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Almost decided to book the 330i Sport!

One last mile question, since I couldn't get hold of a test car. Pardon me for nitpicking.

Reviews do give enough assurance on ride quality being comfortable. I just want to make sure that it's not as harsh as, say, the Tiguan. In case it's similar to Tiguan, I assume a lower tyre pressure and/or changing to tubeless will help.

Well, you can't compare Tiguan with 330i as they both are different class of vehicles. In general German brands are a bit stiffer sprung than the others. Due to it's taller stance you might feel Tiguan a bit cushy than the 330i, but when you have the 330i sport with 17" wheels, that should be pretty comfortable.

Going a bit more technical regarding suspensions, Tiguan and 330i both have independent multilink rear suspensions, however Tiguan uses a 4 link suspension (trailing arm or control blade suspension) and BMW uses a 5-link type . Not per se one is better than the other. However, 4 link (and as the price of the vehicle suggests) is a bit cheaper to make because 1 of the link has to perform the duty of 2 links in a BMW. The 5 link rear suspension you see in BMW is what you will also see in most porsches, Mercedes , Audis, Cadiallacs & Lexuses. The extra 1 link allows BMW to have more control over the tuning of their suspension than what VW can do with their 4 links. If you assume BMW and VW vehicle dynamics engineers both are equally competent, then obviously BMW engineer has a better kit to play with ;) Also BMW uses mostly aluminium for their control arms unlike VWs which keeps the unsprung mass of BMW suspension low which is important for both handling and comfort.

The 4-link is something you will see in some VWs, Fords (mostly Focus), Hondas (Type Rs) and Hyundais (N series).

For eg. checkout mr. Dan Edmunds (He is a very interesting suspension engineer turned youtuber) explaining about the 4 link/control blade rear suspension on a Civic Type R and Veloster N.

Civic Type R (12:48 onwards)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63sfsXx5O_0

Veloster N (6:58 onwards)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeKkIlHeUy4

Unfortunately he does not have a single video on BMW or any car with a multilink setup like what a BMW has (Look for his Taycan and MX-5 videos which has also multilink but not like the BMW ones).

Enough of technical rants from my side. IMHO, get yourself the 330i sport and forget about the rest.

Wish you the best with your choice.

Have you checked with the BMW dealer on the availability of the 330i sport? Here in Chennai, I was told by the dealer that the 330i sport is not available for delivery until after May and are recommending the 330i m-sport saying that it can be delivered in April.

Clarified my two outstanding concerns:

1. Got a short ride on the backseat of a 330i M Sport. I felt the suspension was comfortable enough for me. Sport variant should be even better, so I'm not worried about ride comfort any more.
   
2. The music system turned out to be above average. If Harman Kardon on 330 Li is a 7, this one will be a 6. Not much of a difference. I may think of an upgrade later, but it's quite acceptable in general.

Was so excited to conclude on buying the 330i Sport and went straight to negotiate and sign the cheque, and that's when the whole disappointment started.

No stocks of Sport variant. They said they'll call me as and when cars arrive in next few weeks/months. They also said they can't offer discounts on cars that they don't have in stock since prices may change in future. When cars arrive they'll possibly offer some meagre discount is what I felt. Given the situation, hard to get exterior/interior color of choice unless one is decided to wait longer.

They had one M Sport ready. I didn't go ahead as Sport is my preference and cost difference is also considerable. We also didn't like the Mocha interiors, although the exterior was blue and color of our choice.

I was told that I can go ahead and book it online. But if I do that, I'm afraid room for discount will further diminish or vanish since I must take the car once it is allotted to me. That's a dilemma and for now, I'm thinking of waiting and jumping to get hold of one as soon as a car arrives. I asked if there were other people in queue for Sport, they said no.

GL and M Sport are easier to get, so thinking on those lines as well, but I'm quite keen on getting the Sport variant.

It's now a total seller's market - how the tide has turned! Not sure how long this shortage will last. Any tips to deal with this are welcome!

Sorry to read about your experience Ojas, I can understand how frustrating it is to to go through this. Unfortunately, the only tip I can suggest is patience, because the chip shortage will end and so will other supply chain issues. Dealers, like any other business will try to make the most of a demand/supply gap.

If BMW India (I don't know if I can tag their Twitter account here), genuinely cares about it customers, luxury brand positioning, etc.. there wouldn't have to be so many compromises. Their brand slogan is the "Joy of motoring" or something like that, I don't think it's the "Joy of motoring (with compromises)"

Negotiating on the product price is one thing, but being made to compromise on other aspects like exterior or interior even when these choices are offered by a "luxury" brand are non negotiables.

Question to 3-series and other RWD/fast car owners, where do you take your cars to drive, corner, stretch the engine and really experience the car?
I am from Bangalore and even good highway stretches are riddled with slow/heavy vehicles and shall we say "over-enthusiastic" drivers with a death wish.
I am thinking of getting a used 3-series at some point, but keep wondering how and where would I get to enjoy it.

Are there some highways or stretches of road that are relatively safer to DRIVE these cars? Do you have certain road circuits identified just for driving pleasures? I wish there were some race circuit car enthusiasts could rent and drive their hearts out and compare lap times :) (I know something like this exists in US)

I take my Octavia almost every Sunday for a drive in Nice road, it’s generally free compared to other days. I enter from Electronic City toll and exit at Banashankari or Tumkur Road and return. Now it will not give you corners, but it’s a good stretch to push your car.
Best part is the way car handles those dips in the road and stays flat at high speeds.

Finally got home a 520d today in Bluestone Metallic :)

I've been a little apprehensive about price and driving a big luxury car around, but I'm slowly warming up to it.

Needless to say, it's a fantastic car and I've thoroughly enjoyed driving it around today.

Will post my comments, questions, and pictures in a few days.

Thanks everyone on this forum for your help. Special thanks to @androdev and @itwasntme for being with me the entire time giving me all the information and advice I needed.

Congratulations Ojas, excellent choice! Wish you the very best and miles of happy motoring.

Congratulations,

The 520d is a lovely drive, wish you many years of driving pleasure with the car.

I am sharing brief points of my ownership experience with the 520d below:-
1.If you drive with a light foot the fuel economy will surprise you :)
2.The auto park works very well; scary at times but always parks the car well
3. If you park the car out in the sun please use the shades to reduce direct sunlight into the interiors
4. Maintain tyre pressure at 32 psi
5.Wipers are expensive (10k for a set); get Blaupunkt or Bosch Aerotwin
6. No need to opt for a service package if you drive less than 7500 km/year. My first service was at 5200 km and only engine oil/filter was renewed.
7. Take the 5 or 6 year warranty for sure. I took 5 as I found the price doubling from 5 to 6 years.
8. Use leather cleaner + conditioner for the seats regularly every 2-3 months


Cheers !

Congratulations. Happy ending to the car hunt and a great new chapter begins :-)

Look out for those speed cameras that have mushroomed all over TS, that would be my only worry!

Ojas, so glad to hear and thank you for your warm words! Cannot help but repeat that "A 5 is a 5". It's just better engineered than a 3. Period.

Wish you many many miles of happy motoring, and look forward to a rich ownership thread :D

Great choice Ojas! Wish you many happy miles with it. In the end, it seems the heart won lol:

Guess, there is some mini review on your choice awaited, considering you were almost decided on the 330i!

Congrats on your new car. A 5-er is indeed a better option for families than a 3-er. And it is slightly better put together due to less packaging constraints (read more space) than a 3. But be careful with you right foot, as it is more prone to power slide than the 3 ;) (Guess because of longer wheelbase / torque arm).

It's been four months now and I owe this post to Team-BHP.

What I like

• The combination of engine, gearbox, steering, seating position, ergonomics make this car a such a pleasure to drive.
• It's a piece of art. The design lines, proportions, stance, and everything about this car is drool worthy.
• Comfortable ride quality
• Feels tight and handles well, although I didn't push it around corners yet
• Plush interiors, well insulated cabin, comfortable seats
• The Harman Kardon audio system is well balanced and has very good fidelity, bass, and soundstage
• iDrive 7 is laid out really well and works flawlessly
• Given the size of this car, the 360 camera is extremely useful in tight spaces
• Excellent fuel economy (27 kmpl on a 100% highway trip and 13 in moderate city traffic)

What I dislike

• The car is a bit too wide and long to maneuver in tight spaces
• Low GC along with long wheelbase is a mental block for taking it anywhere
• Boot space is limited and rear seats are not foldable
• Diesel engine sounds a little gruff in first gear

I use the comfort mode for the most part, although Sport mode is the best. Eco Pro was a bit underwhelming, but it still does the job well.

The reversing assistant, which remembers last 50m of your drive, sort of came handy once when I drove into a tight parking lot. Car took over the control and it was quite scary, but worked surprisingly well.

Wondering if I should get PPF or ceramic coating, at least for bumpers/skirting.

While the Harman Kardon system is very good, exploring ways to extract higher quality playback through stock setup. Volvo cars that I checked out really spoiled me in audio department.

Few pics below.



Timeliness design






I quite like the subtle changes introduced in the LCI..


.. especially the rear changes quite considerably improve the stance






Rear seats are extremely comfortable and leg room is more than sufficient given my driving position as well as needs of my family members. Ingress and egress are not so easy though given you sit low.




Looks quite good with all consoles/controls lit up along with ambient lighting