[androdev]

Originally Posted by PGopkrsna

Hi Androdev, what's the other options that you can recommend? I test drove Q3, superb, and thinking may be c250d too.

There is no doubt 3 series is a great car to drive, but why would you want to chase idiots to give your hard earned cash? Are you keen on diesel? Most euro petrols like Octavia TSI, C200 petrol, CLA petrol are fairly desirable cars for enthusiastic driving and compensate in other areas (octavia cheaper, C200 great interiors, CLA great looker) compared to 3-series.

[ddndrive]

Originally Posted by PGopkrsna

On a related note, I found out today that 320i prestige is offered at 31 lacs exshowroom at Hyderabad, this too after I followed up twice !

Hi PGopkrsna , there is a handsome discount available(atleast here in Delhi) over and above this reduced price of Rs. 31 Lac . Please do go through my thread below and in case you would want to purchase the car here from Delhi , do lemme know , I would share the name and number of my SA who would give you the best possible deal .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...restige-5.html

[PGopkrsna]

Originally Posted by ddndrive

Hi PGopkrsna , there is a handsome discount available(atleast here in Delhi) over and above this reduced price of Rs. 31 Lac . Please do go through my thread below and in case you would want to purchase the car here from Delhi , do lemme know , I would share the name and number of my SA who would give you the best possible deal .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...restige-5.html

Hi ddndrive. I have been following the thread that you mentioned very closely, in fact it is one of major reasons for looking at 3 series and not X1 Reg taking the car at Delhi, am not confident that the dealer would actually give an invoice on Hyderabad address, also that this will be purchased in the name of the company. Is this possible per you? Does talking to the dealer directly at Delhi help clear this questions? Tha you.

[PGopkrsna]

Originally Posted by ddndrive

Hi PGopkrsna , there is a handsome discount available(atleast here in Delhi) over and above this reduced price of Rs. 31 Lac . Please do go through my thread below and in case you would want to purchase the car here from Delhi , do lemme know , I would share the name and number of my SA who would give you the best possible deal .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...restige-5.html

Hi ddndrive, can you help me with the SA name and contact, I would like to talk to him over the phone and understand if I can buy the car in Delhi and get a TR to transport it to Hyderabad. If he is positive, then I will go down to the dealer and meet up, to take care of rest of formalities. Thank you in advance.

[PGopkrsna]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[drmohitg]

Service update

So the car has covered 26k kms and the computer was showing a service warning. Booked the car for servicing and to my utter surprise the dealership stays closed on Sunday. Why on earth would you want to close on the day everyone else is free and relatively free to bring their cars. May be they are used to people only sending their cars with drivers or opting for pick and drop services.

Anyways one small and one major issue was also to be sorted out.
1. The right ORVM was making a whirring noise while opening and closing. I think this is an inherent problem with the 3 series and some lubrication has sorted it out for the moment.

2. The second problem was the leather over steering and horn pad wearing out with white patches being formed. I had posted pictures of the same earlier and was completely aghast at the quality since the car is only 25k km old and has not even completed 3 years. To my shock they said that my BSI ultimate plan ( which covered both services and warranty for 5 years) does not cover interior of the car. I do not know if this is true or not but I was definitely not conveyed the same at the time of buying it. But then it is my fault for having believed in them without my research due to the bling associated with the brand. Anyways on my request to atleast assess it and then contact BMW for a response, they saw it and first labelled it as dust and later said it is due to some chemical damage. I really loved the way a "self proclaimed smart A**" complimented me that "Sir your car is very clean from inside despite the beige interiors. You must be getting it cleaned outside".

I promptly showed him pics of me cleaning the car with BMW leather cleaner that I got as free with my car purchase. The line of argument then changed and they became a bit receptive although still put the blame on me for using some chemical.

Anyways finally they applied some polish to the involved areas and for now it is no longer visible. Their explanation was that it was indeed dust accumulation. I will see if it comes back again and will take necessary action then.

Lastly I do appreciate the technology that these modern cars have complex computers and prompt the user with service reminders. But it needs a bit more human involvement too. For instance I was told that my car only needed a brake fluid change. The engine oil now needs replacement in another 2800 kms according to the car's computer. Now for my running that means two more months. And the prospect of wasting a whole day again for a simple oil change in 2 months time is not very re-assuring. I wish if they could club these two services by either changing the engine oil too at the same sitting and resetting the computer or postponing the brake fluid change.

Well so that was about service and the not so good part about the car.

Coming to the car itself, I love the thought of taking it out everyday to work and then start back home in the evening. The sheer acceleration and power that I have at my disposal, even if it is only for the smallest of distance or only from 0-60 kmph is just mind boggling and always pastes a huge grin on my face even today.

[drmohitg]

The engine oil now needs replacement in another 2800 kms according to the car's computer. Now for my running that means two more months. And the prospect of wasting a whole day again for a simple oil change in 2 months time is not very re-assuring. I wish if they could club these two services by either changing the engine oil too at the same sitting and resetting the computer or postponing the brake fluid change.

So the car quickly covered the remaining 2800 kms as predicted with the odometer currently at 28k kms. Hence got the engine oil and filters changed today. It feels so much more smoother to drive after the oil change. Or may be it is just a psychological thing with me. Overall Bird Auto ( BMW dealer) did a great job and for the first time to my surprise I got a clean car. I usually tell them not to wash ( it is charged extra) and they literally give the car back dirty. Today atleast it was all wiped up clean which certainly leaves a very good impression. Anyways that reminds me that I have to take her for a spa treatment at 3M soon.

My car's brake pads are still going strong and according to the iDrive they are still good to go for 12k kms. I guess I need to just start pushing the car more.

Lastly during my everyday usage, I sometimes wonder if I should have opted for a white coloured car ( less visibility of scratches and small dents) with black interiors ( easier to maintain). But each time I visit the BMW showroom and see all the brand new cars standing out there in various shades and then take a look at my ride, I get convinced that I made the right choice and would do the same even today. It just looks so menacing yet elegant in blue.

[neeravnaik]

This is a great thread and is particularly useful to me as I have just booked a 320 d Sports line (Melbourne Red)

I am evaluating whether to take the BSI service package and would like to get your comments on your experience on this

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by neeravnaik

This is a great thread and is particularly useful to me as I have just booked a 320 d Sports line (Melbourne Red)

I am evaluating whether to take the BSI service package and would like to get your comments on your experience on this

Thanks for your kind words. At the time of my purchase i was convinced that it is a must to buy this. But 3 years into the ownership I would suggest you buy only the extended warranty, unless your running is high. Even then I feel the service cost will not be different by much compared to BSI pack. Also it depends upon your style of driving, like as I mentioned above that my car is going to only require it's first brake pad change around the 35k km mark. Otherwise a regular oil change service will cost you only around 20-30k. So I going to say that buy the extended warranty for sure and skip the BSI.

[drmohitg]

Too much reliance on technology is not always the best idea. Now if you have read my last couple of posts on this thread then you might be aware that I mentioned how annoying at times can the iDrive controlled service schedule can become for you. Theoretically your BMW needs a service every year or 12k kms. But practically the story might be very different. The car's computer decides and keeps track of your service requirements. All good so far. The problem arises when different components need servicing very close to each other yet not so close in terms of kms or time that the dealership can service it and address all the issues at a single sitting, as per BMW norms I am guessing.

So my car needed a service in October for brake oil change. Right after a month, I had to take it back to the service station for an engine oil change in November end. And now once again today morning the iDrive prompted me that the service is due and on checking, it is time for the first replacement of the front break pads. Now since we our the rare breed of car owners who do not trust others with our car, this means another trip to the service centre and another working day wasted ( have to take leave from work) to get the car serviced since BMW for some weird reason doesn't work on Sundays.

Also I would like to point out a rather technological glitch in the car's computer system and the way it monitors the car's servicing requirements. Till yesterday my car was showing that the next service was due in 9000 kms or November, 2017. And suddenly today came out with a service due message and started showing 2000 kms left for service. Now this can be scary as if you are in the middle of a trip or a journey, you might be left unsettled or clueless as to why suddenly you are on the wrong side of service schedules. And its not easy to find a BMW dealership in every part of the country. To be fair my SA had shared with me during friendly chit chat that the car does behave like this when it comes to brake pads and it will be showing you some 10k kms left for servicing which will suddenly jump to under 2k kms once the sensor is activated after the pads have worn out to a certain level. I do not understand why couldn't they devise a better system to keep track of things since an error of 7000 kms ( dropped to 2k from 9k kms yesterday) is quite staggering.

[Ani0404]

Hey Mohit.
Another thread read in one go from the start. Awesome one with some great pictures. Loved the colour. I personally like black, red and now blue. Btw how is you bimmer doing now?

[Turbanator]

Till yesterday my car was showing that the next service was due in 9000 kms or November, 2017. And suddenly today came out with a service due message and started showing 2000 kms left for service.

This is not normal, though it does change say in case you take it for an extended drive ( 1000Km or so ) Get this checked.

So my car needed a service in October for brake oil change. Right after a month, I had to take it back to the service station for an engine oil change in November end.

That's bad on dealership part, even if you are covered under BRI package, normally dealership will prepone service for oil or anything else to include. At-least that's the way Dealership at Chandigarh works.

when it comes to brake pads and it will be showing you some 10k kms left for servicing which will suddenly jump to under 2k kms once the sensor is activated after the pads have worn out to a certain level

Again in the case of brake pads, my experience has been different. Unless I tend to brake hard these normally lasts as per estimated display. I don't think sensor getting activated after a while can be correct. Of-course as with other stuff, if we brake hard when little pads are left, service interval will increase much higher than it would have when pads were new.

[drmohitg]

Quick Service Update

First of all my apologies for not updating the thread more frequently now. Off late work and other commitments have kept me really busy and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

The car has covered 40.5k kms as off today. I gave the car for its usual engine oil servicing, the last one took place at 34k kms in April, 2017 and surprisingly the iDrive started showing that the oil needs a change. Chaotic NCR traffic perhaps may be the reason for such quick oil changes. Also the fact that this time I took the car to them with still 1800 kms to go, so technically my car would have run for 8k kms with one oil change, a figure that has nearly been constant since the time of purchase.

Surprisingly the idrive has been displaying that the rear brake pads need a change in 5k kms from quite some time now and that figure is not changing. I must have run more than 7k kms since it first showed 5k kms figure for that. The BMW SA said the brake pads are nearly worn out but they would need to keep the car overnight if I want to get them changed since they need to take approval from BMW as the car's computer is still showing life left in the brake pads. I would rather probably just wait for the system to finally give the go ahead since I do not have the time to leave the car at their dealership overnight.

Annoyingly this time, even BMW tried selling me stupid unwanted stuff at the time of engine oil service like injector cleaner and all. When I pointed out that the car is covered under BSI, I was told that these are consumable items which are not covered. Anyways I told them to stick to the service as per the booklet and not waste time in selling me these things. But it is really disappointing that in this last 1 month, I got all the 4 cars services, namely BMW, Toyota, Hyundai and Ford and at every dealership, people were ready to fleece you stating all kinds of lies and selling these add ons stating that the company recommends them.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Surprisingly the idrive has been displaying that the rear brake pads need a change in 5k kms from quite some time now and that figure is not changing. I must have run more than 7k kms since it first showed 5k kms figure for that.

Same thing happened with my car. The system was showing 2k kms as due for front brake pads and that stayed 2k kms even after driving for 3k kms more.
May be it has to do something with either a bug in the software or the sensors.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Annoyingly this time, even BMW tried selling me stupid unwanted stuff at the time of engine oil service like injector cleaner and all. When I pointed out that the car is covered under BSI, I was told that these are consumable items which are not covered.

That's really annoying. The dealer in my city is quite good. Never tried to sell me anything except the extended warranty before the expiry of standard one which is obvious and acceptable.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

That's really annoying. The dealer in my city is quite good. Never tried to sell me anything except the extended warranty before the expiry of standard one which is obvious and acceptable.

This was my first such experience with them too. Till now it was a very smooth experience with the service being done according to the requirements shown by the key during scanning.

What scares me is the possiblity of getting scammed once the BSI pack runs out next year. I enquired from them about the extension of BSI pack and the price for 10 year/1L kms is around 4.5L out of which I have effectively paid 2.5L for the first 5 years. So I will need to give around 2L more which will cover me for the service requirements for another 5 years.