[XDriver]

Graaja, thanks for the details of brake pad replacement and important point about uneven wear of pads. Good point about the reliability of iDrive information versus physical inspection of break pad wear.

How many kilometres has the car done at time of replacement of break pads?Thanks in advance

[lordtottuu]

It's a little unsettling to see BMW still hasn't worked out their rubber issues in Indian conditions. Every single BMW owner I've spoken to has or is facing the exact same issue.

Gotta say, regardless of BMW now fixing it under warranty, it feels utter rubbish that we have to face this in the first place. You'd think 12 years is long enough to work out material science and supply chain niggles for this specific problem...

[graaja]

Originally Posted by XDriver

How many kilometres has the car done at time of replacement of break pads?Thanks in advance

It has done 69000 kilometers at the time of rear pads and discs replacement. The first change happened around 35K kilometers.

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by graaja

7th Oil Service, Rear Pads and Discs Change

The only thing that I am not happy about is inconsistent brake pad life prediction made by the iDrive and the strict adherence of BMW to iDrive prediction to change the pads. They have a very tight specification under which the pads may be changed outside iDrive. If the thickness of the pads is more by even a few hundredths of an mm, they do not change the pads. This results in frequent visits to the service center which takes me a full day. If they could have a slight relaxation in specs, they could have changed the pads and discs on the day of oil change itself and saved me another full day at the workshop.

Lack of trust I would say, unfortunately!
A few years I was in market to buy used BMW 330i and the desperate seller was gleefully telling me that he got many items changed right before the expiry of BSI warranty, most likely either in connivance of dealership or mis-using the goodwill of BMW/dealer. Me mentioned new brake pads, rotors and other components to the tune of 6-7L when he himself admitted they were not needed. I believe, BSI duration in India was brought down by many such instances, if I am not wrong. He was well to do (duh!) of course coz he was upgrading to a Rover and that's why wanted to sell off the 330i (I did not buy the 330i coz I decided against German sedans due to road conditions in India).

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by graaja

The rubber lining on the driver side door pad had become gooey and had started developing cracks.

Yupp. I have the exact same issue. I bought my car used so don't have the backup BMW would otherwise provide. I am living with it for now. Will attempt a DIY after I source the part. The other problem I have is the plastic handle creeks. While it looks elegant, it feels cheap and flimsy. Not fit to be on a BMW for sure.

Good on BMW India for acknowledging there is a fault with the door grab.

[anandpadhye]

Hi Ganesh,

How have you been, saw your trip report to North East, awesome.

One question about full size spare alloy - which one did you go for - front or rear? Mine is also staggered setup and I am thinking of ordering one. I am thinking front will be better from steering perspective.

Also wanted to confirm - both front and rear are compatible with respect to hub and axle fitting, am I correct? So if rear gets punctured, I can put the front in the rear, right?

BTW, dealer is quoting 57000 for the alloy. How much did it cost you? And did you also buy the TPMS sensor?

Thanks,
Anand

[graaja]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

How have you been, saw your trip report to North East, awesome.

One question about full size spare alloy - which one did you go for - front or rear? Mine is also staggered setup and I am thinking of ordering one. I am thinking front will be better from steering perspective.

Also wanted to confirm - both front and rear are compatible with respect to hub and axle fitting, am I correct? So if rear gets punctured, I can put the front in the rear, right?

BTW, dealer is quoting 57000 for the alloy. How much did it cost you? And did you also buy the TPMS sensor?

Hi Anand,

I am doing good. Hope the same from you.

I actually borrowed a wheel from a friend. It was a replica design and I did not have to use it.

If you want to get a spare, the front is a better choice as it will also save space. Both front and rear have the same PCD. If you are going to used it just as a spare, then there is no need to get the TPMS. With staggered setup, it is not possible to do a wheel rotation as well. So no point in getting the TPMS. 57k sounds right price for the alloy. I was quoted something similar but I changed to BBS alloys.

[anandpadhye]

Thank you!
Ordering the front alloy

BTW, the BBS alloys you switched to are staggered or all 4 same now?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

BTW, the BBS alloys you switched to are staggered or all 4 same now?

The BBS alloys are of the same size. I have gone for 245 section tires on all four. But the BBS alloys can take the staggered tires too.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by graaja

The BBS alloys are of the same size. I have gone for 245 section tires on all four. But the BBS alloys can take the staggered tires too.

You mean all 4 alloys are wide enough to take the stock rear tyre size (255) though you have installed 245 all round for now?

I am thinking - how about going for 255 all round? Will it significantly hurt steering response?

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

You mean all 4 alloys are wide enough to take the stock rear tyre size (255) though you have installed 245 all round for now?

I am thinking - how about going for 255 all round? Will it significantly hurt steering response?

Don't do it - stick to staggered or even downsize to 225 square if you want a bit more tail-out fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgz0qF3CuNA

[graaja]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

You mean all 4 alloys are wide enough to take the stock rear tyre size (255) though you have installed 245 all round for now?

I am thinking - how about going for 255 all round? Will it significantly hurt steering response?

Yes. They are wide enough to take 255’s. But as d3mon has mentioned, 255 all round is a bad idea. Even I am thinking of going back to 225’s for the front with 245’s in the rear (not getting 255’s in tubeless).

[graaja]

Did a photoshoot of the 3GT. Recently learnt from Dr.AD about how shooting a car with a telephoto (70mm or above) compresses the background and brings out the subject. Also, with a longer focal length, the distortion found with wide angle is not present thus giving the car nice proportions. All the below pictures were shot with a Canon RF 100-500 lens with focal lengths between 100 to 150mm, from a distance of 50 to 75 meters from the car.





















Thank you Dr.AD for teaching this technique.

[Dr.AD]

Wow! Very nice photos @graaja. The car looks great as always. And more importantly, thanks to the longer focal lengths, the car looks very proportional and clean. There is absolutely zero distortion in any of these images. The car looks very "real" due to this. Great photos!

Looks like you had a fun session walking around in that natural setting and shooting your car. Enjoy the car and these priceless moments!

Originally Posted by graaja

All the below pictures were shot with a Canon RF 100-500 lens with focal lengths between 100 to 150mm, from a distance of 50 to 75 meters from the car.

Thank you Dr.AD for teaching this technique.

Thank you very much for your kind acknowledgement. It is really very kind of you to mention me. You are an expert photographer, and all I did was mentioned a few tips.

While on this topic, I learnt through experimentation and also through several photography resources about the effect of focal lengths on car photography. It is really interesting to see how different the same car looks, and how different the visual effects are, when that car is shot using wide angle or telephoto lenses.

Here is one good article which illustrates this with pictures: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/06/06/...-focal-length/

And here is one video which I found very educational in deciding the right focal length for car photos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Zf4cyiAs0

Hoping to see you and your car soon so that we can do more fun experiments with photography :-)

[graaja]

One more picture shot under full moon. A couple of variations, one in colour and another in monochrome.