Art234

On Friday I'll be picking up the wife's 2015 RX hybrid, which will be our third....2006, 2010 and now this one. We decided to move up since the '10 is almost 5 yrs old and has 61k, and I'd like to get out of it while I can still get about half of what I've paid back. I've done a little better than that.

The question I have is whether or not there haVe been any significant power train improvements in 5 years to this vehicle. It feels and rides about the same, although the transition from electric to engine appears more mild, but that's about it. Surprisingly according to EPA no improvement in fuel economy.

I honestly tried to get her to like the X3 diesel, as I have a 535d which gets amazing mileage far in excess of EPA ratings....average 36 mpg and up to 45 highway. But she wanted to stay with what she knows and is even getting the same color combination!

I'd be interested to hear any insights from this group.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

wa3cuj

My 2010 450h was over 4 years old when I traded on a 2013 leftover in December 2013, so I can only comment to that point in time.

I see no difference in the drivetrain, however the vehicle warms up very quickly compared to the 2010. Living in NY, you will appreciate that. The manual still calls for premium gas. I used premium for the first 6000 miles and have switched to mid grade and have seen no difference in the last 4000 miles. I will soon be trying regular.

vlad_a

I tried switching to '89 on our latest road trip. Half a tank of 89 and another half of 93 was just fine. When running purely on 89, the engine sounds rougher and the MPG drops by 2. I switched back to 93.
Apparently, Southern states have a steeper premium for the premium than we do.
Meanwhile, Diesel seems to cost about the same as premium, while it is more expensive around here.

I went with the RX450h over a Diesel X5 because I know Lexus well. I did not want to deal with BMW reliability long term.

Art234

Thanks for the responses thus far. Interesting comments. For the record, I have had no serious issues with any of the BMWs I've had...it seems I'm the Teutonic driver and wife is the Japanese Luxury driver.

With regard to fuel I have only used premium. After Sandy we could only get regular for a week so I did fill it once with regular but lost 3-4 mpg plus it slowed the car down.

Looking forward to the new one, evn though it's more or less the same.

Keep the comments coming!