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Old 22nd May 2018, 09:36   #76
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post

I have measured the brake pad thickness and will be measuring the thickness again in another 2000km. That will give me an approximate indication of how frequently my car will need brake pad change. Based on that I will decide between BSI or BSI+.
Don't stress too much on the brake pads replacement as it will cost around 15-20k per change. IMO, it doesn't justify the high BSI package price.

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
BMW's service costs are fairly reasonable and I don't think the dealer can take you for a ride just like that. You have the backing of BMW and you can always involve them.
Completely agree. BMW India is fantastic in extending support and resolving customer issues. They will definitely intervene incase of unreasonable invoicing.
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Old 14th June 2018, 07:06   #77
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Update on BSI Package:

Thank you Santhosh and the_skyliner for the inputs on BSI+ package.

Initially, I was planning to go for the 5 year, 60K BSI+ package which costs 2.9L. Seeing the cost break up that Santhosh provided and the_skyliner's experience with BSI+, this proved to be very expensive. Still I liked the convenience of zero cost maintenance the BSI+ offers.

So, intead of going for the 5 year package, I went with the 3 year / 40K package, which cost 1.35L, and have parked the rest of the money in a low risk investment.

Considering minimum of 3 services, one set of brake pad changes, and three sets of wipers, and loss of interest, this will definitely work out to be at least 20K dearer. But I decided to consider this as an experiment with BSI+ and a small cost for convenience. Right now, the car is showing a service requirement at 10.5K kilometers (from the inital 12K kilometers). If there happens to be a 4th service required within the 3 year period, then this upfront payment will become worthy.
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Old 3rd July 2018, 14:42   #78
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Update on M Sport Suspensions:

The M Sport suspension components have arrived.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-m-sport-suspensions.jpeg

Planning to take the car to the dealership this week to get them installed.
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Old 7th July 2018, 12:33   #79
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Hi Ganesh!

Many congratulations in upgrading from Wolfsburg to Bavaria!! Once you go German, one can't look back. Your reviews are so meticulous and detailed, one can use it in case one does not find the User Manual. Kudos

You and I bought the GT TSI in same month in 2015. So I am living vicariously through your BMW GT ownership.

Glad to know the dealership experience was great. My erstwhile Santro and current GT TSI both was from KUN group. And the sales and service was satisfactory. So I can imagine the legacy continues with BMW

Eager to know how the GT handles with the M sport suspension. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Jetta matches and even beats the ride of the BMW. That shows what an accomplished and understated car the Jetta is.

Last edited by rageshgr : 7th July 2018 at 12:47.
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Old 8th July 2018, 23:28   #80
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

First service and BMW Advanced Eye installation:
As it is getting late, will keep this update short.

First Service:

The car has done 9000 kilometers and the instrument cluster showed service due in 1500 kilometers. I have the 3 year / 40,000 kilometer BSI+ package. When I took the car for the suspension upgrade, they also did the first oil service. They changed the oil, oil filter and the wiper blades. The invoice value was 14.5K. Mr. Yadhav told me that this was because it is under BSI. If not under BSI, there will be an additional 6K labor added to the invoice.

BWM Advanced Eye dashcam:

I also got the BMW Advanced Eye dashcam fixed. The cost was 29.5K including taxes for the camera, and about 5.8K for installation. The Advanced Eye comes with a front and rear camera, and has three recording modes - drive, parking and event. When the car is being driven, 1 minute video clips are recorded in the Drive partition. When the car is parked, if the camera detects any movements, it records the clips to the Park partition. If there is a shock detected beyond a set threshold, it is considered as an event and the video clips are stored in the Events partition. It has a 32GB SD card and allocates a partition of various size each for each of the recording modes.

I will cover the BMW Advanced Eye in detail in a future post.

A few pictures taken during the drive to Mullayangiri near Chikmagalur. Had to drive through non-existent roads with huge pot holes, narrow roads with steep and deep shoulders where I had to get off the road to accomodate oncoming traffic (they had to get down too). True to the name GT, the car handled everything without any complaints (read underbody scraping).

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-img_6156.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-img_6162.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-img_6192.jpg

A few pictures from the drive to Anaikkatty today. Bad roads again and no GC issues at all.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-anaikatti-1.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-anaikatti-2.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-anaikatti-3.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-anaikatti-4.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-anaikatti-5.jpg

A final picture to close this update. Taken during a family outing today. My wife and daughter sitting inside the boot for breakfast. I am now totally happy that I chose the GT over the sedan. After all, you could not eat idlis sitting in the boot of the regular sedan, can you?

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-breakfast-boot.jpg
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Old 10th July 2018, 15:19   #81
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

"Installed: M-Sport Suspension in my BMW 330i GT"

Details have been split into a new thread here.

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Old 10th October 2018, 08:05   #82
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Quite strange that the M-sport didn't come with the M sport suspension as standard.But it was probably BMW India's decision thinking that people might complain about the ride being ' harsh'.
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Old 16th October 2018, 19:12   #83
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

14,000 Kilometers Update:

The car has run 14,000 kilometers now. It has been 5000 kilometers since the upgrade to M Sport suspensions and I am loving them. They offer the best balance between handling and comfort. The car is super stable in the corners, has absolutely no bobbing in undulating roads or while getting off speed breakers, and at the same time is not harsh at all. It is quite comfortable in city speeds while driving over potholes or speed breakers. I had lot of doubt while upgrading to these suspensions if it will be worth the 2.5 lakhs. Now all that doubts have been put to rest. I consider this to be one of the best upgrades one can do to the 3GT.

Navigation

In the earlier days, I had tried to plot navigation to Madurai from Coimbatore, but found the route not the optimum. That could be because I know the Coimbatore - Madurai roads very well and have my preference for the best route. Because of this inaccuracy, I had never used the navigation in the iDrive.

However, last week, while driving to Chikmagalur from Coimbatore, I used the iDrive navigation from Mysore - Chikmagalur - Mysore. I also loaded Google navigation in my cell phone for backup. And to my surprise, both routes were the same. The added advantage was that the navigation instructions come up on the Heads Up Display and I don't have to take my eyes of the road. I did not click many pictures of the navigation screens on the iDrive, but managed to click a couple of pictures of the navigation display on the HUD.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-navigation-1.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-navigation-2.jpg

I am planning to use the iDrive navigation more often and see how it performs. Still, the last mile connectivity is not great in iDrive navigation. We can use iDrive for navigating between cities. But for specific locations like hotels, restaurants etc., Google Maps is the best bet.

Apple CarPlay

That brings me to the subject of enabling CarPlay. With Apple enabling Google Maps as part of iOS 12 in CarPlay, I have been exploring options to enable CarPlay in the GT. Another TBHP'ian abhi182 has enabled CarPlay in his F34 GT and he has shared lots of information on how to do this in a different thread from the below post onwards.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...ml#post4463262

However, I have still not decided to modify the coding to keep warranty concerns away. This will be my last resort. I am also talking with the workshop manager Mr. Yadhav about the possibility of enabling CarPlay by BMW. He has promised he would do his best to do this. He is awaiting some code (maybe the FSC code) and said he will update me soon. I have procured the ENet cable and the WiFi antenna as Plan-B.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-enet.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-antenna.jpg

To close this update, some random pictures.

During the drive to Thonnur (near Mysore) for a Triathlon event. I just love the utility of this car. Still getting used to the stares.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-cycle-1.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-cycle-2.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-cycle-3.jpg

During a recent drive to Chikmagalur.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-chikmagalur-1.jpg

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up-chikmagalur-2.jpg
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Old 16th October 2018, 20:56   #84
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

The BMW service center must really love you But on a serious note you must be paving the way for making BMW realize there is a market for upgrades and start promoting these.
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Old 16th October 2018, 21:03   #85
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Quote:
Originally Posted by deepfreak15 View Post
The BMW service center must really love you But on a serious note you must be paving the way for making BMW realize there is a market for upgrades and start promoting these.
Ha ha. I am very happy so far with the dealership here. They are very helpful folk and honestly, I did not expect the level of support they offered during the M Sport upgrade.

I have got a few PMs and enquiries on how the M Sport suspensions are on the GT. There may be some installations happening as well. Glad that people are going for the suspension upgrade on the GT. It makes the car the best of both worlds. I now have the cake and eat it too
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Old 16th October 2018, 23:19   #86
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

Hi Ganesh,

Lovely practical choice you have made! Happy to see that you are making use of the features and enjoying the car.

Do you have hard disk space for audio files in your car? If so, your HU will be NBT NEO. It will be easy to add CarPlay.

What is your take on Fuel additives? Have you used BMW petrol additive?
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Old 17th October 2018, 06:14   #87
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

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Originally Posted by Chethan B G View Post
Hi Ganesh,

Lovely practical choice you have made! Happy to see that you are making use of the features and enjoying the car.

Do you have hard disk space for audio files in your car? If so, your HU will be NBT NEO. It will be easy to add CarPlay.

What is your take on Fuel additives? Have you used BMW petrol additive?
Hi Chethan, Thank you

Yes. My HU is the NBT one with 20GB hard disk space, and it supports CarPlay. Just figuring out how to enable it. I prefer that BMW enables it so that I don't have to worry about coding, restoring for warranty etc. But if for some reason BMW is not able to enable I may take the risk and do the coding.

I have not tried the fuel additives from BMW. They never mentioned it in the dealership. I saw in your thread that you are happy with their diesel additive. I will check with the service manager about any additives for Petrol and try it out.
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Old 17th October 2018, 09:34   #88
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Hi Chethan, Thank you

Yes. My HU is the NBT one with 20GB hard disk space, and it supports CarPlay. Just figuring out how to enable it. I prefer that BMW enables it so that I don't have to worry about coding, restoring for warranty etc. But if for some reason BMW is not able to enable I may take the risk and do the coding.

I have not tried the fuel additives from BMW. They never mentioned it in the dealership. I saw in your thread that you are happy with their diesel additive. I will check with the service manager about any additives for Petrol and try it out.

BMW will not enable it. I don't think they do it anywhere in the world. Maybe sometime in the future, but who knows. The coding/usb stick is pretty much harmless, I would suggest you do that rather than lose out on having a nice, useful feature.
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Old 17th October 2018, 12:08   #89
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

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Originally Posted by Akshay1234 View Post
BMW will not enable it. I don't think they do it anywhere in the world. Maybe sometime in the future, but who knows. The coding/usb stick is pretty much harmless, I would suggest you do that rather than lose out on having a nice, useful feature.
Thanks Akshay. I was planning to wait for another week maybe, and then go ahead with the coding. I am definitely not going to miss out on the Google maps integration
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Old 17th October 2018, 15:38   #90
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re: A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue BMW 330i GT M-Sport comes home - EDIT: 100,000 kilometers up

The GT is being put to good use, sir! Keep it coming.

The bike atop the GT looks swell (a Scott Solace 10 if I'm not mistaken) and you have quite a garage which I wish would be mine someday (I seriously hope this happens to me)!

The GT is a better package than the 3 for sure. Invest in the M-Sport suspension, it'll be a complete package and the inline-4, two-litre petrol is a roadburner as well. The space is just too much and this is the car which Peaces out with head and heart.

Wishing you many more miles and happy smiles with the Bimmer!

Varun
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