Discussion
The time had come to retire the wife's Mercedes E350 estate. When we bought it, my company vehicle was a van so we wanted something that could do family duties. Nowadays I'm in a car, so given her mixed commute and the short distance the dog travels in her car, something much smaller was suitable.
We liked the idea of a hybrid, and pinned it down to either a Golf or 225. She preferred the look of the 225, which caused me some stress as we ordered off Cinch so had not seen the car in the wild. As an NHS employee there is what is meant to be a good salary sacrifice scheme, but as a low-rate taxpayer and high lease cost it does not work.
I think it works really well in white and is not as ugly as I feared. The wife is delighted which is all that really matters. I'm in discussion with Cinch as it's only come with a fast charge cable, and the granny cable that should be with the car, and that I need to charge it...
It drives well with a 1.5 Petrol engine and 6 speed auto. The transition from electric to petrol is pretty seamless.
We liked the idea of a hybrid, and pinned it down to either a Golf or 225. She preferred the look of the 225, which caused me some stress as we ordered off Cinch so had not seen the car in the wild. As an NHS employee there is what is meant to be a good salary sacrifice scheme, but as a low-rate taxpayer and high lease cost it does not work.
I think it works really well in white and is not as ugly as I feared. The wife is delighted which is all that really matters. I'm in discussion with Cinch as it's only come with a fast charge cable, and the granny cable that should be with the car, and that I need to charge it...
It drives well with a 1.5 Petrol engine and 6 speed auto. The transition from electric to petrol is pretty seamless.
We had one of these (MrsC's car really) from new before our PHEV Volvo, and really enjoyed it. It's basically a large-ish hatch with slightly more ground clearance. It was just a really easy, practical car that felt very well put together and drove fine for a 'white goods' sort of thing. It did tip runs, took 4 adults and luggage away for the weekend, and sat very happily at 80-85 on a long run. It even managed a bit of gentle off-roading in rural Wales (pro-tip: Sport Mode engages 4WD), and it coped more than adequately with a few muddy inclines.
We used it a lot on electricity around London, and the claimed range was pretty easily achieved. If it's being used for pottering around on lots of short runs, and you can charge it easily at home, it should be a very easy car to live with.
Ours was grey, which is slightly more flattering to some of its awkward angles.
We used it a lot on electricity around London, and the claimed range was pretty easily achieved. If it's being used for pottering around on lots of short runs, and you can charge it easily at home, it should be a very easy car to live with.
Ours was grey, which is slightly more flattering to some of its awkward angles.
Edited by C70R on Tuesday 25th April 11:43
Roboticarm said:
When I read the thread title I was expecting a 2.5 or 2.0 turbo... I'll never get my head around this new BMW numbering system
Friend of a friend has one and always though the looks weren't great but tbf white really suits it and the interiors in these are great
I finally remember to check. It’s a 1.5 litre 3 cylinder with twin across scroll turbo. 221hp. Amazing.Friend of a friend has one and always though the looks weren't great but tbf white really suits it and the interiors in these are great
A few months on and it’s proving low hassle. Averaging 70 mpg on the daily commute where it’s a mix of fast road and town driving and the dog is used to his downgraded boot..
We had a night at the in-laws this weekend without dog or offspring so thought we’d see how it does long distance. As expected little ev use, but it still averaged a tad over 50mpg. Very acceptable. Coped 4 adults up last night very well.
We would have charged the battery on a services stop, but on no occasion did we find a free charger bay. Food for thought.
Edited by surveyor on Sunday 25th June 20:50
How come the charge didn't work?
I picked up a 225i X-drive recently for around town/ station duties, it's not quite as economical as yours by the sound of it (
) but I suspect my 231bhp sounds a little better (subjective I appreciate).
Only got this as the first owner had gone nuts on the spec, comfort access, wide screen nav, some bunch of nannying anti crash electronics, LED light upgrade, sports seats with memory and electric lumbar, heated wheel etc. list was 31k, 12 then on extras. Welcome to BMW.
I picked up a 225i X-drive recently for around town/ station duties, it's not quite as economical as yours by the sound of it (
) but I suspect my 231bhp sounds a little better (subjective I appreciate). Only got this as the first owner had gone nuts on the spec, comfort access, wide screen nav, some bunch of nannying anti crash electronics, LED light upgrade, sports seats with memory and electric lumbar, heated wheel etc. list was 31k, 12 then on extras. Welcome to BMW.
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