[GTO]

Mod Note: Whether to retain or remove the speed limiter is the owner's choice. Please understand & move on. No further debates on the same please.

[MrA]

If you want to do it yourself the easy way then check out BimmerCode app (bimmercode.app), you connect to the car using the BLE adapter. UI is very intuitive.

I remember setting up the coding tools on my laptop wasn't very straight forward, doable, but you could mess up things if you are not careful. BimmerCode makes it super easy and you even back up your original settings which can be restored in case of any issues. They also have BimmerLink app for diagnostics.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by MrA

If you want to do it yourself the easy way then check out BimmerCode app (bimmercode.app), you connect to the car using the BLE adapter. UI is very intuitive.

Bimmercode requires a bluetooth OBD adapter right? Will it work with those available on Amazon India? They seem pretty cheap compared to the Ethernet cables. Also, is the 80/120 warning disable available, since it is India specific and Bimmercode is not? Too many questions! That's why I preferred going with a known, tried and tested source.

[MrA]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Bimmercode requires a bluetooth OBD adapter right? Will it work with those available on Amazon India? They seem pretty cheap compared to the Ethernet cables. Also, is the 80/120 warning disable available, since it is India specific and Bimmercode is not? Too many questions! That's why I preferred going with a known, tried and tested source.

Not sure what 80/120 is. You can check the list of all supported adapters on the site (bimmercode.app). If you check compatibility of your car then eventually it will show you a list of all features you can code for your car.

Might be an easier path for the next time you need to make any changes

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Bimmercode requires a bluetooth OBD adapter right? Will it work with those available on Amazon India? They seem pretty cheap compared to the Ethernet cables. Also, is the 80/120 warning disable available, since it is India specific and Bimmercode is not? Too many questions! That's why I preferred going with a known, tried and tested source.

Not to drag the 80/120 debate longer. Just wanted to ask - have to tried reducing the volume to the minimum? I know it's too late now.

On my 3GT - I have reduced the volume and now it almost escapes my attention.

@GTO - please don't roast me for dragging this on ����


edit: And who is your SA at Navnit? Thanks.

[Stryker]

One month update

Wow, it's been a month since the car came home! Here's how its been in that time:

"Amma, he's sitting in the car again!" goes my daughter.

"What are you doing just sitting there?" my wife wants to know.

"Come let's go for a drive!" I'm waiting for anyone to join.

"You go! You won't go anywhere useful, you just want to drive!" both opine.

And away I go! Just for the "sheer driving pleasure" of it!


I have now driven about 1,100 kms in this time, mostly in city commuting with some very spirited but aimless highway runs thrown in. No destination, just get in the car and go. Which is what leads to conversations like the one above.


Observations

This car was made to be driven on the long straights. Put it in Sports mode, lean a bit on the right leg and we are very quickly flying at unmentionable speeds. The mad Sports Plus mode is not for regular use at all. Even on highways, it is too sensitive on the throttle. Oh, but the rush it generates!

In Eco Pro mode, which is where I have been keeping it in the city, the cabin is very silent and there is very little noise from anywhere, either from the engine or from the world outside. Very insulated feeling. At signals, only looking at the tacho will tell you that the engine is on.

The proximity warning behaves a little erratically in traffic. Sometimes it keeps quiet even if those 2 wheelers are nearly touching the car. Sometimes it blares out alarms even if the next car is a good two feet away. And two feet clearance is considered luxurious gap here in Bangalore. Usually some auto rickshaw will poke its nose and force it wider open. Or some Swiggy delivery agent will do a snake dance between cars. And once that proximity bell starts, it doesn't go quiet until everyone is well clear.

I am still getting used to the low seating position. Yes, I have raised the seat to as high as it can go, but still. I was so used to the lordly position in the XUV, this one doesn't allow me to see what is ahead of the car in front. Even if said car in front is a small hatch.

The Bowers & Wilkins sound profiles (which were installed during the coding session) has done quite a bit to increase audio quality. The "Cinema" mode is perfect and distributes sound evenly. I have set Surround to a high level and that has a very good effect on the audio too. Needless to say, I'm extremely happy with the audio quality. The default setting is very bass heavy, but a full set of controls allow you to tweak it to your satisfaction.


Not liking these

The lack of keyless entry. Most times, I find the key in my hand after I sit in the car. Maybe a carry over from the key based starting days and I'm still getting used to push button starts. But it is an irritant already. BMW has re-introduced this in the 2023 version.

No easy place to put the phone! If I keep it over the central space between the seats, it will slide off as soon as I take the first turn. Keeping it on the (defunct) wireless charger means I can't quickly check messages during signal stops. Can't keep it on the dash, it slopes too much. Don't want a stupid phone holder looking like some alien's grasping claws.

That's about it, nothing else to dislike.


Looking forward

Going to Kabini this weekend after six months! There will be a separate thread on that of course (assuming we have good sightings) but mainly I'm looking forward to the drive. Especially on the new highway.

We are planning more long drives in the coming months, much much longer ones. The SA at Navnit Motors had called about a week ago to enquire about how the car is performing and the first question he asked was "Where all had you been?" and was a little surprised when I said "Not much". He says most people do at least one long trip within the first month itself. I have no hesitation in believing him.

[Stryker]

Six months & 5600 kms update



June 18th marked six months to the day since I brought home the Ultimate Driving Machine. Even today, I get a rush whenever I start the car. And I always look back at it while walking away after parking!

We happened to visit Kabini over that weekend and I took the opportunity to do a quick photo shoot.










JLR Kabini has transformed into a green paradise, which is usual for this time of the year. Surprising, mine was the only car in the parking lot when we checked in. I've never seen this in over 15 years of visiting JLR! Of course, by evening it was full. I will post a separate thread on this visit in the Travelogues forum.



Some observations during the six months of running, in no particular order:

* There is absolutely no rattle, squeaks or any other untoward sounds.

* Car performs flawlessly and at no time have I felt any lack of either power or comfort. I'd say this one is the perfect balance between the two prime factors for a car. Power and Comfort.

* I seem to be doing almost all my city driving in Eco Pro mode, which is quite good for city traffic. Above all, it is Q.U.I.E.T. in the cabin which I love more than anything else. My nephew continues to complain that the silence in the cabin puts him to sleep whenever he travels in the car.

* Most of the highways runs are in Comfort mode, which I find is the ideal balance between power and response. Unless you want to break some records!

* This time, the return trip from JLR to home, a distance of 245 kms door to door, was covered in 3 hours 10 minutes. We didn't stop anywhere except at signals in Mysore and Bangalore. Started at 1105 from JLR and was parked at home by 1415. All in Comfort mode. Roads are excellent throughout.

* The answer for "kitna deti hai" varies. I get ~13 kmpl in Eco, ~10 in Comfort. Which is exactly inline with BMW's claim that Eco gives a 25% boost in fuel ecomony. I haven't done any extended Sports mode runs, so I haven't checked mileage in that. I'm guessing it will be in the region of ~7 kmpl if I do a full run.


* Sports Plus mode is definitely not for the faint hearted! Merely thinking about accelarating pushes the car to insane speeds.

* Some time back, during a quick visit to Melkote (temple town near Mandya on the Mysore highway), while returning, the highway maintenance team had blockaded the road for a few minutes to clear some debris. Traffic had stopped for about ten minutes and I was the second car in the long queue in the middle lane. Put it in Sports Plus mode and you can guess what happened next! Car reaches ultra high triple digits in very little time. All the other cars could see of me were a pair of disappearing tail lights!

* On one occasion, I had to brake very hard to avoid some idiot crossing the road at the wrong place. The hazard lights came on automatically, helping warn the cars behind. I didn't know about this feature and I thought I had somehow hit the button myself, which I found difficult to believe. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't want to try practicals myself again!

* AC performance in Eco Pro is not good, it barely cools the interior especially in hot climates. We had visited Ahobilam (another temple town in Andhra, about 450 kms from BLR, we seem to be doing a lot of temple runs!) in the third week of April and the outside temp was around 43C. We were sweating inside the car until I switched to Comfort. Then it cooled down pretty quickly. I checked the BMW Driver's Guide app after this and it is mentioned clearly that AC output is "adapted" (I'm assuming that means it will not cool much to conserve fuel)


* That proximity warning is a total pain in the proverbial in city traffic. Car doesn't like anyone coming within three feet in any direction. A veritable Christmas tree lights up on the main display with yellow, green and red lights popping up on all sides. And the funny thing is that it won't go away until the offenders are at least five to six feet clear.

* The gong sounds while reversing are tonally different depending on whether the rear of the car or the front of the car is close to any obstacle. A nice touch and audible clue to ensure you check the right direction.

* I haven't figured out exactly what this is yet. Any help?


Another happy BMW owner signing off until the next update.

[Vinay3832]

Firstly, congratulations on the anniversary-beautiful car and pics, thank you for sharing!

* I haven't figured out exactly what this is yet. Any help?

My 2 cents on this-
I guess this is only in the ECO mode?
Anticipation, acceleration and braking are the 3 main contributors that determine the fuel efficiency/driving score/wear and tear (at least in some commercial vehicle driver training programs, same goes for cars).

To get a good driving score:
Harsh braking should be avoided (which is then usually accompanied by harsh acceleration on a highway).

Anticipation is always good, and helps prevent harsh braking/acceleration. For eg: you see a slower moving vehicle quite a distance in front of you (you either can downshift, or brake gradually rather than waiting to be closer to the vehicle before braking. Another example is when you are climbing a ghat road- trying to keep the momentum and avoiding a gear drop mid corner prevents the revs from climbing up / jerks etc).

Again all this has a huge impact on commercial vehicles carrying a lot more weight.

Its good to have an understanding of this but end of the day you are behind the wheel of "the ultimate driving machine"

Looking forward to your travelogue

[ashish2135]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Six months & 5600 kms update

Another happy BMW owner signing off until the next update.

Your car in that colour shade looks stunning! Especially with the Cognac interior! What is the official name of the colour?

At first I didn't like the colour but it has started to grow on me.
I always loved the pre-facelift version with the normal touch screen and proper gear stalk.

I hope I can put as many miles in my car as you have done in the last 6 months.

[corner_craver]

Originally Posted by Stryker

* On one occasion, I had to brake very hard to avoid some idiot crossing the road at the wrong place. The hazard lights came on automatically, helping warn the cars behind. I didn't know about this feature and I thought I had somehow hit the button myself, which I found difficult to believe. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't want to try practicals myself again!

Yes. This is a feature. I was once trying to beat the signal only to realize it is too late and braked hard for the hazard light to come on. Later I read in the manual as a feature

[black.beauty]

Originally Posted by Stryker

* On one occasion, I had to brake very hard to avoid some idiot crossing the road at the wrong place. The hazard lights came on automatically, helping warn the cars behind. I didn't know about this feature and I thought I had somehow hit the button myself, which I found difficult to believe. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't want to try practicals myself again!

Thanks for sharing the update. Love the colors of the car.

Whenever you hit your brakes hard, the ABS activates, the hazard lights turn on. This feature is available in many even under 20 lakh cars in India. It's a great feature to alert the cars behind you.

[ImmortalZ]

The automatic hazard lights are based on the rate of deceleration of the car (in BMWs atleast. Could be different in other manufacturers). ABS necessarily does not have to activate for this feature to activate.

You can go to iDrive -> Car -> Settings -> Driving mode -> ECO PRO INDIVIDUAL. Turn off ECO PRO climate control.

With this, you can keep the rest of the eco pro behaviour, but have normal AC function.

Next time you want to switch to ECO PRO, hit the button twice. This will flip it to ECO PRO INDIVIDUAL. Individual will now be the default for the ECO PRO button.

[rugsrags]

The odo on my car (320LD) is at 9500 kms now and the service is showing in at 1000kms so i've booked it for its first service for tomorrow. Mostly covered under BSI but I was told by the salesman that it does not include tyre alignment and balancing etc which costs a cool 11-12k at the dealership as informed to me. He also opined that its easily doable outside for around 2k and since I was in Gurgaon last weekend I got it done along with tyre rotation for 2.1k.

My only issue is that my foot ends up scraping the brake pedal while pressing or removing my foot from the accelerator. Is it just me or does anyone else face this issue? Its really irritating and I've never faced it in any other car that i drive.

Another thing that i'm waiting to hear on when i send the car over for service is that the car faced a hailstorm a few months back and that really damaged the body with small dents all over :(. What does not help is that its black in color so its all the more visible. It was parked under a car cover and nobody was around when the sudden hailstorm happened to remove the car to a covered space but surprisingly none of my other cars had any damage.

The happy part is that I've been consistently getting an average between 14-18 in the city and highway. Its not an everyday drive though so the kms aren't really racking up the way they usually do with me.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Vinay3832

Firstly, congratulations on the anniversary-beautiful car and pics, thank you for sharing!
...
Its good to have an understanding of this but end of the day you are behind the wheel of "the ultimate driving machine"

Thanks, Vinay3832. Your explanation makes sense, although I'm not sure why it is showing 0 in both cases for me. I will try this while taking it out for long spin next time. And yeah, once you are behind the wheel and a long stretch of straight road beckons, thoughts about efficiency etc go right out of the window!

Originally Posted by ashish2135

Your car in that colour shade looks stunning! Especially with the Cognac interior! What is the official name of the colour?

Thanks, ashish2135. The colour is officially Cashmere Silver. I have rarely seen BMWs in this shade, most of them are either white, blue, black or occassionally that exquisite orange. I selected this shade while buying simply because my old Baleno was almost exactly this shade and dust doesn't show up on it!

Originally Posted by corner_craver

Yes. This is a feature.

Thanks, corner_craver. Good to know the manual mentions this, although I haven't been able to locate the relevant section.

Originally Posted by black.beauty

Thanks for sharing the update. Love the colors of the car.

Whenever you hit your brakes hard, the ABS activates, the hazard lights turn on. This feature is available in many even under 20 lakh cars in India. It's a great feature to alert the cars behind you.

Thanks, black.beauty. As ImmortalZ mentioned, it looks like it will activate even if ABS doesn't come on. I don't remember seeing the ABS light coming on during that braking incident, but I might be forgiven for not keeping my attention on the dashboard while braking!

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

You can go to iDrive -> Car -> Settings -> Driving mode -> ECO PRO INDIVIDUAL. Turn off ECO PRO climate control.

Thanks, ImmortalZ, this is indeed very useful info. I will try this right away.

Originally Posted by rugsrags

My only issue is that my foot ends up scraping the brake pedal while pressing or removing my foot from the accelerator. Is it just me or does anyone else face this issue? Its really irritating and I've never faced it in any other car that i drive.

I haven't had this issue. Maybe your footwear is too wide? There is a reasonable bit of space between the brake and the throttle unless you are drive slant feet, i.e., right foot placed slightly sideways.

[Impulsivemedusa]

Originally Posted by rugsrags

My only issue is that my foot ends up scraping the brake pedal while pressing or removing my foot from the accelerator. Is it just me or does anyone else face this issue? Its really irritating and I've never faced it in any other car that i drive.

Thank God am not the lone soul in this whole wide world facing this. Yes! And it is largely because of the fact that the gap between brake pad and the accelerator is not as much as it should be. May be this was designed for the Chinese? However, as @Stryker said, extra-wide footwear also plays a part. I do not get this issue when driving with my (running, formal, casual) shoes on but with another casual footwear of mine. Matt Watson called this out in one of his reviews of the 330i in 2019. I am trying to get my hands on it now.