries with bmw's upgraded batteries with longer range. As their the same as the i3 and I8

Overall it's a great ride and don't feel it's underpowered at all.

Everyone's expectations are different and some will never be pleased.

Give it a try.

I have no regrets.



Also the fact you can have it heat up out in the cold parking lot with your phone like an auto start is also a big plus. And when you set your departure time in the morning for work you walk out to a cooled or heated cabin. Again a big plus.


Also don't forget you get to take advantage of all the ev special parking in crowded parking lots.

[corduroy]

I've had my X5 40e for a little while so far and no regrets here either (first BMW for me).

It really depends on what your commute is if. I fill up about once a month. I went some 850 miles on my last tank and averaged 45 mpg (if I subtract my electrical costs, I think it comes out to ~33 mpg if it was a non plug in hybrid, just gas @ $2.60 gal premium). Not bad for a relatively large 2-row SUV.

I was looking at the RX450h (previous cars were Lexus) and the 40e is so much more responsive and quicker. Only real complaints from me about performance are the run flat tires. I feel that most complaints are from people who would be happier with the x50i or cayenne turbo. Nothing wrong with that, but not everyone is looking for that. With that said, I might still get a racechip for mine and eventually replace the wheels with something lighter.

I hope that BMW will eventually offer a battery replacement program for battery packs with higher density (I'm sure there will be an aftermarket for it) and/or retrofitting a 32 kw on-board charger or even DC capabilities.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by corduroy

I've had my X5 40e for a little while so far and no regrets here either (first BMW for me).

It really depends on what your commute is if. I fill up about once a month. I went some 850 miles on my last tank and averaged 45 mpg (if I subtract my electrical costs, I think it comes out to ~33 mpg if it was a non plug in hybrid, just gas @ $2.60 gal premium). Not bad for a relatively large 2-row SUV.

I was looking at the RX450h (previous cars were Lexus) and the 40e is so much more responsive and quicker. Only real complaints from me about performance are the run flat tires. I feel that most complaints are from people who would be happier with the x50i or cayenne turbo. Nothing wrong with that, but not everyone is looking for that. With that said, I might still get a racechip for mine and eventually replace the wheels with something lighter.

I hope that BMW will eventually offer a battery replacement program for battery packs with higher density (I'm sure there will be an aftermarket for it) and/or retrofitting a 32 kw on-board charger or even DC capabilities.

Totally for the upgraded battery!


Also note the 40e doesn't have the turbo lag the normal engines have. It's instant responsiveness because of the electric motor which i love as our 35i was a lag monster and their was always a second or so pause before it move and trying to merge into traffic was sometimes scary because you'd time it then nothing!

The 40e doesn't have this problem.

[MK2018]

Originally Posted by -c-

Totally for the upgraded battery!


Also note the 40e doesn't have the turbo lag the normal engines have. It's instant responsiveness because of the electric motor which i love as our 35i was a lag monster and their was always a second or so pause before it move and trying to merge into traffic was sometimes scary because you'd time it then nothing!

The 40e doesn't have this problem.

You can always keep it in sport mode and have good enough response for passing other cars on the highway

[Mavsfan]

Hi All,

I realize this thread is pretty old, but I didn't see anything newer on the 40e.

I've owned mine for a couple of years now. I have loved it so far. I put it in Max eDrive as soon as I get in. My commute is very short, so I charge it overnight and have plenty of battery to get to and from work. If I run errands or something on the way home, occasionally it will kick the engine on, but even then it still uses electric power at stop lights and low speeds.

I find the electric mode to be very punchy and fun to drive. I'm getting great gas mileage and it has some nice bells and whistles as well. I had to drive a couple of hours recently so that was all gasoline engine but got about 26 mpg, which is decent.

Now, I did just have an Auto On/Off and Drive Train malfunction lights come on the other day so it's been permanently stuck in limp mode for the last 3 days. My warranty just expired so I had Autozone pull the codes. They didn't find anything. There are no weird noises, leaks, or other obvious issues. Anyone else experience this with theirs? I'm taking it to a mechanic tomorrow to get proper diagnostics done. I've read everything from battery to software to coils to transmission.

I've only driven like 2K miles the last year as I've been working from home and we take my wife's 2019 X5 when we take the kids somewhere. The brakes were just replaced 2 months ago, maybe they knocked something loose or didn't put it back together correctly?

[kalien34]

Originally Posted by Mavsfan

Hi All,

I realize this thread is pretty old, but I didn't see anything newer on the 40e.

I've owned mine for a couple of years now. I have loved it so far. I put it in Max eDrive as soon as I get in. My commute is very short, so I charge it overnight and have plenty of battery to get to and from work. If I run errands or something on the way home, occasionally it will kick the engine on, but even then it still uses electric power at stop lights and low speeds.

I find the electric mode to be very punchy and fun to drive. I'm getting great gas mileage and it has some nice bells and whistles as well. I had to drive a couple of hours recently so that was all gasoline engine but got about 26 mpg, which is decent.

Now, I did just have an Auto On/Off and Drive Train malfunction lights come on the other day so it's been permanently stuck in limp mode for the last 3 days. My warranty just expired so I had Autozone pull the codes. They didn't find anything. There are no weird noises, leaks, or other obvious issues. Anyone else experience this with theirs? I'm taking it to a mechanic tomorrow to get proper diagnostics done. I've read everything from battery to software to coils to transmission.

I've only driven like 2K miles the last year as I've been working from home and we take my wife's 2019 X5 when we take the kids somewhere. The brakes were just replaced 2 months ago, maybe they knocked something loose or didn't put it back together correctly?

Last year for quite a few times (3 to 4 as far as I remember), I had similar issue: check engine light came on. But it didn't put me in limp mode, i.e. other than that orange light on the dash the car drives just like normal. Went to the dealership twice (mine is still under warranty) and they cleared the code but couldn't find the root cause. The 2nd time they had to refresh the whole software so it cleared all my previous coding. So I did it all over again, and when it was done the bloody check engine light came on again!!! As I was pretty frustrated, learned that I could use the BimmerLink app to pull and clear codes. So I did, and it's been a few months since then and it's been fine. I'm still not sure what caused the engine light to come on, but it doesn't always have anything to do with drivetrain. It seems to me that the 40e, due to its battery and charging systems, is more prone to throw random fault codes that trigger the check engine light.

[Mavsfan]

Thanks, Kalien. Does BimmerLink do something different than the OBD scanner at AutoZone? I had AutoZone plug in their scanner. They tried twice and no error codes showed up on theirs. Was hoping it was just a bad battery or something easy.

I'd love to be able to pull codes myself. I'm not sure why the fault warnings are going off on the dash but there's nothing showing on the sensor. Unless you or others have any ideas, I'll take it to a BMW mechanic as planned and see what they have to say.

[scotty339]

Originally Posted by Mavsfan

Thanks, Kalien. Does BimmerLink do something different than the OBD scanner at AutoZone? I had AutoZone plug in their scanner. They tried twice and no error codes showed up on theirs. Was hoping it was just a bad battery or something easy.

I'd love to be able to pull codes myself. I'm not sure why the fault warnings are going off on the dash but there's nothing showing on the sensor. Unless you or others have any ideas, I'll take it to a BMW mechanic as planned and see what they have to say.

BimmerLink will read out the BMW specific codes which can help you in your troubleshooting.

Generic ODB2 readers will often display a generic code which is not as detailed.

[f15_40e_Solo87]

Is it worth putting an aftermarket exhaust on a 40e? I had a f15 35 prior and I miss the growl.

[svenker]

Hello,

my wife and I love the 40e.

Other X5 models are really cool but honestly, if you do less than 15-20km in average (10 miles), the 40e is done for you.
In Europe, due to the tax on Petrol, we save 50% on the petrol cost with electricity. On top, it is SO SILENT, it actually disturbes me now to hear the engine starting... I know... I am sorry for the ones that love the real engine !

I have also an Audi S3 Cab which makes a very nice noise and I love it but this X5 noiseless makes my day everyday....

[3mm]

I had mine for 3 years. I flashed it with bootmod3 (I believe mine was the guinea pig), and it's really violently faster than stock. I love the all electric driving too for any local driving, ability to heat/cool the car remotely even when it's in the garage. I think the car as is would be perfect if it weren't for the Bridgestone runflat tires. Noisy and bumpy. Planning to replace them with non-runflat michelin pilot sport 4s. And I wouldn't mind double hybrid battery capacity.

[c00lbeans]

Originally Posted by 3mm

I had mine for 3 years. I flashed it with bootmod3 (I believe mine was the guinea pig), and it's really violently faster than stock. I love the all electric driving too for any local driving, ability to heat/cool the car remotely even when it's in the garage. I think the car as is would be perfect if it weren't for the Bridgestone runflat tires. Noisy and bumpy. Planning to replace them with non-runflat michelin pilot sport 4s. And I wouldn't mind double hybrid battery capacity.

Originally Posted by 3mm

I had mine for 3 years. I flashed it with bootmod3 (I believe mine was the guinea pig), and it's really violently faster than stock. I love the all electric driving too for any local driving, ability to heat/cool the car remotely even when it's in the garage. I think the car as is would be perfect if it weren't for the Bridgestone runflat tires. Noisy and bumpy. Planning to replace them with non-runflat michelin pilot sport 4s. And I wouldn't mind double hybrid battery capacity.

You got a link to that tune? I want to tune my 40e.

[Mavsfan]

More thoughts on my 40e.

After not driving it much at all for almost a year (due to Covid I have been working from home and kids were home a lot as well), we have been using it as our daily driver the last few months.

I finally got a Level 2 charger, and that has been a real game changer. I'm barely using any gas now that I can fully recharge in about 2 hours. It also seems much safer since my L1 trickle charger would get really hot when on maximum charge mode. And it allows me to take full advantage of departure time pre-conditioning, so the car is always comfortable when I get in it.

The car is parked outside due to garage repairs, so I think that has led to some maintenance issues coming up earlier than usual with mine. I've had to replace the 12v and Aux batteries ($800 at Indy shop), rear air springs/bags ($875 at Indy shop), and AC service (checked for leaks and added freon, $200) within the last year. The battery and air springs/bags would have been half as much if I had replaced them myself. I did replace the air filter and cabin filters myself, which was just as easy as changing air filters in our house.

[DBT]

2017 X5 40e averaging about 35 mpg real world driving over the last 2 tanks. Plug in whenever home on Level 2. Zero to hero in about 3 hours. Mostly around town driving with 2 trips of about 250 miles each per tank. 800 miles on a tank followed by 750 on the next. Tank is 22 gallons. Try to keep it on max e drive around town, but invariably the IC engine kicks in on the highway regardless. Hybrid battery is fully depleted and IC only at around 12 - 16 miles in. In Sport or even Comfort mode, the 9 speed transmission has it pulling quite respectably in nearly every situation short of a drag race. I like it.

[Tahoe9813]

Some interesting perspectives here. I have a 2021 330e (which my wife primarily drives). I just bought a 2017 xDrive40e (after test driving a couple of used cars). I don't put too many miles/year on a car since I work from home when not traveling (by air) for work (and that's minimal...thanks covid).

Anywho...I'm looking forward to driving the X5 more and getting to know it better. I'm on the E-Sys adventure right now looking to add a hitch to the car. I won't tow much, but the option to pull a small utility trailer or similar when it's needed is good to have.

Ben

[gabrielalejandro]

Hi! Currently have a x3 2013 xdrive 28i thinking to buy a x5 2017 40e with 91k miles on it, because i need more space for the family, what you think? Is it worth it?