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Old 12th April 2018, 12:05   #196
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
I hate negotiating, and that is exactly what I have to do here it seems! If they are charging me 9K for a simple camera installation, God help me for the suspension installation. The service person has promised to come back with some discounts on both the camera and the installation. If they are able to bring it down to even 35K, that would be good enough.
From what I can see, they have dropped the price of the camera from 35k to 31k. So that is good. Installation should be 15 FRU which is their measuring unit for labour time. Just ask them how they arrived at the 9k figure for installation and check for the FRU units. You can then involve BMW if they are asking for something unreasonable like 45 FRU which is robbery. Even without discount on the unit, you should get it done for about 34K total.

The accessory guy when I bought the unit was one of those pushy markety types and was pushing all sorts of items on me. So I told him I will buy it only if he gives me a discount. So that worked in my favour.


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Oh. That is bad. Is it possible to increase the SD card size to 64 or 128GB? Have you considered that?
I read in the manual that 6gb is allocated for continuous recording. I also saw that the unit overwrites even when there is lot of empty space. So increasing the SD card size shouldn't matter I thought. I am hoping you will find a solution for this
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Old 12th April 2018, 12:13   #197
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
Installation should be 15 FRU which is their measuring unit for labour time. Just ask them how they arrived at the 9k figure for installation and check for the FRU units. You can then involve BMW if they are asking for something unreasonable like 45 FRU which is robbery.
Wow. Did not know about the FRU. If BMW has a standard FRU list for various jobs, that should be a good leverage while negotiating labor. Can you point me to any link where you got the 15 FRU number for the camera? I will also check for the suspensions job so that I am fore armed with some knowledge.

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
I read in the manual that 6gb is allocated for continuous recording. I also saw that the unit overwrites even when there is lot of empty space. So increasing the SD card size shouldn't matter I thought. I am hoping you will find a solution for this
If the 6GB is an absolute value the camera allocates for recording (instead of something relative to total size), then yes, increasing SD card size will not help. Once I get the camera installed, will do some digging into this and update you if I find any solution.
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Old 12th April 2018, 12:56   #198
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Wow. Did not know about the FRU. If BMW has a standard FRU list for various jobs, that should be a good leverage while negotiating labor. Can you point me to any link where you got the 15 FRU number for the camera? I will also check for the suspensions job so that I am fore armed with some knowledge.
Yes, learnt about FRU on Team BHP. Check out this post

15 FRU is what they have charged me. Attaching shot of my invoice
Attached Thumbnails
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-20180412_124743617x1007.jpg  


Last edited by Santoshbhat : 12th April 2018 at 12:57.
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Old 13th April 2018, 14:25   #199
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

Hi Santosh,

I have a question on BMW Secure. I took the BMW Secure package for my GT. But in the documents they gave me, I only have an insurance policy from ICICI Lombard with a wording "Add on coverage variant A", and there is a thumb drive in the size of a visiting card which has the BMW Secure policy wording. But nowhere is there a document that says I have paid for a BMW secure policy. The SA says they used to give a single page receipt sort of document earlier, but they don't give that anymore. The BMW secure will be in BMW's record for my car's VIN number.

Did you get any certificate or policy document for the BMW secure?
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Old 13th April 2018, 14:45   #200
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Hi Santosh,

I have a question on BMW Secure. I took the BMW Secure package for my GT. But in the documents they gave me, I only have an insurance policy from ICICI Lombard with a wording "Add on coverage variant A", and there is a thumb drive in the size of a visiting card which has the BMW Secure policy wording. But nowhere is there a document that says I have paid for a BMW secure policy. The SA says they used to give a single page receipt sort of document earlier, but they don't give that anymore. The BMW secure will be in BMW's record for my car's VIN number.

Did you get any certificate or policy document for the BMW secure?
This has been a grey area that I was not able to understand clearly till date. As per my understanding, BMW secure is complimentary for one year from the date of purchasing a new BMW car. I purchased the insurance policy for my new car from HDFC Ergo outside the showroom as it worked out to be the cheapest at that time. In fact I did a BMW secure claim for a tire bulge successfully, but never actually purchased the Secure package - courtesy: Complimentary BMW Secure package. Is there two different types of Secure packages by any chance? If yes, what additional benefits do we get with the paid Secure package when the complimentary one itself covers the tires/rims, engine and loss of key?

As a matter of fact, I didn't renew the Secure package as I got a quote of 47k for secure renewal and hydrostatic lock is no longer covered under Secure renewal policy. I opted for the engine protection cover in my insurance policy instead.

Last edited by ece2k2 : 13th April 2018 at 14:53.
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Old 13th April 2018, 15:24   #201
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Hi Santosh,

I have a question on BMW Secure. I took the BMW Secure package for my GT. But in the documents they gave me, I only have an insurance policy from ICICI Lombard with a wording "Add on coverage variant A", and there is a thumb drive in the size of a visiting card which has the BMW Secure policy wording. But nowhere is there a document that says I have paid for a BMW secure policy. The SA says they used to give a single page receipt sort of document earlier, but they don't give that anymore. The BMW secure will be in BMW's record for my car's VIN number.

Did you get any certificate or policy document for the BMW secure?
BMW secure is a good point of confusion for customers, which dealers use to their advantage. Each and every car sold by BMW comes with Secure complimentary from the factory for one year and the price is included in the ex showroom price. See the spec sheet on the website and you'll know. Dealers hide this fact and send quotations showing secure premium over and above the ex showroom price and use this amount as a cushion during negotiations.

In my case they gave me visiting card type pendrive which contains only the policy terms and conditions and is nothing more than a gimmic. Apart from this I also got a welcome note and a receipt printed on BMW stationery stating that they have received xxxx amount from Navnit Motors towards Secure with my car's VIN mentioned. So that was good enough for me.

Secure is actually a zero dep add on to the insurance along with some other benefits like tyres and alloys. So the insurance policy given was a regular plain jane non zero dep policy since secure takes care of the zero dep part.

Incidentally I had a claim in my first year. They made me fill out two claim forms . One for regular insurance and one for secure. Both were covered by Bajaj Alliannz. I don't know whether they have switched to ICICI Lombard now.

Here are documents I got. I think you should insist on some document that contains your VIN no.
Attached Thumbnails
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-20180413_1506481008x580.jpg  

Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-20180413_1507151008x606.jpg  


Last edited by Santoshbhat : 13th April 2018 at 15:26.
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Old 13th April 2018, 16:35   #202
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ece2k2 View Post
This has been a grey area that I was not able to understand clearly till date. As per my understanding, BMW secure is complimentary for one year from the date of purchasing a new BMW car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
BMW secure is a good point of confusion for customers, which dealers use to their advantage. Each and every car sold by BMW comes with Secure complimentary from the factory for one year and the price is included in the ex showroom price. See the spec sheet on the website and you'll know. Dealers hide this fact and send quotations showing secure premium over and above the ex showroom price and use this amount as a cushion during negotiations. ...
Ah. That makes sense then. That is why the SA has been telling me the BMW secure is already assigned to the car and they don't give anything specific. Maybe during my first year of renewal, they will charge me for this and provide me with a policy document. So, for now, I am going to stop pursuing this topic trying to get a policy document for BMW secure.

As you mentioned, they did use BMW secure as a cushion for negotiation, and provided me a big discount on the insurance policy while charging me for BMW secure. And I thought they were giving me a good deal

Thanks a lot for the clear explanation!

Last edited by graaja : 13th April 2018 at 16:36.
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Old 14th April 2018, 14:26   #203
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Impressed with HDFC Ergo

I have been renewing Insurance polices for my cars online since past few years as it allows me to compare features, price etc... I found HDFC Ergo's prices to be quite competitive and the online system for purchase and renewal to be pretty smooth too. They allow you to enter your GSTIN while purchasing the policy and since my cars are company owned, we are able to get GST credit. Right now all my cars are insured by HDFC Ergo.

The real test of course is how they handle claims. I got a taste of that about a month back when I had a to file a claim for a cracked front bumper. This is the second bumper that is going to be changed in about 2 years . I filed a claim online through their website and found that they were very proactive in doing the survey etc... In fact they were calling me almost everyday to check whether I had dropped off the car at the garage. Navnit motors had asked me to wait a couple of days since the person in charge of body shop was away on training. The survey was completed soon after the car was dropped. Surprisingly the part was in stock and Navnit completed the job within a week. The post repair inspection too was done without any follow up and claim approval letter mailed to me and the workshop with no deductions, except the compulsory deduction of Rs. 2,000/-/ . Bill was something like Rs. 1.16L and insurance approval Rs. 1.14L . This is the first time I was able to get such a complete insurance coverage with not a single rupee disallowed. The entire process of claim registration to getting the car back from the garage was completed within a span of 10 days. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

I am glad I chose not to renew the Bajaj Allianz + BMW Secure combo that they gave for the first year. The quote for this was almost 2X compared to the Zero Dep policy from HDFC Ergo.
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Old 14th April 2018, 15:43   #204
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Re: Impressed with HDFC Ergo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
I have been renewing Insurance polices for my cars online since past few years as it allows me to compare features, price etc... I found HDFC Ergo's prices to be quite competitive and the online system for purchase and renewal to be pretty smooth too...

The real test of course is how they handle claims. I got a taste of that about a month back when I had a to file a claim for a cracked front bumper....

I am glad I chose not to renew the Bajaj Allianz + BMW Secure combo that they gave for the first year. The quote for this was almost 2X compared to the Zero Dep policy from HDFC Ergo.
That is impressive! Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!

Do you use any insurance portal like policy bazaar or get it directly from the insurance company website?

I have been doing all my insurance renewal with the dealer's insurance just for the convenience of smooth claim process. I always thought it would be a nightmare experience to complete a claim from a different insurance company. This experience of yours gives me confidence in exploring alternate options.
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Old 14th April 2018, 16:24   #205
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Re: Impressed with HDFC Ergo

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
That is impressive! Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!

Do you use any insurance portal like policy bazaar or get it directly from the insurance company website?

I have been doing all my insurance renewal with the dealer's insurance just for the convenience of smooth claim process. I always thought it would be a nightmare experience to complete a claim from a different insurance company. This experience of yours gives me confidence in exploring alternate options.
I buy directly from the Insurance Co. website. I avoid portals like policy bazaar because they make you enter your mobile no. and then pester you with calls. I go directly to individual company websites, enter all details and see what the final payable comes to. Yes many of these sites also make you enter your phone no. , but they will call you at the most once. I am scared of these third party portals that share your phone no. with multiple service providers.

Insurance is an agreement between you and the insurance company. The dealer is merely an agent and his role is over once you have got the policy. You can check with the insurance co. whether cashless facility is available for your car make and workshop in your city. If yes then you can go ahead. Dealers simply scare you so that you buy it through them. Their commission gets loaded into the premium which you have to pay. Whenever there is a claim to be made, it is immaterial from where you bought or who the agent is. In fact what you paid also is immaterial. What matters is your IDV and the coverage mentioned in the policy document. The company is legally bound to honour it, as long as certain conditions are satisfied, like driver with valid license, no DUI etc...

Last edited by Santoshbhat : 14th April 2018 at 16:42.
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Old 25th April 2018, 12:27   #206
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

I am really amazed by how good auto boxes are these days. They are smart enough to realize that you are coming down a slope and could do with some engine braking, so they don't upshift and hold on to lower gears. I got a good taste of this on a recent drive when I was driving down from a hill station. Since it was a week day morning, there was very little traffic. The gear box was spot on in selecting the right gears and not once did I miss manual control.

By the time we completed the descent, I was shocked to see the fuel efficiency display on the iDrive. 41.10 kpl from the 2 Ton, fully loaded, 6 cylinder beast
Attached Thumbnails
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-20180424_0957541008x756.jpg  

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Old 12th July 2018, 20:08   #207
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

Hi Santhosh,

I got the BMW Advanced Eye camera installed in my 330iGT. Thanks a lot for all the inputs you had provided on the pricing, installation etc.

I am putting together a thread to document the details on this camera. I have a couple of questions.

1. All the reviews about the camera mention about the camera asking to format the SD card frequently - like once in 2 to 3 weeks. Do you face this? Does it stop working if we do not format the card?
2. When we use the BMW Advanced Eye software, we can see the video footage and select front or back or both and also speed information. However, I have not been able to find a way to export the videos with the speed information. Have you been able to export videos from the software?

Thanks in advance for all the information and pointers.
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Old 12th July 2018, 21:21   #208
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Hi Santhosh,

I got the BMW Advanced Eye camera installed in my 330iGT. Thanks a lot for all the inputs you had provided on the pricing, installation etc.

I am putting together a thread to document the details on this camera. I have a couple of questions.

1. All the reviews about the camera mention about the camera asking to format the SD card frequently - like once in 2 to 3 weeks. Do you face this? Does it stop working if we do not format the card?
2. When we use the BMW Advanced Eye software, we can see the video footage and select front or back or both and also speed information. However, I have not been able to find a way to export the videos with the speed information. Have you been able to export videos from the software?

Thanks in advance for all the information and pointers.
No, I have never formatted the SD card so far. It works fine and has never prompted me to do so.

No, I haven't found a way to export the videos with the speed info either.

Have you managed to allow the camera to fully utilise the available space to record continuous video? It uses like 6GB and then overwrites again. Recording of hardly the last hour is stored in the disk. If you happen to have an incident and you want that recording saved then you better remove the SD card otherwise it will get overwritten.
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Old 13th July 2018, 10:35   #209
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
Have you managed to allow the camera to fully utilise the available space to record continuous video? It uses like 6GB and then overwrites again. Recording of hardly the last hour is stored in the disk. If you happen to have an incident and you want that recording saved then you better remove the SD card otherwise it will get overwritten.
Unfortunately no. I have been trying some hacks, but without any success. Let me give a small overview of what I have been trying.

I found (from some other forum) that the BMW Advanced Eye camera is actually a rebranded product from another company Camberry model DC3010

http://www.camberry.eu/dashcam-blackbox-kamera-dc3010/

They also have a software which is exactly like the BMW Advanced Eye software.
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-camberry.jpg

This software has a Settings menu that the BMW Advanced software does not have.
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-settings.jpg

Through this settings window, we can set many options which includes disabling parking mode. I thought if I could disable parking mode the camera may use that space for drive time recording.

There is a file called setup.cfg in the root folder of the SD Card that has the configuration options. Below is a comparison of the original CFG file in BMW Advanced (setup-copy.cfg) and if I generate the CFG file using the Camberry software.
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-setup-cfg.jpg

The value against Parking Mode parameter decides if parking mode is disabled, recorded on movement detection or infinite. Yesterday night, I made the parking mode parameter 0 in the original setup.cfg file and locked the car. Today morning I was expecting to see no parking mode videos, but there was some movement detection in the night which has been recorded in the Parking folder. So looks like the firmware in the camera ignores this parameter and keeps parking mode always enabled.

Also, from the feature explanation from the below web page in Camberry site (the page has to be translated), it is clear that the camera is called a blackbox camera and its main intention is to keep record if any mishap occurs. Long recording duration is not its primary intent.

http://www.camberry.eu/dashcam-black...-kaufberatung/

So, I think it is not possible to increase the recording duration in the drive mode, unless I find a way to hack the firmware
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Old 3rd October 2018, 18:20   #210
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re: Power corrupts! My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport. EDIT: 2.5 years & 36,000 km update!

36,000 kms/ 5th service update

Not much happening with the car except that it completed yet another service, its fifth. I have been sending the car to Navnit Motors Airport road for my service requirements. I am pleased with the service experience so far and this time was no different. The staff have become friendly and the entire process is very organised. I like the location too. It's just off the main road and a nice drive from my place without suffering too much of traffic.

My running has come down a bit this year due to extra work pressure and a few trips taken in the GTI. The car has been working flawlessly and has been a pleasure to own so far ( 2.5 years). It has been 100% reliable and been enjoyable to drive and take the family around.

My top three likes
  • Driving pleasure
  • Refinement, space and comfort for occupants.
  • Reliability and low service costs (relatively for a premium brand)

Top three dislikes
  • Spare on top of boot floor
  • Finding it hard to fill up this space

The switch to tubeless tyres has really transformed the way car drives and rides. At slow speeds in comfort mode the ride is very absorbient and comfortable and at high speeds the better tyre compound gives me better feel, grip and braking. I will be sticking to tubeless tyres only going forward.

One thing I must mention is how fast this car is. I have driven the GTI to Belgaum a few times, a trip the X3 does very often. The GTI is a very busy car. It's loud and stiff and very involving to drive. After a very fast drive in the GTI where I felt I really pushed the car, I found I took more time than what I usually take in the X3! I may sound silly when I say this, but at higher speeds the lack of torque from the TSI petrol was noticeable. The torque from the 30d engine when you are driving down big highways is something to behold. I am so glad I stretched for the 6 cylinder variant. These days there is no 6 cylinder option in the entire segment. Heck the G01 X3 20d costs a good 3 Lakhs more on road (without discounts) than what I paid for the 30d in 2016!

Service costs

Since this was probably the last service before the car completes 3 years in December, I thought I will make a chart of all service expenses and compare it with the asking price for BSI plus and see whether it was a wise decision.

The car has seen off 5 services. Since my driving is predominantly on highways, my brake pads seem to have lasted very long. The rears were changed at 23,000 kms, while the front pads still have some 5,000 kms life left at 36,500 kms. All other items have been replaced as per system notified schedules (CBS).

Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-service-tracker.jpg

Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-comparison.jpg
Note : interest is taken at a conservative 5% p.a. What you typically get post tax on a F.D.
Since the car is used for my business, I am able to claim GST credit. An added advantage

Even if you add another brake pad change by December and leave out the GST savings, my service costs still seem to be much lower than the asking price for BSI back then. I am likely to cross 40,000 kms by the end of 3 years and for sure would have picked 3y/ 60,000 kms package had I opted for BSI at the time of purchase. So it seems to me that BSI makes sense only if your running is high and mostly in slow urban environs. Even then I think it is better to have the luxury of paying per service than being tied down with heavy upfront payment. I don't get why people equate paying heavily upfront with peace of mind. Shouldn't it be the other way round?

OT : While I was there , I saw a gorgeous Ferrari 458 Spider that had come in for service. Yes they service Ferraris and Rolls Royce cars too here.
Attached Thumbnails
Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-img_20180928_103723.jpg  

Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-img_20180928_103729.jpg  

Power corrupts | My BMW X3 xDrive30d M Sport | 8 years & 92,000 kms update-img_20180928_103747.jpg  


Last edited by Santoshbhat : 3rd October 2018 at 18:23.
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