[graaja]

On February 13th 2024, the GT completed 6 years and has done about 1.1 Lakh kilometers. It has been quite some time since I updated this thread. Here are a few quick updates from the past three months.

11th Oil Service:

In the 2nd week of December, got the notification on the iDrive and instrument cluster to get oil service done.



Called Mr. Karthik, the service manager at KUN Coimbatore and he arranged a pickup. Following were the work that needed to be completed.

1. Oil service
2. Replace the door beading on the rear left door. This was a long pending work. They had earlier ordered the part, but had received a wrong part, and we had planned to get this changed during the next oil service.

They completed the work in a day. Apart from the oil service and door beading, they also replaced three of the door pads under warranty which had started to get sticky. Following are the invoices (covered under BRI and BSI+).





This is the last service under the 6 year / 120K BSI+. The 6 year BRI has also come to an end. As the quoted price to extend the BSI+ was high, I have decided not to extend the BSI package.

An Overnighter in Kochi, with the Coimbatore TBHP gang

On February 3rd, a small group of TBHP members from Coimbatore went for a weekend drive to Kochi. We stayed in a bungalow by the backwaters for a night. A few pictures from this drive.

The bungalow with a nice swimming pool.

Picture credit: Mr.Boss

Rooms were very comfortable.


View of the backwater from the balcony.


Morning scenery of the backwaters.


Relaxing in the garden (from left: yours truly, Mr.Boss, Quicksilver)

Picture credit: batterylow

The GT at the parking lot.


All the cars.


A group picture at Hotel Salkara near Kochi airport.

Picture credit: batterylow

Astrophotography Trip to Coorg

Went for an Astrophotography trip to Coorg from February 8th to 11th. This event was organized by BAS (Bangalore Astronomical Society). I had taken two of my Astrophotography setups this time, a longer focal length telescope to shoot small and far objects like galaxies and a shorter focal length telescope to shoot nebulae in our own Milkyway. I will write a detailed report of this trip in my Astrophotography thread. Sharing a few pictures here.

The equipment ready to be loaded.


Equipment loaded in the car. These are times when the GT proves how practical a car it is.


Driving through beautiful country roads.


Coffee break near Kushalnagar.



Equipment setup and ready to go.


The telescopes in action.


A collage of celestial objects shot during the trip.


Milkyway rising over the trees.


That's all folks, I have for now!

[shiv11bhargava]

One of my favourite threads on TeamBHP?
graaja and his Estoril Blue 330i GT! So much learnt over the years.
True love indeed! Amazing astral photography shots. Saving them and using them as a new wallpaper.

The universe really is something.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by shiv11bhargava

One of my favourite threads on TeamBHP?
graaja and his Estoril Blue 330i GT! So much learnt over the years.
True love indeed! Amazing astral photography shots. Saving them and using them as a new wallpaper.

The universe really is something.

Thank you for your kind words!

If you need high resolution astro pictures, I have updated my Astrophotography thread with the individual pictures shot during the recent trip. Link below.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5720746 (Rendezvous with The Universe | My Astrophotography Hobby)

[mugen_pinaki27]

Wow! The pics are out of the world. These were eerily similar to the ones I saw when I went to Jaisalmer and Chail. Would be an honor to meet you one day, Graaja!

[graaja]

A Weekend Trip to Wayanad

It has been some time since I have done any trips with the GT. Decided to do a short weekend trip with my family to Wayanad.

There are two ways to reach Wayanad from Coimbatore. The first is through Ooty and Gudalur and the second is through Kerala via Palakkad and Mannarkad. As Ooty would be heavily crowded due to the weekend, I decided to take the Palakkad and Mannarkad route.

Started the day with a breakfast stop at my favorite Malabar Hotel before Palakkad to have some tasty Appam + Veg Stew, Parotta + Egg curry, and tea.



The rest of the trip was just a slow drive through Kerala's never-ending 2 lane roads. For the final 30 odd kilometers, drove through beautiful winding roads through tea gardens. Took a few pictures of the GT on the way.






We reached the resort at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The drive time was about 6:30 hours for a distance of 240km.

The last 600 meters to the resort was through a narrow access road. There are some spots where one can reverse into if there is any vehicle approaching from the other side.





I had booked the rooms in Vistara Resort, located by the backwaters of Karapuzha dam. It was a small property with simple and clean rooms, a small swimming pool, beautifully maintained lawns, and some nice benches to relax and watch the backwaters and the sunset. The balconies had a good view of the reservoir. A few pictures of the resort.

Clean and simple room with a balcony overlooking the reservoir.


Balcony had a good view of the backwaters of the reservoir.


A small pool overlooking the reservoir.


As we reached quite late in the evening, we decided to spend the evening relaxing in the resort. Had some good family time over coffee and snacks, and spent some time in the pool. And then we watched sunset from the balcony. The sun setting behind the mountains over the lake was very beautiful.

A few pictures of the sunset.






Just as the sun was about to sink below the horizon, I switched to my 100-500mm telephoto to get some close shots of the setting sun.


As the sun sunk further, I realized it was setting behind a mountain. This mountain was not visible either due to haze or it was very far. Only the setting sun revealed this mountain.


The last sliver of the sun before it vanished.


We then had a sumptuous dinner with some live music at the restaurant and retired for the day.

Live music. This duo, one playing chords on the guitar and the other on the mic treated us to some good melodious songs.


Parotta and rice with Nadan Chicken curry, and carrot kheer with ice cream to finish.

[graaja]

A Weekend Trip to Wayanad Contd...

Started day #2 with black coffee on the balcony enjoying the view of the backwaters.


Then we had a nice breakfast. Idlis and pooris with Kerala chicken curry was a great combination!


Post breakfast, I and daughter decided to visit Edakkal Caves, and my wife decided to relax in the resort.

Edakkal Caves

Information from Wiki:

The Edakkal caves are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India. They lie 1,200m above sea level on Ambukutty Mala, near an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the ports of the Malabar Coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BCE, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric settlement in this region. The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from South India besides those of Shenthurini, Kollam, also in Kerala.

These are not technically caves, but rather a cleft, rift, or rock shelter approximately 96 ft by 22 ft, a 30-foot-deep fissure caused by a piece of rock splitting away from the main body. On one side of the cleft is a rock weighing several tons that covers the cleft to form the 'roof' of the cave. The carvings are of human and animal figures, tools used by humans, and symbols yet to be deciphered, suggesting the presence of a prehistoric settlement.

The petroglyphs inside the cave are of at least three types. The oldest may date back to over 8,000 years. Evidence suggests that the Edakkal caves were inhabited several times at different points in history.

The caves were discovered by Fred Fawcett, a police official of the erstwhile Malabar state in 1890, who immediately recognized their anthropological and historical importance. He wrote an article about them, attracting the attention of scholars

.

The caves were located just about 15 minutes away from the resort. Reaching the caves requires a tough hike through very steep slopes, stone-carved steps, and steel ladders fixed to the side of the rocks. I and my daughter enjoyed this tough workout. For me, this was a redemption for all the parottas I had been gorging on.

This being Sunday, there was a lot of crowd at the caves. We even had to wait more than 10 minutes at a narrow crevice where only one person can squeeze through.

A few pictures from this hike.

At the entrance.


Protected monument.


To prevent tourists from littering the caves with plastics, they have introduced this good system. They collect INR 20 for every plastic bottle being carried and they fix a sticker to all the bottles. Tourists have to show these bottles on the way down to redeem the 20INR.


The view of the steep hike ahead.


Somewhere in the middle of the hike, a view of the steep trail.


A narrow crevice in the rocks, where only one person can squeeze through.


Crawling through narrow rock spaces.


The steel ladder at the final part of the hike to reach the caves.


Another view of the steel ladder.


The cave!


The carvings.




Nice view from the top.


Happy with the workout


Celebrating with some chocolate.


We returned back to the room. After lunch, took some rest in the room. In the evening I and my wife planned to visit Karapuzha Dam to see the gardens and the reservoir.

[graaja]

A Weekend Trip to Wayanad Contd...

Karapuzha Dam

This is a very small dam, but with a well-maintained garden, some adventure rides, and a long zipline (Kerala's longest, as per Wiki). Again, this being Sunday, there was heavy crowd. I had to park about a kilometer away from the dam and walk to the entrance. Also, there were long queues to the adventure rides. I love these adventure rides, but I skipped them due to the crowd and long waiting times. Instead I and my wife walked around the park, relaxed on the lush green lawns with a tub of popcorn and icecream, strolled along the dam enjoying the scenes of the reservoir, and enjoyed the sunset (setting over trees this time). A few pictures from the dam.

The garden view.


A chess board.


Adventure rides.


A giant swing. That thing should have been ten stories high!




View of the dam.


A closer view of the dam. Notice the two cables. These are the zip lines.


A panorama view of the reservoir. Our resort can be see in the peninsula on the left side of the picture.


A few sunset pictures.






We then returned back to the resort for a nice dinner with live music, and retired for the day.

Drive Back Home

The next day morning, after breakfast, we started the drive back home. I had taken the route through Kerala for the onward drive. I felt this route was very slow and boring with an average speed of just 38kph. As we were returning on Monday, I thought there would be less crowd in Ooty and I could manage some good speed. The Ooty route was also 40km shorter than the Kerala route. Boy, was I wrong?

There was still a lot of tourist traffic in Ooty and it took about 1:30 hours to cross Ooty. Thankfully, I took the Kotagiri route instead of Coonoor and could maintain good speed after crossing Ooty. The only saving grace on this trip was the cold coffee and tea cake we had at Silvertip Cafe, my favorite coffee stop near Kotagiri, and the picture I clicked of the GT in the pine forests before Ooty.

Cold coffee and tea cake at Silvertip Cafe.


The drive statistics for the return drive. It took 7 hours to cover 200km! This drive was even slower than the drive from Jammu to Srinagar that I did last October!


Finishing this trip report with a picture of the GT in the pine forests in Ooty.


That's all folks, I have for now.

[balzthebimmer]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yes. I heard about BMW stopping the 6th year BRI. I was also under the impression that they have stopped BSI packages beyond 6 years. But now that you have been able to extend BSI to 10 years, this is good news definitely. I will extend to 8 years BSI once the current package expires. Thank you for the update.

Hello Sir
My X3 is now 2 years old and has run approx. 50 k so far , should I extend the BRI that came with the stock delivery ? I already have the BS1 for 100,000 Kms
Any advices would be useful for my decision .

[graaja]

Originally Posted by balzthebimmer

Hello Sir
My X3 is now 2 years old and has run approx. 50 k so far , should I extend the BRI that came with the stock delivery ? I already have the BS1 for 100,000 Kms
Any advices would be useful for my decision .

Yes. I would highly recommend you extend the BRI to the maximum available option, which would be 5 years. BMW replaced so many parts in my car under BRI which would have cost a bomb otherwise.

You can extend the BRI only if the current one is active. So, go ahead and do it before the current BRI expires.

[balzthebimmer]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yes. I would highly recommend you extend the BRI to the maximum available option, which would be 5 years. BMW replaced so many parts in my car under BRI which would have cost a bomb otherwise.

You can extend the BRI only if the current one is active. So, go ahead and do it before the current BRI expires.

Thank you
But today I received an email for renewal of the warranty package but in collaboration with Bajaj Allianz , later I received a call from the dealers rep and she was a bit sceptical in proposing that extension because the generous changes that BMW covered with their extended warranty will not be covered by Bajaj Allianz and it’ll be more like a insurance claim and that one would have to wait for long etc and claim approvals are also not 100% . I even asked her , as to are you serious because your tone is a bit worrying as it’ll affect many BMW owners .

Any comments to this or have anyone renewed the extended warranty via Bajaj Allianz ?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by balzthebimmer

Any comments to this or have anyone renewed the extended warranty via Bajaj Allianz ?

As far as I know, BRI (extended warranty) is solely offered by BMW and does not involve any insurance provider. I would suggest you to go for the proper BMW offered BRI.

[balzthebimmer]

Originally Posted by graaja

As far as I know, BRI (extended warranty) is solely offered by BMW and does not involve any insurance provider. I would suggest you to go for the proper BMW offered BRI.

Thanks you
Apparently , the extension of warranty is done with Bajaj Allianz only , please see below attachment of the email I got .

[graaja]

Originally Posted by balzthebimmer

Thanks you
Apparently , the extension of warranty is done with Bajaj Allianz only , please see below attachment of the email I got .

I spoke with the service manager here. He said BMW is considering partnering with Bajaj Allianz for extended warranty. The terms and conditions will be same as the usual BMW offered BRI and no changes there. So, if your dealer is offering this as an official BMW extended warranty, I think it should be fine to get.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by graaja

I spoke with the service manager here. He said BMW is considering partnering with Bajaj Allianz for extended warranty. The terms and conditions will be same as the usual BMW offered BRI and no changes there. So, if your dealer is offering this as an official BMW extended warranty, I think it should be fine to get.

+1 to this. I recently got the 4th year BRI for my 6GT and the dealer here provided me via Bajaj Allianz.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

+1 to this. I recently got the 4th year BRI for my 6GT and the dealer here provided me via Bajaj Allianz.

Thank you for the confirmation. Also, it looks like they are brining extended warranty packages beyond 6th year and also for lapsed warranties. Awaiting pricing details. If pricing is nominal, I may extend the warranty for my 3GT for 7th and 8th years too.