Used 2018 BMW 5 Series Consumer Reviews
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The best car I've ever owned!
Chris G., 12/07/2018
2018 BMW 5 Series 530i xDrive 4dr Sedan AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 8A)
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
I wasn't a "BMW guy" before I bought this car. My wife has an M4 and we owned a Z4, and they're both great cars, but I never had a desire to own a BMW as a daily driver - and certainly not one that is the base model of the series with a 4 cyl engine. But after years of owning performance cars, the maintenance, insurance and gas bills (not to mention the nagging guilt of my carbon footprint), I was looking for something a little more practical that wasn't boring. I found it. I drove models with the larger engines, but the 530i X-Drive had plenty of pep and I couldn't justify spending the extra money for hp and torque that years of experience told me I'd hardly ever use. The cabin is spacious, laid out well, and QUIET! I've averaged nearly 30mpg combined and recently got right at 40mpg in Economy mode with the cruise set at 75 on a trip from St. Louis to Chicago. Braking is smooth and powerful. Handling is firm and confident, but always provides a comfortable ride. The car is truly a joy to drive. My only complaint - and it's a small one - is the base entertainment system. Cars in this segment shouldn't require an upgrade to have a good stereo and things like Apple Car Play, but again, I couldn't justify what BMW wants to charge you for the Harmon Kardon or Bang and Olufsen systems.
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BMW's Feature/Technolgy Lottery
Edward Fasano, 01/30/2019
2018 BMW 5 Series 540i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 8A)
21 of 26 people found this review helpful
Like many, I didn't need this vehicle - I wanted it. I owned two Hyundai Genesis sedans before this BMW 540i and was considering a new Genesis G80 Sport instead. I didn't and don't regret a moment of Genesis ownership. I can recommend them highly and without hesitation. Still, I was drawn to the German luxury sedan mystique. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So I explored carefully and ended up ordering and writing a check 2018 BMW 540i. At MSRP, my very fully optioned $72,500 BMW was $16,000 more than the Genesis G80 3.3t Sport that I was considering. I knew that there was a steep factor of diminishing returns, but I was willing pay the price to experience what was heavily promoted to be the joy of BMW driving and ownership. The joy of BMW driving has been largely fulfilled. My 540i is, in many (but not all) ways a wonderful car. However, the joy of BMW ownership and my respect for the BMW brand has sunk to a point that I thought unimaginable. I will try to explain. My Genesis ownership made me accustomed to and in some ways, reliant upon several advanced safety and convenience features. Chief among them was Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Blind Spot Warning systems. Thus, I was careful to opt for (and pay $3,400) for the two BMW packages (Driving Assistance and Driving Assistance Plus) that provide these features which, by the way, worked flawlessly and were standard on the Genesis. The BMW Blind Spot Warning system is functional, but differs greatly from that in the Genesis. In addition to the visible warning in the affected outside rear-view mirror, a Genesis delivers an audible warning if the turn signal in the affected direction is activated. The BMW is silent. Asking BMW how the activate the audible warning, I was told that it did not exist because BMW engineers deemed that to be a distraction. It most certainly is (I thought to myself). I wanted that “distraction”. That was the point! Far worse yet however, was/is the Front-Rear Cross Traffic/Pedestrian Alert System. Put plainly, this piece of $3,400 safety technology in my 2018 BMW 540i is of no use. It’s level of vigilance is laughable. Any reliance on a warning of traffic approaching and/or crossing your path when backing out of a parking space virtually assures me of T-boning the crossing vehicle. An approaching pedestrian would likely suffer much more. In other words, my BMW fails to provide a warning of approaching traffic. It can’t even detect traffic that is already behind my car! My BMW dealer and the area’s BMW regional service manager and BMW USA in New Jersey stand behind the statement that my vehicle is “operating as designed”. They all stand firm in this regard while BMW’s own online video demonstration of this feature says otherwise. Because BMW USA and my BMW dealer have deemed my car to be “operating as designed”, They have also tagged it as ineligible for further repairs in this regard. Astonishingly , when confronted with the evidence of their own demonstration video, BMW was comfortable telling me that not all vehicles perform identically and performance can vary depending on the build date and more. Thus, because others report that their BMW 5-series cars do function as expected in this regard and as BMW is comfortable telling me that all cars cannot be expected to perform similarly (or, I suppose, as engineered) BMW expects me to be satisfied with the fact that I lost the BMW FEATURE-TECHOLOGY LOTTERY. A sad state of affairs and an example of corporate arrogance. Be sure to test ALL of the features and technologies in your new BMW BEFORE taking delivery. Afterwards, it may be too late!
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2018 BMW 5 Series for sale near you
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- 540i xDrive SedanMSRP: $27,99095 mi away
- 530e iPerformance Plug-In Hybrid SedanMSRP: $20,00019 mi away
- M550i xDrive SedanMSRP: $27,498In-stock online
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Moonbeam takes me away!
Bob and Lin, 03/29/2018
updated 04/01/2021
2018 BMW 5 Series M550i xDrive 4dr Sedan AWD (4.4L 8cyl Turbo 8A)
13 of 16 people found this review helpful
I have named my new BMW - Moonbeam - and it is truly the best car I have ever owned. This may not be fair - as I have driven trucks all my life - but when I finally decided to get a nice car, I knew that I wanted a NICE car! I diligently researched vehicles for many months - evaluating Mercedes, Lexus, Maserati, Cadillac and Infiniti. I ended with my BMW 540i X Drive - and I could not be happier. It is most known for the extraordinary driveability - but the elegance of the car, the amazing interior, the incredible nav system and so much more, completely roped me in. I am loading hundreds and hundreds of songs onto my 20 gig hard drive media center - and still discovering more and more amenities that I did not even know existed. I am very proud of myself that I made such a wise (and perfect) decision.
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Outstanding car
Gen , 01/16/2018
2018 BMW 5 Series M550i xDrive 4dr Sedan AWD (4.4L 8cyl Turbo 8A)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
Performance, engine, handling, comfort, luxury...all in one car
Fun, comfortable, and zippy but the options add up
Cindy G., 11/25/2018
updated 04/11/2023
2018 BMW 5 Series 540i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 8A)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I bought the 540i after having an M3 for the past 20 years. While I loved my M3, it became a maintenance nightmare and I needed something to replace it that would still be fun to drive, a little more comfortable, and have more room. I got the 540i with M5 sport package and brakes, parking assistant, driving assistant I. I also got the multi-contour seats and the Harmon-Kardon radio. The car had some things I didn't want but came with this particular car (the what I call "call batman" light which is shining the BMW logo on the ground from the door when you open it, the $50 first aid kit (come on - tiny with bandages and that's about it), and leather dashboard. What I like so far: the ride is comfortable, and the car is still sporty. Not as sporty or nimble as the M3, but the 6-cylinder provides good acceleration that still makes the car fun to drive, especially in Sport mode. I took the car on a fast, curvy road with traffic (Highway 17 for those who know it around Santa Cruz to San Jose) and I was happy with the performance. The front seats are cavernous - which is great because I have a 21 year old 6'-1" 280 lb son who did not fit in the M3. I love the 360 degree camera and the blind spot indicators. I wanted the multi-contour seats because I read they were the best in terms of adjustments. And they are except it took me a couple months to get the adjustment right - there's too much to adjust so it was too easy to lean too far back, or have the seat too high, or the lumbar too high or too much, etc. I wasn't comfortable, but kept adjusting little by little until it finally felt good. The self-parking feature is great when it works, but turns out to parallel park, you need to park having a car in the front and in the back (it needs to find a car in the front, so if it's a space where you are parking in front of a car but there's no car in front of that, it won't work). I like the heated seats, but don't understand why it didn't also give the option for a heated steering wheel (or maybe that's an option, but my car didn't have it). The auto climate control works fine, the auto rain sensing windshield wiper setting works fine, and I like the run flat tires (already got a nail in a tire). There's a ton of room in the trunk. Things I don't like: like another reviewer, the speedometer is off once it gets above 60 mph - when it says 80, it's really going about 75. For a car as large as this is, I wish there was more leg room in the rear - perhaps I lose more with the multi-contour seats, but there's not quite enough for someone 6'. The Volvo S90 had lots of rear leg room, but it wasn't as fun to drive. The navigation system isn't very good - keeps taking me weird ways to get places - I've switched back to using Waze on my cell phone. Some people might like the heads-up display, but I found it annoying and turned it off. Update: had the car for a year. Went in four times already for low coolant level but they can't find anything. Light came on that emergency call system is not working. There's a backup battery for emergencies apparently and it's failing on a lot of cars, two months to get it ordered from Germany. Doesn't affect the driving but annoying to have the message on the dashboard covering up my mileage indicator. UPDATE: The good: * Love the seats. I bought the higher end 21 adjustable. At first I didn't like them because there was too much to adjust and couldn't get comfortable, but once I got it right, they are great. They also hold my 300+ adult son. I never get a backache. * Love driving the car. I have the 540i with the 6 cylinder which is zippy enough. I also have the M package. * Love the parking package. While I never use the parking feature, the cameras that come with it are great. You can "see" the car from above and it indicates when you are getting too close to something. The bad: * About 6 months after I got the car, the coolant was low. Went in because I couldn't get the cap off, the dealer filled it up. Was ok for a while, but then happened again and then more frequently. I brought it to the dealer multiple times asking them to find the problem and they said there was no problem. More recently, it happened every 2 weeks, brought it back and they finally found the issue. * Car is now 4+ years old and things starting to break. The steering wheel motor just stopped working (can't move up/down/back/forth). It has another weird issue that it's a bit sluggish when I start it from stop and has automatically shifted itself into neutral even though I had it in drive. Going back to see what's wrong, but it's no longer under warranty :( I'm afraid this is going to be an expensive car to maintain. There are lots of automated things that can stop working.
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