Where would you go next...

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Maybe another 330d

Before ordering I was more interested in a 330d. Specced up two identical cars with the dealer.
330e was 200euro more expensive pre taxes but 11k cheaper at the end thanks to lower vrt and the 5k grant. Down the line you’re not going to recover that 11k. In fact they reckon the hybrid will hold value better.

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I don't wish to dismiss your choice but I took a decent 40km test drive in a 330e and tbh I was a bit underwhelmed by it. Beautiful in electric but on engine I'm not so sure, maybe I'm too used to diesel.

Sure it's all the same, you always have access to the full 270bhp.

I think it's a great drive IMO.

One thing to remember about the 330e is that it's a good bit heavier than the G30 5 series non hybrid. It's even heavier than my 540i with the 3 litre engine, 1740kg vs 1660kg. That's a big difference. Probably not noticeable though, the smaller size will definitely make it feel more nimble and sporty. Performance is impressive with that weight.

Interior space isn't a whole lot different either, cars are getting bigger nearly every generation. The latest 3 is as big as the E60.

https://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_cmp2.php

I've mentioned it before but the bit about the hybrid that doesn't sit well with me is that when you need the engine to kick in, for example doing a quick over take you are effectively starting a cold engine and then revving it out straight away. I'm sure there are some systems in place to protect the engine, but as someone who always takes it handy until the oil is up to temp that would genuinely get under my skin.

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

This certainly concerns me as well, BMWs don't warm up the engine so if you were just pottering along then suddenly you need the extra power you're ragging a stone cold engine.

If I had one I'd certainly make sure to have it in EV only mode if I knew I was doing a short journey so as to not only have the engine on for a few seconds.

It's not just that, but engines need to be driven as well, leaving them not running for a long period of time isn't great, they might not get enough oil pressure for the first 10-15 seconds or so because all the oil will have completely drained down to the bottom of the sump so that's going to have knock-on effects later on.]


Has starting petrol engines from cold in this manner actually caused issue on the old 330e/530e though? Loads of these cars have been sold so it was an issue I guess it would be causing trouble by now?

I haven't done any maths on it in the last few months, but is there zero point in looking to the UK now for 1-2 year old models? Has the VRT & VAT eliminated any savings at all, or are there any anomalies still out there?

EDIT: I just looked on a few 5s and 7s, pointless!

NI plated cars must be sought after now.
Where do you even find them - most of whats for sale up there is on an english plate.

Cyrus wrote: »

That’s a bit of a misnomer

How often do you do more than 300km in a day ?

My 66 year old parents just got an id3. When I was discussing it with them my mother was against the idea saying what if she wanted to drive to cork and back in a day (from north Kildare) she wouldn't know how to use the motorway charging points. My father asked her where the furthest she ever drove in a day in her life and her answer was Athlone. Once. She doesn't know anyone in cork. Or outside 10kms of her own town really.

Cyrus wrote: »

That’s a bit of a misnomer

How often do you do more than 300km in a day ?

If I want to go to Kerry (which I often do in the summer as we've a place down there), that's a 550 km round trip.

There is nowhere in the town I go to for charging an EV and the nearest charging point is 15 km away (I have checked) in the next town, which as it's not bypassed is a PITA to travel through. I am not going down to Kerry for a weekend to relax and enjoy the seaside, and meet up with all the people I know down there to then go and waste a good hour of my time recharging an EV, when my petrol powered car requires one fill up before leaving Dublin and there's so much range (by comparison with an EV) I can even go to somewhere like Tralee without worrying about running out of fuel. And even if I drove like a madman, it wouldn't matter anyway as Kerry, like the rest of the country, is not exactly noted for a shortage of petrol stations. Of course you might argue that I could charge it en-route, but it's a three hour drive as is, and hence I have much better things to be doing with my time than wasting another half an hour to hour charging either going down or back (especially as I'm going down on a Friday night after work to come back on Sunday evening in time for work on Monday morning), when my 18 year old 2.5 litre petrol car wastes five minutes of my time filling it before leaving Dublin, and then it's good for over 650 km on a long journey like that.

I also go to Cork quite often when there is no pandemic, that's a 520 km round trip, and while obviously there is no problem finding somewhere to charge an EV, I am going down there to spend time with my friends and family, not to waste time finding somewhere to go and charge an EV. Again, my petrol powered car wastes five minutes of my time filling it up before I need to leave Dublin (or en-route if I forgot to fill it up before leaving), and because it's petrol, I can even go to North Cork to see other family members and it will do all of this on one tank of fuel, or if the worst came to the worst and I need to stop for fuel, it's five minutes of my time lost.

As I'm renting, I also don't have anywhere to charge even if I wanted an EV (which I most certainly don't). My parents don't have a charging point as they have a combustion engined vehicle and they actually would do 500 km plus in a day sometimes (when there is no pandemic). Kerry's nearest charging point is a 30 km round trip as mentioned above.

Even when there's no pandemic I wouldn't do much more than 11-12k km a year so fuel costs really are not a big deal to me (and by extension, the 'payback period' for choosing an EV over a fossil fuel powered car would take forever for me).

So they're utterly useless for me, and that's before we get to the lack of character, soul and passion with the absence of a nice petrol engine under the bonnet.

MarkN wrote: »

They're not for everyone...

Indeed. I think its PHEV for me next. Post pandemic when I can freely have a wander around and have a look.
Where would you stand on 530e v A6 tfsi e Mark? I think you did videos on both.

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

Indeed. I think its PHEV for me next. Post pandemic when I can freely have a wander around and have a look.
Where would you stand on 530e v A6 tfsi e Mark? I think you did videos on both.

Consider a 740e also?
Apparently not much more than a 530e at a few years old and more power and comfort.

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

So they're utterly useless for me, and that's before we get to the lack of character, soul and passion courtesy by the absence of a nice petrol engine under the bonnet.

I was waiting for the mention of a straight six petrol

vintagevrs wrote: »

I was waiting for the mention of a straight six petrol

Nice could be construed to mean straight six ! Any engine would do, though, just something to give a car a bit of a character.

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

If I want to go to Kerry (which I do often in the summer), that's a 550 km round trip.

There is nowhere in the town to charge an EV (I have checked), the nearest charging point is 15 km away. I am not going down to Kerry for a weekend to waste a good hour of my time recharging an EV, when my petrol powered car requires one fill up before leaving Dublin and there's so much range (by comparison with an EV) I can even go a few places when I'm down there without worrying about running out of fuel. Of course you might argue that I could charge it en-route, but it's a three hour drive as is, and hence I have much better things to be doing with my time than wasting another half an hour to hour charging either going down or back, when my 18 year old 2.5 litre petrol car wastes five minutes of my time filling it before leaving Dublin, and then it's good for over 650 km on a long journey like that.

I also go to Cork quite often when there is no pandemic, that's a 520 km round trip, and while obviously there is no problem finding somewhere to charge an EV, I am going down there to spend time with my friends and family, not to waste time finding somewhere to go and charge an EV. Again, my petrol powered car wastes five minutes of my time filling it up before I need to leave Dublin, and because it's petrol, I can even go to North Cork to see other family members and it will do all of this on one tank of fuel.

As I'm renting, I also don't have anywhere to charge even if I wanted an EV (which I most certainly don't). My parents don't have a charging point. Kerry's nearest charging point is a 30 km round trip.

So they're utterly useless for me, and that's before we get to the lack of character, soul and passion courtesy by the absence of a nice petrol engine under the bonnet.

If you can’t charge at home then an ev is a bad idea, the rest of your post i would say it’s a typical of a non ev owner but the reality is no where near as bad as you make out .

It requires a little more planning but depending on the car one 20 minute stop (which is about the time it’ll take you to grab a coffee and take a tinkle ) is all you need to top up.

Anyway that’s a digression, if you can’t charge at home it’s too much hassle.

Wailin wrote: »

Finding one with the adaptive suspension would sort that issue and they are standard on ones with the M sport plus package. I firmly believe the adaptive suspension is a must in these bigger cars. Had it in my 535d and miss it in the current car.

It was m sport plus I tested but the bmw genius as they call them was selling the virtues of the handling to me before I set off so I think it may have been in a stiff setting. That's why I'm going to give it another look when I can. I concentrated completely on the engine/battery combo.
Apart from that, really liked it.