BMW 225xe (2 Series Active Tourer)

[SidJames]

R0B3RT said:

Cfboys said:

So the x in 225xe means x drive.

Does this need to be manually activated in icy weather? What benefit does it offer?

I’ve been putting mine in sport mode in the snowy conditions. Means you get the electric on the rear wheel drive and the petrol on the front. If your battery is dead you only have a 2wd!

I've yet to test mine in the snow, but given the "range fear" I'd most likely start off on the petrol only ("save" mode) and make use of a FWD better grip, then knock it into sport for the uphill or thicker snow areas.

[C70R]

Did a bit of mild 'offroading' on a snowy field with slopes last weekend, and managed just fine with only FWD. It needed a bit of encouragement to get up one minor incline in reverse, but generally coped without too much aggro.

Otherwise the car plods on dutifully without delighting or disappointing. Exactly the reason it was bought.

[damolong]

Occasionally, normally when cold, even when fully charged my 225xe won’t run on electric. When you try and put it into Max electric it says something like ‘max electric not available (I forget the exact message). Then 5 mins later it allows you to. Anyone else experience this?

[Steven.Willerby]

damolong said:

Occasionally, normally when cold, even when fully charged my 225xe won’t run on electric. When you try and put it into Max electric it says something like ‘max electric not available (I forget the exact message). Then 5 mins later it allows you to. Anyone else experience this?

My 330e sometimes says something like ‘electric drive temporarily restricted, it will be available once the batteries are heated or cooled’

[Yeyeyeyeye]

damolong said:

Occasionally, normally when cold, even when fully charged my 225xe won’t run on electric. When you try and put it into Max electric it says something like ‘max electric not available (I forget the exact message). Then 5 mins later it allows you to. Anyone else experience this?

Yes - had the car for 3mths and it’s happened about 3 times this last week.

Once I was changing the driving mode from electric (default) to system controlled, but the other 2 times were from start up.

[R0B3RT]

Yeyeyeyeye said:

damolong said:

Occasionally, normally when cold, even when fully charged my 225xe won’t run on electric. When you try and put it into Max electric it says something like ‘max electric not available (I forget the exact message). Then 5 mins later it allows you to. Anyone else experience this?

Yes - had the car for 3mths and it’s happened about 3 times this last week.

Once I was changing the driving mode from electric (default) to system controlled, but the other 2 times were from start up.

Same happened on mine. Usually when it’s cold or dark and extra lights or heating going on first few minutes of a drive.

[SidJames]

Is there a "max-power" one button function, or one I can program?

I can select Sport and set e-drive to be system controlled (takes 3 button pushes), and using sports dials I can see circa 220 horses at peak revs, so all is good.

But can I make it a one button function?

[Somebody]

SidJames said:

Is there a "max-power" one button function, or one I can program?

I can select Sport and set e-drive to be system controlled (takes 3 button pushes), and using sports dials I can see circa 220 horses at peak revs, so all is good.

But can I make it a one button function?

No one button solution but I guess the next best thing is a push of the gearstick to the left?

[SidJames]

Somebody said:

No one button solution but I guess the next best thing is a push of the gearstick to the left?

I figured that would be the answer. I find it really rewarding to boot it and change up and down manually on a curvy country route....even though it will still change up and don automatically with te stick pushed to the left.

[C70R]

Did a 100+ mile trip this weekend (each way), with a fair bit of city driving at each end. Using Max e-Drive in town and Battery Saver on the motorway worked excellently, and the battery charged to 100% in around an hour of normal motorway driving.

However, these tyres are still horrendous for noise. I'd come to terms with the noise on normal surfaces, but the racket from the concrete 'slab' SW section of the M25 was some of the worst I've ever experienced in a car (more so than any old banger).
Has anyone tried swapping out the tyres for non-runflats/non-eco?

[R0B3RT]

C70R said:

Did a 100+ mile trip this weekend (each way), with a fair bit of city driving at each end. Using Max e-Drive in town and Battery Saver on the motorway worked excellently, and the battery charged to 100% in around an hour of normal motorway driving.

However, these tyres are still horrendous for noise. I'd come to terms with the noise on normal surfaces, but the racket from the concrete 'slab' SW section of the M25 was some of the worst I've ever experienced in a car (more so than any old banger).
Has anyone tried swapping out the tyres for non-runflats/non-eco?

I’m guessing most people here have it on lease so nobody is changing tyres on these 18month TM contracts.

[SidJames]

C70R said:

Did a 100+ mile trip this weekend (each way), with a fair bit of city driving at each end. Using Max e-Drive in town and Battery Saver on the motorway worked excellently, and the battery charged to 100% in around an hour of normal motorway driving.

thanks for that, I tried it out recently. Works great.

[jonwm]

SidJames said:

C70R said:

Did a 100+ mile trip this weekend (each way), with a fair bit of city driving at each end. Using Max e-Drive in town and Battery Saver on the motorway worked excellently, and the battery charged to 100% in around an hour of normal motorway driving.

thanks for that, I tried it out recently. Works great.

Do you not fine the save battery kills the MPG so negates the electric saving when in town? I've seen my 330e drop as low as 24mpg on the motorway when building charge?

[Jag_NE]

Slightly O/T but I had a 218d X-Drive as a rental when I was away with work, this week.

Was a decent drive, cabin space was very good. Nice spec with the HUD, adaptive cruise, rear cam etc. The boot wasn't great but if you aren't using push chairs or transporting a dog it should be adequate. Interior was quite nice. Engine pretty refined and smooth. Didn't check MPG.

I preferred my 530d in every aspect but I presume the RRP of this would have been a fair bit less.

[C70R]

jonwm said:

SidJames said:

C70R said:

Did a 100+ mile trip this weekend (each way), with a fair bit of city driving at each end. Using Max e-Drive in town and Battery Saver on the motorway worked excellently, and the battery charged to 100% in around an hour of normal motorway driving.

thanks for that, I tried it out recently. Works great.

Do you not fine the save battery kills the MPG so negates the electric saving when in town? I've seen my 330e drop as low as 24mpg on the motorway when building charge?

I don't really pay much attention to MPG, to be honest. I couldn't even tell you what it's averaging to a tank at the moment.

[C70R]

A puncture resulted in a trip to the tyre place, and £120 (inc. fitting) to Blackcircles.
It prompted me to go looking for the 'toolkit', which seems to consist of a compressor and a screwdriver (and the locking wheelnut key).

Charging at home continues to go pretty well. We don't have off-street parking, so we typically park outside the front door and trail an extension out of the house (and across the pavement). It's about 3hrs to fully charge, and very little hassle.

[Dyslexicwinker]

Update after 1600 miles. Firstly apologies to poster who asked whether it goes above 90mpg as ours hasn’t moved for months. Since we took delivery we’ve put in a tank and half at a cost of about £45. And still have half a tank left! Last trip to petrol station was January 7th! Our lass has made work install an outside socket and therefore we charge about 50%~75% less as she can charge at work and do return trip on one battery charge. Have no idea what current mpg is but it’s going to be north of 200mpg I’d imagine.

[C70R]

Dyslexicwinker said:

Update after 1600 miles. Firstly apologies to poster who asked whether it goes above 90mpg as ours hasn’t moved for months. Since we took delivery we’ve put in a tank and half at a cost of about £45. And still have half a tank left! Last trip to petrol station was January 7th! Our lass has made work install an outside socket and therefore we charge about 50%~75% less as she can charge at work and do return trip on one battery charge. Have no idea what current mpg is but it’s going to be north of 200mpg I’d imagine.

This sounds like your usage profile is ideal. We're slightly ahead of you, on 3,000 miles since December.

During the week MrsR is doing a 25-mile each-way commute and charging at both ends, which means it's almost all covered on battery. This is ideal, because many of these miles are covered in Greater London, where we're both concerned about air quality (hence buying it). However, our weekends drives tend to be longer runs (Norfolk this weekend), where we're only using battery at each end of the drive.

I must check in on the long-term economy, assuming it's hidden in the menu somewhere.

[SidJames]

Jag_NE said:

Slightly O/T but I had a 218d X-Drive as a rental when I was away with work, this week.

Was a decent drive, cabin space was very good. Nice spec with the HUD, adaptive cruise, rear cam etc. The boot wasn't great but if you aren't using push chairs or transporting a dog it should be adequate. Interior was quite nice. Engine pretty refined and smooth. Didn't check MPG.

I preferred my 530d in every aspect but I presume the RRP of this would have been a fair bit less.

Yes my F11 had loads more space, but active tourer will still take a buggy and shopping on top, and still quite a usable space even with a child seat in and one side of the rear seat down.

[mikey k]

Bought the wife a BMW 225XE because it had a good driving position, was AWD and drove well. A side benefit was being an EV as well.
It will do 20 miles on a 6hr 10A charge. That works out at 13.1p/mile on electric. Having drained the charge it's doing 40 mpg, at £1.25/litre, that is 14.0p/mile.
Not sure if gas/coal or wood in a power station massively reduces the CO2 output compared to burning petrol?
Dog seems to like it and it is very relaxing
Seems to suit her short dog walking and shopping trips