Where would you go next...

Leonard Hofstadter

bazz26 wrote: »

It's a great gearbox imo. Very smooth and fast shifting like the DSG. It's used across the range except for the M cars afaik.

Now that EOP has occurred for the M4, the only M car that doesn't use the 8 speed ZF is the M2, that still has the DCT should you want one without a clutch pedal.

carsfan2

CIP4 wrote: »

Yes any of the reviews I watched say the gearbox is decent. In general the reviews on the 330i G20 are very positive say its a great mix of performance while still being practical and not too mad.

330i may just be the sweet spot in the 3 series range.
Petrol and enough power to be quick. No heavy batteries either like 330e so great handling.
Would appear that the engine can be remapped if desired.
They are coming up now at reasonable prices too especially U.K. cars and vrt not bad.

Leonard Hofstadter

carsfan2 wrote: »

330i may just be the sweet spot in the 3 series range.
Petrol and enough power to be quick. No heavy batteries either like 330e so great handling.
Would appear that the engine can be remapped if desired.
They are coming up now at reasonable prices too especially U.K. cars and vrt not bad.

The only thing it's missing is a six cylinder engine like you got in cars displaying the 330i badge in times gone by. Apart from that it probably is the best model in the range, it's not lumbered with 4WD like the M340i is, and is a lot cheaper to buy, too.

AWD & 4WD are not at all the same

chalky_ie

carsfan2 wrote: »

330i may just be the sweet spot in the 3 series range.
Petrol and enough power to be quick. No heavy batteries either like 330e so great handling.
Would appear that the engine can be remapped if desired.
They are coming up now at reasonable prices too especially U.K. cars and vrt not bad.

I know you said 330i, but people seem to be obsessed with the 330e on this forum, but I sold my previous car(2008 E92 330i) to a guy who was getting rid of a 2017 330e. Said it wasn't a great car at all, drank petrol compared to what he expected with the way the hybrid system was set up(for the driving he was doing anyway), and didn't have an enjoyable engine. Not sure if the same can be said of the 330i engine.

The fact that he was happy to move 10 years backwards to a car with 100k miles on it didn't give me a great impression of the 330e at all.

Cyrus

conor-w wrote: »

I know you said 330i, but people seem to be obsessed with the 330e on this forum, but I sold my previous car(2008 E92 330i) to a guy who was getting rid of a 2017 330e. Said it wasn't a great car at all, drank petrol compared to what he expected with the way the hybrid system was set up(for the driving he was doing anyway), and didn't have an enjoyable engine. Not sure if the same can be said of the 330i engine.

The fact that he was happy to move 10 years backwards to a car with 100k miles on it didn't give me a great impression of the 330e at all.

Is the basic 330i engine not similar to the 330e ice engine tho ?

Leonard Hofstadter

conor-w wrote: »

I know you said 330i, but people seem to be obsessed with the 330e on this forum, but I sold my previous car(2008 E92 330i) to a guy who was getting rid of a 2017 330e. Said it wasn't a great car at all, drank petrol compared to what he expected with the way the hybrid system was set up(for the driving he was doing anyway), and didn't have an enjoyable engine. Not sure if the same can be said of the 330i engine.

The fact that he was happy to move 10 years backwards to a car with 100k miles on it didn't give me a great impression of the 330e at all.

To be fair the G20 is a big improvement on the F30; double the electric range and a lot more power; the most of any 330 derivative in fact. Also, they've swapped the batteries and fuel tank around so in the G20 the batteries are underneath the rear seats and the fuel tank is behind the rear axle, so that means much better weight distribution, and therefore the handling and driving pleasure improvements BMW claims they have made in the G20 compared to the F30 should be even more pronounced when you compare the 330e versions of both cars. It's another sign of the progress they're making with this type of drivetrain.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced by the plug in either; there are still significant compromises in terms of fuel tank size, boot space and especially weight. The 330e is also not available with M Sport suspension even if you get one in M Sport spec, a BMW is meant to be about driving pleasure and the non availability of sports suspension (although it still comes with the adaptive dampers if you order the M Sport Plus pack like the standard M Sport Plus cars do) coupled with the considerable increase in weight makes me sceptical about just how good they are.

I think they're definitely going the right direction, especially when you look at something like the X5 45e and its big six cylinder petrol engine, proper sized fuel tank (69 litres) and 97 km electric range capability; if you were that bothered by driving dynamics you wouldn't be buying a bulky SUV anyway, so that coupled with the attractive price (about the same as a 30d but over 100 more bhp and the noise and refinement of a six cylinder petrol engine) and you can see why I think not only is it a very good plug in SUV, but it's the best model in the range. Sure there will still be a weight penalty, but in any case, a 200 kg weight penalty on something that weighs over 2 tonnes to begin with is a completely different ball game to something whose baseline weight is about 1.5 tonnes, plus like I say, it's a bit strange to buy an SUV and then worry about the last word in handling and dynamic prowess.

Thus, for me, they make complete sense in some models, but they're not there yet with the regular cars.

Cyrus

Cyrus wrote: »

Is the basic 330i engine not similar to the 330e ice engine tho ?

Yup..... Much of a muchness. Some of the 330e tunes eek loads out of the 330e without any intake, turbo or intercooler mods..... The 330i would have different Bolt ons.

CIP4

I would like a 330i I have no interest in the 330e. I don’t want to plug in a car, also not going around with a small fuel tank and hauling around a load of batteries. Weight like that just ruins a car like a 3 series for me. I have no doubt when tuned they are quick but I have no interest in going that route ~260bhp and sub 6 seconds to 100kmh is plenty quick enough for me I just want a bit of power don’t need anything outrageous where the practicality is compromised.

I just like the idea of 2.0 twin turbo petrol RWD and saloon, I don’t need the batteries, electric motors and all that complexity.

MarkN

Get the 330i. Sounds like you know that’s the thing to do anyway

mickdw

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

To be fair the G20 is a big improvement on the F30; double the electric range and a lot more power; the most of any 330 derivative in fact.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced by the plug in either; there are still significant compromises in terms of fuel tank size, boot space and especially weight. The 330e is also not available with M Sport suspension even if you get one in M Sport spec, a BMW is meant to be about driving pleasure and the non availability of sports suspension (although it still comes with the adaptive dampers if you order the M Sport Plus pack like the standard M Sport Plus cars do) coupled with the considerable increase in weight makes me sceptical about just how good they are.

I think they're definitely going the right direction, especially when you look at something like the X5 45e and its big six cylinder petrol engine, proper sized fuel tank (69 litres) and 97 km electric range capability; if you were that bothered by driving dynamics you wouldn't be buying a bulky SUV anyway, so that coupled with the attractive price (about the same as a 30d but over 100 more bhp and the noise and refinement of a six cylinder petrol engine) and you can see why I think not only is it a very good plug in SUV, but it's the best model in the range. Sure there will still be a weight penalty, but in any case, a 200 kg weight penalty on something that weighs over 2 tonnes to begin with is a completely different ball game to something whose baseline weight is about 1.5 tonnes, plus like I say, it's a bit strange to buy an SUV and then worry about the last word in handling and dynamic prowess.

Thus, for me, they make complete sense in some models, but they're not there yet with the regular cars.

New model x5 45e giving awful bother im hearing. All sorts of faults and power loss and breakdowns.

Harcrid

First time seeing one of these in the wild. Stunning looking car.

Cyrus

what is it?

Mickiemcfist

Cyrus wrote: »

what is it?

Looks like a kia optima that someone stuck some bmw badges onto

Theboinkmaster

8 series gran coupe?

Harcrid

BMW 840D

Cyrus

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

8 series gran coupe?

that its

jesus i think that looks rubbish for 130k, in fact it looks rubbish for 60k

its a bigger lower x4

Top Dog

Can't say I like that at all :eek:

Leonard Hofstadter

I must be in the minority then, I really like it, low down and sporty looking, exactly like cars from the brand that claims its cars are 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' should look. The 8 series has always been one of my favourite BMWs and the current model does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for them.

Harcrid

In the flesh it really caught the eye, and I like it.

maddness

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

I must be in the minority then, I really like it, low down and sporty looking, exactly like cars from the brand that claims its cars are 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' should look. The 8 series has always been one of my favourite BMWs and the current model does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for them.

The coupe is lovely but not so keen on that, the proportions at the back don’t really seem to look right.

carsfan2

Harcrid wrote: »

First time seeing one of these in the wild. Stunning looking car.

That Picture taken in Nenagh?

Very imposing in the metal. I imagine too big to hustle on our country roads though.

frozenfrozen

I'm sure it'll grow on me like the e63 rear end, I am a bangle sympathiser now. But that angle doesn't do it for me, it looks like a stretch kia

maddness

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I'm sure it'll grow on me like the e63 rear end, I am a bangle sympathiser now. But that angle doesn't do it for me, it looks like a stretch kia

BMW design is really going a direction that just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

GavMan

The boot lip is just a little chunky for me. Even if the badge was mounted a little higher would help IMO.

Looks great otherwise.

CIP4

Anyone know what a 5 year service pack comprises of on a BMW (Irish dealer) the salesperson said it was 5 years from when it was registered from new so what Is included and what would it be worth ?

carsfan2

Five years or a 100k km which ever come first from first registration.
Covers all service costs including oil changes etc but not adblue top ups or wipers and so on.
Well worth having.
Price varies depending on what model of BMW but it’s a few hundred quids worth

bazz26

CIP4 wrote: »

Anyone know what a 5 year service pack comprises of on a BMW (Irish dealer) the salesperson said it was 5 years from when it was registered from new so what Is included and what would it be worth ?

https://www.bmwservice.ie/contentv3/?fuseaction=serviceinclusive

CIP4

bazz26 wrote: »

https://www.bmwservice.ie/contentv3/?fuseaction=serviceinclusive

I don’t know the intervals on a G20 but say you wanted to get it serviced every 15km is that ok or are you forced to go with long life servicing say 30k km or whatever ? Or surely there is some limit on the amount of services you can get on it. Every 15k I’m would be 6 services by the time you reach 100k Km will they do all them ?

sunnysoutheast

CIP4 wrote: »

I don’t know the intervals on a G20 but say you wanted to get it serviced every 15km is that ok or are you forced to go with long life servicing say 30k km or whatever ? Or surely there is some limit on the amount of services you can get on it. Every 15k I’m would be 6 services by the time you reach 100k Km will they do all them ?

They will only service to the schedule under the service pack. So 30k/24m for oil changes (unless that's changed).

Nothing stopping you getting intermediate oil changes, just don't reset the indicator.

Assuming you do the miles, you'd get 3 oil changes, 1 fuel/air filter change and a brake fluid change under the service pack. I think the cabin filter is every second oil change.