[mobike008]

Alright, this is the first ever message that popped up in my BMW.

It said "Windshield Wiper Liquid Empty". I got this message pop a month ago and I didn't think too much about it. It rains on and off so I don't need the wiper fluid as much in this season.

Nevertheless, I called BMW Bellevue (30 miles away) and they asked me to drop in and they will top up the fluid "Complimentary".

Just could not find time to go to dealership (though I go to Bellevue at least once in a couple of weeks) and decided to order the BMW OEM liquid from Amazon for $12.

It's a concentrate and can be used 2 times (meaning it can be used after another 20,000 miles).

I mixed the concentrate (8oz mixed with 24 oz water) and was ready to pour it into the required location.

Height of my DIY Skills :

I went to pop the hood. I don't remember when I popped it last time. Maybe more than a year ago. After releasing the hood switch under the steering wheel, the hood opened but, won't come fully up.

I struggled for some time and then had to go to YT to find a video.

Some BMW's have a hood release button which needs to be pressed TWICE.

I topped up the Windshield Wiper Fluid and took the opportunity to clean the engine bay with water and cloth. Any recommendations of a better way to clean it?

BMW OEM Windshield Wiper Fluid



The glorious B58.

[mobike008]

Been a while since my last update. Nothing much to report.

Blau Rakete runs as smooth as day 1.

Some of the Seattle Team BHPians did a short day drive on Feb 4th, 2023.

Here is the link to the report and pictures.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-...ml#post5494363 (Team-BHP Meets @ Seattle, Washington)

A few teaser pictures.

[mobike008]

A picture from a few weekend ago when it was sunny (a rare commodity) and beautiful weather.

[mobike008]

Last weekend was a long weekend for us here (President's Day). We cannot waste such a nice opportunity so we decided to do a 425 Miles (~ 700kms) day trip.

Another BHPian (Ashir) joined us in his BMW 530e.

It was a hectic, fun and long trip with return drive of almost 150 miles in torrential rains.

Blau Rakete held up pretty well in that rains except now I started feeling the stock tires after 24,000 miles (38,000kms) don't provide the same level of confidence in wet conditions.

I started my research on which tire to replace and the choice is pretty clear and will be between the following two tires which are almost identical in cost, performance and user ratings.

1. Michelin Pilot All Season 4S
2. Continental Extreme Contact DW06

Both will cost be around $1,100 for a set of 4 tires. Let's see which one will I will finally lock down.

Here are some pictures from this trip and also penned a short photoblog :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5500434

Cheers to Weekend Adventures.

[mobike008]

We've got some brutal weather most of last few weeks and also had to deal with a blizzard.

And, I have this cleanliness fetish (even for everything else like at home, office or in general) and cannot drive a dirty car.

This week the weather looks good so yesterday gave both of 'em a nice hose wash and cleaned them with a soft cloth.

Applied Tire Shiner too.

Now they are back to strutting their stuff.





Earlier this week, it was like this out here and they had become super dirty. First time I am experiencing a blizzard in a city/suburb.

[mobike008]

Yet another Team BHP drive (this time clubbed with a hike) under the belt.

It was a short and sweet drive of 150 miles (250kms) and spent some amazing time in the outdoors on a warm and sunny day.



Here is the link to the details :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-...ml#post5519911 (Team-BHP Meets @ Seattle, Washington)

[mobike008]

A few pictures from about a month ago.

Some friends had visited us to Seattle and we were busy "showing off" our beautiful state.









I'm terribly missing driving my Blue Rakete.

[mobike008]

After a strenuous workout waxing and polishing “Rosso Diablo”

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...ml#post5547658

It was the turn of “Blau Rakete” to strut her stuff.

We are having a heat wave here and it’s pretty brutal 85F-90F (30C-32C). I could have parked the car inside the garage and polished. But, I wanted to see how it looks under direct sunlight and that took a toll on me.

By the time I finished, I almost collapsed with heat exhaustion. But, the satisfaction of seeing your ride pretty and ready for summer is an inexplicable feeling.

Pressure washed thoroughly to clean out months worth of grime.



Generously applied the wax all-over the body.







Cleaned the interiors thoroughly and it was a bit of work. My wife uses the bimmer more than me and you know how ladies keep the car.







Final result-

It was shining like a diamond and just like the day I got her 29 months ago. Only thing that I don't like about this car is the wheel design and now the almost worn out stock tires.

Stock RFT's have now completed 26,000 miles (40,000kms) with zero flats. I decided to use them through the summer before changing to new tires sometime in August/September 2023.



A few pictures of Blau Rakete posing in our neighborhood under hot and direct sunlight.





















Post that polish, took mom out for shopping and dinner to celebrate "Mother's Day"



I cannot close this post without a cold start video of the glorious "B58". Headphones are highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/UZOfl5Fw_hI

[XDriver]

Stunning machine and beautifully maintained M40i X3. I am on the edge to buy it in India. But am developing cold feet due to the price here. Man that B58 sounds glorious.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by XDriver

Stunning machine and beautifully maintained M40i X3. I am on the edge to buy it in India. But am developing cold feet due to the price here. Man that B58 sounds glorious.

Thank you. I have completed ~ 2.5 years of ownership and clocked 42,000kms and it has been an exciting journey with zero issues and zero maintenance cost.

Every time I am behind the wheel, it gives me joy that no words can explain and I tell myself all the time " I'm never going to sell this beauty"...lol!!

Also, I keep highlighting the fact that my stock RFT's have given me wonderful life (42,000kms) with zero punctures. Touchwood !

I note that you live in Hyderabad (Btw, I am a proud Hyderabadi ) and we have better infrastructure both in city as well as outskirts (including the glorious ORR) so I think you should consider buying this car as you have opportunities to use it to it's potential to a large extent.

My cars touch 100mph ever time they come out of the garage as going above a certain number above speed limit (80mph) is permitted and since they accelerate so fast it all happens in seconds.

X3M40i is meant to be enjoyed for it's acceleration which will not only keep you gaping but, also gasping for breath.

If you don't have proper infrastructure, IMO it's good money wasted on these performance cars as they will be just crawling through bumper-to-bumper traffic in our major cities.

I thought the X3 M40i was released at a good price (90 Lakhs OTR) and if you have budget, please do consider it seriously. Just go for it, as it's engine is rock solid reliable and being an SUV will be more comfortable than it's sedan sibling.

If you have any specific questions. Happy to help !!

[mobike008]

During the "Memorial Day" long weekend, we planned an overnight trip to the popular and beautiful "Olympic National Park (ONP)" in Washington.

It's about 170 miles from home (Was much shorter if we had taken the ferry- 90 miles) but, how can I miss driving the remaining 80-miles so decided to take the land-route which was longer.

ONP is the most diverse national park in entire US with several ecosystems- Alpine Forests, Rainforest (only one in USA), Flower Meadows, Snow Capped Mountains and 80-miles of Pacific Ocean coastline on the western side of the park.

Blau Rakete did 750 miles (1200 kms) in 36-hours of this road trip where we enjoyed some amazing sceneries and landscapes. Blau Rakete performed flawlessly and kept us engaged throughout this 750 mile trip.

Hopefully, will share a short travelogue in next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, Please enjoy a glimpse of the gorgeous Olympic National Forest/Park.

Blau Rakete has been giving phenomenal mileage in the last few tankfuls. I realized the longer you drive the better is the FE.



Bathroom break somewhere on the highway going towards ONP. Do you like the foreground better or background???



Entering ONP.



Ruby Beach, WA. This is the Pacific Ocean coast. The views here was so mesmerizing that I drove 140-miles roundtrip once just for sunset views and second time again 70 miles during afternoon (as it was enroute for other attractions).

These pictures are all late in night between 8:30pm-9:00pm.







Lake Crescent- One of the. most popular lake in ONP. There is a beautiful 25 mile drive along this lake through winding roads which is super enjoyable.









Driving south from Ruby Beach to other beaches.



30+ miles drive with this view of the Pacific Ocean on one side. Simply glorious.




P.S : Till I build a travelogue for this awesome trip. You may want to check out the recent one that I shared of a 14-hour visit to Vancouver, Canada

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5555018 (Volvo XC90 goes to Vancouver, Canada for 14 hours!)

[RaviKBobba]

Beautiful pictures. Looking forward for your travelogue as always.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by RaviKBobba

Beautiful pictures. Looking forward for your travelogue as always.

Thanks Ravi. Life is busy until Mid-July.

I definetly plan to share the travelogue once I am back from my travels.

Summer is approaching (Gosh, I keep saying that as 20% of time we get sun and 80% of the time it's still pretty cold- still in 50" degrees.)

This weekend we decided to buy some plants for our backyard (2nd trip this summer) and this time we went berserk and bought so much that we had a tough time driving back home with so many plants in the car- I wanted to be careful for two reasons- 1) They should not get broken 2) they are super expensive so need to handle these plants with VIP gloves.

Today it was nice and sunny so decided to get the Blau Rakete a nice wash at a neighbourhood wash who opened new- Lovely facilities and pretty huge infrastructure.

Overall, a satisfactory weekend.

We raided Home Depot and emptied their nursery. LOL!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2MdnggPyTAI

A lovely car wash for Blau Rakete as she deserved it.

https://youtu.be/eIWIhYx73ao

Post wash, made full use of the free vacuums.



As it always happen- Rain gods decide to show who is the boss by appearing right after the wash. LOL!!

[mobike008]

Last Sunday (July 16th, 2023), we woke up late-Yawned a bit then stretched and finally scratched our head wondering how to to spend that beautiful Sunday.

We quickly ran out of ideas.

Simplest way out of dilemmas- "Nikalo Gaddi and Chalo Kaneda" ( Take out the car and let's go to Canada).

We decided to head to Vancouver and spend the day exploring the place and enjoy some good Indian food.

This is our 4th visit in < 6 months (Once you get the taste of Vancouver, it's an addiction). And, first time for Blau Rakete to cross the border. So it was a momentous occasion.

Left home at 11:00am and drove to the border and since a friend had gone earlier that morning, I kept getting "Live Updates" and took a different border entry point that took us just 10-15 minutes to cross over to other side.

We reached Happy Singh (Rumored to be owned by singer- Diljit Dosanjh) in time for some yummy Chole Bhature, Tandoori Momos and Shikanji.

Post that lovely lunch, we drove 20 miles ahead and visited Stanley Park in Downtown Vancouver. This is a massive park along the ocean and has cruise liners and sea planes by the hordes.

Next time the plan is to take the sea-plane ride.

After some brisk walk and enjoying the beautiful park- we made some space to pile on more calories- We headed back to Surrey and reached at 7:00pm.

Enjoyed some Paani Puri and then walked some more and then finally at 8:30pm had a massive dinner at "Chacha Tandoori Grill" - owned by a handsome sardar and I follow him on IG. He was there on Sunday and I had a quick chat with him complimenting him on awesome quality of food.

We finished dinner and started at 10:30pm and on way back there was a bit of a wait at the border as lot of folks going back home.

Took us around 30 odd minutes to cross the border and we reached home at 1:00am.

That's how one spends 14-hours constructively on a Sunday.

Beautiful scenery driving towards the Canada Border.



Long queues at the border. But, things move fast.





Happy Singh, Surrey B.C



Just like eating in Delhi.



Tandoori Momos.



Driving towards Vancouver.



A few pictures of Stanley Park- Vancouver Downtown. This is a spectacular and vibrant place with cycling, skate boarding, horse rides, sea plane rides, cruise liners dotting the PNW skyline. Plenty of walking trails with views of the skyline.

Mandatory visit for anyone visiting Vancouver, Canada.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CTa8X2QVndo

Best Paani Puri in North America- Hands Down.



Outside Chacha's.



Lovely...



Chacha's- Our Favorite place for some yummy North Indian food.



Return drive back home.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by RaviKBobba

Beautiful pictures. Looking forward for your travelogue as always.

Finally, got some time to pen down the story of our visit to the mesmerizing "Olympic National Park".

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5587016 (BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington)