BMW 330e ordered...

[Nightine]

I'm 7500 miles/4 months in now and really enjoy driving the BMW.

I'm averaging over 50mpg and charge overnight when at home. Most of my journeys are 100+ miles one way and finding somewhere to charge at the other end does make a huge difference - best I've done so far is 216 miles at 58mpg starting with a full battery, recharging at the other end and using save mode on way back to get me from motorway to home on battery.

I can just about get through the average speed on M6 Sandbach>Knutsford in full electric which is good.

Brings a whole new challenge to driving but sometimes it is nice just to forget about it all and plant the right foot down!

I recommend zap-map for charging points, polar card free trial (was 6 months but now 3 months and handy for asda charging points) plenty of patience for getting any charging app to work first time and a nice boss that's lets you put type 2 charging cables on expenses!

On a separate note, I spotted at least 3 other 330e's on the M6 today so the club is getting bigger.

[BMW330enut]

RobbieWetta said:

A question for the floor...

So those of you that have had your cars a while now do you find that you charge everyday, twice a day, every few fays, less frequent? And also any benefits or negatives you've experienced because if your charging regime.

All feedback welcome

Thanks

hello. I charge mine twice a day, once at home overnight and at the office. Makes a real difference to how the car drives and also MPG - I can average 54mpg on a 65 mile trip without turning everything off and driving like miss daisy.

no real negatives, had a charge point installed foc through electric nation.

[BMW330enut]

Nightine said:

I'm 7500 miles/4 months in now and really enjoy driving the BMW.

I'm averaging over 50mpg and charge overnight when at home. Most of my journeys are 100+ miles one way and finding somewhere to charge at the other end does make a huge difference - best I've done so far is 216 miles at 58mpg starting with a full battery, recharging at the other end and using save mode on way back to get me from motorway to home on battery.

I can just about get through the average speed on M6 Sandbach>Knutsford in full electric which is good.

Brings a whole new challenge to driving but sometimes it is nice just to forget about it all and plant the right foot down!

I recommend zap-map for charging points, polar card free trial (was 6 months but now 3 months and handy for asda charging points) plenty of patience for getting any charging app to work first time and a nice boss that's lets you put type 2 charging cables on expenses!

On a separate note, I spotted at least 3 other 330e's on the M6 today so the club is getting bigger.

one was probably one of them coming back from Bolton ;-)

[velocitysurfer]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and enjoying this thread.

I thinking of getting a 330e through my company's lease scheme - salary sacrifice - which is with Lex, later this year. I understand that the government grant comes off the purchase price when buying but when leasing who gets the government grant (£2500)?

[BMW330enut]

velocitysurfer said:

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and enjoying this thread.

I thinking of getting a 330e through my company's lease scheme - salary sacrifice - which is with Lex, later this year. I understand that the government grant comes off the purchase price when buying but when leasing who gets the government grant (£2500)?

The lease company, they will factored it into their lease pricing.

[South tdf]

Jonny2400 said:

Hi Guys, can I ask about the preformace from anyone that has changed from a 520d or 320d. I am due to change my company car 520d and had been planning on the new 530e, but for some reason they don't offer it ... they do offer the 530d thou !!

Anyway my choice is the new 520d or the 330e, obviously the BIK on the 330e is a lot better, however what's putting me off is I had the current 3 series when it was first released, and its due a upgrade soon ... however I do like my power ... so what would u go for the all new 520d M sport or the 330e and is the performance really noticeable, plus does the enhanced performance drop of as your speed increased i.e. 50-70 etc ?

Any advice welcome

I had a 335d and unless really driving hard there does not seem much difference in performance apart from 30-70 but the 330e still leaves most normal cars trailing.

Last year on a Euro trip I was impressed at the higher end acceleration however it does get a bit noisy towards the top end.

[velocitysurfer]

BMW330enut said:

The lease company, they will factored it into their lease pricing.

Thanks! I thought they would get it but I was hopeful lol

[bigphil47]

velocitysurfer said:

Thanks! I thought they would get it but I was hopeful lol

You do kind of get the grant yourself. The leasing company reduce the lease payments, and for me it brought my car within my company car budget, otherwise I would have been in a 320d.

[jsp56]

Hello!

I have a 330e on extended test drive today and I wondered if I could ask more experienced owners a couple of questions?

The car has a lot of road noise in the cabin both at 30mph and 60mph and I wondered if this is from the run flat tyres that I have read about online (which can apparently be fixed by replacing the tyres) or if it is something else that cannot be fixed. It is present in both electric and petrol mode?

Also I have the 19" wheel version and it is quite bumpy to drive. I wondered if anyone has one with 16" wheels and if that was smoother?

Thanks!

[Coyote86]

jsp56 said:

Hello!

I have a 330e on extended test drive today and I wondered if I could ask more experienced owners a couple of questions?

The car has a lot of road noise in the cabin both at 30mph and 60mph and I wondered if this is from the run flat tyres that I have read about online (which can apparently be fixed by replacing the tyres) or if it is something else that cannot be fixed. It is present in both electric and petrol mode?

Also I have the 19" wheel version and it is quite bumpy to drive. I wondered if anyone has one with 16" wheels and if that was smoother?

Thanks!

I have had mine for 2 weeks now so not the most experienced but I will put in my 2 pence.
- Road noise can be a bit heavy (I have the 18" 398M with Mich Pilot Super Sports which I believe are the run flats) but I have music on that is usually loud and can't say I care much since the noise is still far less than that of an ICE running.
Running with the ICE, the noise is again fine for me (mainly due to music) and the turbo and exhaust sound (I usually run in Sport) is good enough that I don't notice any road noise on it's own.

- 19" wheels, again I run 18" and I am very happy with them. Most people with the 19" do say that they are a slightly harsher ride but we are not talking a horrible ride, just a bit more noticeable on bumps and pot holes.
16"-17" are of course going to be smoother and less of a stiff ride but wont look as nice for 1 and won't be a huge difference to sacrifice making a 40k car look crappy with tiny wheels.

[jsp56]

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't drive with loud music and the noise in the cabin is really bothering me, so if anybody has any ideas about how to fix I'd be really glad to know. My husband is really keen to buy the car so if I can find a way to live with it then that would help a lot. Thanks! I thought I might try pressing the eDrive button when driving to see if that helps. Perhaps then I'd know if the noise is the electric motor or not.

[Coyote86]

jsp56 said:

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't drive with loud music and the noise in the cabin is really bothering me, so if anybody has any ideas about how to fix I'd be really glad to know. My husband is really keen to buy the car so if I can find a way to live with it then that would help a lot. Thanks! I thought I might try pressing the eDrive button when driving to see if that helps. Perhaps then I'd know if the noise is the electric motor or not.

Using the eDrive part you can select Save, Max edrive and Auto eDrive.
Save will do everything it can to save battery so the ICE will be in use here. This will work in all driving modes (Sport, Comfort, Eco Pro) unless the gears are set on Sports gear (moving the stick to the left, in the UK).
Max eDrive will get the most out of the electric side but you will need to select Eco Pro to get the most from it.
Auto eDrive will try to balance the ICE and Electric together.

I do suspect based on how you describe the road noise that it is either the 19" wheels (19 and 20s have been described as being a stiffer ride and noisier than 17-18s) or the ICE kicking in if it was a test due to not having much battery (you can tell if the car is using EV as it will be on ready on the rev gauge rather than showing revs), or a combination of both.

It's a fantastic car and depending how you are buying this (company or private), you need to weigh up what you want from the car. If you want a performance PHEV, you can't go wrong with the 330e. A Merc 350e may be another option for you but I personally wouldn't look beyond these 2 for my own needs.

[jsp56]

Thanks for this? What is an ICE? I tried googling but it's a tricky word to pin down in context. Thanks!

I am planning to try pressing eDrive to try to get it into battery save mode, hoping that that will turn off the electric motor. That should show me if that is the source of the noise. I've no idea how to find out if it's the wheels. The dealer said they didn't have one with smaller wheels. Thanks!

[jsp56]

Ah! I found it. No it's not the internal combustion engine kicking in because the noise is there when I move the gear stick to the left or to the right, so it's still there when the petrol engine is off. I haven't tried turning the electric motor right off yet though.

The noise seems just either like road noise or wind noise or the noise of moving parts inside the car, but it is there all the time while moving and stops when stationary.

[Tonycv51]

jsp56 said:

Thanks for this? What is an ICE? I tried googling but it's a tricky word to pin down in context. Thanks!

I am planning to try pressing eDrive to try to get it into battery save mode, hoping that that will turn off the electric motor. That should show me if that is the source of the noise. I've no idea how to find out if it's the wheels. The dealer said they didn't have one with smaller wheels. Thanks!

ICE = internal combustion engine i.e. the 2 litre turbo petrol engine in this case

Re noise - on electric on 18's mine is limo smooth and whisper quiet - and you do therefore tend to notice any tyre rumble depending on road surface if the radio isn't on, but it's not loud or off-putting, more "it's so quiet I can hear a pin drop and the tyres on the road - that's awesome". On ICE/Petrol you don't tend to notice it

[Tonycv51]

jsp56 said:

Ah! I found it. No it's not the internal combustion engine kicking in because the noise is there when I move the gear stick to the left or to the right, so it's still there when the petrol engine is off. I haven't tried turning the electric motor right off yet though.

The noise seems just either like road noise or wind noise or the noise of moving parts inside the car, but it is there all the time while moving and stops when stationary.

if that's below 30-40mph then there's something wrong with the car - stone stuck in brakes / suspension, you're driving in a hurricane etc.

[Wonks]

jsp56 said:

Hello!

I have a 330e on extended test drive today and I wondered if I could ask more experienced owners a couple of questions?

The car has a lot of road noise in the cabin both at 30mph and 60mph and I wondered if this is from the run flat tyres that I have read about online (which can apparently be fixed by replacing the tyres) or if it is something else that cannot be fixed. It is present in both electric and petrol mode?

Also I have the 19" wheel version and it is quite bumpy to drive. I wondered if anyone has one with 16" wheels and if that was smoother?

Thanks!

Hi, I have the M-Sport with 19" 403M Alloys, Mine driving on Max eDrive and Eco pro is almost silent. Even in Auto mode I cannot hear the change from electric to ICE, the only time I really hear anything is if I put the gear selector from D to sport and plant my foot down, (although not that often). I would assume you may have an issue with the demo model you are driving.

[jsp56]

Hi,

Thanks for your thoughts. I just drove it again and did some more tests.

There is this deep dull rumble all the time. It's there with the gear stick on the left and on the right, and even if I put it in battery save mode. The rumble is there at 20mph and 30mph and at 50 or 60mph, but interestingly it is completely gone when I am reversing into my drive. So it is not a rumble of the engine operating.

I do wonder if it is the sound of the tyres on the road. The 19" wheels are very large and the rubber tyres very thin, so that might explain it. I should mention though - I do have sensitive hearing. I am the person who walks past those "silent" cat scarers in people's gardens with my hands over my ears. So I may well be noticing things that other would not.

It's great to hear different people's experiences of the different wheel sizes. That helps a lot.

Thanks!

[Jo330ems]

don't worry about the road/tyre noise, command the stereo to play your most favourite tunes, turn it up , and when safe and legal , give it some. I can guarantee the most sensitive of ears will move on!

[jsp56]

I like silence. :-)