2013 BMW 5 Series Pricing and Specs

The fuse box in this car is fiendishly located behind the glove box. To access it, you first need to unclip the strut that controls the glove box lid’s action, unclip the two sides of the glove box where it pivots (there’s a plastic tab on each side) pull the glove box inner down and then you should be able to see the fuses laid out deep inside the dashboard. Next to the access panel, there should be a folded chart showing which fuse does what. There are some excellent online tutorials on how to do this.

If this chart is missing (and it’s possible as it’s a loose-leaf sheet of paper) there are lots of online guides to show you what fuse protects what circuit.

To remove or replace the fuses themselves, I’d recommend a specific set of long-nosed pliers designed for this job as there’s very poor access to the actual fuses and getting at them by hand is going to be a pain.

The 330e is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), so it has a petrol engine and a smaller battery pack than a full EV (which runs exclusively on battery power). That means the BMW’s battery should be less expensive to replace if it ever needed to be.

At the moment, the world is waiting to find out how long EV batteries last, but it’s looking like between 10 and 20 years is going to be the magic number. A lithium-ion battery like this one will last longer if it’s never over-charged and is cycled regularly rather than left sitting for long periods.

The BMW XM is BMW's flagship SUV, and a standalone M model. It also carries a plug-in hybrid V8 powertrain.