[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by zebanaff

A friend of mine who speaking from experience with his X1 said I should also insist on a loaner car, even if it's for 2 days, so that they have pressure to get the job done quickly. Otherwise they take their own sweet time. Any thoughts?

Best of luck Their loaners are always out. Consider yourself very lucky if they have one available. Best to assume you won't get one, and find an alternative. That being said for your issue, I doubt it will be longer than a day.

[dealer]

Has anyone tried to tune their F30 or F30 LCI? Can you please share your experience if you have. Bootmod3 has come out with their version of tune for the B48 320i and is showing promising gains in terms of power and torque. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I consider a tune to be safer than something like a JB+ or racechip. As i have never fiddled with a car's performance would you recommend it? Also, how does BMW go about dealing with a modified car in terms of warranty? Gains of 60+ bhp for about $600 USD seems like an amazing price to get an upgrade from a 320i to 330i

[drmohitg]

Is there any way to increase the airflow in the rear AC vents (apart from the knob next to the vent). I have had a few people complaint that the air flow is rather minimal to cool the rear cabin even with the dial next to the vent at max. I then inspected and felt that the air flow was indeed a bit less. Is there any setting in the AC at the front to direct more air to the rear vents?

[VivekCherian]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Is there any way to increase the airflow in the rear AC vents (apart from the knob next to the vent)....Is there any setting in the AC at the front to direct more air to the rear vents?

Hi Doc,

Not a BMW owner, but this is what I have done with the cars at home. 3 of our current cars have rear AC vents (Octavia, Rapid, XUV500). What I do in the Octavia now (I used to do it in my previous Vento too. I don't bother with such settings in the other cars as I don't use those cars all that much) is to partially close the center vents in the front, (I like to keep it at 50% of total flow) and then keep all other vents in the car fully open. We use the vents on either side up front to direct air to the front passengers. The center vents are pointed straight so that any air coming out is directed towards the rear. With this setting, I have noticed that the rear AC vents have better air flow and my mom and sister have never complained of lack of air flow (even when travelling an entire day in mid summer in Tamil Nadu)

Can you try this out and check if it helps?

Regards,
Vivek

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by dealer

Has anyone tried to tune their F30 or F30 LCI? Can you please share your experience if you have. Bootmod3 has come out with their version of tune for the B48 320i and is showing promising gains in terms of power and torque. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I consider a tune to be safer than something like a JB+ or racechip. As i have never fiddled with a car's performance would you recommend it? Also, how does BMW go about dealing with a modified car in terms of warranty? Gains of 60+ bhp for about $600 USD seems like an amazing price to get an upgrade from a 320i to 330i

F30 LCI 320i is no good for tuning. There's a 320i (B48) with a blown engine after remapping/box in India and the whole engine was replaced by BMW. Would recommend to stay away from tuning this engine.

[dealer]

Originally Posted by d3mon

F30 LCI 320i is no good for tuning. There's a 320i (B48) with a blown engine after remapping/box in India and the whole engine was replaced by BMW. Would recommend to stay away from tuning this engine.

Thanks for sharing this information. My father was always against fiddling with the engine and hearing that there is an ill-fated B48 320i will make me stay away from messing with this car.

[Silver Streak]

Are the F30 320d's N47 good to tune upto 240bhp and a lot more torque figures too. Are they stable and any horror stories.

[Ashokkp]

Hi

I am in the market for a new car for the past few months. I am currently driving an old Octavia 1.9TDI and looking for a similar segment car or upgrade by the pre-owned route. I need a Diesel Automatic. My budget is in the vicinity of Rs 25 lacs.

It is apparent that the only options in the segment are the Octavia(Goes above my budget, DSG worries and after sales service not up to the mark), Elantra- Looks like they do not intend to launch it in Diesel ( option is to buy a 2018 model but local dealerships are unable to source it) & the Corolla- Looks like a steep climb down from the Octavia.

In the melee I spotted couple of used BMWs as below :

1. 320GT - 2016, Single owner, 41000km, BSI 80000km valid till March 2021. BRI 2lacs KM valid till March 2020

2. 320D- 2017, Single owner, 40000Kms, BSI 40000 till March 2021, but Maxed out already. BRI 2 lacs Km, valid till Feb 2021.

Quoted prices for both of these are around my budget.

I intend to keep the car for 5 years.
This will be used for my daily commute- 50Kms round trip & some occasional long drives every few months.

My concerns/questions are:-

1. Since I have been hearing ( anecdotal experience) a lot of horror stories about used BMW resulting in long downtimes and big bills, will it be a foolish decision to buy ?

2. Can BRI/BSI be extended till 10th year of the car?

3. What is the reality of BRI/BSI? Does it mean true ZERO bills ( apart from the exemptions though) or does it still transfer some cost to the owner after every event ?

4. Are BSI/BRI prices fixed or can it escalate substantially later ?

5. The dealer told me that the 5th year BRI for the GT is Approx 1.72 lacs but I have to pay only 1.72lacs Less 72000( paid by the first owner in the beginning)
How exactly does the BSI/BRI pricing work? For instance if the fifth year BRI for the car as mentioned in the table is 5x, will the 6th year price(6x)will be the difference between 6x-5x and so on? Or do I have to pay the actual amount mentioned on the table to extend every year?

6. Finally, Will it be wise(financially) to ignore BSI/BRI and take my chances with the repair bills as and when they occur?

7. What is the approximate annual comprehensive insurance premium for these cars and can the current insurance be transferred to my name till it’s validity?

I will banking on the suggestions & advice from forum members to take an informed decision.

Regards

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Ashokkp

Hi

I am in the market for a new car for the past few months..

Regards

Hey there. I'll try to answer the few things I know but people much better clued in will be able to weigh in with more valuable inputs perhaps.

1. Pls see if you can stretch your budget to a Passat. There are some INCREDIBLE deals on it and I think it makes a solidly VFM proposition. (I know someone who picked up one for 32 on road post discount.

2. My own GT was brand new. It is now 4 years old and personally I have had no major issues with it. I plan to keep it for 8-10 years and will likely use a known trusted FNG for the car once it is out of warranty (I have someone in mind). These provide a MUCH lower cost of ownership and upkeep than ASC. Of course you need to do a proper diligence at true time of buying the car - I believe bmw also provides a formal report for a fee. Well worth it if you've near finalised any car.

3. If you're getting a used car with BSI it's of course a bonus. For a new buyer unless running is VERY heavy I would never recommend BRI/ BSI. It's annoying in part because they only carry out each job when it actually shows up on the I drive. Even if it's a couple of thousand kms away. So visits to the workshop sometimes add up. Logistically inconvenient. But I have never had an issue with claiming what is covered under BSI.

4. I have no idea about pricing. My recommendation is if you are spending any money on a used car with bmw invest in extended warranty instead of BSI. I just renewed my 5th year insurance zero dep and I think it was around 65/66k or thereabouts. I did not have a claim last year.

5. I am VERY happy with my GT. If budget is not a concern as things stand I would happily switch to a 6 GT except I want to use this car for 8-10 years to fully depreciate what I spent in buying it.

Hope this helps.

[vyasachetan]

Guys,
I own a 320d f30 2013, the car has done about 93k.
The battery is up for replacement, the service guys are quoting 36k, I plan to keep the car for the next 2 years.
Is it advisable to go for a company supplied battery or an after market one?
If after market which one is recommended.
Look forward to your advice...
Chetan

[pf007]

Originally Posted by vyasachetan

The battery is up for replacement, the service guys are quoting 36k, I plan to keep the car for the next 2 years.
Is it advisable to go for a company supplied battery or an after market one?

If you have any BSI or any other package of BMW, get it replaced at Authorised station.
Else replace with Amaron/Exide battery for the same configuration but do not disengage both terminals at once.
Used Amaron in my CLA and running fine since a year. BMW is up for replacement soon and I plan to take the same route.

[Silver Streak]

Originally Posted by vyasachetan

Guys,
I own a 320d f30 2013, the car has done about 93k.
The battery is up for replacement, the service guys are quoting 36k, I plan to keep the car for the next 2 years.
Is it advisable to go for a company supplied battery or an after market one?
If after market which one is recommended.
Look forward to your advice...
Chetan

Hi Chethan

If you dont have a BSI I suggest get the exide AGM which is similar to the original Varta AGM battery. This comes in the same size as the BMW battery and also will not give you any issues like a lead acid battery as there is efficent dynamics that needs the AGM batteries. If you have a budget of Rs23k I suggest pickup from Amazon as I see it available and the 320d has the 95ah battery.

Another point is that you need to get the battery reset via software as well as the charging profiles will be set to a to a dying battery as the battery ages the charging amp and trickle charge voltage increase. If this is not reset your new battery will be getting charge as a used battery and will kill the battery faster. Suggest reachout to blackworks who can get this reset done for you as you are located in Bangalore.

[vyasachetan]

Thanks guys, planning to fix an amaron 95 or exide 100 and get the reset done

[KMT]

Originally Posted by vyasachetan

Thanks guys, planning to fix an amaron 95 or exide 100 and get the reset done

Do share your experience post Battery change.

The internet and this forum have plenty of stories of BMW non OEM battery problems.

But at least go in for an AGM battery plus reset.

[vyasachetan]

Guys,
Incidentally my key battery is also low, the duplicate key battery is dead. It’s a f30 320d.
Can I replace both with CR 2450 (Panasonic or Kodak) from Amazon and fix it myself?

Thanks,
Chetan