[graaja]

Originally Posted by gunsho

Hearty Congrats on the beauty.

Thank you very much for the kind words!

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

Congratulations Graaja, great review! The car truly seemed to fit your requirements perfectly. The 330i GT is definitely an extremely practical car, and with the 250bhp its great fun to drive.
Also get the M sport suspension asap, after then you'll know how the car really handles.

Thank you very much for the kind words, Akshay! And thank you once again for all the guidance in the purchase process! Got the quotation etc., from the dealer. Just waiting for their confirmation on invoice etc. Once I get the final information, I will be placing the order. Can't wait to experience the lowered, stiffer and better handling GT!

Originally Posted by vb-san

Congratulations! Thanks for the beautifully review – can’t blame you for being so eloquent about such a beautiful car

Thank you very much for the kind words!

Originally Posted by Sahil

Fantastic review!! It's at par or better than some of our official reviews here. And definitely much better than most auto mags.

Thank you so much for the kind words and compliments

Originally Posted by gunsho

I would also be with your friends on making the wheels black.

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

I'm also with the others on painting the wheels black or gunmetal. Silver sticks out on the blue.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

...I would recommend you explore the option of painting your wheels.

Originally Posted by vb-san

I personally won’t recommend getting the alloys black; feel that it probably will give the car a mod-ed look. A more subtle paint job on the alloys maybe better...

Yes. I have plans to get the alloys painted, but I am also not a fan of black, as that would look too modded. I am looking for a subtle shade. Will spend some time researching various options like spray painting, plasti dip, powder coating etc., and also for the right color that will not look too overdone, but at the same time not stick like a sore thumb.

Originally Posted by Sahil

...Moreover, if you buy rims as accessories from MB they aren't all that expensive either. You can get a great set of 19inchers for a bit over a lakh.

True, the wheels that come fitted in the car are not that great compared to some other OE options. I was checking for some wheel upgrade options in BMW, and they cost a bomb - like 80K or 60K per wheel. Will explore the painting option.

[the_skyliner]

Congratulations, graaja!

What a fantastic review! Loved the attention to details and the way you composed it is equally awesome! Read it in one go.

GT is indeed a very practical yet fun to drive car. And more so in 330i avatar. The more you drive it, more you are going to like it.

Just another day my cousin asked me reason behind not opting for blue colour as he finds it the best colour in GT. And now I know why. Your GT looks awesome in that shade.

Wish you many happy miles on it. Cheers!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Congratulations, graaja!

What a fantastic review! Loved the attention to details and the way you composed it is equally awesome! Read it in one go.

Just another day my cousin asked me reason behind not opting for blue colour as he finds it the best colour in GT. And now I know why. Your GT looks awesome in that shade.

Wish you many happy miles on it. Cheers!

Thank you very much for the kind words! I must thank you for your fantastic review thread and your first hand experience on the handling, which gave me the confidence to go ahead and buy the GT.

Though I complain about the handling (that should be mainly because I and my family are used to a little firmer rides), everything else in the car is just perfect!

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thank you very much for the kind words! I must thank you for your fantastic review thread and your first hand experience on the handling, which gave me the confidence to go ahead and buy the GT.

Again, glad to know that the inputs and review was of any use.

Originally Posted by graaja

Though I complain about the handling (that should be mainly because I and my family are used to a little firmer rides), everything else in the car is just perfect!

I would suggest that you try driving in sports mode all the time. It does provide some stiffness compared to comfort mode. This car I drive 90% in sports mode as against the 320d (which used to be in comfort mode most of times except ghat sections).

If still your family doesn't feel comfortable, then suspension upgrade option is always available as per your post in another thread.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

On the navigation, did you get a chance to try the BMW Connected App. It has the below features which can be controlled from your mobile:

AFAIK, Its not available for Indian customers, I suppose your using this in another country? The BMW Connected App for India is very basic even on the IOS and mostly useless, Just shows your ODO running, Fuel level etc. Would have love to get features like you mentioned.


Congrats again graaja! Like i have said before, The perfect car for your requirement! Wish you many miles of happiness!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Congrats again graaja! Like i have said before, The perfect car for your requirement! Wish you many miles of happiness!

Thanks a lot for the kind wishes Tanveer!

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

AFAIK, Its not available for Indian customers, I suppose your using this in another country? The BMW Connected App for India is very basic even on the IOS and mostly useless, Just shows your ODO running, Fuel level etc. Would have love to get features like you mentioned.

Oh damn. I just ordered an iPhone SE just to use in the GT

Still I can use it for iTunes with Apple lossless files which gave the best sound quality (tried with a friend's phone). Hope BMW provides more App features in the future.

[nerd1200]

Hi "Graaja", I was pleasantly surprised after seeing this thread. It's Probably one of the fastest conception to Garage transitions! Wish you many happy miles in the Blue rocket (I know it'll be piloted like one for sure!).

Can't wait to meet the beast in person.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by graaja

T
Oh damn. I just ordered an iPhone SE just to use in the GT

Still I can use it for iTunes with Apple lossless files which gave the best sound quality (tried with a friend's phone). Hope BMW provides more App features in the future.

Haha! Indeed the sound quality with apple music is great, Give a shot to Amazon Prime Music as well, Very good integration with BMW, Much much better than apple music, Only issue? Once connected via USB you can't use the phone as the prime music app shows a bmw logo on it & if you go back it stops playing the music, So yeah til they fix that, Apple music is the way to go.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

AFAIK, Its not available for Indian customers, I suppose your using this in another country? The BMW Connected App for India is very basic even on the IOS and mostly useless, Just shows your ODO running, Fuel level etc. Would have love to get features like you mentioned.


Congrats again graaja! Like i have said before, The perfect car for your requirement! Wish you many miles of happiness!

Yeah, you are right. I am using it US and the App is perfect to be used here. I always use the app to setup navigation and use it on the iDrive with just one click. Pretty easy compared to entering all the stuff on the iDrive.

And the other feature I use the most in summer is to ventilate the car some time before I start driving.

[Acharya]

You realize that you are in company of auto connoisseurs when an initial ownership review comes across as official car review!

Very well written, along with great details, kudos

GT is a special car, not so ubiquitous unlike 3/5 series. I find the look quite appealing, especially X6 style derrière. Petrol motor & ZF combination is going to keep you happy in years to come, enjoy.

Your review is quite tempting as my both cars are 6/7 year old. A special German is a welcome breeze at this point in life. Alas, only if Bangalore had sane road traffic.

[reihem]

Originally Posted by graaja

Booking and Delivery Experience:

Though dealer has a branch in Coimbatore, their point of delivery is Chennai. They get the temp registration done at Chennai and have their driver drive the car from Chennai to Coimbatore. Because of this process, I did not do the regular PDI (did this for the Jetta and the Polo GT Tsi) that I do before releasing the full payment. This being BMW, I just trusted that they will take care of everything without me having to worry about anything.

Just before releasing the full payment, I made sure they sent me the VIN number of the car, and I looked into the BMW VIN decoder and verified that the car was July 2017 manufactured with all the options (Estoril blue exterior, Cognac interior, M Sport package, Adaptive LED headlights, Digital Instrument Cluster etc). Some of my friends told me to take the delivery from Chennai and drive the car myself, to avoid the driver mishandling the car. The sales manager promised me that they have lots of checks and balances like the fuel consumption for the trip, the distance etc., to prevent drivers from misusing the car. Again, I decided to trust BMW to do the right thing here and asked them to go ahead with the regular procedure.

First congrats on an outstanding thread !!

Regarding the quote above, is this a normal practice - having a driver move the car between cities ?

My case was the opposite of yours. Car was stocked and temp registration was done in Coimbatore and then it was sent to Chennai. However, in my case Artemis put the car on a truck and it reached me with 16 km on the ODO as promised.

Do other BHPians have experience with cars being driven long distances between stock and delivery points ?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Haha! Indeed the sound quality with apple music is great, Give a shot to Amazon Prime Music as well, Very good integration with BMW, Much much better than apple music, Only issue? Once connected via USB you can't use the phone as the prime music app shows a bmw logo on it & if you go back it stops playing the music, So yeah til they fix that, Apple music is the way to go.

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Yeah, you are right. I am using it US and the App is perfect to be used here...

Got the iPhone SE and yes, no Apps for India! But the iTunes integration with the car is good, and the quality of sound is also awesome. So, for now, iTunes it is. I will also try the Amazon music app.

Originally Posted by Acharya

You realize that you are in company of auto connoisseurs when an initial ownership review comes across as official car review!
...
Your review is quite tempting as my both cars are 6/7 year old. A special German is a welcome breeze at this point in life. Alas, only if Bangalore had sane road traffic.

Thank you for the kind words! I can understand that itch of yours when you have 6/7 year old cars in the garage. I am sure you are going to fall in this new car trap very soon and wishing you all the very best

Originally Posted by reihem

First congrats on an outstanding thread !!

Regarding the quote above, is this a normal practice - having a driver move the car between cities ?

My case was the opposite of yours. Car was stocked and temp registration was done in Coimbatore and then it was sent to Chennai. However, in my case Artemis put the car on a truck and it reached me with 16 km on the ODO as promised.

I think this practice is there for most premium car dealerships - but not sure though. Even for me, there was an option to bring the car in a container. But that was another 20K cost. I could have negotiated this as part of the price negotiations, but as I did not, decided to go with the regular practice.

Originally Posted by nerd1200

Hi "Graaja", I was pleasantly surprised after seeing this thread. It's Probably one of the fastest conception to Garage transitions! Wish you many happy miles in the Blue rocket (I know it'll be piloted like one for sure!).

Can't wait to meet the beast in person.

Thank you for your kind words! Everything happened so fast, even now, when I see the BMW standing in place of the Jetta, I have to pinch myself to confirm it is reality

Looking forward to catching up with you during one of our meets soon.

[AMG Power]

From the review of the 330i GT M Sport in Motoring World:

"The ride is extremely bouncy. That settles down to a great extent at high speeds but anything below 80 kmph and you'll resemble a bobble head as you drive along."

Might have just saved you some money.

[Hawkeye269]

Originally Posted by graaja

With all the chrome gone, the car looks perfect now. Many friends have been telling me to make the wheels black as well. Will think about this later once I get the suspensions sorted out.

Also, the full grille is available in gloss black with BMW, but it cost 11.6K, whereas the wrap cost 3.8K.

It's now time for that photo-shoot.

Excellent thread, G Raaja! My advice to you would be to definitely opt for black wheels. I did that to my Octavia 1.8TSi Zeal edition (the one with black interiors, including black alcantara) and it looks smashing! I get plenty of envious looks and compliments, even from strangers. I even removed the chrome badging on the boot, leaving behind just the logo, and have never regretted it. You know what they say, "once you go black, you never go back!!!"

Quick question, was the Rs.3,800 just for wrapping the grille, or also for doing the windows and the side vent?

Originally Posted by graaja

Kagu 3D Mats:

Replaced the mats with Kagu mats. The rubber mats the dealer had provided had the biege lining which was looking odd, and also the rubber surface was a little slippery (could be due to the worn soles in my shoes as well). The Kagu mats are a perfect fit and the all black mats look fantastic. A few pictures of the mat. Thank you "driv3r" for sourcing the mat from Chennai and "H14" for bringing it to Coimbatore

The driver side mat. It has perfect cut for the organ type accelerator pedal and properly covers the dead pedal.
Attachment 1745259

Passenger side mat.
Attachment 1745260

Rear mats.
Attachment 1745261

Kagu 3D mats are a must IMHO - they really raise the profile of my Octy, can imagine them making a difference in just about any car in the sub-super luxury bracket.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

From the review of the 330i GT M Sport in Motoring World:

"The ride is extremely bouncy. That settles down to a great extent at high speeds but anything below 80 kmph and you'll resemble a bobble head as you drive along."

Might have just saved you some money.

Can you share the link to the article?

If the review is on the stock M Sport car, then it just reflects my experience, as the stock M Sport GT comes with regular suspensions.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye269

Excellent thread, G Raaja! My advice to you would be to definitely opt for black wheels. ...

Quick question, was the Rs.3,800 just for wrapping the grille, or also for doing the windows and the side vent?

Thank you for the kind words! I will consider the wheel color, once I get the suspension sorted out.

3.8K was for the grille, windows and side vent. If you take only the grille, the cost may work out to 1.5K or so.