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225xe

16K views 59 replies 9 participants last post by  MathieuBMW 
#1 ·
Does anyone in the UK have a 225xe, looking to know what you think of it and does it perform as you expected?
 
#27 ·
Kiwi said:
Seems a long wait February for your new wheels as it doesn't have to travel far not like mine which its delivery was to the bottom of the world.
You'll become a totally different driver with your XE and you'll need to learn a new way of using the petrol engine and battery together to save on fuel. Mine has travelled 5,518 ks with a fuel milage from new at 3.8L per 100ks. The car has traveled 3,121ks on battery and the maximum distance you'll travel on a full petrol tank and battery is 402ks as I have just fuelled up and charged the battery tonight on a warm night. You'll travel more if you charge the battery with the engine as you go and use the battery once charged when driving down hill or slow driving areas.
BMW are only taking orders now for the M Sport version from Q1 and won't commence on the build before then as I discovered when I contacted Tony (TRL) who advised this which explains the long delay. Thought your comments re changing manner of driving are quite valuable especially since you've had the experience now and passing on the details can only be helpful.

dorsetred :cool2:
 
#28 ·
dorsetred said:
HoR said:
You're a gem, thanks. I'll peruse those threads in detail! And no, we won't be getting any dealer-recommended washing and cleansing kit... (we still have a 'rather expensive' bag full of goodies from our last Bimmer ;))

EDIT: Aye, that car has a stunning colour. Looks great from any quarter (not sure about the front, still, but every other view is quite good at least). Could I just ask one of those interminable questions, and it's not so much for me as for the nipper (honest guv) but the 'switchable' ambient lighting... I've managed to find (for him) on Youtube a video of an X5 switching between the three M colours of blue, orange and white (and combinations thereof down low) is this similar for the M Sport AT? I don't suppose you have night-time photos (I cannot believe I'm asking this on an internet forum...)? :eek2:
Not an issue whatsoever after all this is what the forum is all about, unfortunately I don't have any night-time photographs but I can definitely confirm you can change between white and orange, I don't think we've got a blue on ours and this may be only applicable on a true "M" version as opposed to an M Sport.

I recommended detailing because of your two kiddies which prompted me to think you may have your time fully occupied especially as generally it takes two days for the complete job!

dorsetred :cool2:
Well, I managed to get a Karcher out of insisting I clean the car - but I'm bloomin' useless... I think we're going to have to get the Lexus detailed before we sell it on. I'll have a look to see if anyone can recommend anyone all the way up 'ere.

And thanks for the info on driving Kiwi, we're already pretty clued up on trying to keep things electric, coasting and just lifting off the accelerator for the regen, it's just our current car's EV range isn't so good, nor is the max-electric only speed - the ICE kicks in at 27MPH (which isn't terrible for all the fully urban driving) but we've only about a few miles of fully electric range unfortunately, so I'm looking forward to getting a realistic 12-18m of EV for once.
 
#29 ·
dorsetred said:
Kiwi said:
Seems a long wait February for your new wheels as it doesn't have to travel far not like mine which its delivery was to the bottom of the world.
You'll become a totally different driver with your XE and you'll need to learn a new way of using the petrol engine and battery together to save on fuel. Mine has travelled 5,518 ks with a fuel milage from new at 3.8L per 100ks. The car has traveled 3,121ks on battery and the maximum distance you'll travel on a full petrol tank and battery is 402ks as I have just fuelled up and charged the battery tonight on a warm night. You'll travel more if you charge the battery with the engine as you go and use the battery once charged when driving down hill or slow driving areas.
BMW are only taking orders now for the M Sport version from Q1 and won't commence on the build before then as I discovered when I contacted Tony (TRL) who advised this which explains the long delay. Thought your comments re changing manner of driving are quite valuable especially since you've had the experience now and passing on the details can only be helpful.

dorsetred :cool2:
My fuel saving is 181L from new so you'll really need to be a high milage user on slow roads to really save. I use 91 petrol and have done on every BMW I've owned even our Z4 3l for 3 years. Their's no fuel saving using 98 or extra power I have notice as I do every so often use 98. The reason for owning this car is to save using petrol and saving running cost so 91 is the way to go. The thing I do enjoy is the power of the engine and battery combined which puts out 225bhp and 6.7s 0-100kph.
I have just damaged my second wheel rim as you don't have the tyre to protect the rim as the rims stick out past the tyre wall. A lot of our street storm water gutters are stone so they are very rough and some of our roads are narrow. It's the price of using this car for work and work does pay for the repairs even though I own the car. The rims are expensive to repair as the parts of the rims I damage are polish aluminium with a very square face.

 
#30 ·
Ouch! Would the Alloygators have protected against that, do you think? I'd never heard of 'em before logging on here.
 
#31 ·
dorsetred said:
Kiwi said:
Seems a long wait February for your new wheels as it doesn't have to travel far not like mine which its delivery was to the bottom of the world.
You'll become a totally different driver with your XE and you'll need to learn a new way of using the petrol engine and battery together to save on fuel. Mine has travelled 5,518 ks with a fuel milage from new at 3.8L per 100ks. The car has traveled 3,121ks on battery and the maximum distance you'll travel on a full petrol tank and battery is 402ks as I have just fuelled up and charged the battery tonight on a warm night. You'll travel more if you charge the battery with the engine as you go and use the battery once charged when driving down hill or slow driving areas.
BMW are only taking orders now for the M Sport version from Q1 and won't commence on the build before then as I discovered when I contacted Tony (TRL) who advised this which explains the long delay. Thought your comments re changing manner of driving are quite valuable especially since you've had the experience now and passing on the details can only be helpful.

dorsetred :cool2:
In car manufacturing terms is the Q1 reference the calendar year i.e. from January, or the financial - from April? In which case, I think that February 24th delivery estimate might be a little awry.
 
#32 ·
HoR said:
Ouch! Would the Alloygators have protected against that, do you think? I'd never heard of 'em before logging on here.
It would look odd and not really me having Alloygators on the rims I would feel like a nanny driver :eek2: . I just have to be more careful :banghead:
 
#33 ·
Kiwi said:
HoR said:
Ouch! Would the Alloygators have protected against that, do you think? I'd never heard of 'em before logging on here.
It would look odd and not really me having Alloygators on the rims I would feel like a nanny driver :eek2: . I just have to be more careful :banghead:
You're lucky, I need all the help I can get!! :eek2:
 
#35 ·
I cannot see Alloygators working as the M Sport aluminium rim centres protrude a lot more than the aluminium flange holding the tyre on. A lot of our street storm water gutters are built out of stone with very rough side.
 
#36 ·
we got our 225xe back end of last year (uk). it was a second hand car from a company pool. the car did 1800 miles in the first 6 months. we picked it up for £23k. I specc'ed up the same car, it would have cost 36k (before government grant). it has some options but not all. things like sun roof, rear view camera, large screen and LED headlamps are missing.

We compared the non-hybrid SE, sport, luxury and m sport models. we found the "sport" model most suited for our taste.

SE version, A) PHEV doesn't offer in this trim, B) the leather dash really sets itself apart from similar priced car and it's missing in the SE trim.

Luxury model adds chrome detailing which is nice, but it comes with "comfort" seats which is more like the rear seats. They are more comfortable over shorter journeies but I found over longer journeries, sport seats with more adjustments do a better job (both myself and my wife are slightly overweight, BMI 25-26 lol).

M sport suspension was abit too firm for us. the exterior looks nice, but we really want a comfort large hatch to cover 250+miles with ease.

in terms of driving, I think it is rather good. the fact that this car can transform from a comfortable cruiser to a warm-hatch it's very impressive. I know a lot of cars can do that with the sport button, this one is definitely on another level. when we want to just get from A to B, in comfort mode, it's very relaxing. BMW did a very good job with the power transfer. as long as you are above 10-15mph, you really cant detect when the petrol engine kicks in. you will see the needle swings around, but power delivery is really really smooth. my only complain is the originally fitted tyres are...very racy. They were Bridgestone S001 RFT and they are HARD. there is small amount of constant tyre roar getting through the cabin. Since London winter is normally around 2oC in the early morning then up and above 7oC by afternoon, so we went with Quatrac 5 all-season tyres as our winter set. it's non-run flat tyres, but it is soooo much softer. strangely, the car gives more feedback via steering wheel too.

When I want to drive fast, I put it in sport mode, it will keep the petrol engine running and 4WD (via rear wheel "e-Boost"). The best way to describe it, it accelerates just like an audi S3 (the 2008 version not current ones). it feels very planted and inspires a lot of confidence. it feels a lot faster than my 2010 MX5 and 2004 mini cooper S but yet retained certain degree of refinement. and because it is a 3 pot, it feels a lot like a slightly strangely setup V6 than a 4 pot engine. above 2500rpm, that's when you start to hear and engine. above 3000rpm, you will start to feel engine rotation/vibration but not in a bad way. my 225xe has the 18" alloy which comes with fatter tyres (225/45r18 as opposed to 205/55r17 for 17"), that may be the reason for feelings quite planted at corners.

I just want to points out that, in normal day to day driving most low speed stuff are in rear wheel drive because the car will try to do as much of that in E-mode as possible. but dont take that as mega good news because the e-motor are not that strong! it's only when you really need more power, the petrol kicks in. once you are up to speed on A-roads or motorways, you can press the e-drive button to force it into "save battery" mode i.e. petrol powered only.

so those are the good bits, now let's talk some bad points. admittedly, there are a lot of buttons to press and settings that you constantly have to remember to adjust to get the most out of the car, but I think we both got used to the habit fairly quickly.

Comfortable, but in reality, it is still a bit of a hard ride. I had a 2015 525d touring in m sport trim and our 225xe is ever so slightly harder ride. that 525d had 245/45r18 so may be that's why 225xe is slightly less bouncy.

fuel consumption/mpg...well...just think this a hot/warm hatch with the fuel consumption of a normal family hatch. if you expect magical mpg, you will be very disappointed. Our daily commute is 2 miles of town road, then onto A3 (south west London) for 14 miles, then another 2 miles of 40mph to office. we charge our car at home but not office, and use it during town road and getting out of business park during peak hours. The battery capacity is small and frankly, in winter, with heater on, you can see your battery % drops every 30 seconds.....it's almost laughable... we have done about 3000 miles so far (with weekend trips to Manchester) and our running average is about 41mpg. petrol only operation is about 33-37mpg. and because of the reduced fuel tank volume, down to 36L, it means we have to fuel up more often when we do longer trips and don't want to charge at motorway stations. we know this before we bought car, but we didn't realise it really does add some mental pressure.

oh. the boot isn't as big as one may think. especially for the 225xe, the seats are fixed and not sliding back and forth. I had trouble with space when we gave our parents a lift from Gatwick. two large luggage with two biggish-backpack simply wont fit. we ended up using the middle seat as storage too.

I think that will do for the time being, overall we really like the car. If you want to know more about certain aspect of owning a 225xe, let me know. too much to write, lol. Cheers.
 
#37 ·
Great to see you are enjoying your 225xe.

I'm surprised about your thoughts on M Sport suspension as here in New Zealand we have a lot of gravel roads and earthquake damaged roads and both my 225xe and 220i convertible have M Sport and we both enjoy sports suspension. Both cars you just point and shot around corners and the convertible has sport plus which is even more tight and enjoyable. The convertible even has launch control.
 
#38 ·
Still waiting...

I checked with BMW UK about the M sports suspension (preferring not to have it if at all possible - our current Lexus is as hard-riding as we ever want to have... Ooh me poor back!) and they said that the 225xe doesn't get the M Sport Suspension, but equally can't have the adaptive ride. Were they being a touch naif?
 
#39 ·
M Sports suspension is included in my 225xe.

With M Sport suspension the vehicle is lowered by 10 to 15 millimetres. It also comes with shorter springs and more firmly tuned dampers and stabilisers.
 
#40 ·
HoR said:
Still waiting...

I checked with BMW UK about the M sports suspension (preferring not to have it if at all possible - our current Lexus is as hard-riding as we ever want to have... Ooh me poor back!) and they said that the 225xe doesn't get the M Sport Suspension, but equally can't have the adaptive ride. Were they being a touch naif?
it is entirely possible that they dont offer M Sport suspension for the 225xe because of the weight or already included for all spec.

or all have re-tuned suspension. I know mercedes and vw re-tune all their suspensions for their UK PHEV to deal with the extra weight over standard cars.
 
#41 ·
XE11 said:
HoR said:
Still waiting...

I checked with BMW UK about the M sports suspension (preferring not to have it if at all possible - our current Lexus is as hard-riding as we ever want to have... Ooh me poor back!) and they said that the 225xe doesn't get the M Sport Suspension, but equally can't have the adaptive ride. Were they being a touch naif?
it is entirely possible that they dont offer M Sport suspension for the 225xe because of the weight or already included for all spec.

or all have re-tuned suspension. I know mercedes and vw re-tune all their suspensions for their UK PHEV to deal with the extra weight over standard cars.
Well, we've got it being delivered to SO's work on the 7th March on a 17 plate; we'll update you on how hard it rides after that. :D
 
#43 ·
HookyMan said:
Mine is also due 7th March! Ordered back in September, its been a long wait. I test drove a luxury with 18inch wheels and run flats, and the ride was just about acceptable.
Blimey, we put ours in early October (if memory serves); ours is the 225xe M Sport, but BMW UK told me ours doesn't have the M Sport suspension:

"Thank you for your question to the BMW Genius Team.

You are correct, the 225xe does NOT have the M Sport suspension, therefore suited to your requirements!"


Tested a luxury on 18" rims as well, and it was less hard-riding than our current Lexus hybrid - although didn't take it over any large potholes or anything on the test. A harder riding car would be hard to stomach; hence the email to BMW's geniuseseses.
 
#44 ·
HookyMan said:
I was wondering how it coped is slippery conditions, in my case 5 miles of minor roads and hills to the nearest B road, which means I'm snowed in once or twice each winter. Now I also have a '58 SII Land Rover, but lack of heater and any sort of reliably means its a bit of a lottery to get anywhere!
I've seen a number of videos showing the 225xe 'handling' adverse conditions, including scaling a 45 degree slope; not sure whether the cars in these videos were sporting winter tyres, but as they're something I swear by (since the days of our 116i) I'll add those into the extra traction apparent in the 225xe.

HookyMan said:
So how do you get the 4x4 operating? In the Volvo V60 twin engine you have a handy 4x4 button. I assumed before I drove the 225xe that if it was in sport mode the petrol was running at all times, but on my test I found that wasn't the case. Is it just cleaver enough to detect wheel slip and bring in both engines as required?
Apparently so, some reviewers have stated that the 4wd kicks in when necessary...

HookyMan said:
The electric charging situation in the UK is a bit shambolic. At the moment you get big tax breaks on company cars, but that is being whittled down year on year. Until recently you got free charging at most motorway stations, but now you have to pay for it, at an hourly rate which makes charging uneconomic for the 225. None of my local shopping areas have free (or indeed any sort of) charging. My work currently has free charging, but that is unusual, and I'm sure the government will soon look at it and consider it a benefit that should be taxed.

An the UK electric car forums there seems a lot of negativity towards PHEV's clogging up charging slots, again they point out that in the same time as you get 20 miles of charge in a 225xe, you could charge up an I3 or similar for over 100miles, and you get the feeling that somehow PHEV's are not real electric cars. From my point of view there is nothing that meets my need for 300 mile range this side of a Tesla, and until the pure electrics manage 300 miles they are no good for me. Currently PHEV seems a good compromise. I'm guessing that when I come to replace the 225 in 3 years time then Telsa 3's or the new VW electrics will manage that, and also the charging network will be in place.
Totally agree, we moved from a hybrid car 5-6 years ago, to this one a week on Tuesday; it's a stepping stone to full electric in a few years time. Have you thought about some of the (unfortunately myriad) subscription services? I heard tell that there was some moves to consolidating how these various services are accessed - I think it may have been Robert Llewellyn on Fully Charged Show on Youtube.

HookyMan said:
If you visit Sweden and see the fantastic way they encourage the use of electric cars, its like a different world! Free parking and charging, use of bus lanes, massive tax breaks!
Yep, they do seem to have their heads screwed on with regard to ICE, and, for example in Norway, have they not committed to no ICE cars being sold within the next 10-15 years or so?
 
#45 ·
I don't understand why people who drive ev's want to ban all standard cars. Its like becoming a cult but what we only did was purchase a nice car to do a lot of different driving and save some money. What we do not want is more regulation banning petrol cars as we live in a free democratic world.
I'm so pleased I live in New Zealand as laws we work on not having. We use tax money to educate and over time peoples attitude will change. If suppliers of EV's drop their prices over time then people will buy them.
 
#46 ·
And I've now gone back to delivery on the 10th, and I'll be away and unable to pick it up till the 13th Rats! Really annoying as I saw the Ship Asian Breeze come into Southampton last week, knowing my car was on it. Two weeks to get from the Docks to my Company. Took less time to build it and get it to Southampton. My lease on my Audi is up and I am now running a 1.0 Focus pool car. Oh well at least it gives me a chance to get used to filling up with Petrol rather than Diesel.

I rather enjoy Full Charged, one of the latest ones he reviews the 330e. He seemed to enjoy slamming the doors.
 
#47 ·
Ah well, I'll have to update you on the ride then...
 
#49 ·
Yes its going to be driven down to Spayer in Germany in June, about 600 miles each way, and no real opportunity to recharge. Wonder what MPG it will return.... Guess under those conditions I'll be lucky to get 300 miles on a tank.

In the Audi on similar runs I've got over 700 miles on a tank of diesel. Oh well horses for courses and all that. On my 25 mile commute into work I would expect to see over 100mpg from the 225, which is really what it is designed for.
 
#50 ·
...Well, the SO had a call from the delivery company this arvo whilst I was on a bloody train to say ours is going to be at our front door at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

So my plans for a sleep-in have been shot to pieces...

Sorry, I mean I'm a tad excited...
 
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