Anyone drive a BMW 330e

[fastwunz]

Hi folks,

I’ve had mine about a year and it’s just brilliant.

However I have a question about xtraboost.

My understanding is that in this mode, you get the full 292bhp (which is probably an understatement).

In my car, when I turn xtraboost on, it doesn’t appear to be available right away. The engine certainly engages and the screen turns red etc etc

At the top of the rev counter the blue bar turns grey after a few moments and then gradually disappears towards the top of the rev counter - it’s almost like it is indicating a ‘build up of power’ like a KERS system. This won’t happen however without some encouragement from my right foot and certainly not when the car is stationary.

In short it means that the car won’t rev out until the grey bar is gone and the full 7000rpm red line is displayed.

If I don’t use this power, after a short amount of time the grey bar re-appears and starts to fill back down the rev range thus limiting the revs available to me to use again. The car also feels slower. This is frustrating because say for instance you want to give it the beans from a set of lights, you have to be preparing the car way before you get there in order to give it time to build up xtraboost, for the blue bar to to turn grey and eventually disappear and for the full rev range to be available. Then, if you don’t use it, it all dissipates again - it’s quite unreliable.

Unless I’m an idiot and am just doing it wrong (which is entirely possible I grant you).

Forgive me, I know I could go post this on a bmw forum but I know there are plenty of bmw chaps on here so thought I would try my luck - felt it would benefit from its own thread too - hope that’s ok thanks

 

[fastwunz]

Sport mode, put it in manual, and whack your foot down
All power available then

You see, this is the issue.

I can put it into sport mode and nail it but, unless the grey bar has disappeared on the right hand side of my rev counter then the car won’t rev past about 4000 rpm - this will gradually increase as the grey bar disappears upwards and reveals higher and higher available revs

 

[fastwunz]

This is from a cold start?

Whenever you initially start the vehicle (unless it’s just a minute or so between starts and you previously had full xtraboost revs available at the time you shut the engine off previously) then yes, you never have the full rev range available at cold start. The car needs to be run in motion (not stationary) in xtraboost mode until such a time that the grey bar disappears and the full rev range is revealed. If you don’t then use xtraboost, then the grey bar gradually reappears and the revs are limited once more.

It’s like the car lets you go into xtraboost and then needs to build up the power available thus increasing the available revs to you. Should you not use it, then you need to encourage the car once more with your right foot to build up the power again as you watch the grey bar disappear upwards again and the full reg range reappears - it’s almost like a use it or loose it scenario

 

[fastwunz]

It seems like the OP is confusing a different bar for rpm though. Makes no sense to be limited again for rpm once you've used the 10 seconds extra power.

Should be very easy to test, 4k rpm sounds very different to 6.5k rpm.

Im leaning towards an engine heat management system as someone posted previously.

In effect what this means is that if i drive the car around on hybrid from first start without using the petrol engine enough for it to warm up, then, when i ask for Xtraboost for the first time and the engine engages, the car will not allow itself to rev past 4000rpm (because the engine is cold) thus limiting the performance significantly. I have to wait for the engine to warm up before the grey bar which is covering the numerical values for the RPM disappears and reveals more and more available revs and thus full performance.

It may well be that i get the full 297BHP the moment i engage xtraboost but it will not rev past 4k rpm until warm.

 

[fastwunz]

Go and google it master. Quit the Shakespeare.

This guy is clearly ragging it from cold.

Nope not ragging it from cold. Quite the contrary in reality - I was just describing the circumstances.

My biggest frustration is that once the grey power bar disappears and I have the full rev range available, if I don’t use xtraboost then the grey bar slowly reappears again limiting the available revs. I’m again assuming this is because the car uses power from the engine to warm the battery and, if xtraboost isn’t used, then the battery cools again beyond the required limit.

I’m assuming this is a battery temperature issue (as the battery is of course needed for xtraboost) rather an engine temp issue as I’ve been monitoring oil temps and this just doesn’t seem to make a difference.

 

[fastwunz]

I have no idea what this bar you are referring to, and I use my 330e mostly every day! I think you must be mis-understanding the display and it's meaning

Can you take a picture or video of it?



That's the best description I found.

Im on I-drive 8 - yours is the older system - ill see if i can upload a pic - thank you