[mtossb01]

Title. Basically I leased a 550e without driving it.

To me the throttle response seems horrible. In whatever the personal mode is, it is so slow to accelerate and just uses the electric motor.

Finally, the battery died and when it switched over to ICE it finally felt like the b58 I thought it would be.

I have an X5 and I have driven a X5 50e, and it felt much more natural.

I assumed the 550e would feel the same as the X5 50e.

Is there anything I can do to make it feel more like a 540i? Other than just not charging it?

I am thinking I can turn off the regenerative breaking. Also, if I turn off maintain charge. I would want the car to use exclusively b58 unless I need more power, at that point the electric motors could kick in.

Is it possible?

[Allerum]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

Title. Basically I leased a 550e without driving it.

To me the throttle response seems horrible. In whatever the personal mode is, it is so slow to accelerate and just uses the electric motor.

Finally, the battery died and when it switched over to ICE it finally felt like the b58 I thought it would be.

I have an X5 and I have driven a X5 50e, and it felt much more natural.

I assumed the 550e would feel the same as the X5 50e.

Is there anything I can do to make it feel more like a 540i? Other than just not charging it?

I am thinking I can turn off the regenerative breaking. Also, if I turn off maintain charge. I would want the car to use exclusively b58 unless I need more power, at that point the electric motors could kick in.

Is it possible?

Car and Driver tested it to do 4.4 0-60. So there is a setting your missing somewhere. You should have several options. And Sport mode should be ICE forward.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Allerum

Car and Driver tested it to do 4.4 0-60. So there is a setting your missing somewhere. You should have several options. And Sport mode should be ICE forward.

Agree. I owned a 330e M Sport for a year & 1/2 and put 31k mi on it in that time. The 330e has a little more total power output & is lighter, but it accelerated pretty quickly. It handled well, and was very enjoyable to drive. I'm assuming the OP hasn't taken the time to get to understand all the settings & drive modes.

[mtossb01]

Originally Posted by Allerum

Car and Driver tested it to do 4.4 0-60. So there is a setting your missing somewhere. You should have several options. And Sport mode should be ICE forward.

My battery is flat now, so I'm not sure which settings I should change.

I DEACTIVATED Electric, so I am assuming that the care should not default primary to electric and be so reluctant to turn on the ICE.

If i turn off adaptive recuperation I assume that there is no regenerative breaking?

If I turn on maintain batter charge- how does that affect the driving? Mostly ICE?

I would prefer to be able to use "personal" drive mode and not have to switch into sport mode every time I get into the car.

I guess I was thinking the driving dynamics would be more similar to the X5 50e, where the electric motors are at very low speed and then can be used at highway speed cruising.

Can anyone help explain how each of these settings affect driving dynamics?

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

Can anyone help explain how each of these settings affect driving dynamics?

Have you opened up the owner's manual and looked at the various settings for My Modes? It's been over a year since I traded my 330e, but I do recall being able to choose either electric only, hybrid, or engine only modes.

[BXMW]

In my XM in my modes you’ll see hybrid, electric and econtrol. Hybrid is your standard driving affair, electric is pure electric only mode and econtrol saves the battery charge and uses just the engine.. although with the later I do think some battery is being used but the gas engine is always regenerating what’s been used back into the battery pack.

I understand the XM is a very different vehicle but I would think the BMW plug in hybrids all share some similarities within the driving dynamics.

[NSXR]

Maybe contact the dealer that allowed you to pay for a car that you didn't drive.

[mtossb01]

Originally Posted by BXMW

In my XM in my modes you’ll see hybrid, electric and econtrol. Hybrid is your standard driving affair, electric is pure electric only mode and econtrol saves the battery charge and uses just the engine.. although with the later I do think some battery is being used but the gas engine is always regenerating what’s been used back into the battery pack.

I understand the XM is a very different vehicle but I would think the BMW plug in hybrids all share some similarities within the driving dynamics.

It doesn’t appear to be that simple on the 550e. My drive modes are Personal, Sport, Expressive, efficient, artistic. Basically Sport I think drives in full hybrid mode, but also holds revs a bit higher than I would want for regular commuting. Then, I don’t see options for transmission timing, only option for drivetrain. I can set that to comfort, but then I feel more bias from the electric motors.

My main question is on this menu: do you have this on your XM?

[STi from DSM]

Get rid of it. Life is too short to be stuck in a car you don't like. Yes, you will lose money on it, but lesson learned. Unless you are 100% certain about a car always drive it first.
Just be prepared to pay more money to pay off the negative equity on the next one you choose.

[co_440i]

You leased a $75k car without driving it first? This is on you, bud.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by STi from DSM

Get rid of it. Life is too short to be stuck in a car you don't like. Yes, you will lose money on it, but lesson learned. Unless you are 100% certain about a car always drive it first.
Just be prepared to pay more money to pay off the negative equity on the next one you choose.

Agreed.

[BMWbiker]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

Is there anything I can do to make it feel more like a 540i? Other than just not charging it?

It sounds like you haven’t yet done the work to learn and use the features of the car.

So, I suppose you have two basic options:

• Learn how to use the car and its features, or
• Return it and buy a 540i.

In this post, you asked about turning off regenerative braking, and you suggest that you won’t charge the battery. In another post, you wrote that you deactivated electric mode.

That means you are thwarting the very functions that make the car what it is, and that you paid for.

Most people who buy one of these cars, want regenerative braking. It’s a huge part of what makes a hybrid a hybrid. It is the regenerative braking that harvests the otherwise-wasted energy from coasting and braking, and charges the battery while driving.

The electric mode is what makes the car very efficient and less costly to drive if electric rates are low or if you have free charging in around-town and commuter driving.

The battery and electric motor are also what make this car faster and more powerful than a 540i.

Most people who buy a PHEV want these features. They may adjust the settings for a spirited backroads romp, but will use them for taking the rugrats to school without using a drop of gas, or driving to work (and maybe charging the battery there?), or droning on the road to grandma’s house.

If you deactivate them, then you’re left with a heavy, bloated, and slowish 540i.

If you use them sagely, you can beat a 540i in a drag race, and get better gas mileage (at least until the battery is depleted).

Speaking of the battery: you do charge it overnight, right?

Learn to use the features to your advantage (a BMW Genius can help you with this, as can people on this forum), or ditch it and get what you want.

[mtossb01]

Originally Posted by BMWbiker

It sounds like you haven’t yet done the work to learn and use the features of the car.

So, I suppose you have two basic options:

• Learn how to use the car and its features, or
• Return it and buy a 540i.

In this post, you asked about turning off regenerative braking, and you suggest that you won’t charge the battery. In another post, you wrote that you deactivated electric mode.

That means you are thwarting the very functions that make the car what it is, and that you paid for.

Most people who buy one of these cars, want regenerative braking. It’s a huge part of what makes a hybrid a hybrid. It is the regenerative braking that harvests the otherwise-wasted energy from coasting and braking, and charges the battery while driving.

The electric mode is what makes the car very efficient and less costly to drive if electric rates are low or if you have free charging in around-town and commuter driving.

The battery and electric motor are also what make this car faster and more powerful than a 540i.

Most people who buy a PHEV want these features. They may adjust the settings for a spirited backroads romp, but will use them for taking the rugrats to school without using a drop of gas, or driving to work (and maybe charging the battery there?), or droning on the road to grandma’s house.

If you deactivate them, then you’re left with a heavy, bloated, and slowish 540i.

If you use them sagely, you can beat a 540i in a drag race, and get better gas mileage (at least until the battery is depleted).

Speaking of the battery: you do charge it overnight, right?

Learn to use the features to your advantage (a BMW Genius can help you with this, as can people on this forum), or ditch it and get what you want.

Do you have a 550e? If you turn on electric mode, it will drive in electric only mode until you request more power than it can deliver with electric and then very slow to kick on the ICE in "Personal mode."

If I turn off electric mode, it says in the menu that this will just prevent the care from starting in electric mode and then not use electric exclusively until a request for power exceeds what it can provide.

To be clear, my intention of leasing a 550e was to get an "M5- lite."

Rather than get better fuel economy, I just wanted a more powerful vehicle than a 540i. Buying a 81k msrp car, what do I really care about saving on gas. I charge the battery at night because I want to get the best performance.

I think the only way to run this care for this experience is to run in sport mode all the time.

[BMWbiker]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

Do you have a 550e? If you turn on electric mode, it will drive in electric only mode until you request more power than it can deliver with electric and then very slow to kick on the ICE in "Personal mode."

If I turn off electric mode, it says in the menu that this will just prevent the care from starting in electric mode and then not use electric exclusively until a request for power exceeds what it can provide.

To be clear, my intention of leasing a 550e was to get an "M5- lite."

Rather than get better fuel economy, I just wanted a more powerful vehicle than a 540i. Buying a 81k msrp car, what do I really care about saving on gas. I charge the battery at night because I want to get the best performance.

I think the only way to run this care for this experience is to run in sport mode all the time.

Trade it in if you can. It’s not for you.

[BXMW]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

It doesn’t appear to be that simple on the 550e. My drive modes are Personal, Sport, Expressive, efficient, artistic. Basically Sport I think drives in full hybrid mode, but also holds revs a bit higher than I would want for regular commuting. Then, I don’t see options for transmission timing, only option for drivetrain. I can set that to comfort, but then I feel more bias from the electric motors.

My main question is on this menu: do you have this on your XM?

Ah. So then your plug-in hybrid is actually the same as my previous 24 X1 M35i. I just egregiously assumed the modes for plug in vs mild hybrid would still be similar. In my XM I do not have any additional driving modes which is a little annoying because the X1 has yours and I used calm quite often when just relaxing. The XM is just “road and sport” for driving modes but in my hybrid mode settings it gives me the aforementioned 3 options to control the car’s drivetrain. Since the XM is an M car unlike my old M35i there are additional driver setup options as well but I was kind of hoping all the hybrid options would be the same as I was eyeing up a plug in X7 as it may become available in the future but I definitely like the ability to keep it in all electric.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

Do you have a 550e? If you turn on electric mode, it will drive in electric only mode until you request more power than it can deliver with electric and then very slow to kick on the ICE in "Personal mode."

If I turn off electric mode, it says in the menu that this will just prevent the care from starting in electric mode and then not use electric exclusively until a request for power exceeds what it can provide.

To be clear, my intention of leasing a 550e was to get an "M5- lite."

Rather than get better fuel economy, I just wanted a more powerful vehicle than a 540i. Buying a 81k msrp car, what do I really care about saving on gas. I charge the battery at night because I want to get the best performance.

I think the only way to run this care for this experience is to run in sport mode all the time.

As BMWbiker pointed out you'll want to take the time to learn the car's features and get used to them.

IMHO you're frustration all comes from not yet being familiar with the car. You're expecting it to operate like a plain ICE car and getting a bit frustrated on where it differs.

I don't have the 550e (might get it when the LCI drops...), but I'm sure it is very similar to my 530e since BMW uses the same PHEV system across all of its PHEVs.

The car in electric only mode will feel "sluggish" simply due to the face the EV portion is unable to deliver the car's full power rating (after all, the full power rating is from the combination of the ICE and the EV system!). Operating in Electric only mode is all about maximizing your fuel savings if you know you'll stay within the EV range. Said another way... In "Hybrid" mode the car will kick on the ICE above 65MPH, but if you know you can make it to work within the EV range you might want the car in EV mode so you can burn no gas even if you're going 80MPH...

Even in EV only mode you can get the ICE in on the action, but you'll need to either run out of EV charge OR you'll need to engage the kick down. Engaging the kick down in this manner will be slower than if you were in Hyrbrid mode or Sport mode as the engine needs to be waken up and the clutch has to engage. That's going to "feel" slow because it won't be instant!

EV mode also has a much more conservative curve on the throttle. On my 530e I can engage sport mode in EV mode without turning on the ICE. This allows you to have a much more responsive throttle in EV mode. For the most engaging driving I can enable sport mode in Driving Experience AND with the shifter to put the transmission in sport more (on the G60 you lack an old style BMW stick up shifter so this likely has moved to a menu somewhere, but I'm sure the concept still exists).

If you don't care about learning anything new and just want the car to be zippy all the time. Just enable sport mode w/ the transmission in sport and carry on. The car should be a much nicer performer than the 540i on that front.

Lastly, a BMW PHEV is EV first from a power plant perspective. The torque converter has been removed from the transmission and the EV motor added in its place. So you'll ALWAYS have the EV power available to you and the ICE will step in wherever it is needed. So even in sport mode with the transmission shifter in sport you can have the engine turn off and disengage or the engine being "on" but not driving the wheels. You can't control the power distribution dynamics beyond deciding to limit when the ICE portion can join the party.

I highly recommend reading the manual and experimenting with the car. I'm sure you'll enjoy it a LOT once you've moved past expecting it to be exactly like an ICE only car.

[mtossb01]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

As BMWbiker pointed out you'll want to take the time to learn the car's features and get used to them.

IMHO you're frustration all comes from not yet being familiar with the car. You're expecting it to operate like a plain ICE car and getting a bit frustrated on where it differs.

I don't have the 550e (might get it when the LCI drops...), but I'm sure it is very similar to my 530e since BMW uses the same PHEV system across all of its PHEVs.

The car in electric only mode will feel "sluggish" simply due to the face the EV portion is unable to deliver the car's full power rating (after all, the full power rating is from the combination of the ICE and the EV system!). Operating in Electric only mode is all about maximizing your fuel savings if you know you'll stay within the EV range. Said another way... In "Hybrid" mode the car will kick on the ICE above 65MPH, but if you know you can make it to work within the EV range you might want the car in EV mode so you can burn no gas even if you're going 80MPH...

Even in EV only mode you can get the ICE in on the action, but you'll need to either run out of EV charge OR you'll need to engage the kick down. Engaging the kick down in this manner will be slower than if you were in Hyrbrid mode or Sport mode as the engine needs to be waken up and the clutch has to engage. That's going to "feel" slow because it won't be instant!

EV mode also has a much more conservative curve on the throttle. On my 530e I can engage sport mode in EV mode without turning on the ICE. This allows you to have a much more responsive throttle in EV mode. For the most engaging driving I can enable sport mode in Driving Experience AND with the shifter to put the transmission in sport more (on the G60 you lack an old style BMW stick up shifter so this likely has moved to a menu somewhere, but I'm sure the concept still exists).

If you don't care about learning anything new and just want the car to be zippy all the time. Just enable sport mode w/ the transmission in sport and carry on. The car should be a much nicer performer than the 540i on that front.

Lastly, a BMW PHEV is EV first from a power plant perspective. The torque converter has been removed from the transmission and the EV motor added in its place. So you'll ALWAYS have the EV power available to you and the ICE will step in wherever it is needed. So even in sport mode with the transmission shifter in sport you can have the engine turn off and disengage or the engine being "on" but not driving the wheels. You can't control the power distribution dynamics beyond deciding to limit when the ICE portion can join the party.

I highly recommend reading the manual and experimenting with the car. I'm sure you'll enjoy it a LOT once you've moved past expecting it to be exactly like an ICE only car.

I think that you are right on point- I have only had ICE in the past. I think maybe I will get used to it over time. In “personal mode” if I put the transmission to sport mode, the engine starts and the driving is hybrid mode. Still, it uses a lot of battery because I burn through the charge on my commute. I don’t mind the electric in stop and go traffic, especially with the DAPP. In town however, I wish I could set instead of e-drive zones, ICE first zones. Also, my commute is about 31 miles, so I wonder how much battery I should preserve for performance on the return trip. If I run it in personal, I only get about 8 miles remaining on the battery

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by mtossb01

I think that you are right on point- I have only had ICE in the past. I think maybe I will get used to it over time. In “personal mode” if I put the transmission to sport mode, the engine starts and the driving is hybrid mode. Still, it uses a lot of battery because I burn through the charge on my commute. I don’t mind the electric in stop and go traffic, especially with the DAPP. In town however, I wish I could set instead of e-drive zones, ICE first zones. Also, my commute is about 31 miles, so I wonder how much battery I should preserve for performance on the return trip. If I run it in personal, I only get about 8 miles remaining on the battery

You don't need to worry about preserving the battery for performance. BMW is a performance brand so they don't constrain you to get the absolute best fuel economy unlike a Toyota. The car will automatically ensure you always have enough power available to ensure you ALWAYS have full performance available to you.

I tested this heavily on my 530e. You can probably get it into a scenario where you don't have full power if you're on a dyno and can run the car with WOT into perpetuity. But otherwise, the car will aggressively use brake regen and excess power capacity from the engine to top off the HV battery.

The only time you need to worry about "preserving" battery range is if you know you won't be able to charge at your destination, but you want to be able to precondition the car. For instance, you're going to be parking outside and know you'll be coming back to a car that's 120F inside and would prefer not to sit on seats that feel like hot coals . Otherwise, you don't need to "manage" the state of charge.

Depending on your commute you'll burn through EV rage "faster" or "slower". For instance, if you have a primarily highway commute and you are going 85MPH on electric mode you'll burn power MUCH faster than if you're doing 50MPH on a non-interstate road. At higher speeds the ICE is more efficient with the HV motor acting to assist at lower speeds it flips. As I mentioned earlier, unless you know you're within EV range and charging at your destination or you in some sort of EV only zone you'll be overall better off letting the car manage it. Especially if you put your destination into the car's navigation system which will allow it to adapt based on what it sees (like it can preserve EV charge automatically knowing you'll hit a traffic jam ahead, for instance, allowing that to be in EV mode).

I've found that people find this part the most challenging. Expecting they need to pay a lot more attention to, and adjust, the system more than they have to.