Pictures David Brent's New BMW 330e Touring (G21)

[David Brent]

I collected my BMW 330e (G21) Touring yesterday. Spec is as follows:

Exterior: Individual Oxide Grey metallic
Interior: Individual Fiona Red full Merino leather

Audio media pack (wireless phone charging)
Automatic dimming and folding rear view mirrors
Parking pack
Rear privacy glass
Harman Kardon surround sound system
Galvanised controls
Electrically adustable seats
Parking assistant plus (3D surround view)
M Sport braking system in red high gloss
19" LM M Double-spoke alloy wheels (791 M Jet Black)
Black high-gloss shadow line (front grill and exhausts)
Adaptive M suspension
BMW Drive recorder
Mirrors caps in black high-gloss

I'm really happy with the spec. I think Oxide Grey is a stunning colour, and the red interior and brake callipers go with it perfectly. The ride is particuarly good too. I don't know how much of that is down to the adaptive suspension, however, but it feels as good as my X5 on air suspension. I think the full leather interior makes it feel ultra premium inside, and the Merino leather is a lot softer than the Vernasca which comes as standard.

Obviously the biggest feature of the car which I am most keen to get to know is the electric drive. I drove it from the dealer yesterday and managed to get around 43km on a full charge without even trying. It's currently parked on the drive now, charging. It looks like it will take around five hours.

This is my tenth BMW and joins my R8 V10, X5 30d (G05), and a BMW 318i (F30).

 

[David Brent]

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Beautiful colour!

Wishing you many safe miles.

 

[Ozy]

Very nice spec

 

[Matski]

Congratulations Mat, I'm happy for you!

...

I hate the spec though, sorry!


I'll be curious to hear how it's overall consumption lines up with the X5 and the F30.

 

[klier]

Beautiful, many congrats and safe miles. I'd change for non black rims but the spec is gorgeous with that bold interior..

 

[Deleted member 1071]

Congratulations and "Allzeit Gute Fahrt !" , Sir !

I won't mention a word regarding the black rims.

D'OH...

 

[David Brent]

Congratulations Mat, I'm happy for you!

...

I hate the spec though, sorry!


I'll be curious to hear how it's overall consumption lines up with the X5 and the F30.

I'll have to revive "Betty's Fuel Consumption" thread. Only driven on electric so far.

I'm pretty impressed with the X5's fuel consumption. The 318i, not so much.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Congratulations Mat! Stunning wagon.
Now, a doubt....Why did you opt for the SW instead of the saloon, when you already have a X5?

 

[mihc]

Really great spec!

 

[David Brent]

Congratulations Mat! Stunning wagon.
Now, a doubt....Why did you opt for the SW instead of the saloon, when you already have a X5?

Thanks Gianclaudio.

The simple reason is that the 330e Touring isn't a substitute for the X5 capacity-wise, or typical journey-wise. The X5 is the real "heavy lifter". 95% trips of 800km in one go with a boot filled with babystuff etc, and very few local journeys. The diesel X5 is more suited to those trips than a hybrid. The 330e is better on shorter journeys, so around 50-200km. And while the boot is bigger than the saloon, it's significantly smaller than the X5. The fuel tank does impinge on the boot space due to the batteries being where the fuel tank would be.

So why not the saloon instead of the Touring? Two reasons. 1) I think the Touring is better looking than the saloon. 2) The boot space on the 330e saloon is bordering on the impractical, so the Touring is, IMHO, needed just to be able to have SOME functional load space.

 

[MrRapp]

Brilliant spec, very well done. Have the Indivual Merino leather myself and really lifts the interior to something very close to 5 series. Curious as to how you experience the hybrid set-up. Just hoping one day BMW will put the 45e drivetrain into the 3 series as well.

 

[domleo999]

Very nice! Are you going to keep the 318?

 

[David Brent]

Very nice! Are you going to keep the 318?

Yes. My wife will drive it. It's also useful to have a car which I don't mind where it gets parked.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

Yes. My wife will drive it. It's also useful to have a car which I don't mind where it gets parked.

Can you feel the weight difference with the 318i or it is well compensated by the suspension?

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

Coming from someone who's not fond of black rims (though my ire has lessened in the last month or two), I am very much digging it. Congrat, bud!

I am curious to get your take how the additional weight from all the plug-in bits affects handling, etc. once you spent an extended time with it.

 

[Sunny]

Congrats Betty, looks fantastic.

 

[Centurion]

What a showstopping spec. The champagne grey is lush!

Would you mind sharing photos of the boot when you can? What's the size of the fuel tank? If you ever take it on a long journey from full to empty tank then please share the range.

I planned to keep my G01 X3 long term but will likely replace it with a hybrid. 90% of trips are short 2-5 mile donkey trips to playgrounds, nursery or supermarkets. A hybrid would save us a £100-200 in fuel costs while allowing us to drive long journeys to Scotland.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Thanks Gianclaudio.

The simple reason is that the 330e Touring isn't a substitute for the X5 capacity-wise, or typical journey-wise. The X5 is the real "heavy lifter". 95% trips of 800km in one go with a boot filled with babystuff etc, and very few local journeys. The diesel X5 is more suited to those trips than a hybrid. The 330e is better on shorter journeys, so around 50-200km. And while the boot is bigger than the saloon, it's significantly smaller than the X5. The fuel tank does impinge on the boot space due to the batteries being where the fuel tank would be.

So why not the saloon instead of the Touring? Two reasons. 1) I think the Touring is better looking than the saloon. 2) The boot space on the 330e saloon is bordering on the impractical, so the Touring is, IMHO, needed just to be able to have SOME functional load space.

Thanks for taking the time to answer and in such a detailed way. Enjoy it, my friend.

 

[David Brent]

What a showstopping spec. The champagne grey is lush!

Would you mind sharing photos of the boot when you can? What's the size of the fuel tank? If you ever take it on a long journey from full to empty tank then please share the range.

I planned to keep my G01 X3 long term but will likely replace it with a hybrid. 90% of trips are short 2-5 mile donkey trips to playgrounds, nursery or supermarkets. A hybrid would save us a £100-200 in fuel costs while allowing us to drive long journeys to Scotland.

I'll try and remember to take some photos of the boot tomorrow. Compared to the saloon, the boot floor doesn't appear to be as high (but I'm sure it's exactly the same). It will be an optical illusion, I'm sure. But the wider opening means the Touring has a much larger volume. It comes with a net separator as standard, so you can pile the boot high without fear the load will impinge in the rear cabin.

The fuel tank is 40 litres. Right now, with a full tank and 100% charge, the range says 28 miles (45 km) on electric only, and 356 miles (573 km) on petrol and electric combined. From what I hear on another forum from a Norwegian owner, the car also harvests energy very well when going downhill and using the brakes, so in fact on a 600 km trip, for example, he started out with an electric range of 50km, but in fact when he got to his destination he'd travelled on electric power a distance of around 109km. This extra 59km of range was thanks to downhill sections charging the battery. I myself have observed the battery range going up from 9km to 10km after a long braking section.

But I'll definitely share my own experiences. I won't be doing a long run for another month yet. Apparently the best thing to do is stick it in "Adaptive" mode, activate the sat nav and input your destination, and let the car manage the energy. It makes for very efficient driving.

Your typical journeys sound just like mine. Perfect for a hybrid.