[thejaguar]

I am glad to be here finally! I have been rejected 3 times, but better late than never.

I have spent most of my adult life in US. I relocated back to India about 11 months ago after 16 years in the US. I am slowly getting used to the new normal, but when it comes to driving within the city in Bangalore, it's still something I would rather avoid, unless it's a Sunday morning.

I used to think that I knew a decent amount about cars until I stumbled upon this forum and realized that I am barely scratching the surface. This place has been a wealth of information that is just not available anywhere else, especially when it comes to cars in India. Most importantly, the civility and language being used is so refreshing!

So far, I have owned the following cars in the US: Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Cherokee, BMW Z4 and a BMW M3. I currently have a Honda Jazz in India. I am likely to buy the 2018 facelift of XUV 500 W11 (O) AT, but I am hoping to see an official Team-BHP review before pulling the trigger.

Outside of automobiles, anything tech takes over my life. If I can find a golf buddy here in Bangalore, I would love to get back to playing golf.

Talking about tech, I had managed to recode by BMW to enable functionality that was limited to a higher end version (features like auto folding mirrors, path lights, etc). While this was a bit scary because so many things could have gone wrong, but the enthusiast community in the bay area is extremely helpful and enterprising.

I look forward to learning a lot more here and contribute my 2 cents whenever I can. Thanks again for letting me be a part of this wonderful community.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by thejaguar

I am glad to be here finally! I have been rejected 3 times, but better late than never.

I have spent most of my adult life in US. I relocated back to India about 11 months ago after 16 years in the US. I am slowly getting used to the new normal, but when it comes to driving within the city in Bangalore, it's still something I would rather avoid, unless it's a Sunday morning.

I used to think that I knew a decent amount about cars until I stumbled upon this forum and realized that I am barely scratching the surface. This place has been a wealth of information that is just not available anywhere else, especially when it comes to cars in India. Most importantly, the civility and language being used is so refreshing!

So far, I have owned the following cars in the US: Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Cherokee, BMW Z4 and a BMW M3. I currently have a Honda Jazz in India. I am likely to buy the 2018 facelift of XUV 500 W11 (O) AT, but I am hoping to see an official Team-BHP review before pulling the trigger.

Outside of automobiles, anything tech takes over my life. If I can find a golf buddy here in Bangalore, I would love to get back to playing golf.

Talking about tech, I had managed to recode by BMW to enable functionality that was limited to a higher end version (features like auto folding mirrors, path lights, etc). While this was a bit scary because so many things could have gone wrong, but the enthusiast community in the bay area is extremely helpful and enterprising.

I look forward to learning a lot more here and contribute my 2 cents whenever I can. Thanks again for letting me be a part of this wonderful community.

Hello thejaguar,

Welcome to T-Bhp. Good to see the list of cars that you have owned.

I am a bit surprised by the fact that certain features where already available in the lower spec version of your BMW and only blocked or limited to function by the software. Correct me if my understanding is incorrect here.

This kind of makes it a bit strange that a company would do that just to extract a few more $$$ from the consumer?

Hope to read more about your experiences

-Sunil

[thejaguar]

Originally Posted by sunilch

Hello thejaguar,

Welcome to T-Bhp. Good to see the list of cars that you have owned.

I am a bit surprised by the fact that certain features where already available in the lower spec version of your BMW and only blocked or limited to function by the software. Correct me if my understanding is incorrect here.

This kind of makes it a bit strange that a company would do that just to extract a few more $$$ from the consumer?

Hope to read more about your experiences

-Sunil

You got it right - that's exactly what BMW was/is doing. There is a fairly large modding community in the US that collaborates together to enable various features via software hacks - advanced connectivity package is a simple setting that needs a flag to be set.

The latest example of BMW going further down the road on this trend is the annual subscription model for Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto. There is no second to the driving experience of a BMW, but their in-car connectivity/AV tech is average at best.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by thejaguar

I have spent most of my adult life in US. I relocated back to India about 11 months ago after 16 years in the US. I am slowly getting used to the new normal, but when it comes to driving within the city in Bangalore, it's still something I would rather avoid, unless it's a Sunday morning.

Welcome to Team-BHP thejaguar! Good to have you onboard. I think, after staying in the US, you would have a completely different take than us on mundane things like crossing the roads as well as driving. Do share your experience on this.

So far, I have owned the following cars in the US: Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Cherokee, BMW Z4 and a BMW M3. I currently have a Honda Jazz in India. I am likely to buy the 2018 facelift of XUV 500 W11 (O) AT, but I am hoping to see an official Team-BHP review before pulling the trigger.

Wow! thats quote a list there. The BMWs do steal the limelight, but I'm very interested to know more about the Pathfinder. Such a car would do well in India. It has plenty of space inside and has a long history as well.

Talking about tech, I had managed to recode by BMW to enable functionality that was limited to a higher end version (features like auto folding mirrors, path lights, etc). While this was a bit scary because so many things could have gone wrong, but the enthusiast community in the bay area is extremely helpful and enterprising.

Is this something similar to VWs VCDS? I have done a tiny bit of tinkering on VW cars, but nothing beats the communities overseas. The guides we used were mostly of the European chaps who had posted all the details online. I'm sure there would be many BMW owners on this forum who'd be interested on knowing more about this.

I look forward to learning a lot more here and contribute my 2 cents whenever I can. Thanks again for letting me be a part of this wonderful community.

Do take a look at the rules of the forum before you begin.

[rst89]

Welcome to the community!

Originally Posted by thejaguar

I am glad to be here finally! I have been rejected 3 times, but better late than never.

Talking about tech, I had managed to recode by BMW to enable functionality that was limited to a higher end version (features like auto folding mirrors, path lights, etc). While this was a bit scary because so many things could have gone wrong, but the enthusiast community in the bay area is extremely helpful and enterprising.

This is really interesting. Will i get to know the steps or link how it is done?

[thejaguar]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Welcome to Team-BHP thejaguar! Good to have you onboard. I think, after staying in the US, you would have a completely different take than us on mundane things like crossing the roads as well as driving. Do share your experience on this.

Indeed - I have had to go through a re-initiation of sorts to do something as basic as crossing the road. I have been visiting India every year, so not completely out of sorts, but it's been quite an interesting adjustment so far. The part I really miss is being able to take off on long drives over the weekends (pacific highway is such a joy to drive on with the ocean on one side and mountains on the other side). I am still getting used to driving in India - have cycled through 4 drivers already!

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Wow! thats quote a list there. The BMWs do steal the limelight, but I'm very interested to know more about the Pathfinder. Such a car would do well in India. It has plenty of space inside and has a long history as well.

Yes, the BMW's, especially the Z4 was my pride and joy. Looking back, the kind of babying I ended up doing for this car surprises me now. Regarding the pathfinder, it was a workhorse. It was the first car I purchased in the US (back in 2003) and had it till the day I left the US (2017). It was way ahead of its time - had fully electronic seats for both driver and passenger, power sunroof, 6 disc CD player, 4WD, etc. Other than the regular servicing, tire changes, etc over the years, the car just worked without any issues. The new avatar of the pathfinder reminds me of the XUV500 in certain ways, hence the desire to get one here.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Is this something similar to VWs VCDS? I have done a tiny bit of tinkering on VW cars, but nothing beats the communities overseas. The guides we used were mostly of the European chaps who had posted all the details online. I'm sure there would be many BMW owners on this forum who'd be interested on knowing more about this.



Do take a look at the rules of the forum before you begin.

I don't know much about VW's VCDS, so can't comment on it. I will dig up the resources I had bookmarked earlier and share it here soon. The quick and dirty is that in addition to the OBD2 port, there is another port that is used to program BMW's. Adapters are readily available on eBay and then there are a couple of forums where the necessary software and all the details needed to mod the software are available. The best part is that there are periodic meet-ups (once a quarter or so) where the experts help out the newbies and everybody gets to have a great time!

Originally Posted by rst89

Welcome to the community!



This is really interesting. Will i get to know the steps or link how it is done?

Sure - I will dig up and post the resources soon. It's fairly detailed and not for the faint of heart. Like I have mentioned above, it does require a special adapter cable and software to do what's needed. I will share the details soon.

[CaptainPrice]

Originally Posted by thejaguar

better late than never.

True that.

Originally Posted by thejaguar

... when it comes to driving within the city in Bangalore, it's still something I would rather avoid, unless it's a Sunday morning.

Enjoy it while you can. It's only going to get worse, if the status quo is maintained by the authorities.

Originally Posted by thejaguar

Most importantly, the civility and language being used is so refreshing!

This is something that I too have loved about this forum.

Originally Posted by thejaguar

So far, I have owned the following cars in the US: Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Cherokee, BMW Z4 and a BMW M3. I currently have a Honda Jazz in India. I am likely to buy the 2018 facelift of XUV 500 W11 (O) AT, but I am hoping to see an official Team-BHP review before pulling the trigger.

A big, diverse list. Good luck with the purchase of the XUV but be warned that this will have to be your long-distance commuter because in the city, you'll find it difficult to maneuver the XUV.

Originally Posted by thejaguar

Talking about tech, I had managed to recode by BMW to enable functionality that was limited to a higher end version (features like auto folding mirrors, path lights, etc).

IMPRESSIVE!

Originally Posted by thejaguar

Thanks again for letting me be a part of this wonderful community.

Extending you a warm welcome to the Team-BHP family, and wishing you a wonderful time here.

Cheers!