BMW 330e owners thoughts?

I've been eyeing up a 330e touring to replace my wifes Octavia VRS estate. Her commute to work is only around 6 miles each way so doable on electric only. My only concern was that I read that fuel economy on a long run when running on petrol only was quite poor. I was swaying towards a 330i touring, but reading this thread doesn't make it out anywhere near as bad as i thought.
 
dale1uk said:
I've been eyeing up a 330e touring to replace my wifes Octavia VRS estate. Her commute to work is only around 6 miles each way so doable on electric only. My only concern was that I read that fuel economy on a long run when running on petrol only was quite poor. I was swaying towards a 330i touring, but reading this thread doesn't make it out anywhere near as bad as i thought.
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On a run they are great, round town, when not on electric it can be as low as mid 20’s in winter.

My long term average was 55mpg, that’s over 90k, probably 80% motorway.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I didn't charge it like that, I just didn't want it to drop past 50% knowing I had a long drive home. I know that's not very logical, but it makes me happy.

I've been averaging 65 mpg.
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Didn’t have that feature on mine, i guess yours is the facelift with the newer drive?
 
Tee Hee Johnson said:
I’m averaging about 32mpg, but I mainly do the 4 mile drive to work and back. Only once or twice a week do I do anything more economical.

It’s a 330i
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Thats similar to what my wife is getting averaging now with her commute. Whats the 330i like on a run? We usually see late 30s/very low 40s in the VRS
 
dale1uk said:
Her commute to work is only around 6 miles each way so doable on electric only. My only concern was that I read that fuel economy on a long run when running on petrol only was quite poor.
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Surely you need to look at the number of miles you'll do on electric, and then what mileage you'll do beyond that to see if ti makes any difference? Loads of people have this issue with public EV charging, they complain that it costs 75ppkWh or whatever, but they'll only use it 3 times per year so their average cost is something like 8ppkWh, in the grand scheme of things it increases the running cost minimally. I mean you could go the whole hog and just get an iD.7 or Enyaq etc. then stop worrying about the MPG's.
 
Journey said:
Surely you need to look at the number of miles you'll do on electric, and then what mileage you'll do beyond that to see if ti makes any difference? Loads of people have this issue with public EV charging
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You won't be using public charging with a 330e - the battery is small and it won't fast charge so it'll take hours and hours. You charge it at home and drive it like a normal car if you're away from home for long enough that charge becomes an issue.

I am not convinced it makes much difference in terms of running costs - the electric range is low enough that its hardly expensive to do that with petrol so the saving isn't massive. The benefit is that its nice to drive.
 
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[TW]Fox said:
You won't be using public charging with a 330e - the battery is small and it won't fast charge so it'll take hours and hours. You charge it at home and drive it like a normal car if you're away from home for long enough that charge becomes an issue.

I am not convinced it makes much difference in terms of running costs - the electric range is low enough that its hardly expensive to do that with petrol so the saving isn't massive. The benefit is that its nice to drive.
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You need re-read what I wrote, I didn't say they would be public charging, I was comparing the cost per mile issue on a long run. If the commute is 6 miles each way 5 days a week, that is 60 miles per week, at 48 weeks per year assuming standard holidays are taken, that's 2880 mile s that are guaranteed to be electric if it is charged, if you then include other 'local' driving e.g. super market runs, etc. then you are probably hitting 4k miles per year on electric, if doing 7k miles per year then the other 3k would be impacted by the lower MPG, but the offset saving is bigger from electric than the loss of the MPG figure for the longer runs.

It's not hard to calculate either, 4k miles at 7ppwkWh and 3 mpkWh - under £100, add 3k miles on petrol at 30MPG at £1.4l you get £635 for a total of ~£735, same total 7k miles at 40 mpg in a 330i £1100ish. So a lower MPG doesn't make that much of a difference, and even if you are getting more MPG in 330i or less in 330e you'll still end up at a similar cost. You personally will like come back and say saving £300-400 doesn't matter, but its the point that it isn't more expensive
 
[TW]Fox said:
The UK BMW engine range is now very poor, generally only one normal petrol offering in each range.

New 5 series is great, unless you want a plug in hybrid you can only have a 520i.
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I found this issue. Wanted to replace m340i with a 540i but all the facelift ones were hybrid 545e.
 
resurrecting an old thread but it seems most appropriate:

I'm currently tempted by a high milage (80k) 3 year old 330e, and wondered what would be the main pitfalls?
I'm not a "car guy", and I've never owned any kind of EV or PHEV, thus I feel like a bit of a noob / easily taken for a ride.

I'm assuming that the battery will not have it's new performance, but will the distance covered not suggest it was mainly motorway miles, and indeed does that bring pitfalls in itself?

It looks in good condition and has full service history.

What questions should I ask when I go to look at it?
 
Littlenose said:
resurrecting an old thread but it seems most appropriate:

I'm currently tempted by a high milage (80k) 3 year old 330e, and wondered what would be the main pitfalls?
I'm not a "car guy", and I've never owned any kind of EV or PHEV, thus I feel like a bit of a noob / easily taken for a ride.

I'm assuming that the battery will not have it's new performance, but will the distance covered not suggest it was mainly motorway miles, and indeed does that bring pitfalls in itself?

It looks in good condition and has full service history.

What questions should I ask when I go to look at it?
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I’ve mentioned this a few times elsewhere, and it is a sample size of one, I know, but here’s why I opted not to buy one when looking at one vs a 320d:


Test drove 330e with 60k miles. The guy charged the battery to just over half and once I got on the road, it said 6 miles of electric range.


I thought it’d be because it was sat there, but when driving it just dropped further. By the time I got back it was “flat”, which was only 6-8 miles at most.



I decided that taking on the risk of battery degradation and replacement wasn’t worth it vs just getting a petrol or diesel.


New? Great. Wouldn’t do it used.
 
Also keep in mind that the battery warranty is 6 years/60,000 miles, so unless the current owner has taken out a new warranty, you're on the hook if the battery needs replacing.
 
My 2020 330e with 95k miles did 17 miles in winter and 27 in the warmer months. Most I got was 32.

Long term average was 55mpg by the time it went back. 42-45mpg on a run if you start with no charge. Economy was respectable.

Downsides are the pitiful boot and tiny fuel tank. But still a bloody good car to drive imo.
 
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I’ve got a very late 2023 plate Msport pro touring 330e. I get about 26 miles or so electric range (best I got was 30) but you can charge the battery off the engine if needs be.

The boot is smaller but still adequate. The fuel tank is just a bit too small and is a gripe.

However this is falls by the wayside when you sit in it, drive it and enjoy it.

It looks great, goes like stink and is beautifully quiet and sedate when it needs to be.

I wouldn’t get a high mileage one though because of battery degradation.

My average is currently long term 49mpg
 
Tinders said:
My 2020 330e with 95k miles did 17 miles in winter and 27 in the warmer months. Most I got was 32.

Long term average was 55mpg by the time it went back. 42-45mpg on a run if you start with no charge. Economy was respectable.

Downsides are the pitiful boot and tiny fuel tank. But still a bloody good car to drive imo.
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I agree but you can get very similar numbers with a 320i or 330i without the added risks, which is the main issue IMO.


I opted for a 320d because I was doing big miles in it in the few trips I did in it.


Edit: not saying it isn’t worth it, because I actually loved it to drive more than a 320d.

Loved the electric shove and the gearbox behaved a lot better. Very smooth experience.
 
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Tinders said:
Downsides are the pitiful boot and tiny fuel tank. But still a bloody good car to drive imo.
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This is why I opted for the 320i instead, I think the battery needing replacing isn't really an issue as I've not heard any stories regarding them being common replacements personally
 
88k 2020 330e here. I bought it on 71k in June last year.

Was getting as low as 18 miles range in the deep winter cold this year, back up to mid twenties mostly now. Saw 28 last week

I think I once saw 32 in my first few weeks of ownership in the summer.

I went for the estate version, and as such the small boot is not really a problem. I also think the battery health problem is overstated in general.

This article put my mind at ease when I was looking:
 
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