Two Napoleon grill heads fit one 32-inch counter opening. This grill review is about the lower-priced head, the Built-in 500 Series 32 (BI32PSS). It sold for about $1,679 on Amazon in October 2026. The 700 Series 32 that shares its hole costs $2,219.
Most of that $540 gap is extras the 500 never had. There is no rear burner, no spit kit and no hood lamp. But one saving lands on the grate itself, and that one matters.
So is the 500 the head to buy, or a 700 with something missing? It depends on where you cook: on the grate, or in front of the back wall.
First Impressions of the Napoleon Built-in 500 Series 32
Nothing about this box says “grill” until you open it. It is a stainless head with no legs, cart or doors. Napoleon ships it at 160 pounds, so the island must be built first. Two people set it in place.
Closed, the face is plainer than its sibling’s. Four identical knobs sit in a row under a slotted vent strip. A round ACCU-PROBE gauge rides on the lid. There is no fifth knob, and that absence is the whole story.
Lift the lid and you find a firebox with nothing on its back wall. Four tube burners lie side by side, each with its own knob. Sear plates sit over them, with wave-shaped grids on top. A warming rack spans the rear.
The box holds three cooking grids, the rack and a manual. First light takes one push and turn per knob. After a ten-minute blast with the lid shut, steak can go on.
This review covers the propane head. Napoleon sells the same grill on natural gas as BI32NSS, at the same $1,679 list price. Pick the fuel before you order; the two are not the same box.
Key Features of the Napoleon Built-in 500 Series 32
This head was designed around one job: direct heat on a wide grate. Everything listed here serves that job. The features the 700 adds are absent, not hidden.
- Stainless steel inside and out: no painted or porcelain part touches the flame. Lid, box, burners, plates and grids share one metal.
- WAVE cooking grids, 7.5 mm: thick rods bent in a wave, so asparagus and shrimp stay on top.
- Dual-level sear plates: drippings hit hot steel and turn to smoke, well clear of the burner ports.
- Push-button igniter, battery free: each knob triggers its own JETFIRE flame, with no AA cell to replace. If one burner dies, crosslighting picks it back up.
- ACCU-PROBE lid gauge: reads the hood air, the figure you need for roasts and indirect cooks.
- Integrated trim: the edge finishes the counter cut, with a 2-inch tolerance on the opening.
- Cover: Napoleon’s part 61830 fits this head and the 700, listed at $89.99.
The cooking case for the 500 is simple. Every one of its 48,000 BTU fires up through the cooking grids. Nothing is held back for a spit burner or a side pot.
Against a 531 sq in grate, the arithmetic gives 90.4 BTU per square inch. That is a clean, honest figure for how hard the head can drive its own steel. The 700 Series 32 cannot be given one at all. Napoleon bundles its rear burner into a single total.
Four burners also mean four zones. Two on high and two off gives you a sear side and a resting side. Thick chops can finish slowly over the cold half with the hood down.
The trade sits in the grids. At 7.5 mm, they carry less steel than the 700’s 9 to 9.5 mm rods. Less mass stores less heat, so a cold ribeye pulls the grid down a little further. A full preheat, hood closed, closes most of that gap.
Gas supply decides whether you ever see the full 48,000. The manual asks for 11 inches water column on propane. Below that, Napoleon warns the grill runs under fired and never reaches its top heat. A long run from a remote tank is worth sizing properly.
What you cannot do here is roast in front of radiant heat. Napoleon’s spec table says no rotisserie comes with this head. A whole chicken goes indirect on the grate, which works, but is not the same bark.
Build, handling and durability
The head is built from the same family parts as its dearer sibling. Stainless hood, stainless firebox and stainless tube burners are common to both. The differences are thinner grids and fewer parts inside.
Fewer parts is a durability argument in this head’s favour. With no interior lights, it carries none of the lamps the 700 needs wired in. There is no infrared panel facing the back wall. Those are the bits most likely to need a call to the dealer.
Plan the island around a shell of 33.5 by 27.6 inches. With the lid down, the head is 24 inches high. Open, the lid climbs to 33.75 inches. Check that height against any overhang above the island.
Napoleon’s warranty then covers what is left generously. For life, Napoleon stands behind the burners and grids, plus the hood, lid and aluminum castings. A 15-year term applies to the sear plates and the remaining parts. Communal or commercial use drops it all to two years.
Read the conditions, though. Cover requires purchase from an authorized dealer and a licensed installer. It also excludes damage from salt or chlorine. The Amazon listing calls the steel marine grade; Napoleon’s own page never does.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Price the 500 against the hole you are cutting, not against the sticker. Both 32-inch heads share one opening, 30 to 32 inches wide. So the island costs the same whichever you choose.
So what does the gap buy? The $540 pays for a rear burner, a spit kit and lights. It adds no grate area and no burger capacity; both heads are rated for 32.
If the grate is where you cook, that money could go toward the cabinets instead.
Propane adds a cost the brochure leaves off. If the cylinder lives inside the island, the manual wants it isolated from the grill. It needs two vents, a floor 2 inches up and a door that opens without tools. Napoleon’s matching propane tank cabinet solves this, at extra cost.
A timber frame needs Napoleon’s Zero Clearance Liner, listed at $729. Nothing that burns may sit within 24 inches of its back. Each flank needs 7 inches. A masonry island skips the liner entirely.
Upkeep is cheap and simple. Empty the grease tray before each cook. Brush the grids once they are hot. The manual forbids foil in the drip pan, and the stainless will discolour for good.
Smoke costs little to add. Napoleon lists a stainless smoker box at $30.99 for this head. A cast iron charcoal and smoker tray runs $64.99, for owners who want real wood flavour.
Possible Napoleon Built-in 500 Series 32 Complaints
- The thinner grids give up some sear. The 7.5 mm rods hold less heat than the 700’s heavier set. You feel it when several cold steaks land at once. A full 10-minute preheat, hood down, keeps the drop small.
- Amazon will not take it back. BBQGuys ships it as hazardous material, and the listing says non-returnable. A wrong opening becomes your problem. Check the 10.25-inch cut-out height and 19.4-inch minimum depth before ordering.
