BMW 330e advice
Discussion
Hi all, new company car due in May. 1 option being discussed is the new 330e M Sport.
Any current owners out there? Any real life experiences with them? I’ll be doing around 25k a year.
Should I stick with diesel? I’m home office based and car used solely for work so company car tax becomes an irrelevance. Like the idea of the perceived green nature of the car, plus close to 290bhp can’t be bad.
Any current owners out there? Any real life experiences with them? I’ll be doing around 25k a year.
Should I stick with diesel? I’m home office based and car used solely for work so company car tax becomes an irrelevance. Like the idea of the perceived green nature of the car, plus close to 290bhp can’t be bad.
My mate had the 530e for a while before his employer went into liquidation. The 530e and 330e share drivetrains. On the running costs he found it wasn't suited to long journeys. Also he couldn't charge it at home, so for short journeys it was also compromised. He wished he could have had the 530i or 540i, but either would have screwed him in BIK. But these cars aren't alone, all similar hybrids are - well - similar! The boot space on the 530e and 330e is compromised thanks to the batteries.
If you get a fuel card from work, fill your boots!
He had to buy a fleet of cars in his new role, and bought Skoda Octavia TDI's. Good (great) MPG, low emissions, and fit for the 25k miles/year each one will do.
If you get a fuel card from work, fill your boots!
He had to buy a fleet of cars in his new role, and bought Skoda Octavia TDI's. Good (great) MPG, low emissions, and fit for the 25k miles/year each one will do.
Edited by BFleming on Thursday 23 January 21:24
I test drove the 330e M Sport Plus recently from Cotswold BMW.
The positives:
- Picks up really well in combined mode. Battery assisted petrol is a good combo. Easily as fast or faster than most non M cars of the previous 3 litre generation due to torque low down.
- The rev sound is decent (even if fake)
- Ride quality is fantastic, adaptive damping
- if you do regular sub 30 mile trips with charger at each end you will reduce your fuel consumption by 75% easily. I got 200-300mpg over a 15 mile battery assisted stint.
The negatives
- Feels cheap materials inside, particularly steering wheel that feels like rice paper to the touch. My 10 year old M e91 m sport is far nicer with stitched leather wheel and gearknob.
- Electric steering feel is s
t. Again, 10year old e91 way better.
- Battery reduces boot practicality a fair bit. 20%smaller due to battery. Not a ground up integration like an EV which have bigger boots.
- 8 speed gearbox... what's the point? Too many to drive in manual. Shifts up and down for when trying to chase revs. Probably with all bmw f30 onward autos IMO. Cant drive it properly, just have to leave it in auto and hope it gets it right.
Conclusion: if the battery assist saves you loads of fuel money and/or taxes it might be a good option.
Me? Sticking with my 10 year old manual 320d got for 5k a year ago. There is no way I'll save 42k in fuel and taxes (the 330e I tested was 47k list price!).
The positives:
- Picks up really well in combined mode. Battery assisted petrol is a good combo. Easily as fast or faster than most non M cars of the previous 3 litre generation due to torque low down.
- The rev sound is decent (even if fake)
- Ride quality is fantastic, adaptive damping
- if you do regular sub 30 mile trips with charger at each end you will reduce your fuel consumption by 75% easily. I got 200-300mpg over a 15 mile battery assisted stint.
The negatives
- Feels cheap materials inside, particularly steering wheel that feels like rice paper to the touch. My 10 year old M e91 m sport is far nicer with stitched leather wheel and gearknob.
- Electric steering feel is s
t. Again, 10year old e91 way better.- Battery reduces boot practicality a fair bit. 20%smaller due to battery. Not a ground up integration like an EV which have bigger boots.
- 8 speed gearbox... what's the point? Too many to drive in manual. Shifts up and down for when trying to chase revs. Probably with all bmw f30 onward autos IMO. Cant drive it properly, just have to leave it in auto and hope it gets it right.
Conclusion: if the battery assist saves you loads of fuel money and/or taxes it might be a good option.
Me? Sticking with my 10 year old manual 320d got for 5k a year ago. There is no way I'll save 42k in fuel and taxes (the 330e I tested was 47k list price!).
Graham The Bruce said:
Hi all, new company car due in May. 1 option being discussed is the new 330e M Sport.
Any current owners out there? Any real life experiences with them? I’ll be doing around 25k a year.
Should I stick with diesel? I’m home office based and car used solely for work so company car tax becomes an irrelevance. Like the idea of the perceived green nature of the car, plus close to 290bhp can’t be bad.
Long running thread here:Any current owners out there? Any real life experiences with them? I’ll be doing around 25k a year.
Should I stick with diesel? I’m home office based and car used solely for work so company car tax becomes an irrelevance. Like the idea of the perceived green nature of the car, plus close to 290bhp can’t be bad.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
More recent one here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Both have some good info.
tenmantaylor said:
8 speed gearbox... what's the point? Too many to drive in manual. Shifts up and down for when trying to chase revs. Probably with all bmw f30 onward autos IMO. Cant drive it properly, just have to leave it in auto and hope it gets it right.
That's pretty much the only criticism I've ever read of that gearbox. I find it a lovely drive in manual mode when conditions dictate. Around town, granted, mine sits in auto.Ive had my G20 330e since December, covering aroung 1000 miles, just under 50% of these have been on electric power, the car tells me overall this is 68mpg. When running just the petrol on a longer journey its around 30-35 mpg due to the extra weight.
My commmute is 18 miles each way and I am currently getting around 25 miles out of a charge so covers most of my commute on a round trip. I do the odd long journey hence why just over half overall has been on the petrol.
As mentioned, the car does ride better than a G20 320d which we had for a few months before - both had M Sport Plus so were running 19s, but I did test drive a 330e on the 18s and the ride was even better still. The boot is compromised, even more so with the cables in there, so I would check its suitable for what you need.
On a purely fuel perspective it works for me as I do around 8-10k per annum and I do charge it daily but doing 25kpa I would think you would be better off in a diesel that gets 50mpg- ignoring any tax/BIK savings ofcourse which may swing it back in favour for you.
My commmute is 18 miles each way and I am currently getting around 25 miles out of a charge so covers most of my commute on a round trip. I do the odd long journey hence why just over half overall has been on the petrol.
As mentioned, the car does ride better than a G20 320d which we had for a few months before - both had M Sport Plus so were running 19s, but I did test drive a 330e on the 18s and the ride was even better still. The boot is compromised, even more so with the cables in there, so I would check its suitable for what you need.
On a purely fuel perspective it works for me as I do around 8-10k per annum and I do charge it daily but doing 25kpa I would think you would be better off in a diesel that gets 50mpg- ignoring any tax/BIK savings ofcourse which may swing it back in favour for you.
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