BYD Seal U DM-i owners – worth it? Any regrets?

I had it for about a month as a loan car and it was actually what made me go for a BYD at all in the end, I did probably 1-1.5k miles in that time. I loved it to be honest, comfy, good range, and smooth.

Had mine since June last year. Two weeks later, [drove it to Italy and back from Edinburgh](https://www.reddit.com/r/BYD/s/C7piZDnq18). Used it as a daily runner since. A couple of gripes (fixed). Else all good.

Mine got just the 1year service. Mechanical all fine, no complains. The whole hybrid system works flawless. Only the software could be better. It’s not bad in a sense, that it annoys me driving it, but a lot of little things which could be better imho. I drive mainly in EV, if I go long distances the car needs roughly 5ltr/100km, sometimes less, hardly more. But I’m a gentle driver and topspeed is around 110km/h where I live. Worth to mention: even driving in the city will not bring up the consumption, it might even go down compared to the highway. For a hybrid it’s ok, but I would today go with a EV. I realized I don’t need the possibility of going that long distance without refueling/charging.

Got mine in October 2025, 1500 km, drive in EV only, never refueled so far. All is fine and comfortable. Couple of things could have been better but overall I have no regrets, car is beautiful and I would have made the same decision today. 1. Front sensors: there are only two on the sides, the center ones are missing so during parking consider camera (which might be tricky after rainy highway drive) 2. European version lacks dashcam 3. Challenging at the beginning to feel the size of the car during garage parking and distances on the sides. 4. I wish battery could be bigger in capacity. During winter consumption is 21 kWt . Must cover around 100 km but with SOC 24 % (minimum level you can set) realistically it is only 60-70 km, if you prefer ev mode only (like me), so even when soc drops to 40% i charge overnight if plan to drive more than 10 km.

Great to hear 🙏🏻 Another dilemma I’m having now is to go for it or for the Atto 2 dm-i, for 7k € less 👀

Thanks for the reply. Regarding the software, they are launching updates to improve it every now and then though no?

Sounds good! Something that’s scaring me is the fact that I dont have s charger at home to charge overnight.. Will be relying on chargers at work or the ones that are close to where I live

Amazing 💪

They do it it might get better, but it still has a strong "Chinese" appeal. It seems, the layout, the functions, how to deal with it is something, you usually find in the Asian markets. For me as western guy this looks a bit odd and the user interface can be a cumbersome. Just one of the few examples: The car will show you the average energy consumption (Elec + Fuel = equivalent fuel) for the last 50km AND for the lifetime of the car. There is no chance to get a average consumption for a trip. You have 2 trip meter you can reset, but they only count the distance. In almost every other "modern" car, those trips (TRIP A or TRIP B) comes with a dataset, like average speed, average consumption, total consumption, time driven, .... Not in the BYD. I mean, the data is there, just use it in a smart way. The UI of the instrument is wasting space, they should do more individual sections which can be modified by the driver. Airconditioning: The aircon works great if it's hot outside. So I have selected 22 degrees in the cabin and just leave this. If we have 32C outside -> no problem. But if it's chilly, like 15C and I go to work, the aircon "is waiting" for the ICE to heat up the cooling fluid to heat the cabin. BUT I use the car in EV to commute, so the car is not heating up the cabin. I need to select something like 28C in the cabin to force the aircon to use the electrical heater. \-> If the aircon is in the "do not save energy" mode (can be selected) AND I'm driving in EV, why the hell the car is waiting for the cooling fluid to become hot. Doesn't make sense to me. Another thing with the Aircon: there are some hard buttons in the center console for the aircon. One is: ON/OFF the other is AUTO. In AUTO the car does everything, you just adjust the temperature. Once you select something different in the menu, AUTO will go off and the aircon is in "manual"-mode. For example if you only want to have the fans running or the air should go somewhere else, or or or. By the "AUTO" button in the center console, you can get the aircon back into the auto mode BUT it's not reversible. So hitting the button again will not get the aircon back in manual mode (with the settings as before). For me that's super annoying, bc I need to fiddle through the menus again. I usually run the aircon in AUTO or in "Fans only" (if its a bit colder outside). The tilting screen in the center is useless. They should have integrated it in the linings. And so on... For me it seems, there is a different mindset in China, of what looks good or makes sense. Or they just missed the part how to make the UI good. Because all those items are just software. But as I said, the car itself, like engine, hybrid system, aircon strength,.... is pretty good. I had some preoccupations against Chinese cars and I would have gone to Toyota, but here they didn't had a comparable Hybrid. Toyota still sells the old shit mit 120hp combined power, a rough and noisy engine.

Yeah I get you. As you said I guess it’s a different mentality/priorities. Rotating screen can be useful for google maps tho sometimes I heard 🤣 But yeah other than that it’s pointless I guess (other than showing off)

Yeah. It's not a showstopper and my old Landcruiser has nothing of this and gets me everywehre as well, but sometimes I think: Just get 10 of the clever SW engineers and let them do a second UI for westerns or so. The rotating screen: You gonna use it 2-3 times in the beginning and then that's it. Believe me :). BUT it's "blocking" a button the steering wheel which could be used in a way better way. The bottom line for me: It's a good buy and the bang-for-the-bug is pretty solid. Especially compared to traditional manufacturers. But it might never become a "classic" and it's not triggering any emotions or what. What really states out for me is the low energy consumption. When I bought the car, the dealer said something like 5ltr/100km and I thought, he just wants to sell the car. I had a Mitsubishi Outlander with a 2.0 and 160hp and it was difficult to get it below 10ltr/100km. But yes, I can drive it even below 5ltr/100km and if I commute and drive in EV only, this will almost cut the energy costs again. So the "Fuel"-related costs are 1/4th (almost) of my old Mitsubishi. Oh yeah: I gave the car to the service and the ICE had 750km on the ODO. Because I drive almost everything in EV. They will still do a oil change :) I think BYD is a bit too conservative here, why change the engine oil every year or 12.000km if the engine ran only 750km. Same with the cooling fluid (every 4 years) and transmission oil (every 2nd year). Other cars don't change anything here. I doubt, the transmission oil is gone after 2 years. They should go for a more condition based program.

So I really liked both, I've got the most travel time in the Seal U and drive a Seal at the moment, so I clearly like the design and feel of the Seal range. For 7K difference though I might go for the Atto 2, BYD competitively prices their cars and loads them out with great internal features and creature comforts. I'd say if you want a bigger vehicle, the Seal U. But if you don't need that space, the Atto is great. Either way, you'll like what you get!

DMI has very small battery .. It can easily go full charge over night over regular 220 power socket with the provided charger ..

Same here… don’t know what to do. I have 2 kids but 95% of the time the space of the atto 2 will do the trick. Did you decide already?

Yes, went for the atto 2 🌚 I’ve test driven it a couple of times and realized that it’s big enough. Also tested the seal U and tbh did not find it worth the extra 7k.

Awesome, do you have a delivery date already?

They put late June as the latest, but it’s expected in May or even late April.

are the chargers at work paid? the whole point of the car is to be used charged, so it might be more expensive for you at the long run, but still I have friends who have full EV and charge at malls and for me that is stupid

It's great to drive .I regularly plug it in . octopus energy .cheap rate 11.30 to 5.30 .very cheap .you don't get the mileage in the winter .the heating etc .uses up the battery .but still good value .

I have had the BYD Seal U DMI Design for about two and a half months now. I chose it as a lease car. I've driven around 6,500 km with it so far, both short and long distances. Thanks to the all-wheel drive, it also drives very comfortably in the snow. One downside is the screen: when it's very sunny, it can sometimes be difficult to see. This was much better in my previous cars. Other than that, I'm very satisfied with it so far. It's definitely a car focused on comfort rather than driving excitement. So if you're looking for a comfortable car, it's an excellent choice. I personally opted for the all-wheel drive version because I found the front-wheel drive version too slow.