[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Drives to Hampi, Goa, and 90,000km up!

While the car is very reliable and I have no complaints on that front even at 91,000km now, one things that I am not a big fan of is the "Condition Based Servicing" (CBS). CBS can catch you by surprise and can potentially ruin road trip plans, as I have documented previously in this thread.

But other than the idiosyncrasies of CBS, the car has been really great and my ownership experience so far has been full of joy and great memories. We did so many memorable road tips in this car. Now looking forward to reaching 100,000km mark, which should happen in next six months!

Well that is all for now. Thank you very much for reading!

As usual a happy drive-o-logue! Love reading these.

And I am also firmly in your camp as regards this horrid CBS. The sensors in my car are also very conservative in that sense and give you dire warnings of service due, long long before the service is actually due. Deeply irritating indeed!

[sgm]

Lovely Travelogue and amazing pictures to make them come alive. I love reading them Dr AD

During my 4th regular service when I got a new set of brake pads for my C220d after around 28k KMs, I was wondering if those service people are just forcing me to change them as I have never seen any brake pad warning lights. I was wishing if I had an option for a CBS mode but if it suddenly drops from 15k to 2100KM, it is a concern. Grass is greener on the other side

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

As usual a happy drive-o-logue! Love reading these.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by sgm

Lovely Travelogue and amazing pictures to make them come alive. I love reading them Dr AD

Thank you very much!

During my 4th regular service when I got a new set of brake pads for my C220d after around 28k KMs, I was wondering if those service people are just forcing me to change them as I have never seen any brake pad warning lights. I was wishing if I had an option for a CBS mode but if it suddenly drops from 15k to 2100KM, it is a concern. Grass is greener on the other side

I think in general brake pads life is the most unpredictable thing. For everything else, CBS is great to have! It is quite predictable and linear for everything else, and looking at the CBS screen in the iDrive really helps plan the services and long drives well in advance. Only the brake pads life is a problem parameter. Brake pads life is very nonlinear, and it can indeed suddenly drop by a large fraction.

I think whether it is you C220d, or my 320d or any other BMW or Mercedes, especially if it is driven spiritedly and hard, the brake pad life will remain an unpredictable parameter.

I have learnt my lessons with the CBS. I will trust it for everything else but not for brake pads life. In fact, BMW seems to agree with that assessment too. Because in the G20 generation of 3-series, they altogether removed this brake pads life parameter from CBS/iDrive menu. They only show brake pads due for replacement when the physical sensor for brake pads wear gets activated towards the end of the brake pad's life. Before that, there is just no estimate of brake pads life given in iDrive. That is better than false promise of a long life.

[Cliff9091]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

We did so many memorable road tips in this car. Now looking forward to reaching 100,000km mark, which should happen in next six months!

Yet another great travelogue Dr AD, always a pleasure reading your posts. With the F30 inching close to the 100k mark any plans on upgrade in the foreseeable future.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Cliff9091

Yet another great travelogue Dr AD, always a pleasure reading your posts.

Thank you very much!

With the F30 inching close to the 100k mark any plans on upgrade in the foreseeable future.

Actually no. The F30 is still very reliable, and perfectly old enough now that I do not care about small scratches, parking it in the open, driving it on rough roads etc. I love this stage of the car's life where she is mechanically and electrically still perfect for long drives, but old enough that I am not obsessed about trivial issues. I am enjoying this stage of the car's life now. Once a new car comes, again, the mind gets paranoid about a lot of superficial issues and road tripping becomes a problem (especially to difficult parts of the terrain). I do not want to get in that mood again now.

Besides, I recently bought a new Thar 4x4, and that is also a right car for my road tripping. I plan to do many more long road trips in Thar as well as 320d. As it is, my weekday driving is zero (I work from home and the cars never get driven on the weekdays), and for my weekend trips, these two cars are already more than enough.

Therefore, no, I am not looking for any change in cars in the foreseeable future. The 320d and Thar 4x4 would remain my road tripping garage for next few years.

[shiv11bhargava]

A really big fan of Dr.AD and his 320d! Always a pleasure to read about experiences. Looking forward to the next update! Beauty in red, indeed.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by shiv11bhargava

A really big fan of Dr.AD and his 320d! Always a pleasure to read about experiences. Looking forward to the next update! Beauty in red, indeed.

Thank you very much @shiv11bhargava for your kind words! Really appreciate it.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and appreciation! That keeps me motivated to keep this thread updated.

[Dr.AD]

Solo Day-Drive to Yercaud

I did a solo day-drive to Yercaud, a hill-station with some lovely scenic roads, and had a great time driving my 320d on those roads.

But before that drive, let me share an update on the brake pads warning issue I mentioned in my previous update.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

CBS Strikes Again!
The life of rear brake pads had dropped from more than 15,000km (I did not even care to remember the exact number because that was so far ahead in future, or so I thought) to 2,100km in a short drive of around 550km when I reached Ankola. This is the crazy part of CBS. While it was still all OK, this sudden non-linear drop was worrisome! If this dropped further sharply while I was driving in Goa, I would have been in a spot of bother.

After that, I drove around for another 200km in and around Goa, and in that, the brake pads life dropped linearly to around 1,900km. When I started my return journey to Bangalore, I started with that 1,900km of rear brake pads life. And in the 620km of drive back to Bangalore, it dropped down to 1,100km when I parked my car at home.

When I took my car to the BMW Service Center here and explained this to them, they checked it thoroughly and found that the brake pads were fine, but the rear brake pads wear sensor had gone bad. They changed the sensor. The brake pads had 6mm of thickness left. Accordingly, they set the brake pad's (remaining) life as 8,000km in the iDrive, and told me that all is fine. The cost of brake pad wear sensor was about Rs. 3k. I think this was the cheapest BMW part I have ever seen as of now.

Getting thorough inspection done at BMW Service Center:


Thus, in this case, CBS gave a false alarm when my brakes were quite good. My trust in CBS goes down in more after this incidence. First a surprise alert while on a road trip in Goa, and then turns out that too was a false alert!

By the way, my usual service center where I have serviced the car from day 1 was Navnit BMW in Bangalore. I always had a great experience there. Recently, Kun BMW took over this dealership from Navnit. This was my first service experience with the new management and new owners of the authorized service center. Thankfully, I had the same great experience with Kun BMW too. The Service Advisor and most of the staff are the same (from Navnit BMW days), and only the ownership of the dealership and service center has changed to Kun. My usual SA was there and he gave me the same great service. Quick, efficient, and courteous service experience!

Day-Drive to Yercaud:

Anyways, with car being all fine and ready now, I would have loved another long drive like my Goa drive mentioned earlier. However, unfortunately I have been quite busy at work and another long drive was not feasible. Therefore, decided to do the best of what I could - and managed just a quick day drive to my favorite driving place, Yercaud in Tamil Nadu.

I was solo and the agenda was quite simple: Just drive my car on the roads to and around Yercaud, and enjoy the hilly roads, the hair-pin bends and the corners of the roads, and the scenic views. The main road itself has 20 hair-pin bends while climbing to Yercaud. And then after reaching on top, I drove on the famous "Loop Drive", and then also drove on some roads which off-shoot from the loop drive. Overall I had a great time enjoying the car and the roads.

One of the the many lovely corners to Yercaud:



Somewhere on the famous "loop drive":



On one of my favorite roads tucked away in the hills around Yercaud:



Looking ahead at the inviting corner:



Solo car photoshoot on a solo drive:



Maybe it is the owner's bias, but she still looks lovely to me:



Tiny countryside roads on the hills, and a red BMW:



Parting shot at one of the innumerable lovely corners we (I and the car) enjoyed in this day-drive:


I had a lot of driving fun in this single day. When I returned home, the trip meter showed 498km of driving that day. Not bad for a casual day-drive. Loved the roads, the twists and the corners, the hills, and the scenic views. Simple joys of motoring!

That is all for now from this rather simple drive and a simple report. Thank you very much for reading!

[abhi_tjet]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Loved the roads, the twists and the corners, the hills, and the scenic views. Simple joys of motoring!

Beautiful pictures as always Dr.AD! One can never get bored of admiring a red BMW. Also, as they say, for a motorhead - happiness isn't ahead of a corner, happiness is corner.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Beautiful pictures as always Dr.AD! One can never get bored of admiring a red BMW. Also, as they say, for a motorhead - happiness isn't ahead of a corner, happiness is corner.

Thank you very much abhi_tjet. Appreciate your kind words. And I like your Linea travelogues too. Great going with your Linea!

[Dr.AD]

Drive to "Taj Wayanad"

About a year ago, a brand new Taj resort opened in Wayanad, Kerala, called "Taj Wayanad Resort & Spa". We had heard that this is an awesome property. It was on our "to-do list" since then.

This weekend, we drove to Wayanad and enjoyed a stay at Taj Wayanad. This was our usual family gang: @robimahanta and his better half in their BMW M340i, and I and my better half in our BMW 320d.

As always, the plan was very simple. We just drove there, enjoyed the scenic drive through Bandipur and Nagarhole forests, then the scenic drive through the hills of Wayanad, Kerala, and then enjoyed our weekend in the beautiful resort. We spent the whole weekend just inside the property and never had to step out of the resort premises.

Taj Wayanad is a lovely property situated on the side of Banasura Sagar Dam Backwaters, and offers breathtaking views of the backwaters and the hills all around, from almost all corners of the property. It has multiple restaurants and the food and the dining experience was great too. Overall we had a great time there.

A quick break at Cafe Coffee Day in Gundlupet, on our way to Wayanad:



The M340i making an entry into Taj Wayanad while...



My 320d found this parking spot where it stood the whole weekend (we never stepped out the whole weekend):



This elephant, aptly named "Banasuran" (after the Banasura Sagar in the background), greeted us there and it looked almost real (it was a wonderfully made artificial elephant which moved its ears and trunk and could easily fool anyone into believing it was real):


This Banasuran indeed had a nice presence there and I could not help but stare at it and be amazed by it every time we walked around in the property. It was also a popular photoshoot spot among the residents of the property. It always had some buzz around it. I ended up taking many photos of this Banasuran.

The lovely cottages in the resort, and the Banasura Dam Backwaters around the resort:



Our room, which was quite nice:



And it had this nice balcony overlooking the backwaters:



View from our balcony:


We walked around the property, enjoying the food and the views from various restaurants in the property.


Tables with a view:






A poolside restaurant:



The pool with a view:



Chessboard in their games room:



One more lovely table at the poolside place (where we spent a couple of hours in the evening enjoying the views):



An evening shot around the resort:



The Backwaters next to the resort:


In the evening, the resort hosted a fantastic live music program, along with the typical "high tea" (they had some complimentary drinks and snacks, and it was all very nice), at a poolside and waterside place. The weather was fantastic by then. Nice evening breeze from the backwaters, great scenic views all around, and some very nice live music! We loved this evening program. The main musician playing violin (and presenting famous Hindi movie songs on his violin) was a great performer and he made sure the crowd had a great time. That program was really nice and was one of the highlights of the stay experience there.

Live music program in the evening kept the crowd entertained:



Close-up of the violin player who was playing very well (unfortunately we forgot to ask his name):



Pool in the night time:



The backwaters were omnipresent, with such views from every window of the resort:



Walkway around the resort, next to the backwaters, where I enjoyed a nice morning walk:



A random flower shot during my morning walk:



A parting shot of our cars on the way out, next to the backwaters:



A solo shot of the M340i:



And finally, a solo shot of my 320d:



Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. A great drive through some scenic roads and hills, and and a memorable weekend stay at Taj Wayanad. All of us had a great time and loved every moment of this weekend experience.

Roads from Bangalore to Wayanad are all good, and it was a breezy 640km of round trip that weekend. It took just about 5 hours each way, and my 320d returned home after 640km of driving without needing to refuel.

That is all for now. Thank you for reading!

[robimahanta]

Thank you AD for the report. As always, you have summed it up nicely with great pictures. It was a nice and short drive with decent roads throughout. A few pictures from my side,

AD 3er amidst the lovely Bandipur forest section


A drone image of the resort surrounded by great views


The hills around the Banasura lake

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

AD 3er amidst the lovely Bandipur forest sectionl

Thanks a lot Robi for this photo. Lovely photo this is. The forest looks so nice. Driving through that forest is a very nice driving experience!

A drone image of the resort surrounded by great views

The hills around the Banasura lake

These are fantastic images too. The drone shot is super cool and gives a nice perspective about the location of the place! Thank you very much for sharing.

[androdev]

Looks like a nice property. Assuming it won't be cheap given the prices of everything in and around Bangalore! Could you please share some details about the route, travel time and good places to stop for a coffee break?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by androdev

Looks like a nice property. Assuming it won't be cheap given the prices of everything in and around Bangalore!

It is a indeed a nice property. And it is brand new (about a year old at max). The restaurants offer great food and even better views. So overall not just the stay part, but the dining part was good too.

However, it is not a very large resort. It is certainly not as large as some of the other luxury resorts in similar price range. The whole property is on a small hill surrounded by water, and that limits the spread. It is a smallish resort in size, but a lovely place nevertheless.

You are right that it is not cheap. We paid Rs. 21k per room per night (including breakfast only). Some of the more expensive cottages there are about Rs. 30k per room per night.

Could you please share some details about the route, travel time and good places to stop for a coffee break?

The route we took was this:



Here is the Google Maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qtoeBwkA1HGpUDse7

This is the fastest and the best route (Ignore any other suggestions or shortcuts Google gives. Stick to this route and it is all fine and smooth road). We took a coffee break at Cafe Coffee Day at Gundlupet (marked in the route link above). This is our usual place for coffee break on this route. This also has clean restrooms.

Of course, one could stop at one of the fine hotels in Mysore too, but it would be time-consuming to enter Mysore and drive through the city traffic. Instead, we prefer to bypass Mysore via Mysore Outer Ring Road and then stop at this CCD.

Overall it took us about 5 hours of driving time each way, excluding the breaks. Including a 30 minutes break at CCD, I would say the total time was about 5.5 hours.

The roads are all good, except for the frequent and annoying speed-breakers through the forest section. But even that section is so scenic that it makes me forget the pain of the frequent speed-breakers. Also, the speed-breakers are well marked and not random. So that helps too.