[Axe77]

Originally Posted by abhi182

Looking for a change from my x1 and almost finalized the GT
The only worry I have is the ground clearance - I have been driving high slung cars for the last several years and wondering how good/bad the GT is in terms of tackling the ever present speedbreakers in Pune/Mumbai

The specs sheet of the GT doesn't mention the GC anywhere - Would really appreciate if you could share your experience

Hi Abhi,

I have had NO issues whatsoever with GC anywhere. I have taken the car to Goa, Aamby, to Bhor (off Pune Satara highway) where the roads were pretty rough as well as similar rough roads all around the Pawana Aamby area (off the usual beaten paths a bit) and the GT performed beautifully. You obviously cannot do hard core off roading with it like an SUV but its much better than going around in a regular sedan. City speed breakers are not even a consideration given some of the touring the GT has handled.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by abhi182

The specs sheet of the GT doesn't mention the GC anywhere

The Ground Clearance on 3GT is 165 mm. Used to be mentioned in earlier specification sheets.

[abhi182]

Surprisingly, the max leg room on the GT front seats is less than the X1 (not measured but as reported by the lady during the TD)
of course, the rear seats were very usable evenwith the fronts fully pulled back which is not the case at all in the x1
In any case, this was hardly a deal breaker so paid the booking amount
Now the long wait for delivery starts!

[abhi182]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Hi Abhi,

I have had NO issues whatsoever with GC anywhere. I have taken the car to Goa, Aamby, to Bhor (off Pune Satara highway) where the roads were pretty rough as well as similar rough roads all around the Pawana Aamby area (off the usual beaten paths a bit) and the GT performed beautifully. You obviously cannot do hard core off roading with it like an SUV but its much better than going around in a regular sedan. City speed breakers are not even a consideration given some of the touring the GT has handled.

Thanks @axe77 for helping with the decision
For what it's worth, here is something interesting I discovered..
I was trying to figure out the best way to integrate my phone with the car and was initially dismayed that the car seemingly did not support additional apps (BMW connect throws an error when trying to add more apps specifically for music)

I searched for alternative options including ordering a ENET cable to code the features (FWIW, I have already configured and used ISTA to disable a misplaced key on my old e84)

Until I stumbled upon the fact that a long press on the voice command button activates siri via the Car's mic
Voila- Now it's simply a matter of asking the car to play the top song from 2003 or the best of SD Burman and the setup complies within seconds!

(The only pre-requisite being an Apple music subscription and of course, an iphone)

[Axe77]

Haha. This is incredible abhi. Thanks for the tip. So I guess you sync via Bluetooth and then just use Siri? Is there any way we can get apple car play perhaps to work? Or is that an expensive accessory. Would love to have google maps load up on the screen if that's possible

[kkkkkaran]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Haha. This is incredible abhi. Thanks for the tip. So I guess you sync via Bluetooth and then just use Siri? Is there any way we can get apple car play perhaps to work? Or is that an expensive accessory. Would love to have google maps load up on the screen if that's possible

Even if you get carplay to work, it does not support google maps : stock apple maps only. As we all know, the maps app is absolutely crap in India.

[ac-cobra]

The only thing that annoys me about the GT is the stiff back seat. It's got very little contouring and hard foam. I also find the depth of the rear bench shallower than the 3 series sedan by 4cm (I measured). I feel that BMW compromised the rear seat design too much in order to get as much rear leg room as possible. Though the ride quality of the GT is much better than the 3 series sedan, the seat itself is a below par design in my opinion.

[abhi182]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Haha. This is incredible abhi. Thanks for the tip. So I guess you sync via Bluetooth and then just use Siri? Is there any way we can get apple car play perhaps to work? Or is that an expensive accessory. Would love to have google maps load up on the screen if that's possible

Right - so post a lot of reading up, here is what I have been able to discover on Head unit features that are supported by our hardware but not enabled:

Enhanced Bluetooth - This enables connection of a second phone concurrently + messages/email view in the communication section of idrive. Feature is supported fully by hardware and needs to be activated on the HU .
See below for how I did it.. works perfectly fine as expected

carplay - I think the hardware supports it but it requires a subscription key based activation (FSC as BMW calls it)
The subscription keys are available with third parties and I have sent a couple of inquiries to get more details
If it is as I expect, it would involve coding in the activation code on the head unit and marking the carplay flag as active - fingers crossed!

Doing the above required activating deactive flags on the headunit via the OBD port.
Al BMWs post 2012 use a very simple OBD to ethernet connector which I made on my own by simply connecting a OBD II male connector to a Cat6 cable

The flags were edited via a BMW software called esys which is available on the net

[BeamerBoy]

Originally Posted by ac-cobra

The only thing that annoys me about the GT is the stiff back seat. It's got very little contouring and hard foam. I also find the depth of the rear bench shallower than the 3 series sedan by 4cm (I measured). I feel that BMW compromised the rear seat design too much in order to get as much rear leg room as possible. Though the ride quality of the GT is much better than the 3 series sedan, the seat itself is a below par design in my opinion.

Totally agreed. The 3GT rear bench is strange. Though I cannot point out what is amiss, I can surely say something is amiss.

For me, I would take the GT as a driver's car with a lot of space. Nothing enchanting to take about how the rear benchers feel in this car.

It also looks appealing. That's an add on point.

[Axe77]

So the inevitable has happened after more than 20 months of ownership.

My driver was driving somewhere beyond Vashi bridge at 9:30 (we were headed from mumbai to pune) and I heard a sickening thud as the car suddenly went over a pothole.

500 mtrs later the car shows tyre pressure gone and I check to find that the rear tyre has completely blown. I tried to change to the donut but I think a couple of wheel nuts were on so tight they started deforming.

Decided to call RSA and both flatbed and taxi arrived in less than 30 mins.

Car was flat bedded to andheri navnit and cab took me to pune.

10/10 on the RSA experience
No damage to alloy fortunately but I covered tyre in 50% insurance. Paid about 11.xxk out of pocket.



Some irritants.

When bmw sent my car back the car cover was just dumped back into the boot not even folded let alone kept under the base tray.

The blown tyre was plonked back into the boot. I understand that they need to return replaced parts to owner but in this case a little initiative from the engineer would have been helpful. I KNOW the tyre is blown and it's no use to me. A simple call to ask me if it should be put into car or simply discarded by dealership would have been helpful. Now I am running around trying to give the damn thing away and no one wants it. I'm really irritated at how they've returned my car to me.

Dealership experience on this one. 5/10.

EDIT: I just called my service advisor and informed him of how the car was returned. He was very apologetic and said he will note and give his feedback to technician (although I do feel the SA should have checked this). He also kindly offered to get my car picked up cleaned and dropped back but honestly that's really inconvenient to take.

[Sahil]

Runflats are known to be nearly bullet proof, its surprising it ripped to this extent by a pothole!

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Runflats are known to be nearly bullet proof, its surprising it ripped to this extent by a pothole!

I think we must have gone over the pothole at almost 60-70 kmph. I also feel pursuant to my wheel alignment a few days ago the ride quality felt stiffer because he changed air pressure up by a few points. Wonder whether that contributed.

One point of note though. At least as a passenger, I could barely feel that I was driving on a blown tyre for that 1/2 km. Says a lot about the stability of the car with Run flats in such situations. I meant to make a point of that too in my original post. The most important takeaway for me.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by abhi182

Doing the above required activating deactive flags on the headunit via the OBD port.
Al BMWs post 2012 use a very simple OBD to ethernet connector which I made on my own by simply connecting a OBD II male connector to a Cat6 cable

The flags were edited via a BMW software called esys which is available on the net

Great info. Thanks a lot! Could you please help me with further info on how to build an OBD to ethernet connector? I have zero knowledge about networks or any other IT stuff but would love to get this done to use it on 3GT.

Originally Posted by Axe77

So the inevitable has happened after more than 20 months of ownership.

Sad to know about the incident. However, glad to know that there was no loss of control. That is why I like RFTs even if they offer slightly stiffer ride.

By the way, which tyres you are running the car on? Continental or Pirelli?

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

By the way, which tyres you are running the car on? Continental or Pirelli?

My GT is shod with the Continentals.

[Axe77]

The GT is going to get some company very soon!! Arriving tomorrow.