Thoughts on this BMW 5 series PHEV please

dinneenp

Hi,

Looking at getting a BMW 5 series, automatic PHEV, budget under €30k. Trading up from a Nissan XTrail (2016)

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/5-series/fpa/202205035290648

Looking for one with good mpg (when not using the battery). I'm not to familiar with all the different models, know SE is 'basic' but they're still very nice interior I think.

Any thoughts on this one please? Or any other recommendations? This is the search results from Carzone- https://www.carzone.ie/search?make=BMW&model=5%20Series&minYear=2016%20(162)&maxYear=2018%20(182)&fuelType=Petrol%20Plug-in%20Hybrid&sort=PriceAsc

This is the curveball option- 2018 VW Passat. Less expensive, more distance on the battery....

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volkswagen/passat/fpa/202206016396923?journey=Search

Thanks,

Pa.

Stallingrad

UK car, Red Cow, 36,000 miles between oil changes 2019-20.

I'd be looking elsewhere.

sirmixalot

Yeah, both huge miles/KM 's on both. 140k and 160k on cars around 4 years old. Where have they been in that time :0

dinneenp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262174#Comment_119262174

Thanks. Where do you see that info please?

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262335#Comment_119262335

Photo 19. The car was serviced after 11 months but had traveled 36k miles in that time. The OK symbol is green which suggests this is still within manufactures interval?

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262249#Comment_119262249

Less than 25k miles per year. Not bad really for what it is. There are a few ex fleet BMW’s that do 60k miles per year.

bazz26

I think some people really need to do proper maths and research around running costs of PHEVs before following what seems to be the knee jerk current trend of trying to ditch their diesel car in favour of headline grabbing PHEV mpg figures from manufacturers. If you are not using the battery then your running a normal petrol car except your are also carrying around a heavy battery in the boot. Some of the PHEVs will retain some energy in the battery even if it's not charged but it gets that energy from the engine which runs on petrol. It does beg the question though, it you don't want to charge it regularly then why get a PHEV?

In the case of the 530e, it's a 2.0 litre turbo petrol engine that won't be as frugal as a diesel if you don't charge it regularly. Just make sure that it will benefit your usuage rather than just following others. Some people rushed out to change to hybrids only to discover they were not as frugal for their usage as they thought or the manufacturers claimed. Also the battery reduces boot space so be mindful of that too.

TheTruth89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262635#Comment_119262635

Agree with this i was looking at getting a Prius the MPG looked amazing but when i researched it, the battery is only for city driving (speed) id have been far worse off than the big auld diesel i currently have. If your doing mostly motorway driving some Hybrids are basically a waste of time.

TheTruth89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058252182/thoughts-on-this-bmw-5-series-phev-please

Stick with the Xtrail far more practical and you ll be sick of the BMW them saloons/bmw are useless are carrying stuff sure they look nice but that wears off and your left with an overpriced expensive to maintain saloon with high mileage for its age.

Alkers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262635#Comment_119262635

Pretty much all PHEVs should be fully charged overnight, if you're not planning on charging it why would you buy one

GustavoFring

I picked one up recently. What Bazz says above will decide if one works for you or not.

I looked at my usage, about 80km per day the days I go into the office, rest is from home. Can charge at home for 6 cents a unit at night and it'll give about 20km with the air con etc on. I'm using the electric side in heavy traffic mainly. Economy petrol only is nothing special so if you do long trips remember that but nothing overly horiffic either. Once you're on a constant run it's fine but a diesel would be much better for that usage. Local spins are where I am seeing savings, I do them on all electric. The app tracks the electricity cost but rough back of a fag box stuff equalising the costs I'm probably seeing the equivalent of a petrol car doing north of 70 to the gallon. I didn't actually buy it for the hybrid part but if used right there is a benefit.

dinneenp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262635#Comment_119262635

Thanks for the input. I never said I didn't want to charge it regularly though, am happy to charge it daily. Main use is school runs, bringing kids to sports etc. so short journeys.

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262650#Comment_119262650

I've had petrol, diesel mild hybrid, and now 330e petrol PHEV. What you say about "mostly motorway" driving isn't necessarily correct.

Mileage wise, say you do 90% motorway, 10% city like me. In terms of fuel/cost, the split in an ICE car would then be something like 80% motorway, 20% city, because city driving will use double if not more fuel per km. Even if I didn't charge before a motorway journey, the extra weight of the batteries has little influence at motorway speeds.

Around town, it costs me about €2/100km on EV mode. Petrol would cost around €20/100km, so 10% of the cost. Around town, the extra weight is of course an issue, as you need to accelerate and brake and extra few hundred kg, but this is largely negated if you take off slowly on battery power, and don't brake any harder than the regen can absorb. EV pull away around town beats any automatic ICE I've driven for smoothness and torque.

80% motorway + 2% city (20% petrol x 10% cost) = 82% Cost of Petrol ICE (if you charge it).

In mixed driving, it's about equivalent to my previous mild hybrid diesel - even at my extreme case of 90% motorway, which really isn't the target market. It has the potential to be far better, but still give me the range I need on a weekly basis.

TheTruth89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119335938#Comment_119335938

Yeah maybe so, im just going off my own experience when considering one, to me the good didn't out weigh the bad to justify paying a premium for an electric car, id have essentially been driving a petrol car and lugging around the battery pack for special occasions. All in it was just more viable to stay with the diesel.