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-   -   Crossing the thin redline into madness. Meet Red, my old new BMW 328i (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/204534-crossing-thin-redline-into-madness-meet-red-my-old-new-bmw-328i-10.html)

Yummy! Makes your F30 look amazingly new and reinvigorated. Where from and how?!

In Autoluru or COVluru, your front lip wouldn't stand a chance. Any plans of putting some PPF on the lower bits?

I fully agree. I didn’t quite believe the effect would be so transformative, and yet, here we are.

I picked up the kit from Deal Karde (catchy name, I know), a Surat based dealer of car parts. They were having a blowout sale of sorts, just liquidating inventory, so I jumped on it and picked it up for about 75k. Painting and installation was taken care of at the local FNG, top-notch work.

Agreed again. No chance the lip would last beyond a week if I put it, so no chance I’ll spend on a pretty carbon fiber one only for it to be smashed to bits in no time.

I’m not gonna PPF the bumper, I reckon I’ll just paint it once a year or so once any chips/scratches accumulate. Never been the biggest man of PPF, but that might yet change.

When are you putting up a thread of the 330i? Do it! We all need the dope. If I were in Bengaluru, I’d have driven over for a comparo to show how far the 3’er has come. lol:

We talked about this, and you know I had concerns about the stance and the wheels filling up the arches on the new fenders without slapping on some spacers, but I'm happy to say she looks fantastic in the metal. The rear three-quarters, especially, looks absolutely sorted.

I'm really glad you didn't pull the trigger on the GTS hood because it's just too damn aggressive on a car like this - it's like stuffing a sock down your trousers.

Totally agree mano, she looks even better with the kit slapped on. I'm still wondering if I need spacers, and I might just go that route, but it's not as bad as pronouncedly puny I thought it would be.

lol: I still believe that hood is a damn fine looking thing, but yes, it would have been too loud for my taste. This still flies a bit low under the radar. I need to black out the M3 badging on the damn fenders before someone scrunches their nose at me and calls me a poser!

Thanks for posting.
I too decided to not fork out close to 18k a tyre on my 328i for the Michelins and decided to go with the Dunlops instead, which were about 11k, give or take.
The Dunlops have been fantastic for the 9 months that they've been on the car - they're quiet, they absorb bumps fairly well, and in the 9 months that I've had them I haven't had a single puncture - but that's also because my running's been minimal.
I haven't had an opportunity to take the car out of town, so I can't report how they are on the highway, but the reviews online say they're fine.

Please keep us updated on your ownership experience with the Triangles.

At least in the pics they look fine - I'll reserve final judgement for when I can finally clap eyes on her. God knows when that'll be. (Thanks, Kung Flu!!)

Please do so toot-sweet. Putting M-badges on a non-M car is, as you're aware, a capital crime.

Very, very nice. It looks way better in person, I'm sure. In my eyes, it completes the look of the F30. I wouldn't worry too much about those tiny M badges. It is a proper M kit, after all, fenders included. :). It's the rear M badges which are a strict No, No for me.

I have been on Deal Karde's website several times as they have very good looking after market parts but as I knew no one who shopped off it, I was very sceptical as the prices were too good to be true, especially for the LED tail lamps. Good to know that it appears legit and dependable. How was your experience? Could you let me know? All the way from ordering to recieving?

A bit OT, but I'm curious about the oil operating temperature in our cars. At operating temp, my oil guage is at the 1/4 mark. On highways, if I go a little mental, it climbs half way between 1/4 and 1/2. What about yours? It's been like this forever so I wonder if my 5W-40 is to blame. If other F30 328i owners could also let me know, it will put to rest a suspicion I have.

Congrats on the mods again. Once I hear from you, I might go the Deal Karde way. clap:

My car is also normally at the 1/4 mark (95 degrees) once it gets to operating temperature. With some enthusiastic driving I've seen temperature rise to 100 or 105, that is 1 or 2 lines above the 1/4 mark. I am also currently on 5w40, but have always used 5w30 before this, and to be honest I am not too happy. Will go back to 5w30 in my next oil change as I feel the engine is not as free revving with 5w40.

Do you remember the oil temp when you were on 5W-30? Which oil as well? I'm now on Liqui Moly Toptec but plan to move to LM Molygen.

Actually the temperatures that I had mentioned were with 5w30 as I have hardly driven around 250 km with 5w40. But I have not noticed anything different, it seems pretty much the same. The current 5w40 that I’m using is Motul Xcess 8100.

Thanks, I think it looks fab too. Those ///M badges are annoying me slightly though, I'm going to get it wrapped in a few days. It's not as bad as ///M badges on the tail, which is a capital offence, but I think it's still got to go.

I was lucky that a friend was a guinea pig in ordering the same kit from DK earlier, and in both cases it was a smooth experience, right from payment to delivery (which was done in a few days after the payment was made). I'd recommend them 100% for the body kit, the quality was good.

I am keen on a pair of shadowline taillights, but don't believe his stuff is OEM. The standard LCI taillamps might be, you can check with them on that. Or else wait a few months for Black October, and order in from Schmiedmann or so. They have the OEM ones in stock. That's the route I'm considering going.

Mine is much the same. Hovers at the quarter mark, and climbs a bit if I go into Sports/Sports+. Nothing alarming there, don't worry. For what it's worth, I'm running 5w-40 too, used Liqui Moly at my last top a few months ago. Will stick with it as the car seems to be purring along nicely on it, so me likey.

What a fantastic transformation! (Not that it needed it, but this is just about as close one gets to perfection on these proportions).

Your car is now screaming out for a set of matte/anthracite BBSs, the CH-R if you will. The stock wheels just do not do justice to the profile of the car now. please:

Many thanks, Doc Oc! Appreciate it.

I love those BBS', they're very classy, timeless and tasteful. There's a good reason so many other brands stock a similar design as well. But a good set of forged BBS' will easily cost me about 1.2-1.4 lakhs depending on where I get it from. That's a lot of smackeroos to change what I feel is still a strong suit of the car, those 397M wheels are very tasty. I'd rather take that same money and put it towards a full catback exhaust and a catless downpipe.

What to do, sir. So many dreams, so little money. Only Jio has dhan dhanadhan.

Hey, the car looks sick but the lowered ride height is a complete nerve-wrecker. Hope you've saved some more pretty pennies for the suspension and tyres :).
Love reading this thread and your quick and witty responses.
Ciao

Hiya Sreesh. Yes, I do need to be a bit more mindful, particularly of heavily pockmarked roads with gaping craters and our beautifully designed speedbreakers that seem to stretch for the stars. Other than that, scraping the underbelly isn't that big a deal. And the tradeoff for improved ride, handling and feel has more positives than negatives.

And yes, I have saved a bit for the suspension and tyres. I'm not fussed about the struts itself, since I changed them to B6's, but I do need to still be mindful about not powering through bad roads. A little bit of love goes a long way.

The tires have me really stumped, I admit. Everyone talks of Pirelli, Michelin, and Conti's when they speak of performance tires. I am kind of leaning in a different direction for the next tires though; the Dunlop Sportmaxx. Tanveer's 530d has it, and he's a happy camper, so does GTO and another friend with a 328i.

Usually we equate price with quality. It is part of the human condition, I guess, to attribute value to something if others do likewise. And at 11.5k or so a tire (versus about 17.5 for the Pirelli and about 20-21k for the Michelin), you have to wonder why the Dunlops are priced so reasonably. But I guess I'll only find out if I take the road less ventured. That's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it.