BMW 330e ordered...

[Joscal]

Cruciate said:

Mine is 2 months old and I'm getting 12 miles in mild weather and 10 in cold.
My first journey in the morning is all uphill though.
I am, however, trying really hard to drive as efficiently as possible. So I'm somewhat disappointed in that.
The car is fabulous on the whole though

Same here i just about get to work but more range would be much appreciated as I wouldn't need to fill up at all..

I'm still very happy with it though, perfect for what I need.

[S1bs]

Cruciate said:

Mine is 2 months old and I'm getting 12 miles in mild weather and 10 in cold.
My first journey in the morning is all uphill though.
I am, however, trying really hard to drive as efficiently as possible. So I'm somewhat disappointed in that.
The car is fabulous on the whole though

Cruciate - 12 miles in the current weather seems a bit on low side.

I can get at least 16 miles range in the current weather, down from around 20 to 22 miles in the height of the summer.

Think you may be correct about the uphill journey taking it's toll on the range, especially if it also involves a lot of stop start motoring.

Couple of examples of regular trips that I made on battery only in the last week or so.

A 4 mile trip, with one or two stops for roundabouts etc but little traffic, at an average of about 45mph uses about 25% of the battery.

A 13 mile trip into central London, lots of stop starts due to congestion / traffic lights etc but at a lower speed of around 20-25mph takes about 65 to 70% of the charge.

One thing that I may have in my favour, is that my previous car was a Lexus Hybrid and I have got into the habit of coasting or gently braking to a stop whenever possible to get the most out of the regeneration system.
I suspect the 330e, like my old Lexus can't reclaim all the energy if you brake too heavily and it's just lost.
You can see this if you run for a while in Eco-Pro and watch the gauge under the rev-counter. If you brake gently or coast, the charging line moves to the left, but brake harder and it disappears completely showing that it's not recovering the energy any more.

Hope this helps.

Edited by S1bs on Friday 5th October 16:24

[TB404]

Hello,
What's the fastest way to launch the car in electric only mode, from a light for example?

I tried max-e + sports mode and it doesn't feel super fast... I understand that above a certain speed (70mph?) the ICE kicks in but I'm not planing to go over 62 mph.

Thank you!

[DragonflyTrumpeter]

TB404 said:

Hello,
What's the fastest way to launch the car in electric only mode, from a light for example?

I tried max-e + sports mode and it doesn't feel super fast... I understand that above a certain speed (70mph?) the ICE kicks in but I'm not planing to go over 62 mph.

Thank you!

Max e drive + sport is fine. But what do you expect from 87hp?

Not super fast, that is for sure

[Giz1972]

I did a run the other day on the motorway in e drive mode and standard drive, I were still in electric touching 80mph ( obviously put the breaks on back down to 70 when I realised).

DragonflyTrumpeter said:

Max e drive + sport is fine. But what do you expect from 87hp?

Not super fast, that is for sure

[TB404]

BTW
How do you feel about the 330e Brakes (standard not M Sport ones)
Going fast on motorways and braking hard I get a feeling they aren't very powerful, perhaps it's a combination of regen braking and 'strange' feel in the pedal, or the weight of the car?
It has the same brakes as the 320i but 295Kg more? What do you think?

[South tdf]

Never noticed any performance problems with my first 330e’s standard M Sport brakes. If anything they had more feel, especially at low speed than the M Performance ones on my current car. I did however have a set of pads and disks changed due to a judder.

[RicksAlfas]

Cruciate said:

Mine is 2 months old and I'm getting 12 miles in mild weather and 10 in cold.
My first journey in the morning is all uphill though.
I am, however, trying really hard to drive as efficiently as possible. So I'm somewhat disappointed in that.
The car is fabulous on the whole though

Is there a way you can force it to use the engine for that first part of the journey? The cold start, uphill, heating the car will use a lot of battery.

[TB404]

South tdf said:

Never noticed any performance problems with my first 330e’s standard M Sport brakes. If anything they had more feel, especially at low speed than the M Performance ones on my current car. I did however have a set of pads and disks changed due to a judder.

Thank you,
Just to be clear do you have the M sport brakes? I'm talking about the Vanilla ones

[DragonflyTrumpeter]

Giz1972 said:

I did a run the other day on the motorway in e drive mode and standard drive, I were still in electric touching 80mph ( obviously put the breaks on back down to 70 when I realised).

Yes, 74 real speed is the quoted electric limit. But to be fair, 0 - 74 takes about 3 minutes in 87hp e-drive and not rapid, as TB404 was enquiring about

[Funkydunc]

Couple of things.

I will soon be moving employers and unfortunately I will not get a lease car with the new employer. One potential option is to purchase my 2016 330e MSport 32k miles. I love the car and don't want to see it go.

If the lease company offer it at a reasonable price, would you consider taken a 330e in to private ownership?

Secondly I spoke to BMW this morning to gauge servicing costs and they said between £500-£900 !! However what they said that was more concerning is that the car has a recall due on it for a starter motor and software update (I assume the one which actually makes it use the battery half intelligently). Has anyone had the above recalls to their 330e?

Thanks

[aberdeeneuan]

Funkydunc said:

Couple of things.

I will soon be moving employers and unfortunately I will not get a lease car with the new employer. One potential option is to purchase my 2016 330e MSport 32k miles. I love the car and don't want to see it go.

If the lease company offer it at a reasonable price, would you consider taken a 330e in to private ownership?

Secondly I spoke to BMW this morning to gauge servicing costs and they said between £500-£900 !! However what they said that was more concerning is that the car has a recall due on it for a starter motor and software update (I assume the one which actually makes it use the battery half intelligently). Has anyone had the above recalls to their 330e?

Thanks

I did consider doing this with mine. Lease company couldn't give me a price and it just got too complicated, but I liked mine a lot so would def have taken it on. In saying that, would depend hugely on price as 330e are about for just over 20K. Other consideration is warranty - they are still complicated cars and a fair few people on here have had niggles (usually very minor, some more so) so I'd be tempted by making sure it was in warranty. Mine had software updates done no issues, didn't hear about the starter motor though before mine went back.

[South tdf]

TB404 said:

Thank you,
Just to be clear do you have the M sport brakes? I'm talking about the Vanilla ones

Sorry, did not make that very clear. 1st car was standard brakes, did 60,000 miles but needed disks and pads changed due to judder (noticeable at high speeds). Current car is fully loaded and has the M Performance brakes and it has less feel in my opinion (have also noticed the hazard lights keep coming on when braking hard but I think that’s my driving style at times).

[caseys]

Mine has had the software update and the starter motor recall done on it (I did have some drivetrain issues flag up so that triggered getting me in for the replacement)

It’s had two services now. 43k miles. Lease is up next month and have ordered an i3

[TB404]

South tdf said:

Sorry, did not make that very clear. 1st car was standard brakes, did 60,000 miles but needed disks and pads changed due to judder (noticeable at high speeds). Current car is fully loaded and has the M Performance brakes and it has less feel in my opinion (have also noticed the hazard lights keep coming on when braking hard but I think that’s my driving style at times).

Thanks that is clear, I really wanted the M Performance breaks, but I bought used and the one the wife loved because of the colour (Sunset Orange, gorgeous to be fair) Was an M Sport but no M breaks...

I'm very happy with the M Sport suspension, I tested the vanilla version and much prefer it.

What a terrific car!

[Funkydunc]

My lease company have come back to me asking for £17,600 for my 2016 330e MSport with HK & rear folding seats.

Very tempted to buy, appears to be about £1k off current market value.

[TB404]

South tdf said:

Never noticed any performance problems with my first 330e’s standard M Sport brakes. If anything they had more feel, especially at low speed than the M Performance ones on my current car. I did however have a set of pads and disks changed due to a judder.

Thank you,
Just to be clear do you have the M sport brakes? I'm talking about the Vanilla ones

[jonwm]

TB404 said:

South tdf said:

Never noticed any performance problems with my first 330e’s standard M Sport brakes. If anything they had more feel, especially at low speed than the M Performance ones on my current car. I did however have a set of pads and disks changed due to a judder.

Thank you,
Just to be clear do you have the M sport brakes? I'm talking about the Vanilla ones

I think the standard brakes are shocking, fill me with absolutely no confidence at all, all my previous cars (including BMW's) feel much better. I'm putting it down the re way it converts the braking to energy?

[craig1912]

jonwm said:

I think the standard brakes are shocking, fill me with absolutely no confidence at all, all my previous cars (including BMW's) feel much better. I'm putting it down the re way it converts the braking to energy?

Tend to agree- I had a 430d before and brakes were much better

[humpy999]

TB404 said:

humpy999 said:

Depends what you mean by 'proper'? I have the Advanced system and I replaced all the speakers and subwoofers with Bavsound replacements.

Thanks Mate,
Did you replace the Amp as well?

I'm thinking of adding two Sinfoni amps, probably 2x165W & 2x100W - without any sub at the moment. I hope the current draw own't overwhelm the system, I understand the key component is teh DC-DC converter (that's supposed to top the conventional low voltage car battery) - I asked BMW for the specs and they found them, it's about 31 Amps... Not much.

The comparable part in a Chevy Volt for example (A VERY different car that I won't like to drive) is 150 Amps...

No I didn't, well at least not yet. I do need to though but the speakers offer an enormous improvement in sound quality. I'd probably go for the Audiotec Fischer one that Bavsound promote as I'm lazy like that...