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      02-06-2013, 01:14 PM   #89
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SamS View Post
From what I know about those two cars, wouldn't the ActiveHybrid 5 be the better equivalent?
Agreed, they're much more in the AH5's class, but there's really not much in the AH3's class that is a worthy comparison. Nobody else really makes a performance compact luxury hybrid where "performance" means >= 300HP.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MotoEV
jdong: I have only one question for you? When are you starting your own hybrid blog site on the web?

How do you have so much knowledge on this and other topics? BMW could use you on their customer support / marketing line.
HAHA it's funny you should mention that... I feel like during my test drives, neither of my CA's had a clue about the ActiveHybrids. In fact one of them was candid enough to admit that this is the first AH3 test drive he's been on, and he was blown away by how well the car drove.

One of my first internships (which then turned into a technical consulting job) was designing and implementing prototype hybrid-electric powertrains for military applications. I guess that's where I learned the most about all the tradeoffs and technologies involved in hybrids.

Would you believe that this is my first hybrid ever? As much I like hybrid technology, I also can't deal with the fact that most hybrids on the market are econo-slush. Thank you BMW for making the first luxury performance hybrid that is the whole package
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      04-22-2014, 10:34 AM   #90
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About to order an AH3

I realise this thread is a little old, but it seems to be the most comprehensive one on the ActiveHybrid3.

I am just about to order an AH3, having been through long process of choosing between an M235i, a 430d, 435dX, 435i or the AH3.

That's a long list of quite different cars, and for a long time the AH3 wasn't even on my radar (it is pretty much unheard of here in the UK, where so many people are content with diesels).

Just to quickly explain my decision, the M235i was the front runner, but it is too small (or rather, I am too big and old) and all my peers thought I would look daft in it. I ignored those thoughts for a long time, but I think they had a point. I also do a decent number of miles a year and need better consumption - that sealed its fate. The 430d or 435dX are lovely cars, but I can't get comfortable with diesels, as they just don't push my buttons when I want to have fun. I am coming from running a 997 Carrera S, alongside a very old A4 1.9TDI. Nothing will replace the 911 of course, but I had a 330Ci a long time ago, and anything that is even remotely along those lines is fine by me.

So even though I wanted a coupe, I am happy to sacrifice the look of a 2 door for the benefit of having a 6 cylinder petrol which will make the right sort of noise, whilst still returning good mpg (my driving is very mixed, rather than motorway, hence I think this hybrid will give me something close to 435d consumption). My hope is that the AH3 will be two cars in one, giving good consumption on a daily basis, but with the ability to just burn fuel and be properly quick when the opportunity arises.

Also, the lease deal on these are very good, due to BMW's support for it, so it works out about the same as a 335i or a 430d, and cheaper than a 435d or a 435i.

Anyway, I was just seeking some final advice (or rather, affirmation), before I go ahead. In particular, advice on options would be appreciated.

Current order form is:

Active Hybrid 3 M-Sport;
Alpine White with Coral Red (so tempted by Sapphire Black, but I have had lots of black cars, some silver, and some grey - but I fancy something new - to me at least. Thought about Estoril, but I think I'd get tired of it. Also, I want the Coral Red, and the Superman colourway is not for me, Melbourne Red is also a good colour, but again, it rules out Coral Rad (in my view);
Professional Media (Nav) (works out almost as a freebie on a lease basis, due to it being essential for resale);
M Sport Plus Pack (19's, Harmon Kardon, Xenons, M-Sport Brakes, Sun protection windows, Headlamp washers);
Adaptive M-Sport Suspension (expensive, but I've gone for this as the AH3 M-Sport doesn't have the M-Sport suspension and I've read that the standard set up is a bit floaty in the bends);
Gear shift paddles (annoyingly, these aren't standard);
Piano Black trim;
Split rear seats.

I am planning on getting the grille surround blacked out (one way or another), in shadowline, when it comes - as I've seen lots of F30's on here with the black grille, and I think it really works finishes the car off, particularly in white.

On balance, I am not going to select to debadge. I would on any of the other cars I'd thought about (well, save for the M235i...), but there's something a bit cool (to me), about having a badge that leaves people wondering what the hell your car is, just as it leaves them for dead.

One final thing, I tested all the other cars mentioned, but there is no AH3 to test, so I am taking a big punt, hence this post.

Anyway, I've never posted on here before, so apologies if I went on a bit, but but this is where I'm at and all input and advice would be appreciated.
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      04-22-2014, 11:16 AM   #91
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I've had my AH3 for a year now, all options except the self-parking and each option has been one I would not want to be without.
It is a terrific car. When you want to drive without thinking, comfort mode is good. Less performance but great milage, Eco Pro. I don't use sport mode much, instead I tend to push the lever over to manual-it is a very quick shifting auto.
The electric motor means no turbo lag, pushed hard there is a combined whine from the electric motor as it adds to the engine power and the turbo's spool up, sounds great. The power is unbelievable-even at 60mph, kick it into a lower gear and floor it-the torque twists the body a little and it leaps forward.
All in all I'm very glad I chose this car-the only change I would want to see in the next generation is a larger battery and electric motor for longer electric only driving-such as the latest Porche 4 door sedan has.
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      04-22-2014, 11:39 AM   #92
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2013 AH3 fuel economy

Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyq View Post
So even though I wanted a coupe, I am happy to sacrifice the look of a 2 door for the benefit of having a 6 cylinder petrol which will make the right sort of noise, whilst still returning good mpg (my driving is very mixed, rather than motorway, hence I think this hybrid will give me something close to 435d consumption). My hope is that the AH3 will be two cars in one, giving good consumption on a daily basis, but with the ability to just burn fuel and be properly quick when the opportunity arises.
Well........I'm now on my 2nd 2013 AH3. The first one got replaced because of repeated failures of the climate control system.

Both cars are unfailingly "properly quick when the opportunity arises," as you say. In Sport Mode, my AH3's have plenty of vroom. Very nice.

But, "good consumption on a daily basis"?
Not so much.

Driving in and around Miami, a mixture of short stretches on highway with city stop and go, both vehicles have averaged around 20-21mpg, overall after 1000-2000 miles. Driving 100-200 miles on highway, I might see 30-32 mpg.

Bottom line: set your expectations low for 'fuel economy' and high for 'fun to drive' when you want it to be, and you should do fine......based on my experience.
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      04-22-2014, 02:23 PM   #93
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyq View Post
I hence I think this hybrid will give me something close to 435d consumption).
I've had both the AH3 and 535d as loaners for the weekend and from my experience the AH3 will get much worse MPG than the diesel (23mpg vs. 30mpg, 50/50 city and highway, same roads, same conservative driving style).

For what it is worth, my F30 335 gets 25mpg (i.e. roughly the same as the AH3) and F30 328d loaner got 40mpg combined

Personally, unless you are getting an INSANE deal on the AH3 or 35d, I would recommend the 335 with MPPK and just absorbing the extra fuel cost, or getting the 20d/28d to see some significant fuel savings.

Maybe I would change my tune if I was paying $9/gallon and commuting 20k miles per year, but right now with $5/gallon and 10k miles per year I really don't see the point of the AH3 or 35d cars... AH3 is just a heavier and more complex 335.. no speed or mpg benefits.. the 35d feels nice off the line but falls flat at high revs / high speed... 335 pulls hard and has less pork to carry around than AH3
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      04-22-2014, 04:27 PM   #94
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Some of us enjoy the technology and don't just buy things because they are the best financial cost-benefit decision, but instead for the ability to enjoy 335i performance AND spare the air some excess emissions.
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      05-13-2014, 06:13 AM   #95
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Gentlemen

Apologies for not reading the whole thread. I have a question I would like to ask other AH3 owners and I'm hoping this reaches a wide audience.

I have an AH3. I thought I read in the manual somewhere [?] that when using cruise control on the highway / motorway the car should use electric power as well as petrol power to ascend hills to improve economy.

I cant get my car to do it.

Sure it will switch off the engine when descending but never both sources of power unless I'm in full attack sport mode.

I regularly drive with cruise control and often along the same routes which include the same hills over and over again. I watch my battery level but it doesn't really go down noticeably on a steep ascent. I've tried choosing an Eco Pro route in the navigation and having the car set to Eco Pro mode itself but no joy.

Has anyone else successfully mastered this?
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      05-13-2014, 09:47 AM   #96
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATM View Post
Gentlemen

Apologies for not reading the whole thread. I have a question I would like to ask other AH3 owners and I'm hoping this reaches a wide audience.

I have an AH3. I thought I read in the manual somewhere [?] that when using cruise control on the highway / motorway the car should use electric power as well as petrol power to ascend hills to improve economy.

I cant get my car to do it.

Sure it will switch off the engine when descending but never both sources of power unless I'm in full attack sport mode.

I regularly drive with cruise control and often along the same routes which include the same hills over and over again. I watch my battery level but it doesn't really go down noticeably on a steep ascent. I've tried choosing an Eco Pro route in the navigation and having the car set to Eco Pro mode itself but no joy.

Has anyone else successfully mastered this?
i think you are referring to this article or something similar.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/09/2...-optimize-hyb/

I've always been wondering the same thing, too. Let's sue BMW.
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      05-13-2014, 09:55 AM   #97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iM View Post
i think you are referring to this article or something similar.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/09/2...-optimize-hyb/

I've always been wondering the same thing, too. Let's sue BMW.
Exactly.

Although I was hoping it is in the manual supplied with the car. If it is then we can query it. Otherwise it is just internet rumour....
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      05-13-2014, 01:20 PM   #98
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The car will use a little bit of electric boost when you get over 85% charge (like after going down a hill) whether or not you use cruise control.

Remember that electricity isn't free. Your car generates electricity either by going down hill or braking or BURNING GAS and taking the efficiency hit of gas -> kinetic -> electricity -> kinetic.

The car at steady state drives like a gas car. That is how all hybrids work. Unless you can fill up the battery using an external charger, using electricity that you didn't get for free is a dumb idea.

EDIT: As far as the terrain map optimized mode through the nav, I've never seen my 2013 AH3 do that as well. I think those maps were only for Europe. It also never seemed to "learn" anything about elevation through repeatedly driving the same routes. Perhaps someone with a 2014 can comment on whether or not anything has changed. It's a good idea in theory though, but I've never seen it happen.
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      05-13-2014, 01:26 PM   #99
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Good review and info.
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      05-13-2014, 02:15 PM   #100
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Nice ride! Always very rare spotting an AH3 on the road these days.

Found some Canadian reviews on the AH3:

Auto123
http://www.auto123.com/en/bmw/3-seri...1&artid=154728

Canadian Auto Review
http://www.canadianautoreview.ca/rev...vehybrid3.html

I found that this blue really matches the hybrid theme well!

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      05-13-2014, 05:38 PM   #101
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdong View Post
The car will use a little bit of electric boost when you get over 85% charge (like after going down a hill) whether or not you use cruise control.

Remember that electricity isn't free. Your car generates electricity either by going down hill or braking or BURNING GAS and taking the efficiency hit of gas -> kinetic -> electricity -> kinetic.

The car at steady state drives like a gas car. That is how all hybrids work. Unless you can fill up the battery using an external charger, using electricity that you didn't get for free is a dumb idea.

EDIT: As far as the terrain map optimized mode through the nav, I've never seen my 2013 AH3 do that as well. I think those maps were only for Europe. It also never seemed to "learn" anything about elevation through repeatedly driving the same routes. Perhaps someone with a 2014 can comment on whether or not anything has changed. It's a good idea in theory though, but I've never seen it happen.
The only way I've been led to believe that my car is doing anything differently related to map optimization of the Nav guidance is when the hybrid display is active in iDrive. The other day I had the hybrid display up, and was using the Nav guidance. As I got fairly close to the destination, the hybrid display had all of these blue streaks appear behind the imaginary car, and a checkered flag appeared in the upper right hand corner of the hybrid display, similar to the one in the Nav menu when you select enter destination. Now, it could just be a signal that you are close to the destination, or it could be the map optimization causing changes in the parameters of the hybrid system as you approach your destination.
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      05-14-2014, 10:33 AM   #102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TN_3 View Post
The only way I've been led to believe that my car is doing anything differently related to map optimization of the Nav guidance is when the hybrid display is active in iDrive. The other day I had the hybrid display up, and was using the Nav guidance. As I got fairly close to the destination, the hybrid display had all of these blue streaks appear behind the imaginary car, and a checkered flag appeared in the upper right hand corner of the hybrid display, similar to the one in the Nav menu when you select enter destination. Now, it could just be a signal that you are close to the destination, or it could be the map optimization causing changes in the parameters of the hybrid system as you approach your destination.
Yes, this is purely based off your distance to the destination. The idea is that the car will pre-charge as you approach your destination so you can park your car in EV mode.

This idea is a specific version of a grander idea they are trying in Europe, where they have "zero emissions zones" around residential areas. So, the idea is, your car is allowed to generate normal emissions on the freeways and whatnot, but as soon as you enter densely populated areas you are expected to reduce your emissions.

This is one way that hybrids and plug-in hybrids can benefit your local environment even if it doesn't directly save gas.
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      08-13-2014, 07:48 AM   #103
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Firstly thank you to jacar, rjb, nicknaz who all replied to my post and also to the other posters on here.

Secondly, sorry for the slow response.

Anyway, I'm happy to report I'm now the happy keeper of an AH3, as per the spec in my original post, and mostly, the observations were spot on.

In terms of speed, handling, comfort and all that good stuff, the car is just great. It is like lightning when you floor it (and again, I'd state my last car was was a 997 C2S) and although it obviously can't compete on handling, it's not at all bad.

Another massive bonus is that silent running, at low speeds. I love it. Also, the stop-start thing works so much better as you take off, on electric power (there's nothing worse than all the modern diesels that kick when you pull away - nasty).

On MPG, I was pretty worried when running it it, getting just 30MPG (UK, which is 25 US). And that was with fairly conservative driving. But, on my current tank, I am doing 35MPG, which is closer to what I had (tentatively) hoped for. On a 150 miles motorway run, door to door, I got 40mpg, which for a 335i in disguise, is pretty damn good.

I'll admit that a 335d would have given me a good deal more MPG (I would guess easily 40's), but I wanted a petrol and 35mpg(ish) will do for me, as it's a material saving compared to sub-30s (whereas the saving I've lost from being at 35 as opposed to 40ish is considerably less).

As nicknaz said, I could have gone for a 335i and borne the extra fuel cost, but, I did get rather an insane lease deal (cheaper than a 335i), I do put down 15-20k miles a year, and we have to put up with the kind of fuel price you mention - which is painful. And, having some friends with 335i's/435i's, I feel pretty sure that I am getting a good 6-7mpg more than them, if not more. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up.

One last thing, I had serious order anxiety during my 8 week delivery wait, thinking white with red leather was a bit too much. But, I am happy to report, it looks the balls (particularly with the black special order kidney grille)
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      08-13-2014, 07:53 AM   #104
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PS - It now seems that European governments are turning against diesel, due to its higher toxins and all that stuff. Always said it was the devil's fuel....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...pollution.html
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      08-21-2014, 12:47 PM   #105
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So Gentlemen I think I saw my car do the hill / altitude thing. I had the car running in eco mode and I had the sat nav guiding me and I had selected the eco route. I had the display showing split mode and the hrbrid display showing on the right section. As I started to ascend a reasonable gradient hill on the motorway I saw a little symbol appear on my hybrid display which looked like the 10% gradient warning street sign. I switched my dashboard to show the charge level and it was decreasing gradually. Then as I got over the hill and started to descend the the system switched to charge.
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      10-23-2014, 06:38 AM   #106
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This is a question to ATM and others on this informative thread.

I picked up my AH3 back in July and I am generally very pleased with it. It's smooth when needed and fast as you like when you're looking for that. I had the adaptive M sport suspension, so there's also a nice choice to be made there.

The one thing that is disappointing, is the mpg. I know, I know..."I told you so" (I did take heed of the warnings on here), but it really is worse than I expected. I can get up to 40mpg (UK) on a long run, including motorways (at legal speeds), but around town, where the hybrid is meant to work its magic, I am getting low to mid-20's. It is all averaging out at around 31mpg.

I also don't seem to see much difference between standard petrol and V Power/Ultimate (I tend to stick to Shell, BP or Esso).

I wasn't expecting diesel like mpg, but this seems more like 335i mpg to me.

The problem seems to me to be how long the car takes to warm up - it can be as long has half an hour at times, and is always at least 20 mins. That seems a very long time to me.

Does anyone have similar experiences? I'd be interested to hear from any other UK uses in particular, or is it just me and ATM that has one?!?
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      10-23-2014, 07:05 AM   #107
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I've sold mine now. So if you want some winter wheels let me know as there are some for sale that I know of...

The engine does take longer to warm up in winter - obviously. What I did is turn the heater in the car off. That way when stationary the engine wont keep running. Ok the car can be a bit cold but with the bum warmer on full blast it's acceptable. You can try it. You don't have to leave it off all the time. Just wait till the engine is up to temp. You'll know if it is because if you stop and the engine is running turn the fan completely off and see if the engine cuts out.
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      10-23-2014, 07:53 AM   #108
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Thanks for the quick response ATM - so it's just me with one in the UK now then!

The slow warming up has been a feature all the time I've had it (since July), even in mild temps, so the time it takes seems odd to me (and far more than the 10 mins my ancient Audi oil burner takes).

Will take heed of the fan hint going forward, although it's still not cold enough for the fan to really kick in hard on start up.

Now, as for those winter wheels....I could know of a buyer! What have you got and what are you looking for? Is there a PM system on here?
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      10-23-2014, 10:18 AM   #109
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      10-23-2014, 10:23 AM   #110
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyq View Post

Will take heed of the fan hint going forward, although it's still not cold enough for the fan to really kick in hard on start up.
The fan wont blow hard until the engine is up to temp as it uses the coolant to heat the air blown in. So if you have your temp set as say 23 then it will wait till the engine is up to a sufficient temp to blow hot enough air into the cabin. Once it gets up to temp it will then start blowing hard if you have it set on auto. Like I say turn it completely off and see what happens. It worked for me.
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