Looking at buying a 530e and have a few questions

[edd_jedi]

Hi all, I was a member of the 'old' forum for many years, but have only just signed up here. I am finally looking to upgrade my very old E61 530d for something newer, and the G30 530e is looking most attractive at the moment for my budget, because I do a 15 mile round trip to work each day so in theory could do a lot of that on electric only. I also want something that's ULEZ compliant, and preferably not a diesel again.

I want a car no older than 2018, with under 50k miles, up to about £20k, and it has to be an M-Sport with black interior, but otherwise I'm pretty flexible. They all seem relatively well equipped, but I do have a few questions that I'm hoping people can answer though please.

1. I don't have a driveway, so although I could charge the car on the roadside, the reality is I'm probably not going to charge it every day. Can these cars really run on just petrol if necessary, and will it do any harm? I would definitely plan to charge it at least weekly, and maybe even at work if possible.
2. I am struggling to find out how Apple CarPlay works with these cars. Is it a one off install fee, or an annual subscription? Also are there any silly subscription-only things to be aware of such as heated seats? I'm sure I read about that somewhere! I don't mind paying for things once, not so keen on annual subscriptions.
3. I have noticed some 'digital cockpits' have what look like metal rings for the speedo and RPM guage, and others are a fully digital display. I believe the facelift for these cars was 2021, so why do some 2018-2020 cars have both types?
4. Are there any known faults to look out for? Eg for the E61 it was the dreaded tailgate wiring, and E60 2.0 diesel engines had timing chain issues etc.
5. Finally any general tips, things to look out for, nice optional extras etc (eg HUD, what else?)

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

[Liam2594]

We have a 330e which the Mrs uses the majority of the time, they can run perfectly fine just on petrol. You can use the engine to charge the battery but it makes the car horrendous on fuel (lucky to see 30 mpg). To be honest it's not that bad on fuel when running on just the petrol engine and not using it to charge the battery. Mix of driving for us and it shows an average of 39 MPG. When you do make use of the charger our average goes ups to between 60-70 MPG. I'm quite a convert to a plug-in hybrid to be honest, although I'm still all for a diesel. The only factor we find with the 3 Series is the boot is smaller than normal, this is also a problem on the G30. Remember the fuel tank is also smaller so the range is limited. We can realistically get between 25-30 miles of range but that is in a lighter 3 Series. 

[ally]

1.  You can drive on just petrol with no issues

2. It’s a one-off payment now, but honestly don’t waste your money on it. It’s tedious to use and limited in its function. 
iDrive is much better and more useful. 
The heated seats have nothing to with CarPlay. I’m not sure if most cars would have them fitted as standard, my fairly basic 2017 car does. 
 

3. The most popular extras , in no particular order

At least an HK or hi-fi sound system, which isn’t great, but it’s easy to upgrade - unlike the base audio which can be upgraded, but is more involved to do so  

Adaptive suspension - I’m quite happy with the standard M Sport Suspension on 19” ROFT  

Reversing camera

Automatic closing on the tailgate

HUD

Heated steering wheel

Bowers and Wilkins Sound

 

 

[Kopfjaeger]

I would caution against charging on the public highway, if your charging cable crosses the pavement. It constitutes a trip hazard and you would be liable for any 'injuries' that could result and your household public liability insurance may not cover you.

Chargers on the public highway are mounted kerbside, so no trailing cables obstruct the pavement.

So better to charge away from home if you don't have off road parking.

It's a bit OTT, but given the litigatious world we live in now, not worth the risk from any whip lash goons that would relish a fresh victim.

[Matthew]

On 15/09/2023 at 21:23, edd_jedi said:

1. I am struggling to find out how Apple CarPlay works with these cars. Is it a one off install fee, or an annual subscription? Also are there any silly subscription-only things to be aware of such as heated seats? I'm sure I read about that somewhere! I don't mind paying for things once, not so keen on annual subscriptions.

The new subscription (or one-off payment) service for things like Heated Seats is only on newer cars where features are optional extras that weren't selected at initial build allowing owners to add features later down the line. All G30 vehicles have front heated seats as standard.

 

On 15/09/2023 at 21:23, edd_jedi said:

1. I have noticed some 'digital cockpits' have what look like metal rings for the speedo and RPM guage, and others are a fully digital display. I believe the facelift for these cars was 2021, so why do some 2018-2020 cars have both types?

iDrive 6 has a cluster with the chrome rings but a full digital cluster.

BMW OS7 that replace iDrive 6 has the newer designed cockpit that does away with the rings and has a different shape for the Speedo and Rev counter and is more customisable. Only cars just before the facelift and all facelifted G30s have the new Live Cockpit.

 

 

On 15/09/2023 at 21:23, edd_jedi said:

1. Are there any known faults to look out for? Eg for the E61 it was the dreaded tailgate wiring, and E60 2.0 diesel engines had timing chain issues etc.
2. Finally any general tips, things to look out for, nice optional extras etc (eg HUD, what else?)

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

My deal breaker options are HK sound, HUD, Comfort boot lid opening, Parking assistant plus which includes surround cameras, Lumbar support, Adaptive headlights. 

I would not spec a sunroof if I had the option (All MSport G32s came with the pano sunroof) as they are heavy and are more trouble than they're worth.

[Sjl]

On 15/09/2023 at 21:23, edd_jedi said:

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Sjl

[Sjl]

On 15/09/2023 at 21:23, edd_jedi said:

I have noticed some 'digital cockpits' have what look like metal rings for the speedo and RPM guage, and others are a fully digital display. I believe the facelift for these cars was 2021, so why do some 2018-2020 cars have both types?

The facelift (LCI) in mid 2020 brought a bigger centre display, 12” vs 10” and full digital as standard, could have been an option earlier…

[edd_jedi]

Well this was unexpected - today I put down a deposit on an Approved Used 2020 330e! I went to my local dealer to look at a 530e, but while there a 330e caught my eye, and comparing both side by side (plus some later online research obviously) I decided to go for the 3 over a 5. A few main reasons:

• I preferred the 'cockpit' of the 330e, the nav screen looks less 'stuck on' as it is integrated into the dashboard, and I also didn't like the huge joystick style gear lever in the 5
• Standard equipment - they all have iDrive 7, the vast majority of 5s in my budget had iDrive 6 or even the 'poverty spec' semi analogue cluster. The 330e also comes with split rear seats and reverse camera as standard, I couldn't find any 5s within budget that had all three
• The boot space is small in both, but practically identical
• Colour - I got one in Portimao blue, the vast majority of 5s seemed to be black or grey
• Mileage - 40k, all the 5s in my budget were 60k+
• It's half a second faster 0-60, and has a longer electric-only range
• My commute is 15 miles of country roads, so a slightly smaller and more agile car should be more fun to drive than the bigger 530e

I also found this comparison article really useful: https://www.whatcar.com/news/bmw-plug-in-hybrids-test-330e-vs-530e/n21513

There were of course a few compromises, but overall this had more of the features I wanted, and for the same money I get a newer car with lower miles and a 3 year warranty for peace of mind. Apparently the batteries are covered for 7 years, which never having owned an electric car before was my main concern.

I will post some pictures when I pick it up, hopefully this weekend! I haven't owned a 3 series since 2009, it will be fun to get back in one again

[Liam2594]

We've got a 330e which we really like to be fair. The battery warranty lasts for 6 years or 62,500 miles, whichever comes soonest. The boot does occasionally cause us issue, but we have a 5 Series touring for bigger trips. I make sure it's charged when required. I haven't put petrol in it for almost a month and it's still full. They're very good, but you must make sure you charge it. No point in getting a home charger installed really as they don't charge at a very fast rate. The 330e is genuinely a quick car too. Personally, I still prefer a 5 but the 330e is much better for the mrs who is the main user. 

Back to G30's with the different dials. They all had a fully digital cluster as standard (excluding police spec cars). Up to late 2018 they had chrome rings on the dials but the display was still fully digital. From late 2018 onwards they had exactly the same style of digital cluster just without the dial rings on there. From very late 2019/early 2020 pre-lci cars got the ID7 dials albeit not the full ID7 functionality. LCI cars then got the full ID7 functionality and a bigger central screen. 

[paperjams]

I have had my 530e for a little over a year now and im quite enjoying it. I plug it in regularly and my average mpg over the last 10,000 miles is about 85mpg. We recently got back from a trip to Bruges and it returned 60mpg with some long runs. 

I really enjoy the ride with 18's and adaptive suspension, probably the best ride of any car ive owned. 

[Mr H]

On 17/09/2023 at 16:01, Matthew said:

iDrive 6 has a cluster with the chrome rings but a full digital cluster.

Strange, my Feb 19 (built Jan 19) G31 has iD6 (I believe) but no chrome rings on the cluster .............. 

[Matthew]

27 minutes ago, Mr H said:

Strange, my Feb 19 (built Jan 19) G31 has iD6 (I believe) but no chrome rings on the cluster .............. 

BMW changed the cluster sometime in 2018 removing the chrome rings that were there from the launch of the G3x cars.