BMW 330e ordered...

[Tonycv51]

rich2000 said:

Everyone will have a different opinion but I have the 19's and fine the ride more than acceptable. I find the car somehow feels more responsive with a full battery. Not sure why might just be me - I stick to comfort mode most of the time with sport when I'm in the mood.

To me (m sport on 18's) it rides like a limo on comfort / eco round town. Much better than previous s line Audi and non m sport 3 series also on run flats before that.

Still think this car is amazing. I've been at home all week as having some work done on the house. Fuel gauge hasn't moved even with going out to the shops lots of times and only used the ICE once to go to a football match on the motorway section of the journey and then managed to charge up for free at the multi storey car park whilst there (next to a gorgeous matt black i8)

Edited by Tonycv51 on Saturday 18th March 09:58

[Robv1]

MaxOverdrive said:

Gone for the Estoril blue with light oyster coloured seats myself as I also thought the light colour would contrast well against the blue/black of the car
(

Same here...

[Gb908010]

I've gone for for charger from charged ev. They booked me in last Friday and then phoned me Tuesday to say they don't work Fridays?
So we booked it for Thursday instead, Thursday morning came and a phone call telling me the van had broken down.
Not a great start, booked in for the 29th of March.

Edited by Gb908010 on Sunday 19th March 13:23

[MaxOverdrive]

Ashy28 said:

I had to extend my existing lease for an extra month, but I had some good news today. BMW contacted me to say that my car was expected at the dealership today, so I should get it next week....10 days ahead of plan

That's good news! Nice one

Fingers crossed I get a similar experience

[Ashy28]

For those people reading this thread and considering what options to choose (and there are lots of them) - you should add split/fold rear seats (as these are not standard) - you probably should choose the 'interior comfort pack', which includes the split/fold rear seats (but also adds the heated front seats & heated steering wheel).

One other option I would recommend, if your budget stretches that far, is the heads-up display. I've had it for 3 years on the 5-series and have included it in my 330e order. It's available as a stand-alone option, but is actually included within 'professional plus' media package. It's a great piece of kit and helps put all the information you need within your driving eye-line (speed, sat-nav directions, phone numbers, radio stations, CD tracks, warnings, cruise control speeds, speed limits etc). Once you've had it, it's a feature you'll love - it also makes sure you keep your eyes on the road!

Happy shopping

[MaxOverdrive]

Ashy28 said:

I had to extend my existing lease for an extra month, but I had some good news today. BMW contacted me to say that my car was expected at the dealership today, so I should get it next week....10 days ahead of plan

That's good news! Nice one

Fingers crossed I get a similar experience

[Dante2411]

Hello All

Taken me ages to go through this thread but it has been very useful - thanks all for contributing to what has been an informative thread

Right - I'm hitting the big 4 0 this year so fancy treating myself. Planned initially on getting an IS300h till I found out about the 330e and 350e.

I'm looking to buy out right either towards the end of this year or beginning of next - whenever I save up the £18K-£20K that I will need and the trade-in value of my 07 Civic 1.8 Petrol. I've seen prices hit £24K so I'm hopeful they will hit £20K by the end of the year.

My commute to work is 13 miles each way and mainly commute locally. I do circa 10K miles per year with little business miles - those days are behind me, so want something economical and some oomph when I want/need it. Hence straying away from diesels and looking down the PHEV route. I can charge at home but won't be able to at work.

Questions...

- when you put it the manual, can you change up using the gear stick or do you have to use the paddles?
(I'm not a fan of paddles - I have a semi-auto in my Civic with paddles and find I mostly use the gear stick when in manual mode as I can use that to flick up and down)

- is there anyway to display the speed in digital on the dash board? Or is that only available via the HUD option?
(I've had digital speed read out in my last 10 years of cars (Prius x 3 and my current Civic (Prius were company cars) and found driving my wife's Astra with the analogue read out a bit...cumbersome)

- what's the general opinion on a good 'premium' car with good power and economy (the holy grail of motoring)?

Thanks all

[Jo330ems]

Dante2411 said:

Hello All

Taken me ages to go through this thread but it has been very useful - thanks all for contributing to what has been an informative thread

Right - I'm hitting the big 4 0 this year so fancy treating myself. Planned initially on getting an IS300h till I found out about the 330e and 350e.

I'm looking to buy out right either towards the end of this year or beginning of next - whenever I save up the £18K-£20K that I will need and the trade-in value of my 07 Civic 1.8 Petrol. I've seen prices hit £24K so I'm hopeful they will hit £20K by the end of the year.

My commute to work is 13 miles each way and mainly commute locally. I do circa 10K miles per year with little business miles - those days are behind me, so want something economical and some oomph when I want/need it. Hence straying away from diesels and looking down the PHEV route. I can charge at home but won't be able to at work.

Questions...

- when you put it the manual, can you change up using the gear stick or do you have to use the paddles?
(I'm not a fan of paddles - I have a semi-auto in my Civic with paddles and find I mostly use the gear stick when in manual mode as I can use that to flick up and down)

- is there anyway to display the speed in digital on the dash board? Or is that only available via the HUD option?
(I've had digital speed read out in my last 10 years of cars (Prius x 3 and my current Civic (Prius were company cars) and found driving my wife's Astra with the analogue read out a bit...cumbersome)

- what's the general opinion on a good 'premium' car with good power and economy (the holy grail of motoring)?

Thanks all

Hi , I cant really respond to your specific questions as I'm still waiting on delivery for my 330e MS due this week :-) I'm sure someone on the forum can confirm your request . However, when you start looking, make sure you buy a car that's registered before this coming April. Your budget suggests you will have to do that anyway but its worth noting what's happening this April. .

I'm hopefully one of the lucky ones that will have a car registered before 1st April . With the usual option boxes, I've managed to make the 330e cost over £42K , and in the new road car tax scheme that starts in a couple of weeks , that could have meant a yearly tax bill ( after the first ) of £440! ( £130 car tax plus Cars £40K+ =£310 supplement )

So a warning to those who are placing 330e ( or any car really ) orders now..keep it below £40K .

Nice to see the Government still making a dogs dinner out of giving us incentives for going green..ish

[jezcop212]

My response to your questions:

1. Yes you can use the gear selector (for and aft) once moved across to 'Sport' to change up and down the gears. However, the response of the paddles will be better than you've previously experienced so would always be my choice

2. It isn't possible to see the gear number in either the binnacle or within the HUD - it is only possible to see in the HUD in M cars

3. I currently have a 530d Touring and believe that to be the holy grail of motoring; economy, performance, comfort, quality and refinement. I'm awaiting delivery of my 330e any week now (due 31/03) so will be provide more feedback then

[Soov330e]

jezcop212 said:

My response to your questions:

1. Yes you can use the gear selector (for and aft) once moved across to 'Sport' to change up and down the gears. However, the response of the paddles will be better than you've previously experienced so would always be my choice

2. It isn't possible to see the gear number in either the binnacle or within the HUD - it is only possible to see in the HUD in M cars

3. I currently have a 530d Touring and believe that to be the holy grail of motoring; economy, performance, comfort, quality and refinement. I'm awaiting delivery of my 330e any week now (due 31/03) so will be provide more feedback then

Re (2) - in Sport Manual mode the current gear is shown in the rev counter.

[jezcop212]

Soov330e said:

Re (2) - in Sport Manual mode the current gear is shown in the rev counter.

Apologies, yes. But it is not displayed permanently

[Dante2411]

jezcop212 said:

Soov330e said:

Re (2) - in Sport Manual mode the current gear is shown in the rev counter.

Apologies, yes. But it is not displayed permanently

Sorry - to clarify what I meant - can you display the speed digitally somehow?
I didn't mean to ask if it displayed the current gear, but rather the current speed. So a live readout of current speed

Thanks

[Dante2411]

Jo330ems said:

i , I cant really respond to your specific questions as I'm still waiting on delivery for my 330e MS due this week :-) I'm sure someone on the forum can confirm your request . However, when you start looking, make sure you buy a car that's registered before this coming April. Your budget suggests you will have to do that anyway but its worth noting what's happening this April. .

I'm hopefully one of the lucky ones that will have a car registered before 1st April . With the usual option boxes, I've managed to make the 330e cost over £42K , and in the new road car tax scheme that starts in a couple of weeks , that could have meant a yearly tax bill ( after the first ) of £440! ( £130 car tax plus Cars £40K+ =£310 supplement )

So a warning to those who are placing 330e ( or any car really ) orders now..keep it below £40K .

Nice to see the Government still making a dogs dinner out of giving us incentives for going green..ish

Wow!! I had no idea about this (I must have skipped these posts as it was the mpg ones and the functions of the app that I was keen on) I shall look into this, but yes, it is very like I'll have one from before April

[jezcop212]

Dante2411 said:

Sorry - to clarify what I meant - can you display the speed digitally somehow?
I didn't mean to ask if it displayed the current gear, but rather the current speed. So a live readout of current speed

Thanks

Speed is displayed on the HUD (obviously) but not in standard software guide in the binnacle. This can be coded however:
http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=...

[MaxOverdrive]

bigphil47 said:

I went with the MSport and absolutely love it! I didn't fancy the 19" wheels so choose the Ferric Grey 18"'s but wish I had opted for the HK system and definitely get the split folding rear seats. Whatever you choose the initial tax savings will probably mean that you are better off than in the previous car, and remember that £72 per month is tax deductable too so at 20% the real cost is £58 and at 40% the cost to you is £43 per month.

Worth a reminder to others this Phil

I'd completely forgot about this little detail when calculating my figures. So having factored in the approx £32 tax relief on the personal contribution (in my case £80.88 per month) I'm going to be about £150/month better off than I am with the current car now (at 23% tax on BIK value - 2016/17 rate) and over the course of the 4 years I've worked out I'll be £6500 better off overall - an average of £1625 per year back in my pocket.

So many reasons to love this car....shame I've still got to wait until July for delivery

[jezcop212]

Delivery confirmed for Monday!

[Pjohnsp0407]

Heating / aircon question?

Messing around with controls 2.5 weeks in and noticed a huge difference in electricity range when I switched of aircon today (when I say huge I mean 7 miles )

So wondered why would Bmw design the cars heating to run off the batteries in this way, not the standard cars battery. There is probably a very straight forward answer to this but I can't find it anywhere.

On that note, if you totally drained the electricity out of battery would heating/aircon still work?

I know the software is designed to keep 10% but if you stopped Driving and just turned heating full pelt, where would the power come from?

[Chris1712]

Pjohnsp0407 said:

Heating / aircon question?

Messing around with controls 2.5 weeks in and noticed a huge difference in electricity range when I switched of aircon today (when I say huge I mean 7 miles )

So wondered why would Bmw design the cars heating to run off the batteries in this way, not the standard cars battery. There is probably a very straight forward answer to this but I can't find it anywhere.

On that note, if you totally drained the electricity out of battery would heating/aircon still work?

I know the software is designed to keep 10% but if you stopped Driving and just turned heating full pelt, where would the power come from?

Because it's more efficient than running it off the engine. If you run out of battery and still want heat the engine will kick in to cover the energy requirements of the heater.

[Dante2411]

jezcop212 said:

Speed is displayed on the HUD (obviously) but not in standard software guide in the binnacle. This can be coded however:
http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=...

Thanks

[Giz1972]

Just had a phone call to say my car has arrived at the dealership. Tusker are asking me if I want to terminate my exsisting contracted car with a £310 fee or wait till my current contract runs out on May 8th. Means I would be paying double in my April pay.