Set state of BottomSheetDialogFragment to expanded

"Note that you cannot call the method before view layouts."

The above text is the clue.

Dialogs have a listener that is fired once the dialog is shown. The dialog cannot be shown if it isn't laid out.

So, in the onCreateDialog() of your modal bottom sheet (BottomSheetFragment), just before returning the dialog (or anywhere, once you have a reference to the dialog), call:

// This listener's onShow is fired when the dialog is shown
dialog.setOnShowListener(new DialogInterface.OnShowListener() {
    @Override
    public void onShow(DialogInterface dialog) {

        // In a previous life I used this method to get handles to the positive and negative buttons
        // of a dialog in order to change their Typeface. Good ol' days.

        BottomSheetDialog d = (BottomSheetDialog) dialog;
        
        // This is gotten directly from the source of BottomSheetDialog
        // in the wrapInBottomSheet() method
        FrameLayout bottomSheet = (FrameLayout) d.findViewById(android.support.design.R.id.design_bottom_sheet);

        // Right here!
        BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheet)
            .setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_EXPANDED);
    }
});

In my case, my custom BottomSheet turned out to be:

@SuppressWarnings("ConstantConditions")
public class ShareBottomSheetFragment extends AppCompatDialogFragment {

    @NonNull @Override
    public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        BottomSheetDialog dialog =
                new BottomSheetDialog(getActivity(), R.style.Haute_Dialog_ShareImage);

        dialog.setContentView(R.layout.dialog_share_image);

        dialog.findViewById(R.id.cancel).setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                dismiss();
            }
        });

        dialog.setOnShowListener(new DialogInterface.OnShowListener() {
            @Override
            public void onShow(DialogInterface dialog) {
                BottomSheetDialog d = (BottomSheetDialog) dialog;

                FrameLayout bottomSheet = (FrameLayout) d.findViewById(android.support.design.R.id.design_bottom_sheet);
                BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheet).setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_EXPANDED);
            }
        });

        SwitchCompat switchview = (SwitchCompat) dialog.findViewById(R.id.switchview);
        switchview.setTypeface(FontCache.get(dialog.getContext(), lookup(muli, NORMAL)));

        return dialog;
    }
}

Let me know if this helps.

UPDATE

Note that you can also override BottomSheetDialogFragment as:

public class SimpleInitiallyExpandedBottomSheetFragment extends BottomSheetDialogFragment {

    @NonNull @Override
    public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        BottomSheetDialog dialog = (BottomSheetDialog) super.onCreateDialog(savedInstanceState);

        dialog.setOnShowListener(new DialogInterface.OnShowListener() {
            @Override
            public void onShow(DialogInterface dialog) {
                BottomSheetDialog d = (BottomSheetDialog) dialog;

                FrameLayout bottomSheet = (FrameLayout) d.findViewById(android.support.design.R.id.design_bottom_sheet);
                BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheet).setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_EXPANDED);
            }
        });

        // Do something with your dialog like setContentView() or whatever
        return dialog;
    }
}

But I really don't see why anyone would want to do that as the base BottomSheetFragment doesn't do anything other than return a BottomSheetDialog.

UPDATE FOR ANDROIDX

When using AndroidX, the resource previously found at android.support.design.R.id.design_bottom_sheet can now be found at com.google.android.material.R.id.design_bottom_sheet.

efeturi's answer is great, however, if you want to use onCreateView() to create your BottomSheet, as opposed to going with onCreateDialog(), here is the code you will need to add under your onCreateView() method:

@Nullable
@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, @Nullable ViewGroup container, @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    getDialog().setOnShowListener(new DialogInterface.OnShowListener() {
        @Override
        public void onShow(DialogInterface dialog) {
            BottomSheetDialog d = (BottomSheetDialog) dialog;
            View bottomSheetInternal = d.findViewById(android.support.design.R.id.design_bottom_sheet);
            BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheetInternal).setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_EXPANDED);
        }
    });
    return inflater.inflate(R.layout.your_bottomsheet_content_layout, container, false);
}