2026 BMW 550e xDrive Review: A Plug-In Marvel in Need of Common Sense
Posted by wander9077@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 45 comments
Posted by wander9077@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 45 comments
WCWRingMatSound@reddit
The issue I have with a plug in BMW is the added cost will never be made up by the plug-in savings, even if you could steal electricity the entire time. You certainly can’t do it in a three-year lease, and the only PHEV setup that I trust to make it 10+ years without issue comes from Toyota.
Given how reliable the B58 has proven to be, it would make more sense to just get the 540i or lease the i5; don’t straddle the two. In my opinion of course.
whenthewindbreathes@reddit
Bit of a hot take: there’s a class of people used to hybrid/electric torque, especially newer buyers.
I find the B58 still lags and having the PHEV makes creeping in traffic then ripping it into a faster moving lane of traffic super responsive.
Adaptive cruise and city driving also far quieter.
icona_@reddit
it'll probably show up most with younger buyers who aren't as used to engine noise/lag. there's already kids growing up now whose parents had an EV their whole life, so being in anything else could be unusually noisy and slow to them
whenthewindbreathes@reddit
I think for enthusiast buyers and older buyers, a smooth v6/8 noise = reassurance that power is being made.
I think for most buyers, noise = this piece of shit has no power and it's disturbing my peace!!
eZreazy@reddit
As someone that has an EV and was considering the 550e. Fuel economy savings wasn’t really a consideration at all, like you said fuel savings doesn’t make up the price differences.
It’s a nice convenience feature though when you have a charger at home. Never needing to stop at a gas station and having the incredibly quiet drive when you’re just in traffic is pretty nice.
desf15@reddit
They don’t offer 540i in most (all?) EU markets. It’s either 520i, 530e or 550e if you want petrol.
fuzzydogdog@reddit
As a new purchase they’re hard to justify unless you’re doing long-hauls that aren’t feasible with fast charging for whatever reason. But they provide an interesting value proposition used, often being in the same ballpark to a similarly optioned ICE model.
One thing that adds to the experience is how peaceful the car is to drive in traffic. There’s no vibration, no hesitation from a stop, and the car’s dead silent when you turn off active sound. That plus the ability to blast the AC for 30 minutes before stepping in makes it feel like a much more expensive car in terms of refinement.
woodsides@reddit
Most of these luxury brands do PHEVs because EU countries have huge tax breaks for them when they're on a corporate lease. So it's not necessarily just fuel savings.
AndrewIsntCool@reddit
Chevy Volts are 10+ years old and Honda Clarity's are running close to that, they're pretty reliable and cheap to maintain. Def agree on the lease thing though
narwhal_breeder@reddit
Yep. It’s a value proposition that will only exist to the 2nd owner.
LongjumpingLock5875@reddit
I am kind of glad BMW is simplifying the lineup.
Having this many 5 series engine options is confusing.
530i(B48 + Mild Hybrid), 540i(B58 + Mild Hybrid), 550e(B58 + Plug in Hybrid), M5(S68 + Plug in hybrid), I5 eDrive40(single motor full electric), I5 XDrive40(dual motor full electric), I5 M60(also dual motor full electric).
rather_be_redditing@reddit
Is the b48 as reliable as the b58? Is it basically the same motor with two cylinders lopped off or is it a totally different architecture
TheReaperSovereign@reddit
For some reason turbo failure sometimes happens in the b48 where ive never heard of that on b58s. Otherwise same issues.
ReadWriteHexecute@reddit
you can definitely spin rods on these cars, easy the first three years. They were pretty bad but now they are pretty bulletproof.
kon---@reddit
The B48 was engineered and introduced a year ahead of the B58.
The B58 is basically the same motor with two cylinders added on. fyi.
iSlacker@reddit
The B38 was the first of them though right?
KSoMA@reddit
Is having so many options really a bad thing? Honestly I see that lineup and outside of maybe the RWD i5, I can see a valid case for every single one of those powertrain options.
Bar50cal@reddit
You forgot 530e, 520d, 530d, 540d too
LemmingOnTheRunITG@reddit
And 550i
Captain_Alaska@reddit
There isn’t a G60 M550i.
LemmingOnTheRunITG@reddit
Omg I thought we were counting past cars… those are all currently produced cars???
Bar50cal@reddit
Yup
bschmidt25@reddit
Yes
LongjumpingLock5875@reddit
True, I was only looking at the US market.
I am sure the european market is even more crazy.
turb0_encapsulator@reddit
these modern plug-in hybrid sedans are just too heavy to be fun. and basically every modern car has a user interface that is deficient in some way. it's not a great time to be an enthusiast.
HeavyDutyForks@reddit
My man knows what's important
Oof...
bschmidt25@reddit
We have an i5, which is pretty much identical interior and control wise. You don’t have to run your finger along the trim. You can tap it. Honestly, that “feature” doesn’t really bother me. It’s the small rubber directional control for the vents and the fact that they did away with one of the best features BMWs had going back literally decades: the ability to adjust the temperature of the middle vents independently of the climate control.
TopRamanNoodl3s@reddit
What is the point of that feature anyway?? Have it on my car and it’s only been a nuisance honestly
VariationAgreeable29@reddit
Sigh. i miss that red to blue rotating wheel!!! When we got our i7, i asked where the secret coin compartment went and my guy said that was gone too. Like, come on!!!!
L-Malvo@reddit
Even worse in the i5, there is no driver side glove box or any space to store sunglasses anymore.
HamsterCapable4118@reddit
No one really understood what that was for I suspect.
smackythefrog@reddit
It's kind of crazy that BMW turned the current gen "550" in to a weaker version of the G30 M550i.
If you want M550i performance, or better, from a non-M 5 series, you have to go for the i5 M60i this generation, an EV.
definitelyainoreally@reddit
the g30 m550 got too close to the sun (the F90 M5)
smackythefrog@reddit
It did. N63/S63 issues be damned, they're both incredibly fun cars.
solo118@reddit
had one as a loaner, once I figured out how to utilize the built up energy of the battery I was stunned
really nice car to boot, but still hate the fact the panoramic roof does not open (same as on my 7)
rugbyj@reddit
I actually prefer moonroofs to sunroofs. Don't think I've ever been in a +5 year old car with a sunroof that hasn't had some failure/leak issue, all so that you can get 18" of sky?
ConfusedTapeworm@reddit
My E39's sunroof works perfectly fine.
I think. I never use it. Neither did the previous two owners, from what I've been told.
DrPop1221@reddit
ive been looking at used priuses for a daily commuter, is the plug in version worth it over the regular hybrid or does the battery just add weight and cost for not much gain
KSoMA@reddit
Not sure if this matters to you but unfortunately you can only get AWD on the non-PHEV Prius for some reason.
andrewia@reddit
A PHEV is useful for when you can commute on battery power, but still need an engine for road trips. If your road trips are simple enough, an EV will be more efficient because it's not dragging around an engine. And if you can't charge a PHEV for every commute, a regular hybrid is more efficient because it doesn't need to drag around a big battery.
BeerorCoffee@reddit
If you have a place to plug in it is very worth it.
costafilh0@reddit
Marvel?
In that case, BMW is not alone, I did a "Marvel" in the toilet about 15 minutes ago.
My Marvel looked better than BMW's.
💩
kon---@reddit
Increasing weight, by a lot, while decreasing the amount of power found in the M550i...weird choice by the brand.
solo118@reddit
all in the name of science.... and fuel economy
andrewia@reddit
I like this review and its writer Adam. He's not completely hostile to tech but calls out all the usability issues. I especially like the words he put to BMW's mid-2020s design language: thick and bloated. It's a good way to describe their down-the-road-graphics. They want everything to feel "chunky", which feels a world apart from their previous design languages, and doesn't feel graceful or subtle.
I'm also disappointed to hear how confusing the menus are. Tesla set the standard for digital menus with the Model 3 in 2018, and other manufacturers really struggle to match the easy UI. It's not like Tesla was doing anything revolutionary, they just put things in intuitive categories and didn't go overboard with weirdly named settings like a "Personal" drive mode that should actually be called "Normal" or "Balanced". Even my Genesis suffers from more confusing settings than its predecessors despite Hyundai Group usually being good at this, and I think the industry as a whole needs to put more effort into making UIs easier to use.