Where would you go next...

A decent, if slightly annoying, video of the F80 and E92 M3 comparison. The sound from that E92 on the motorway is nuts. He hates the engine note from the F80 but I actually think it sounds pretty good.

Marketing video of the LCI 5 Series:



New 4 Series gets unveiled next week. The front grill will be controversial.

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

Going back to the 5 series temporarily, while I am impressed to see the 545e and 550i, on a less impressive note, BMW UK has decided to stop selling all versions of the 530i and 540i, while the 530d is now xDrive only unfortunately, since BMW Ireland is just a sub-office of BMW GB, that means we'll be similarly affected.

Presume they are slow sellers and they want to push people into plug in hybrid cars Which lowers their CO2 numbers.
6gt gone too.

R.O.R wrote: »

Yep - just had the Irish details around and 530d RWD, 530i RWD and 540i xDrive no longer available in saloon. 530d xDrive available and newly introduced 545e xDrive and M550i xDrive.

530e Touring in both RWD and xDrive introduced, no 545e in the touring, but can still get the 540i xDrive.

Biggest news is that they've finally made Lumbar Support standard! Also gets folding mirrors and the Parking Assistant that the 3 Series has, and a slightly larger centre screen.

Any pricing details? Disappointed to see there is not going to be a 545e in the touring.

It’s very disappointing to see them to this, I wonder is this for all the LHD markets?

The 6 GT lives on in LHD markets, it gets the same revisions as the 5 Series.

digiman wrote: »

Any pricing details? Disappointed to see there is not going to be a 545e in the touring.

It’s very disappointing to see them to this, I wonder is this for all the LHD markets?

545e is saloon only for all markets. Oddly enough, the US isn't getting it at all, I would have thought it was a much better fit for that market than the 530e, which will continue to be on sale over there.

To be fair with pricing and CO2 etc, the 545e is just a better buy than the diesel for anyone wanting a fast 5 series here, but I agree with you it's a pity the RWD 530d is gone. I also don't like the fact the 540i is gone, too, but it was never the car it could have been anyway, what with it never being available in RWD even though that was standard in LHD markets, and even some RHD countries, like Australia, got it with RWD.

Brilliant that the 6GT is being axed!

As for lumbar support as standard, hallelujah! I hated the way they refused to fit it as standard even on top spec cars, so this really is great news.

I wish they would do a proper Coupe/Cabrio/GC version of the 5 series, though - I love the 8 series but it is really at 7 series/S-class level, so is very expensive.

SeanaciousD wrote: »

As the owner of a remapped F30 330e, I was waiting with my fingers crossed for a 545e touring. Shame there won't be one They inexplicably never made an estate F30 330e either.

For the F30 they could be forgiven since it was their first step into the PHEV market, but given the X5 45e and 745e already exist there doesn't seem to be a good reason not to have one this time around. Especially when there will be a 530e touring?

A 545e xdrive touring with the X5's battery pack was the dream for me. A range of 80+ km on battery would make most peoples daily commutes all-electric. Combine that with a quick google to see that remapped X545 and 745e's are reaching close to 550BHP and you've got a car than can do it all really. Maybe they won't make it because they know they would cannibalize sales of all their other models :rolleyes:

While it's a little disappointing, I still expect to see them coming across the isle by the boatload in a few years time. Probably one with my name on it :P

Hopefully they plummet in value in the UK as I’d been keen on a secondhand too but the S90/V90’s with the similar power T8 engine holds its value well better than petrol or diesel versions so are too expensive to import. The boot in the 745e is a bit small - will the 545e be a lot smaller than the standard 530i boot?

Casati wrote: »

The boot in the 745e is a bit small - will the 545e be a lot smaller than the standard 530i boot?

Yes, 100 litres smaller which is a lot, and which is also why the touring would have been a great option. Shame really.

Wailin wrote: »

Yes, 100 litres smaller which is a lot, and which is also why the touring would have been a great option. Shame really.

That is a lot, the touring for sure would have helped greatly. Wonder will we see a 345e Touring in time? That would be all the car you’d ever need!

Casati wrote: »

Hopefully they plummet in value in the UK as I’d been keen on a secondhand too but the S90/V90’s with the similar power T8 engine holds its value well better than petrol or diesel versions so are too expensive to import. The boot in the 745e is a bit small - will the 545e be a lot smaller than the standard 530i boot?

The Volvo's are very nice alright, but yes their deprecation is the lowest for all PHEV's, only about half that of a 330e. Hopefully the bimmers continue to have a high depreciation, for our sakes At least in the 330e, the battery takes the place of the spare wheel well (which modern ones don't even have anyway), so I don't notice the missing space in normal use. The newer G series actually do have some under-floor storage I believe, which would be handy to stuff charging cables and whatnot into. A touring would be ideal of course.

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

They still have a tiny fuel tank as well, just 46 litres. The standard car has a 66 litre tank in the diesel varieties, while the petrol ones have a 68 litre tank.

As well as the well documented boot space issue, there's also a massive weight penalty, the 530i (which continues to be available in Europe) is 210 kg lighter, even the 530d, with its heavy six cylinder diesel engine, is 85 kg lighter.

Yep the tank is a bit smaller as it has to be pressurized, so at least petrol in it won't "go off" like it would in a normal car if it doesn't get used. I get about 600km from mine with a full charge and tank. That's enough to go from Cork to Dublin and back on one tank, which is the most I'd ever do for work or something else.

A Tesla or other EV can't do this (yet) or I would have been more interested in one of them. I don't do the trip often enough to justify a diesel either however. I would have gone for a 330d myself, but if you look around online you'll find used 330e's are lower mileage, better spec, and newer than a similar priced 330d, which was the decider for me.

I wouldn't see weight as a big issue personally, but I guess that's subjective. A 545e is a large sedan anyway, so I would think comfort and stability are prioritized over feeling nimble and light on its feet. Most reviews mention that the PHEV models feel no different than the regular models anyway. So if the weight isn't compromising the fuel economy, handling, or performance what's the issue?

maddness wrote: »

What’s the 330e like after a remap?

Feels like a proper sports car now outputting just over 350BHP. Engine was feeling held back before the remap, which is a fact as even with your foot on the floor the ECU only ever opened the electronic throttle to about 50% on the stock map. It's definitely in Golf R territory now. But unlike an R its costs the same to run, tax and insure as a diesel car

Yeah I was thinking that car wouldn't last much longer as it was mint. There definitely seems to be no slowdown in sales at least after the lockdown.

What spec did you go with on the X5 btw, colour combo and extras?

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Do you still have 350bhp when it's out of battery?

Yep, the 330e (and all PHEV's, as far as I know) automatically switch over to the engine at 5-10% battery and keep themselves charged to that level for the rest of the drive. This means you'll always have the full engine and electric power when you bury your foot.

carsfan2 wrote: »

Where can you get it remapped and is it entirely affecting the engine or do they do anything to the electric side of things as well?

A remap only touches the engine part of the ECU. So while there's no power gains to be made on the electric side, it also doesn't interfere with the hybrid system in any way. So it works just as well as it did stock, which means switching from battery to engine is almost seamless. You have to be looking for it to notice it most of the time.

As such, it's essentially the same as remapping a regular 320i, so any proper BMW remap garage should be able to do it. I used a solution called bootmod3 which lets you remap supported engines with your own laptop and an ethernet to OBD cable. A bit more expensive than a normal garage, but I can switch it on and off when I like, and customize things like speed limiter removal and exhaust burbling to name a few.

I'll admit, the ease of remapping the 330e was also a plus point when I was deciding on getting it

SeanaciousD wrote: »

Feels like a proper sports car now outputting just over 350BHP.

Sounds optimistic no? Where are you getting that figure from?

carsfan2 wrote: »

Arctic grey M sport with ivory leather.
Third row seat, privacy glass and sky lounge roof only extras. Car very well equipped as standard.
Morissons told me they sold ten cars last week and fifteen this week, not including pre orders like ours.
A lot of them high end stuff too.

Ah sounds lovely, best of luck with it. The sky lounge is fantastic option to have.