Any 330e drivers here? Looking to share information

[Deek99]

Wife just got one two weeks ago. Got some questions; need some answers.

[dworthy]

Cannot answer anything if you don't post anything up

[Deek99]

Thanks, I was wondering if anyone one here has a PHEV. Hopefully someone does......Just got the car about 10 days ago and we are in the "discovery phase".

I've got questions on the best PHEV mode for this scenario, which is my wife's typical routine:
Starting around 0800, she drives 10 miles to town on a US highway. Then drives around in stop and go traffic running short errands of less than a mile for another hour or so. Then she repeats the 10 miles back home on the highway. She returns home in the early afternoon. We have been just leaving the car in the default Hybrid mode. Lately we are getting an indication of 24-32 miles on the car's dash after a longish charge, so we figure she must be doing things right. I realize that 24-32 miles is simply an estimate...but I'd rather see those numbers than 18 miles, for instance.

On charging, we are using the BMW 120v charger that came with the car, plugged into an available 120vac outlet in the garage. I have no idea what else is on that 120v line, so we started with the car set at 6 amps and have worked our way up to 11 amps now; so far no circuit breaker blown. I plan to up the amps to 12 or a bit higher in another two days, then higher a few days later. I will not be surprised if the circuit breaker pops when I finally have it set at 16a, which is why I am doing this an amp or two increase every few days. We usually don't need the car after her morning routine, but I want to be able to do so when necessary.

With that in mind, we have a 240vac/40amp charger (Grizzl-E) planned as soon as our electrician can install a 240v/40 or 50amp circuit installed in the garage. It is my understanding that we will qualify for a tax credit for both the purchase of the car and installation of a L2 charging station. I am hoping someone knows more about that tax credit than do I. I did find the forms for those credits, but I am not tax expert....not by a long shot.

We are experimenting with the "Preconditioning" feature. Our car is kept in a garage. We've tried it a few times to see if doing that (late summer in TN) would turn on the AC if we do our routine of turning off everything in the car when we park the car. It does. We wonder if the same thing is possible in the cold winter; will the preconditioning turn on the car's heater? And how? I thought there is no electric heat in the car, but the cabin is heated with hot coolant generated from running the gasoline engine. So does the preconditioning in cold weather start the gas engine, like it does in my car, my 2020 Z4?

Thank for reading this long post!

Doug

[dworthy]

Nice long list, as some of them I don't have an answer to.

I would first look at your fuse box to see the size of the breaker, that would determine how much you can pull before that outlet trips. To my knowledge, most circuits are 12 Amps, and if you ever been to a shop, you will see a round blue plug outlets. This will be able to carry 16 to 32 Amps of current. The next size up is the red round connector and they will be 32 to 125 amps depending on how many phases you have running in the house. I would recommend having a qualified electrician install those plugs in your garage. As I live in Germany, our tax credits are different, for I will be getting one for installing Photo Voltaic or Solar Cells as they are called in the states. I would check with you local Government to see what they offer.

I do know that with the Pre-Conditioning, you can cool the car, as far a warming it up check the menu to see. I do believe that it's possible on all PHEV BMW's, when it comes to the Gas or Diesel variant, it would only heat if the car was warmed up already.

[Deek99]

Thanks for the info. We are in the USA so electrical things here are probably a bit different than in Europe.
I've checked the breaker we are using now, it's either 16 or 20 amps, I don't recall which .We have charging the car at 12 amps for a few days now and have not tripped the breaker. There must not much if anything on that circuit other than our 120v charger.
We have talked to our electrician about installation of the 240/40amp line to our garage, but his schedule is very busy. Not too big a deal as long as we can get the line and charger by the end of the year for USA tax credits.

I think you are right on the pre-conditioning/warm up. Not a big deal as our garage probably never gets below 45°F or so.

Doug

[dworthy]

I am eyeing a G-21 320e as I will be moving into a new house soon, and it will have the 40amp connector with PV on the roof or solar as you would call it. I think it's getting time to retire the old E-46 wagon from daily duties and give it to the kid so he has a decent car to take to work. For me I do a daily commute of about 35 miles one-way and most of it is outside of town. While it's won't run on battery the whole way, if I can get about 70% on battery, that would save me lot's as the fuel around here is about 9 dollars a gallon.

[Deek99]

I am eyeing a G-21 320e as I will be moving into a new house soon, and it will have the 40amp connector with PV on the roof or solar as you would call it. I think it's getting time to retire the old E-46 wagon from daily duties and give it to the kid so he has a decent car to take to work. For me I do a daily commute of about 35 miles one-way and most of it is outside of town. While it's won't run on battery the whole way, if I can get about 70% on battery, that would save me lot's as the fuel around here is about 9 dollars a gallon.

Darin, what's the difference in the G20 and G21 330e? At least I think ours (2022 330e) is a G20.

My wife has been very happy with her 330e so far. I described her daily routine above, which is much less driving than you anticipate with yours. She has been charging it at 120v/12a for the last several days, and when it's fully charger (overnight) the dash shows a 30-32 mile range. I have heard the typical range is around 22 miles. I convinced that here higher estimate is based on her driving style, which to me honest is much more "gentle" than she usually drives. Her previous car was a 440i with the 6 cylinder engine; a real tiger. However, we'd like to get a 240v charger just to decrease the charging time in case we want to use the car in the evening. Right now it's taking around 10 hours to fully charge after her "normal routine". but that's a rough estimate, we don't usually check on it.

Ouch! Your fuel at $9 a gallon, that is very painful! You said you are in Germany? I'm in Tennessee USA and our premium fuel is right around half that where we get it at a (Costco) discount. We're saving with her car, but mine, the Z4 40i, burns a LOT more, but then I average only 5000 miles a year. Our first electric bill is due to arrive in another week or two; she is anxiously waiting to see how much it's gone up since we got the car! I told her to expect and increase of about 30% of what the fuel would have cost in her previous car.

I know nothing about solar power, so I may ask you about that also!<g>

BTW, I envy that you have cars with automatic transmissions. How I miss them! I owned several "sports cars" in my early years with manuals like my beloved Triumph Spitfire, Alfa Duetto and MX5 Miata. Unfortunately most American drivers don't enjoy a manual, so they are rarely found here. I almost bought a Toyota Supra recently instead of my 2020 Z4 simply because it had a manual. However, it was not a convertible; that I must have!

Doug

[dworthy]

BMW codes every body type in the same line differently, for example G-20 Sedan, G-21 Wagon, G-22 Coupe, G-23 Convertible, the M Models will have their own. Click Me! for a better explanation. This all started after the E-60/61 so the employees didn't have to ask if you have a coupe, vert, etc. it would be all in the model code.

There are several models that are not imported to the States, the G-21 being one of them. The wagons don't sell very well so BMW of North America stopped as the F-31 was the last wagon to be imported, here in Europe it's like having a Pick-up Trunk, they are rather common.

Yes the battery is rather smallish when it comes to the hybrids, that is because you can regen as you brake. Depending on your driving style, you can extend the battery a bit more. Eco Mode will use the regen and electric motor the most and follow the gauge on how much pedal to push and that too will save you gas/battery. 10 hours would sound about right with the outlet plug as it's pretty slow. If you go to a Level 3 charging station, I am sure that in under 20 minutes it would be fully charged.

As for the Solar, talk to your electrician about it and the cost of install. It works best on the Southern facing roof, I would also inquire about a Battery system too, for you would be the only person on the block with power if it goes out. Check out local, State and Federal to see if you can get a tax break from it too. I have found that the ole YouTube has lots of info you can take in when it come to Solar, this channel is pretty good IMHO: Undecided with Matt Ferrell

Yeah here in Europe the Manual isn't dead yet, you can still get it in quite a few cars, but for BMW it's pretty much done. The lower and M models still have them but everything in between is all automatic. As with the advent of hybrids, electric cars it doesn't make sense to have manuals anymore.

[toninho@brq.com]

I have the new 330e 2023, for just a week. I am impressed with the handling of the car, how economical it is in hybrid mode and all the technological features of this car. Just one point made me extremely frustrated! My car did not come with Parking Assistant Plus, it only came with Parking Assistant. In this way, it lost some functions compared to the 2022 model, such as surround view, 3D remote view, drive recorder, etc. Other than that, the car is fantastic! I already had three F30 and two X1, this car has undoubtedly evolved a lot!