[Dr.AD]

Short Drive with Friends

This weekend, we did a casual short drive on some scenic roads north of Bangalore. BHPians tilt in his VW Jetta and diesel_covert in his BMW X1 joined me for this drive. We drove on the State Highway 94, covering Gudibande Lake Viewpoints and Subbanahalli Lake Viewpoints. It was a total of about 250km trip. It was a relaxed and fun drive where we stopped at several locations for some photos, and also spent some time out in the open air catching up with each other.

My car at some location on SH94 leading to Gudibande Lake:



Our Convoy parked together on the side on the scenic road:



Lovely curves on the road, and smooth tarmac made this a fun drive:



Another shot of my car somewhere on the same road:



Next stop was Subbanahalli Lake Viewpoint:



Jetta parked at the Viewpoint:



BHPian diesel_covert got to explore the off-roading abilities of his X1 by driving down to the lakeside (the sedans refrained from attempting to go there). My favorite shot of the day, of the X1 at the lake:



Another shot of the convoy before we drove back to Bangalore:



And finally, as in the most of our recent day drives, we finished this drive with coffee and a cake at our favorite coffee shop:

[JoshMachine]

Nice pics, especially the one of your 320d with the lake viewpoint in the background

What photography gear do you use for such outdoor landscapes?
(surely, cannot be the humble mobile phone camera like I do )

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Nice pics, especially the one of your 320d with the lake viewpoint in the background

Thank you very much, JoshMachine!

What photography gear do you use for such outdoor landscapes?
(surely, cannot be the humble mobile phone camera like I do )

I use a Nikon D3500 camera. In addition to the kit lens, I have a couple of other lenses. Recently I bought a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G prime lens. That is an excellent lens. All photos in this post were taken with that lens.

[anandpadhye]

I can't take my eyes off the 3! What a perfect shape!! Sad to see BMW trying hard to spoil it!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

I can't take my eyes off the 3! What a perfect shape!! Sad to see BMW trying hard to spoil it!

I agree 100% on how beautiful the F30 looks. The side profile is so elegant and proportional. I think the G20 also looks good, but it is certainly not as clean as the F30. Of course, the G20 M340i is an exception - it looks stunning thanks to the M kit and those gorgeous headlights. That front face of M340i looks looks amazing.

But at the end of the day, the F30 does stand out as a simple and elegant design. Maybe it is my bias showing up, but I am loving the looks of the car more and more as the car gets older and older :-)

[Dr.AD]

Random Pictures in Urban Setting: While talking to a friend, we realized that most of the pictures I have posted here are either on highways/rural roads, or at some locations away from cities. Then browsing through my phone pictures, I found a couple of random pictures taken in urban setting, in Bangalore, that looked decent enough. So decided to share a couple of those pictures just to break the monotony of road trip pictures.

[abhi_tjet]

Beautiful pictures Dr. AD. What a lovely stance! The red color is further icing on the cake.
Sincerely hope to own one soon

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Beautiful pictures Dr. AD. What a lovely stance! The red color is further icing on the cake. Sincerely hope to own one soon

Thank you very much abhi_tjet. And hope you get yours soon and wish you the best.

Weekend Drive to Hampi

This weekend, I had a chance to drive to Hampi with friends and BHPians robimahanta and his better half (who were with us in our car) and deepfreak15 and his better half in their Audi A3.

It was a wonderful trip. The roads from Bangalore to Hampi are fantastic (combination of smooth six-lane and four-lane highways) and we had lot of fun. In and around Hampi, we had a mix of everything - some lovely smooth and scenic roads, some ordinary roads, some narrow and congested lanes of Hosept town, and then some absolutely terrible roads (non-existent roads with just mud paths in place of what was supposed to be the road) and some under construction gravel stretches with huge potholes. With four people on board, the 320d managed all of this without any issue. I had to be super careful while tackling those non-existent roads, but the car managed it well. Of course, on occasion I did wish I had an SUV to drive on those roads, but the lovely planted ride of the 320d on the highway while on the way back reminded me again how much I love sedans and any thoughts of an SUV vanished before we reached Bangalore. The car was a joy on the highways!

I will probably write a separate travelogue on this trip when I get time, but for now, could not resist sharing a couple of mobile camera pictures of the car on this drive.

[Dr.AD]

Sakleshpur and Bisle Drive with BHPian Friends:

The following weekend after our Hampi trip (which I wrote about here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ide-hampi.html (The Wild and Green Side of Hampi)), I joined my BHPian friends for a drive to Sakleshpur and Bisle ghats. It turned out to be a nice monsoon drive in Bisle, with a good amount of rain, mist, lush green forests and some lovely roads to drive on.

Please allow me to share a few photos from that drive.

From Left to Right: abirnale's XUV5OO, zebo's vRS, my 320d, KarthikK's Thar, Praveen_Balan's Octavia 1.8TSi, and diesel_covert's X1:



With KarthikK's Thar:



With Zebo's vRS:



Another group photo at the homestay in Sakleshpur:



Driving toward Bisle Ghat with graaja's 3GT:



And then a few solo shots from that misty drive:











And finally, a much awaited photoshoot inspired by this post by arun_josie:

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Bangalore - Bisle - Mangalore - Shiradi - Bangalore:

Attachment 2178503

Thanks Arun for the inspiration and the idea of a photo at that spot. My apologies for blatantly copying your photo idea. But as they say, "imitation is the best form of flattery". I am a huge fan of Arun's thread, and therefore, when we found ourselves in that area, we could not miss a chance to copy him.


At Bisle Ghat (Photo Credit: graaja):



Another shot at that spot. (Photo Credit: robimahanta):



After these back-to-back weekend drives, the car was terribly dirty. I needed a good and thorough wash inside out. And exactly when I needed it the most, KarthikK came up with a recommendation for a good new detailing place that he recently discovered.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

1 year, 5000 km update (Second service completed)
I headed to a new neighbourhood discovery called Carzspa detailing store in HSR layout, where they were kind enough to wash the extremely dirty bike and restore it to its former self.

Thanks to his recommendation, I went to that place, and found it to be really good. They cleaned the car very well.

Arrived at Carzspa for a much needed wash:



A proper high pressure water wash was followed by a foam wash, which was again followed by a final round of water wash:



They did a great job. Car looking like new again:



Clean car after a long time:



The car is now looking nice and clean. However, this is going to be a short-lived cleanliness. It is still raining around here and it just a matter of weekend before the car gets all dirty again.

That is it for this update. Hopefully I will have some more updates next week. Thanks for reading!

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Sakleshpur and Bisle Drive with BHPian Friends:

The following weekend after our Hampi trip (which I wrote about here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ide-hampi.html (The Wild and Green Side of Hampi)), I joined my BHPian friends for a drive to Sakleshpur and Bisle ghats. It turned out to be a nice monsoon drive in Bisle, with a good amount of rain, mist, lush green forests and some lovely roads to drive on.

Great pics of all the rides. Too bad we couldn't catch up on that day on the road. Could only wave a 'Hi' to abirnale. I think you were little behind me.

And finally, a much awaited photoshoot inspired by this post by arun_josie:

Thanks mate, for the kind words. Lovely pics and that spot is a great one for car pics. So, no such thing as imitation going on here.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Great pics of all the rides.

Too bad we couldn't catch up on that day on the road. Could only wave a 'Hi' to abirnale. I think you were little behind me.

Thanks Arun! Yes, abirnale called me and said he saw your Compass and he waved at you. Unfortunately I was on a different route that time (I was in CBD area). I was hoping to get to meet you that day but we stopped at Nelamagnala for everyone to gather, and overall, we had a lot of en route stops and had no chance of catching up with you.

[JoshMachine]

Amazing pictures . Every weekend I open up TBHP, I am most certain to find your red BMW in the first page!
And every time, the experience is even more surreal, what with your fantastic 'photogenic' Bimmer complimented by your fantastic photography skills.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Amazing pictures . Every weekend I open up TBHP, I am most certain to find your red BMW in the first page!
And every time, the experience is even more surreal, what with your fantastic 'photogenic' Bimmer complimented by your fantastic photography skills.

Thank you very much for your appreciation and kind words! Cars is a great subject for practicing photography (much easier than wildlife as I found out during some of the recent safaris ). Further, I am really fortunate to have a few photogenic cars (my car as well as my friend's cars) as subjects to learn and practice photography.

This weekend too I went for a road trip with my BHPian friends. We went to Sakleshpur area again (but a different resort this time than last weekend's homestay) with my close friends and BHPians robimahanta and RSUDARSANAN. The resort was beautiful, but somehow, we did not find any car photography moments in the resort. However, while on the way back on Sunday, we visited Shettihalli Church, and then took the beautiful State Highway 121 which is one of my favorite drives. We visited some of the locations I had visited in my solo drive in July. But this time I had three cars to photoshoot there instead of just one. And we managed to get a few photos during that return drive. Let me share those here.

Back on SH121, we visited the spot that I had found during my solo drive two months ago (photo credit: robimahanta):


The lighting conditions at that spot were quite interesting. The hills in the backdrop had really dark clouds hovering on them and provided a dark backdrop. White windmills standing tall on those hills stood out on that black backdrop. And somehow there was relatively bright light up ahead where we had parked the car. Thus, we got a naturally contrasting backdrop for our car photos, as you can see below.

My car at that spot again:



RSUDARSANAN's 320d:



robimahanta's Polo GTI:



Three cars and a corner of a scenic road:



And finally, one photo of the landscapes around there:

[Dr.AD]

One More Day Drive in Pursuit of Windmills

It had been three weeks since my last weekend drive. I was busy on the work front, and also had to do some work-related travel. I took flights for my work travel and had to rely on Uber for office transport and business meetings. In all that, I really missed my car.

After I got back to Bangalore, on the very first weekend, I decided to keep everything aside and take the car out for a drive. My parents are visiting us this time, and I decided to take them out for a day's drive and show them some of the scenic roads and locations around. The only question was where to go. There are so many scenic drives around Bangalore (and I love Bangalore for that reason), that I was spoilt for choice.

While thinking about this drive, the thought on back of my mind was the missed destination in my previous solo drive (A Solo with Car, Camera and Clouds!). In that drive, I could not find right roads to reach the Mavanuru Malleshwara Temple, which offers great views of windmills. My parents love visiting temples, and I love windmills. Thus, this turned out to be a logical choice for this day drive. I decided to take the approach road from NH75 (Bangalore-Hassan highway), which is smooth and fast, and also offers plenty of clean and comfortable eating options. Thus, the whole plan came together quickly. We decided to do a day drive to Mavanuru Malleshwara Temple.

As I learned it the hard way last time, it is not easy to reach this temple by following the default Google Maps routes. This time I was prepared with better research and knew which roads to take. But even then, Google Maps kept on giving me wrong directions all the time and was determined to send me on non-existent roads. Many of the roads it asked me to take were only doable if I had an adventure bike. It is amazing how Google has got terribly wrong maps of this entire area. I would advise anyone to be very cautious and careful if you are following Google Maps in this area.

Below map shows the correct way to reach the temple. Note the maze of myriad small white lines shown in the maps. Google Maps will ask you to keep taking those small white lines, but most of them are not driveable in a sedan.

Correct way to reach the temple:



At my favorite breakfast stop on NH75, Paakshala (This is my fourth visit to this place in less than two months):



Once you find the right path, the final small hill section has such fantastic views to offer:



Finally, found the right spot, in second attempt



These are the windmill views that this temple is famous for:



More windmills on the other side:



You really get a close view of the windmills:



And if you use a telephoto lens, you can get some interesting close-up shots of the windmills:



Suzlon Power and BMW Power put in perspective :



A parting shot of my car at that spot:


Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the temple itself. It is a beautiful temple situated on a small hillock. It is a very clean, neat and pleasant spot. It offers 360 degree views of the surroundings. And to make it most appealing to driving enthusiasts like us, it offers an interesting access road (if you could find it in the first place), and clean and spacious parking area. We totally enjoyed spending some time at this temple.

And finally, to comment on the car, my parents loved this drive. The ride quality is fantastic, the car picks up great speeds quickly without ever being uncomfortable, and is spacious enough for a comfortable journey (well, except for the boot; boot is anything but spacious). This is a car that can keep the driver and the passengers happy, and this drive proved that point again.

[Dr.AD]

Service Update:

Last week got the oil change and brake fluid change done as per CBS.

My previous oil change was at about 48,200km mark. And now, this latest oil change happened at about 58,200km mark, with CBS indicating 700km of further life for this oil. Thus, I got 10k km on the last oil which is pretty much par for the course. I have been averaging about 10k km on each oil changes so far anyways, so this time it was no different.

CBS was indicating that brake fluid change was due now. This is a 2 year cycle, and it was two years ago that the brake fluid was changed. Luckily for me, the brake fluid change and the engine oil change timings matched and I could get both done in the same visit. In the past, I have not be so lucky with the CBS. In the past I have made separate service trips for each item in the CBS, and that was one of the reasons I was a bit annoyed with the CBS. But this time, the two service items came together.

In addition to the CBS mandated service, the service center also did a battery health test and in general an inspection of vehicle health. The battery is in good health, and everything else is also in top shape. Thus, I am happy to say that (touch wood), after 58,000km, the car is in top shape and still an absolute joy to drive! And after this latest service, now sporting brand new engine oil and brake fluid, the car is running as smoothly as ever! I already did one short (~180km) highway drive on Sunday and loved the drive.

It was very smooth and quick service experience at Navnit BMW. They finished all the work in about 3 hours. I waited there and finished my work meetings on the phone while my car was getting serviced.

I did not renew the BSI last year (after 3 years of using BSI), and now I pay for the service costs at actuals. This time, the bill for oil and oil filter change, air filter change, cabin AC filter change, brake fluid change (parts plus labor plus taxes) came to Rs. 26k. It is a bit on the higher side, but again par for the course for a 4 year old 320d being serviced at an authorized service center.

On a different topic, I had a bit of comical problem with my remote key fob, that of accidental key press (problem typically associated with mobile phones). On two different occasions in the past it happened that while the car was parked (and locked) in the parking lot, and I was in the nearby facility (once in a restaurant and the other time checked into an hotel for an overnight stay), the boot release button on the key got pressed while the key was in the pocket of my jeans. And both times the trunk opened and stood opened with the boot lid up in the air, in the parking lot. Both times the parking lot security guards came searching for me to tell me the trunk is opened, and I had to go to the car to close it.

This has happened only twice, but the fact that this could happen anytime again (and can be a huge security threat if the boot is open while I am away from the car) kept on bugging me. I learnt to become super careful with the key in the pocket and although that ensured this did not happen the third time, it was not a comfortable feeling.

While at the service center for the oil change service, found this potential solution to prevent accidental key presses:



The price was Rs. 3,300, a ridiculous high price for something that is essentially just a small piece of leather and rubber. But I still decided to buy it since it will keep the buttons on the key covered while in my pocket and make me relax and not try to keep an eye on the boot lid while in a restaurant or a hotel. Also, the packaging looked attractive with that red accent matching the red accent on my key (and on my car).

Unfortunately, when I opened the only sealed box they had in stock (it was the last key case for the F30 key; the newer key cases are for the G20 key which is different in shape) I realized that the red accent is missing. This makes the key case look quite bland. Also, it makes the key look and feel very bulky. For these reasons, I am not very happy about this purchase. Nevertheless, I put this on my key and I am using it because it eliminates my nervousness when the key is in my jeans pocket (which it always is).