BMW Active Hybrid 3

[ATM]

I believe its probably pitched at the American market because they dont do diesel. Now you can't avoid congestion charge too so there are less reasons to go for a hybrid. Unless you want a 335i with 18% BIK and KERS.

[peteA]

ATM said:

Hello PeteA

I like your colour combo. I didn't really have a choice as this was just in the showroom on the day I wandered in. I would prefer to have the smaller wheels if I am honest as the rft are starting to annoy me a little and I dont think I need 19 inch wheels. I will probably switch to winter tyres soon and I dont think 19 inch winters make sense.

Do you notice a vagueness in the brake pedal? I am assuming this is the energy harvesting thing doing its thing rather than the brake pads / discs converting energy to heat and dust.

I keep putting the car in Eco-mode - do you ever use it?

Hi ATM

I don't think the car needs 19's visually either but can't comment on the ride as I've only ever had 18's. When I first got the car I used to put it in Eco Pro mode but soon got tired of the tardy throttle and dulled responses - the novelty soon wore off! Its interesting watching the results though.

The brake pedal feel can be a bit odd - there's plenty off stopping power and feedback when you stand on them but a slow speed or trickling along in traffic they can grab or release suddenly and you're right its because of the brake harvesting system re-charging the battery pack. If you watch the gauge when you a free wheeling as it where (down hill) you will you one bar on the graphics charging - if you add braking, it goes to full recharging until you stop?

The only other minor gripe for me is that the whole set can get a bit confused sometimes - for example, on approaching a roundabout and looking for a gap the car can drop into electric mode just when you are about to pull away and accelerate... this results in much processing and faffing about with motors, clutches, etc and can result in a clunky get away. The description sounds worse than it is in reality, just something to be aware of maybe. This can all be alleviated by sticking it in sport!

Anyone reading this thinking you can drive for miles on electric power alone needs to check the BMW website! You are lucky if you get 2 miles and as soon as you go over about 35 mph the engine kicks in....and at any time during your 30mph 2 mile journey you decide to accelerate briskly the engine chimes in. The real benefits are in travelling in slow moving traffic, housing estates, car parks, etc where you are saving fuel and this all happens mostly seamlessly as its all automated.

Overall I'm very impressed with mine so hope you enjoy it OP!

[ATM]

peteA said:

Anyone reading this thinking you can drive for miles on electric power alone needs to check the BMW website! You are lucky if you get 2 miles and as soon as you go over about 35 mph the engine kicks in....and at any time during your 30mph 2 mile journey you decide to accelerate briskly the engine chimes in. The real benefits are in travelling in slow moving traffic, housing estates, car parks, etc where you are saving fuel and this all happens mostly seamlessly as its all automated.

I was in some slower moving / crawling traffic on the M6 yesterday - as usual. This worked well using the Hybrid gubbins. Right now my Blue number - I believe this tells me how many miles I've managed to extend my fuel with free motoring on battery power - says....

I will confirm this before I start exaggerating wildly and report back.

I think the car would perform well in city based commuter traffic if economy is your thing. I'm pretty impressed with the thrust in full fat mode. I believe this uses both electric and petrol power simultaneously.

[peteA]

''I'm pretty impressed with the thrust in full fat mode. I believe this uses both electric and petrol power simultaneously.'' In reality its better at this than economy! ...and your right about the electric and engine working together. From memory the 0-60mph time is 5.1 second and with 8 speeds to play with the grunt is available pretty much everywhere. Like someone said earlier its not far off M3 performance but obviously totally different in character.

''a 335i with 18% BIK and KERS.'' - this pretty much sums up my approach to the car when I went to order it.

The Active Hybrids come well specced for some reason - only things I added were pro sat nav and heated seats.

Found an interior shot of mine...

[ATM]

peteA said:

ATM said:

I'm pretty impressed with the thrust in full fat mode. I believe this uses both electric and petrol power simultaneously.

In reality its better at this than economy! ...and your right about the electric and engine working together. From memory the 0-60mph time is 5.1 second and with 8 speeds to play with the grunt is available pretty much everywhere. Like someone said earlier its not far off M3 performance but obviously totally different in character.

ATM said:

a 335i with 18% BIK and KERS.

- this pretty much sums up my approach to the car when I went to order it.

The Active Hybrids come well specced for some reason - only things I added were pro sat nav and heated seats.

Found an interior shot of mine...

Nice

I don't particularly like black seats and the blue on mine is a bit shouty - oh well.

The good news is I am pleased with the comfort of the seat after a good hour of driving. You cant ever be sure this will be the case on a test drive. I had an E65 730d sport which used to annoy round the shoulder area after a while - I suspect due to the sporty wings they have.

[ATM]

ATM said:

I was in some slower moving / crawling traffic on the M6 yesterday - as usual. This worked well using the Hybrid gubbins. Right now my Blue number - I believe this tells me how many miles I've managed to extend my fuel with free motoring on battery power - says....

I will confirm this before I start exaggerating wildly and report back.

So I am fairly certain my Blue number said 33.6 miles last night after work. This morning when I got to work it said 30.7 miles. So it seems to have gone down.

[ATM]

So I've managed to drive the car round successfully for 2 weeks - amazing I know - and I am getting used to it. Overall the relationship is going well so far.

I've been ebay hunting for some suitable winter wheels. I visited a BMW dealer - not the one where I bought the car - and found they were displaying a set of winter tyes on some alloy wheels. The price £1700 - ouch. I don't really know if I like the idea of Run Flat Winter Tyres. I am not a big fan of Run Flat tyres full stop.

My brother asked me about the locking nut which made me think - where is it. I rummaged round and found a spot for it which is empty. So an email to the BMW sales guy followed. They've now told me I have to go back to the dealership with the car so they can identify which nut I need.

[ATM]

So BMW have now identified which locking wheel nuts I have. The key / adapter I need has been ordered.

I found a set off 17 inch wheels from an F30 on ebay here - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

I think the seller is a BMW garage. They offered to check they'd fit my car and the answer they've come back with is No they wont fit. Back to Square 1.

[ATM]

Holywow said:

http://www.approved.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details...

I'm tempted by this car.

Any advice ?

What the electric drive like ?

Have you driven it?

It depends what you want from a car - if you're being sensible then how much city driving you'll be doing compared to motorway or if you're not being sensible and just want a more grown up 135i?

[ATM]

I've ordered some OZ Allegerita wheels in 17 inch diameter. 8 inch wide for front and back. Hopefully they'll be arriving next week. I believe these are only 7kg per wheel. That's a massive reduction from the 19 inch wheels I have right now which are 13kg per wheel. I'll get the bathroom scales out once I've got some tyres organised. I might just use the 225 50 17 Nankang Winters I have from last year.

http://www.ozracing.co.uk/car_wheels_var/OZ%20Raci...

[ATM]

Holywow said:

ATM said:

Have you driven it?

It depends what you want from a car - if you're being sensible then how much city driving you'll be doing compared to motorway or if you're not being sensible and just want a more grown up 135i?

I've driven one which bmw parklane have for sale which I liked only it's 10k more.
98% London City driving avg 17mph.
And the occasional trip to the coast and occasional wine trip to France.
I like all the extras they come with park assist heated electric seats and the extra economy is neither here or there I guess.

Ok so did you experience the hybrid thing?

I didn't get chance to really test it on the test drive. I was more interested in the 335i engine with a lower BIK rating. I've never driven any other hybrid car so I'm no expert. I know I like mine for sure. The switch from Electric to Petrol is very seemless. There can be some gearbox jerking if you have it in Eco Mode as the car tries its hardest to save as much petrol as possible. Switch the car to Comfort and this goes away. I also have a Sport setting and then the gearbox can be set to Sport too. I dont know how much of this is on your car as mine is the M sport. All that aside the car drives well pottering and has more than enough grunt for pressing on. The engine sounds good too. You can drive a couple of miles on electric only before the engine cuts in. The engine will switch off at any speed up to about 70 or 80mph when going down hill for example. If you feather the throttle going down hill it will use battery only. Sometimes the brake pedal can feel a bit numb. I think this is because it tries to harvest the energy when you press it gently rather than just apply pads to disc and generate heat. I've drive for 4 hours without stopping and the seat feels fine. My current mpg is 41 but I do a lot of motorway driving in traffic so 60mph.

I could waffle on more but I dont want to bore you...

[ATM]

Holywow said:

Not boring.
I'm very interested
I'm in the process of specifying a new 335i the salesman offered me a drive in the hybrid as they didn't have a 335i to demo.

I've not driven a vanilla 335i. If the deal is appealing with the Hybrid then get it bought. I agree it seems cheap. Especially over a new one.

What else can I tell you?

[ATM]

Holywow said:

ATM said:

I've not driven a vanilla 335i. If the deal is appealing with the Hybrid then get it bought. I agree it seems cheap. Especially over a new one.

What else can I tell you?

It the transition from electric to engine in anyway irritating?
Seemed fine on the test drive but living with something every day?

It is unnoticeable. When I demo this to friends I have to tell them to look at the rev counter otherwise it is un-perceptible. If anything the engine persisting to stay on when the engine is cold is more irritating. When navigating driveway etc at low speeds you have to give the brake pedal a very firm press when the engine is running on choke to slow the car.

[ATM]

Holywow did you read this above -

ATM said:

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/bmw-3-series-hy...

Think x35i with F1 style KERS

[ATM]

ATM said:

I've ordered some OZ Allegerita wheels in 17 inch diameter. 8 inch wide for front and back. Hopefully they'll be arriving next week. I believe these are only 7kg per wheel. That's a massive reduction from the 19 inch wheels I have right now which are 13kg per wheel. I'll get the bathroom scales out once I've got some tyres organised. I might just use the 225 50 17 Nankang Winters I have from last year.

http://www.ozracing.co.uk/car_wheels_var/OZ%20Raci...

Had a call from the supplier. It seems the OZ factory want to know what size my engine is. Not exactly inspiring me with confidence. So even though the wheel is listed on their website as fitting my car they want to ask me what engine it has.

[Max M4X WW]

ATM said:

ATM said:

I've ordered some OZ Allegerita wheels in 17 inch diameter. 8 inch wide for front and back. Hopefully they'll be arriving next week. I believe these are only 7kg per wheel. That's a massive reduction from the 19 inch wheels I have right now which are 13kg per wheel. I'll get the bathroom scales out once I've got some tyres organised. I might just use the 225 50 17 Nankang Winters I have from last year.

http://www.ozracing.co.uk/car_wheels_var/OZ%20Raci...

Had a call from the supplier. It seems the OZ factory want to know what size my engine is. Not exactly inspiring me with confidence. So even though the wheel is listed on their website as fitting my car they want to ask me what engine it has.

Strange, what difference would it make?!

[ATM]

Max M4X WW said:

Strange, what difference would it make?!

I would guess a smaller engine means smaller brakes and a bigger engine means bigger brakes. What other reason could there be for them to ask. My car is only available with one engine and that is the case worldwide. The only conclusion for me is that the OZ factory have never supplied a wheel for my car and they're guessing at something.

[KevSeymour]

Interesting car OP, didn't know they existed til now. Looking at the first picture you posted it doesn't look like you've got much spare room between the rim and brake caliper? You may only be able to go down to an 18?

[ATM]

KevSeymour said:

Interesting car OP, didn't know they existed til now. Looking at the first picture you posted it doesn't look like you've got much spare room between the rim and brake caliper? You may only be able to go down to an 18?

BMW sell a couple of 17 inch winter wheel and tyre packages for my car. They want 1700 quid though and I'm no fan of run flat tyres. I got a list from the delears of which will fit and which wont so it must be tight. If there were some wheels on ebay for reasonable money I'd go that route happily. I might stick to 17 inch after winter too.

[ATM]

OZ now say these will not fit. So I get a refund and No wheels.