Chancelucky2
Well-Known Member
They were closing these out, more or less, and I happened to see one on E-bay that happened to be selling through my local BMW dealer. fwiw I'm still not sure how many of these were ever sold in the United States. There was the small matter of the hurricane closing down the dealership for a few days, but I eventually go the opportunity to try it out. Having very carefully looked at taking a chance with a Sondors or a Surface 604 Colt, the BMW Cruise was actually cheaper and happened to be mid drive. On impulse, I joined what's probably a very small community of American BMW e-bike owners.
First off, it's one of the better looking e-bikes out there. The bike components are higher quality (Deore XT) than the usual budget-end e-bike bike components. There also aren't many new bikes with Bosch mid drives below $1500. So far (80 miles in), I'm pretty thrilled.
One of my first pleasant surprises was the discovery that the pedal assist doesn't top out at 25 kph. Riding on the flats, the battery and motor were still active beyond 16 mph. It appears to have been reset at 20 mph for the American version. It would be nice to go a little higher, but 20 instead of 16 helps. It appears to have been set to 32kph instead, because the pedal support appears to turn off just shy of 20 mph.
The bike handles well. I can pedal reasonably well with no battery, despite the mid drive gearing thing. I ride pretty conservatively and I got 65 miles on my first run through with the battery. I'm usually in eco mode or even pedal with the bike off in spots and use tour mode on steeper hills. The bike trail near my house is relatively flat, though it does gain a few hundred feet of elevation over several miles, and is about 2/3's pavement and 1/3 packed dirt and gravel. I'd say the Cruise is mid way between a city bike and an e-bike. I don't see myself taking on ultra-tough MTB trails, but I like feeling comfortable going off road at times. I also like having normal bike wheels for flats and quick releases for stowing the Cruise in the back of my car when I don't have my bike rack.
I'm currently learning how to manage what amounts to 2 sets of gears: the conventional bike gears in the back and the pedal assist. I find that the battery use meter on the Intuvia is actually teaching me how to maintain cadence. I've learned to downshift when the battery usage level goes up and to occasoinally use a higher gear on easier terrain than I would use on a regular bike. Bottom line, I shift a lot more than I ever do on a regular bike. One day, my wallet fell out of my rear rack (hadn't zipped it properly). I quickly discovered how fun it is to have turbo mode available. I manage to find my wallet and cell phone on the bike path before anyone else got there.
The Intuvia display is quite simple and very readable in all conditions. The brakes are great so far. I do have some nits. There are no mounts for rack or water bottle and the frame isn't really set up for either. The battery takes up a bit too much space in the triangle to mount a water bottle or a lock there. The back triangle is at a lower angle than most and the frame stays pretty thick , so I'm currently using a seat post rack.
The second one is probably a bigger deal. The bike comes with a 2 year warranty and I'm pretty sure that BMW will, unlike some e-bike companies, still be around in 2 years. The issue is that they sell the bikes through the parts department and no one at my local BMW dealership can actually work on or troubleshoot their bicycles. I suspect I'm one my own for most things. I suppose if something fails, they'll send it back to wherever they work on these things, but there's probably no local dealer support or much of a BMW e-bike community. There is, however, a pretty large number of folks with Bosch Performance Line motors.
One big reason, I'm here is that as things come up, I'm hoping that whoever else around here who happens to have one of these might be able to help.
First off, it's one of the better looking e-bikes out there. The bike components are higher quality (Deore XT) than the usual budget-end e-bike bike components. There also aren't many new bikes with Bosch mid drives below $1500. So far (80 miles in), I'm pretty thrilled.
One of my first pleasant surprises was the discovery that the pedal assist doesn't top out at 25 kph. Riding on the flats, the battery and motor were still active beyond 16 mph. It appears to have been reset at 20 mph for the American version. It would be nice to go a little higher, but 20 instead of 16 helps. It appears to have been set to 32kph instead, because the pedal support appears to turn off just shy of 20 mph.
The bike handles well. I can pedal reasonably well with no battery, despite the mid drive gearing thing. I ride pretty conservatively and I got 65 miles on my first run through with the battery. I'm usually in eco mode or even pedal with the bike off in spots and use tour mode on steeper hills. The bike trail near my house is relatively flat, though it does gain a few hundred feet of elevation over several miles, and is about 2/3's pavement and 1/3 packed dirt and gravel. I'd say the Cruise is mid way between a city bike and an e-bike. I don't see myself taking on ultra-tough MTB trails, but I like feeling comfortable going off road at times. I also like having normal bike wheels for flats and quick releases for stowing the Cruise in the back of my car when I don't have my bike rack.
I'm currently learning how to manage what amounts to 2 sets of gears: the conventional bike gears in the back and the pedal assist. I find that the battery use meter on the Intuvia is actually teaching me how to maintain cadence. I've learned to downshift when the battery usage level goes up and to occasoinally use a higher gear on easier terrain than I would use on a regular bike. Bottom line, I shift a lot more than I ever do on a regular bike. One day, my wallet fell out of my rear rack (hadn't zipped it properly). I quickly discovered how fun it is to have turbo mode available. I manage to find my wallet and cell phone on the bike path before anyone else got there.
The Intuvia display is quite simple and very readable in all conditions. The brakes are great so far. I do have some nits. There are no mounts for rack or water bottle and the frame isn't really set up for either. The battery takes up a bit too much space in the triangle to mount a water bottle or a lock there. The back triangle is at a lower angle than most and the frame stays pretty thick , so I'm currently using a seat post rack.
The second one is probably a bigger deal. The bike comes with a 2 year warranty and I'm pretty sure that BMW will, unlike some e-bike companies, still be around in 2 years. The issue is that they sell the bikes through the parts department and no one at my local BMW dealership can actually work on or troubleshoot their bicycles. I suspect I'm one my own for most things. I suppose if something fails, they'll send it back to wherever they work on these things, but there's probably no local dealer support or much of a BMW e-bike community. There is, however, a pretty large number of folks with Bosch Performance Line motors.
One big reason, I'm here is that as things come up, I'm hoping that whoever else around here who happens to have one of these might be able to help.
Last edited:
Thanks for your response.
