[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

So they installed wrong bumper during the denting painting work! I would expect guys who charge 50L+ for the vehicle would be more diligent!!

Rs.16315 is for all 4 brake-pads or just the rear 2? For the 1.8 TSi Laura. the front 2 cost 5126 and the rear 2 cost 3626. Also, in case of the TSI as well the rear wear out faster than front. So this seems to be independent of FWD or RWD. I am curious to know the reason for this especially on FWD cars. I saw a post that says "Cars with traction control are bound to have their rear brake pads shot too often if you drive them a little too hard" Ref: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post4150126

No sure if its the wrong bumper as I was able to find only one part number for the M sport model and it matches with the VIN. Maybe the dealer is supposed to make the cut out. Either way I think I can forgive them as the 30d M sport is a very rare model in India atleast. But yeah as a customer you'd expect the service centre to know their cars and these things are supposed to be documented.

Rs. 16,315 is for the full set of 4 rear brake pads with wear sensor and connector. (13,700 for the pads and 2,600 for the sensor kit).

Don't know about your Laura but in my Laura the front brake pads wore out at 35,000 kms and the rears at 48,000 kms.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I did some research and realised that only the 30d engine comes with the auxilliary radiator and the 20d engine does without one.

That is probably a Intercooler and not a radiator. Do you have a schematic? Or you could just visually look at the plumbing from the so called radiator and see where it goes. If the pipe links to the turbo charger and goes back to the engine, you can be sure it is a IC. It might we hard to trace the plumbing as the bay is pretty much covered by the engine cover.

Not that it matters but I am sure there is a cost difference for the bumper with and without those perforations. Would this value reflect on the insurance claim?

Anyway; carving out the holes was probably a better bet than going back to BMW.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

No sure if its the wrong bumper as I was able to find only one part number for the M sport model and it matches with the VIN. Maybe the dealer is supposed to make the cut out. Either way I think I can forgive them as the 30d M sport is a very rare model in India atleast. But yeah as a customer you'd expect the service centre to know their cars and these things are supposed to be documented.

There are 2 separate part numbers for the open and closed grill. Definitely an overlook on their part.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Rs. 16,315 is for the full set of 4 rear brake pads with wear sensor and connector. (13,700 for the pads and 2,600 for the sensor kit).

So it seems okay pricing (thought the sensor should be included or be reused - from good engineering point of view).

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Don't know about your Laura but in my Laura the front brake pads wore out at 35,000 kms and the rears at 48,000 kms.

If moralfiber's theory holds, then it comes down to "spirited driving" :-) though honestly, it came as a surprise to me and I will keep looking for a logical reason...

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

That is probably a Intercooler and not a radiator. Do you have a schematic? Or you could just visually look at the plumbing from the so called radiator and see where it goes. If the pipe links to the turbo charger and goes back to the engine, you can be sure it is a IC. It might we hard to trace the plumbing as the bay is pretty much covered by the engine cover.

Not that it matters but I am sure there is a cost difference for the bumper with and without those perforations. Would this value reflect on the insurance claim?

Anyway; carving out the holes was probably a better bet than going back to BMW.

I dug out the part number. Here it is http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/17117823546. It is an additional radiator for the 30d and 35d models only.

[Santoshbhat]

Change to Tubeless Tyres

During one my recent journeys, the TPMS gave out a low pressure warning just a few kms to go before I reached my destination (end of 500 km trip). I immediately pulled over and checked pressure in all the tyres and indeed one of the tyres had lost almost all air. Pressure was something like 8 psi. I had reported earlier that the ABS based TPMS is not that good at detecting low pressures and on one earlier occasion it had not alerted me when the pressure dropped from 32 to 20 psi. I think it has to do with the fact that the RFTs do not lose shape despite losing good amount of air. I am sure the system is more effective with tubeless tyres.

I filled up air with the help of the Michelin inflator I always carry with me and completed the journey. Funnily the tyre did not lose pressure even a week after the incident (apparently the valve was defective). I was worried I might have damaged the tyre as I have no idea how long I drove on it in that deflated state. I was on the highway and for sure I was above 80 kph for the most part!

I decided I have to replace that tyre as I did not want to risk it, as there was a good chance the tyre was structurally weakened. And if I was going to change it, it made sense to change all tyres which had run 24k kms by now. Though the tread depth 'looked' good enough for another 3 or 4k kms, the grip levels had deteriorated. The rubber was down to its hard layer and ride quality was getting a bit jarring on bad roads.

I had decided I am going the tubeless way come tyre change time. I went to my usual tyre shop and enquired about options. I had looked up online and my options were Pirelli P7 Cinturato (tubeless version of the tyres currently on the car) , Pirelli P Zero and some Goodyear tyre.

I was keen on Pirell P Zero as the P7 Cinturato is more of an 'eco' tyre whereas the P Zero was an out and out performance tyre. My tyre guy gave me a new option - Conti Sports Contact 3. The Pirellis were priced around 25K per pc whereas the Contis were available at about 19K per pc. But online reviews of the Contis were not encouraging, so I decided to drop it.

It turned out the P Zeros that were available were actually Pirelli P Zero Rosso. This looked like a good balance between comfort and sportiness and an ideal choice. Went ahead and fixed it.

The tyres though the same size as stock (245/50/R18) actually look like they are a size wider. The stance has improved with the wider tyres and grip is just amazing. The rubber is fresh course so the tyres are dead silent too. But what is amazing is the ride quality. The X3 now just glides on the road and ride in comfort mode with adaptive dampers is simply stunning. No matter how good and improved RFTs are, for Indian roads, they just don't make sense. You have to pay too high a price (poor ride) for the convenience of driving 80 kms in case of a puncture. I carry a space saver + inflator with me at all times, so I don't have to suffer the RFTs any more. I would highly recommend BMW owners to switch to tubeless and enjoy their cars even more.

One other thing I noticed was that my RFTs had worn out very oddly. The centre rib had worn out almost down to the TWI, whereas the outer ribs had almost twice the depth. No, I don't overinflate and generally stick to 30 to 32 PSI city and about 34 PSI highway. I think the deteriorating grip levels were also due to this uneven wear. I hope I can get decent life with these tubeless tyres.

Centre rib worn out more than the sides





Tyres work really hard on this car



The new P Zero Rossos









The improved stance





A parting shot...

[Santoshbhat]

Tyre Failure

I have a disturbing update to share. I suffered a tyre failure on one of the new Pirelli Tubless tyres yesterday. Worst part is, it happened on the highway and at good speed.

We (Dad and me) had traveled to Belgaum as usual and planned to return on Saturday afternoon. I check tyre pressures religiously before starting off on any highway journney and this time too I checked all tyres with my trusty ol analogue gauge. I am maintaining 32 psi for city rides and 34 psi for highway. Load : 2 passengers and light luggage.

We left Belgaum at about 2 pm and by 2:40 pm or so were somewhere near Kittur (about 40kms on). The highway here is excellent. No potholes or cuts or the like. It wasn't very hot either. This section of highway has sections where the road is cemented and its a fast six lane section. At one point both of us heard an unusual "pop". Since it was unusual I slowed down a bit to see if I could notice something off. In hindsight, I should have pulled over and inspected. It wasn't loud enough for the two of us talk about. But later when I asked Dad he said he did hear the 'pop'. The road has these light reflectors and I though it was the sound of the tyres going over one of these. Since everything seemed normal and there wasn't anything unusual, I picked up speed and started driving normally. About 10 mins later all of a sudden I hear a load rubber roar followed by steering wobble. I lifted off the throttle and applied brakes slowly while drifting to the left lane at the same time wanting to pullover. I realised its the tyre and by the time I pulled over the tyre was gone. Sidewall had ripped with smoke coming out due to the heat. I was doing about 120 to 130 kph at the time . Luckily at this time there was no other vehicle around and I wasn't on an undivided road and I was able to steer the car to safety and didn't lose control. The incident has well and truly shaken me. Anything could have happened.

I think the 'pop' we heard was a sidewall bubble. It wasn't able to sustain the speed and load and gave way. Now why did it 'pop'? This is a fantastic road and I did not crash into any pothole or cut whatsoever. I had just about completed 50 kms of the 500km journey and checked pressures before starting off. I was barely warming up and picking up speed at this point and not that I had ripped the car for 100s of kms that caused the tyre to buckle. Can those reflectors cause tyre damage?

Maybe the tyre lost pressure due a puncture. Then again I have checked the tyre. There is no puncture or nail or foreign object on the tread. I am a very careful driver w.r.t tyres and there is no chance I scraped the sidewall on curbs etc.. to damage it. Why did it lose pressure? if at all we are guessing the sidewall pop was due to low pressure. Maybe it was just a case of tyre sidewall failure. The TPMS did not give any warning through all of this. I had reported before that the ABS based TPMS is not trustworthy.

Coming to the second half of the story. "Its a BMW, what are you going to do?" Luckily I had invested in a space saver + jack kit. This was a life saver. We were about 450 kms away from the nearest BMW service centre and without the kit we would have been stranded. We had the choice of returning to Belgaum, getting a tyre shipped from BLR and then return. Time cycle min. 3 days. Or proceed to BLR at max 80 kph for the next 450kms without any further tyre back up. I decided to proceed as I had fixed up some meetings in Bangalore for the coming week and the weather was clear in this part of the world. In hindsight, a mistake. I should have returned to Belgaum. Belgaum is my second home btw.

The usual 6hr journey took about 10 hrs and I reached BLR at 11:30 pm. Terrible weather on the way too. Rains in full force + water logging + night driving + driving on the puny space saver literally took the wind out of me. I was literally counting down every km praying that the space saver does not give up on me. Another puncture or something and I was gone. Cruise control was very very helpful. I set it for 78 kph and it did the rest. THis must be a record of sorts. 450 kms on the 125 section space saver in an X3.

Now coming to the replacement. I had recently switched to tubeless as I wanted a better ride. I've been driving on tubeless tyres for nearly 20 years and haven't faced any issues. This the first tyre failure I have suffered at highway speed and I am scared. I think RFTs are safer, but I've seen upteen no. of RFTs getting shredded like this on BMWs. I have two choices now. Go back to RFTs or get another tubeless of the same make and give it another go. I had replaced tyres just about 2 months back and have done not more than 1500 kms since. There were no adverse conditions for the tyre to go like this. Good road, tyre pressure checked, car not fully loaded, no apparent external puncture, relatively slow speed (I admit I drive quite fast on the highway), very new good branded tyre. Then why? I am sure the tyre company will wash off their hands.

[ajmat]

Ouch, that hurts

Glad to see that you are safe. I would switch to RFT's for the pure safety aspect. If you do go for a new Pirelli, ensure the tread depth is less than 3mm different form the others else it will confuse the ESP, ABS etc in terms of power to wheel distribution and measuring speeds.

[Strella]

Sorry to hear about the failure of the new tyre. I also bought a 320d 6 months back and have retained the run flats. The main reason being the added safety it brings, especially when one is driving at high speeds. You were very lucky that you managed to keep things under control this time.

I would suggest changing back to the RFTs only for the added safety factor.( even at the cost of some ride comfort and lots of inconvenience.)

[reignofchaos]

That's really scary! That is a sure shot case of sidewall failure. It appears that you might have gotten tyres from a bad batch or tyres that are really old. You might want to get rid of all those tyres to be safe.

[androdev]

That's a pretty scary incident. I am glad nothing bad happened. I almost replied to your last post about switching to non-RFTs but decided not to post it. Many forum members have posted in favour of switching to non-RFTs on this forum but it is not a good idea if the car is used for highway runs. Btw, this can happen with RFT also (I remember an old post by Turbonator having faced similar damage with an RFT).

Can you please post full tire spec (DOT code, date of mfg, especially load rating, etc.)?

Originally Posted by Hayek

Btw, my X3 20d shows the pressure in each of the tyres while driving. Does your car have a different system?

That's very interesting. I thought none of the cars in India come with this feature. Most have indirect ABS based TPMS which typically don't alert unless it goes below 20psi. Good on BMW to offer this feature.

[Hayek]

Really scary and I think you and your dad dodged a bullet. A side wall failure at high speed is a worst case outcome. Personally, I think sticking to run flats makes sense - they are intrinsically safer than ordinary tubeless tyres.

Btw, my X3 20d shows the pressure in each of the tyres while driving. Does your car have a different system?

[sumeethaldankar]

Sorry to hear the incident but glad you are ok. Weren't those tires brand new? I am sure they would be under warranty. Hopefully just one bad tire was the cause. I think the you should file for a warranty claim. Such a expensive tire should not just give up under normal usage.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by androdev

That's very interesting. I thought none of the cars in India come with this feature. Most have indirect ABS based TPMS which typically don't alert unless it goes below 20psi. Good on BMW to offer this feature.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Btw, my X3 20d shows the pressure in each of the tyres while driving. Does your car have a different system?

BMW added actual tyre pressure monitoring from 2017 onwards, where you can see the actual pressure and temperature for each tyre. Earlier it had the ABS based tyre pressure loss warning.

Santosh - That was a close shave, what are the load ratings on your tyres?

[dkaile]

Sad. What about the rim? I hope there is no rim damage. Get the tyre replaced with a similar one and make peace with it.

Cheers...