[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by Monster2810

I've clocked about 7500KM in my Pre-LCI M340i and am thoroughly loving it.
I suppose it was only a matter of time, and I now have issues with one of the tyres. So BMW will replace my tyre for free, but they only want to change 1.

My concern is, should I be worries about one tyre (front left) being brand new, while the rest are 7500km old.

Secondly, when I asked BMW that I'll pay and swap them all out for tubeless, he went berserk saying no tubeless tyres are designed for the M340i. This, based on my limited technical knowledge, is BS right? As long as the tyre "performance rating" and size is the same, it shouldn't matter..... right?

The comments from your SA makes me feel like you're dealing with an unfriendly dealer or a particularly clueless person.

Since you have xDrive, you need a close match between running diameters of tyres. Otherwise the diffs will think you're losing traction and unnecessarily lock and unlock constantly, leading to very quick drivetrain failure. The front axle on the M340i is an open diff, so the issue will be DSC freaking out and the center diff. On xDrive cars, BMW requires all four tyres to be within 2mm tread depth of each other.



I was in the same boat. My two tyres on the left side bubbled. The problem was that the rear was below the minimum for BMW Secure to even cover it (3mm?). Secure has too many limitations for my taste.

1) They have the same tread depth limits and stages as any of the tyre coverage plans from open market insurance.
2) They cover only tyres bought from the dealerships
3) The rim coverage only applies if your tyres satisfy #2.

This means I have to replace the tyres with RFTs or tubeless at obnoxious dealership prices. Since the rears were at their wear limit, I decided to change all tyres to tubeless. Madhus were able to source a set of Pilot Super Sport for my car. They are also * marked. The only downside was that the fronts were one step upsize (255/40/18 instead of 245/45/18). I kept the fronts in case front suspension warranty work is required.

Barely 1000KMs after the replacement, I managed to bubble a brand new front, hitting a pothole 100 meters from my house. I drive around it every day, six times a day and on this night, I didn't. Madhus again graciously broke a set and got me a single tyre replacement.

One more thing - BMW specific * and other brand specific marks are not equivalent. They are developed with specific cars in mind in close collaboration with the brand. They will have different end goals in mind. BMW * tyres have different compounds at different parts of the tyre. There's a TyreReviews video about this that covers the subject extensively.

Weirdly enough, I still have BMW provided insurance with no tyre coverage (because they want you to buy Secure) because it is significantly cheaper than open market insurance with the same riders and IDV.

Owning one is not as fun as driving one.

[M9000]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

Weirdly enough, I still have BMW provided insurance with no tyre coverage (because they want you to buy Secure) because it is significantly cheaper than open market insurance with the same riders and IDV.

Owning one is not as fun as driving one.

Well said. True. Isn't as fun.

BMW Secure is security for BMW rather than its customers.

[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by M9000

Well said. True. Isn't as fun.

BMW Secure is security for BMW rather than its customers.

I wouldn't completely discount Secure. I know people who have replaced three or four rims + tyres within a few months of getting their cars. But if you're the type who doesn't want everything to come from the dealership or you want to personalize your vehicle, then it isn't useful. It comes with other add ons like RSA, key loss coverage and such. If you get a good insurance policy from outside the dealership, all of this and more can be covered. In my case, the premium difference was significant - even more than the cost of renewal of Secure. I just didn't feel like renewing it considering it wouldn't cover my wheels and tyres.

[Monster2810]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

Since you have xDrive, you need a close match between running diameters of tyres. Otherwise the diffs will think you're losing traction and unnecessarily lock and unlock constantly, leading to very quick drivetrain failure. The front axle on the M340i is an open diff, so the issue will be DSC freaking out and the center diff. On xDrive cars, BMW requires all four tyres to be within 2mm tread depth of each other.

Apologies for my late-ish reply. Thank you for the detailed response, after a lot of back and forth with BMW India, KUN procured one and changed it under Secure. As far as the depth difference you mentioned, obviously they didn't bother telling me any of this, I will now go get an independent test done.

Honestly, I'm waiting for my secure to expire, which is so strange because I should be confident I have it.

[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

Since you have xDrive, you need a close match between running diameters of tyres. Otherwise the diffs will think you're losing traction and unnecessarily lock and unlock constantly, leading to very quick drivetrain failure. The front axle on the M340i is an open diff, so the issue will be DSC freaking out and the center diff. On xDrive cars, BMW requires all four tyres to be within 2mm tread depth of each other.

Originally Posted by Monster2810

Apologies for my late-ish reply. Thank you for the detailed response, after a lot of back and forth with BMW India, KUN procured one and changed it under Secure. As far as the depth difference you mentioned, obviously they didn't bother telling me any of this, I will now go get an independent test done.

Honestly, I'm waiting for my secure to expire, which is so strange because I should be confident I have it.

If you want to fight this, you can quote what I copy pasted - that is from BMW TIS. Ask if they followed this guidance from the manufacturer. Since they put the tyres on, any issues because of that is on them.

[m_proper]

Originally Posted by Monster2810

Thanks guys for your replies. They didn't give me any such option, but since I can't drive my car at all, maybe they prioritised my situation. They are changing it tomorrow morning.
Honestly this BMW secure plan feels like a cage now (ask me again if and when I have bigger issues with my car).

On a side note id love to meet fellow TeamBHP Hyderabadi's, can we make something happen? Any Hyderabadi Admins in the house

Update
On my recent family trip to Waynad from Hyderabad, noticed a tire bulge on rear left tire and this was on Xmas weekend Sunday. Immediately decided to find a tire shop and got all 4 tires replaced with Pirelli PZero pz4 tubeless on all 4 wheels. Very happy with the performance and ride quality. Felt no lack of performance but ride quality improved immensely.

Reason - Did not want to take risk as I was traveling to interiors of Waynad, wanted safety and piece of mind.

[Monster2810]

Originally Posted by m_proper

Update
Very happy with the performance and ride quality. Felt no lack of performance but ride quality improved immensely.

Apologies for my super late response. Trip to Wayanad sounds amazing! Do share pictures. I was going to do the same trip from Hyderabad, but had to cut it short and stopped at Bangalore. If possible, do share how the road quality was and whether you faced any issues doing this drive in an M340i.

Super envious to hear the ride quality improved that much with tubeless tyres, I want to make the change too. Darned BMW secure.

[m_proper]

Originally Posted by Monster2810

Apologies for my super late response. Trip to Wayanad sounds amazing! Do share pictures. I was going to do the same trip from Hyderabad, but had to cut it short and stopped at Bangalore. If possible, do share how the road quality was and whether you faced any issues doing this drive in an M340i.

Super envious to hear the ride quality improved that much with tubeless tyres, I want to make the change too. Darned BMW secure.

Even I have BMW Secure, but decided forfeit the tyre portion of it for all the hassles while doing long distances, which is my primary goal rather than a track day. I also did Kanyakumari drive last October, though roads in Tamil Nadu are pretty good especially the Salem - Kanyakumari stretch (its a race track), the tires were always something running at the back of my mind and what will I do if an issue props up when I am in the middle of nowhere. So took the decision during this Waynad trip when something actually happened. No issues till now, even when I have pushed the car to 7K RPM. Never felt anything giving away. Ride quality has definitely improved by 50% for sure.

[krishnadevjs]

Hello folks!

It's been quite some time since the last update, courtesy the super hectic time I've been having at work.

However, that hasn't prevented me from enjoying this beast every day. The car is now 22,696 km and 459 days old - an average of about 50km a day.
I've done road trips to Kerala twice, Bangalore, Mount Abu and of course multiple trips to nearby locations such as Karjat, Lonavla, Pune etc.
Despite having a Tiago EV as my daily driver, I find myself driving the M340i to office on several days, simply because it helps my day start on a great note.

There have been 2 engine oil/oil filter changes - both times prompted by the car. Both were covered under BSI+ and there were no hassles whatsoever.

So far, there have been 3 challenges with the car:

1. Ground Clearance: The GC of the car is understandably low - this is something I knew when I bought the car.
The issue is that speedbreakers in India seldom follow any regulation or logic.
As such, climbing over these mini-mountains on roads is challenging. Even with a crab crawl, I've found myself scraping out several times in Mumbai.
Haven't had this issue in any other city though.

2. The tyres!: The Pirelli RFTs the car comes with is not at all meant for Indian road conditions. Any undulation or small pothole on the road will cause it to get sidewall bulges.
I've had the misfortune to have 4 sidewall bulges in the first year of ownership. 3 times, the front tyres were changed under Secure Advance.
The 4th time, the back tyre had a bulge and I promptly changed both back tyres to Michelin PS4S tubeless ones.
Sourcing tyres of this size is again another challenge, with the black market claiming as high as 30k per tyre!

3. Rattles: Well, it sounds quite ludicrous that a car costing 85 lacs OTR Mumbai (when I bought it) should develop rattles in such a small period of time and distance.
The rattles seem to come from the sunroof and the area below the headliner. I've not had similar issues in any of the cars I've owned before.

On the third point, I did approach Infinity BMW in Turbhe to get it resolved.
Imagine my surprise when the came with an estimate of ₹30,000/- to get rattles fixed.
I mean, I know BMWs are expensive, but that doesn't mean you agree to get ripped off!
I escalated the matter to BMW and a week later, they came back with a revised quote of ₹15k+.
Still not a solution that can be considered acceptable, given that all manufacturers - right from Maruti to Honda to Tata to Skoda (cars I've owned in the past) rectify rattles as part of warranty or maintenance package.
My M340i is still well within warranty and has a maintenance package for 2 more years.
The service center even went so far to say that rattles are caused as a result of road conditions, and therefore not covered in warranty.
My view to that was that the car is made in India for sale and use in India. Do they expect owners to drive it on EU roads?

In any case, this is a premium vehicle and definitely shouldn’t be rattling like a bullock cart 1 year and 4 months into ownership.

If it is, it’s a testament to poor build quality by BMW - something I truly did not expect and am absolutely disappointed with.

If BMW feels this isn’t indicative of BMW’s quality standards, then the other rationale can be that this is a defect - which then should be covered by warranty.

Post further escalation, BMW have now asked me to submit the car at the service center, where they will disassemble and inspect the headliner (what they were charging me 30k for in the first place) and suggest replacement if required.

I'd be doing that this Saturday, but the whole experience has been underwhelming. BMW has been penny-wise pound foolish in this instance, in my opinion.
Especially given I'm probably a customer from whom they're making more money through BSI+ (0 brake pad or even wiper changes in 1.4 years).
A premium car should come with a premium ownership experience as well, and haggling on cost of fixing rattles isn't premium.

That unsavory experience notwithstanding, the car itself has been absolutely brilliant. I absolutely love it and am super glad I bought this when I did.
As parting shots, sharing a few pictures from my journeys so far.


Enroute Mount Abu. The new Bharuch-Baroda expressway was just a hoot do drive on.


Among the woods at Mount Abu


I'm quite surprised by how good the fuel efficiency of this car is. For a 3L car that behaves the way this does, these figures are quite insane! Of course, one doesn't buy an M340i for mileage, but still - small joys!

[cedricsg]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

3. Rattles: Well, it sounds quite ludicrous that a car costing 85 lacs OTR Mumbai (when I bought it) should develop rattles in such a small period of time and distance.
The rattles seem to come from the sunroof and the area below the headliner. I've not had similar issues in any of the cars I've owned before.
...

I am having the same issue, with my 8 month old 330LI and I have given the car to Infinity Turbhe twice to solve this. I am going nuts with the rattle from the headliner/ sunroof. I was thinking maybe cause I got the stupid pano, I had this, only to realise that probably it’s an issue with all of the G20/ 28. Charging to solve the rattle is the most stupid thing I have heard. I have now escalated to BMW India and mostly should be visiting the workshop this Saturday. Guess we could see each other . I have a question. How long did the workshop take for identifying the exact issue of the rattle?

[NerdyMillennial]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

3. Rattles: Well, it sounds quite ludicrous that a car costing 85 lacs OTR Mumbai (when I bought it) should develop rattles in such a small period of time and distance.
The rattles seem to come from the sunroof and the area below the headliner. I've not had similar issues in any of the cars I've owned before.

Even my G30 has a similar rattle from the sunroof area which can be heard only when the sunshade is retracted with the sunroof in closed position. The same disappears if you tilt or open the sunroof.

If yours is the same, then I have been told that this is very common on most BMWs (especially in our kind of climate) and is also a very well documented issue on international forums and it has been linked to the sunroof seal rubber gasket. Many users online have posted that applying a proper rubber care product like the Gummi Pflege after cleaning the seal seems to stop the rattle for a few months when you need to re-apply the same.

I have bought the Gummi Pflege but have not applied it since there have been some reports online of it degrading the rubber gasket. BMW does sell an OEM one abroad (Part Number: 83-19-2-449-390) which is also called Gummi Pflege. So I don't want to risk it until I can confirm that the contents and composition of the two are the same. My sunshade is closed majority of the time and generally only opened when we open the sunroof itself so it does not bother me much. In case I ever have just the sunshade open, I put some music on and the rattle is mild enough that it is masked by music on low-mid volume.

[krishnadevjs]

Originally Posted by cedricsg

Guess we could see each other . I have a question. How long did the workshop take for identifying the exact issue of the rattle?

Great! Would be nice to meet up. The workshop guys told me right after the test drive that it was from the roof. They told me that the roof liner needs to be removed etc 3 days later.

Originally Posted by NerdyMillennial

Even my G30 has a similar rattle from the sunroof area which can be heard only when the sunshade is retracted with the sunroof in closed position. The same disappears if you tilt or open the sunroof.

Mine is irrespective of the sunshade position. I have Gummiplfeldge from my usage in the Octavia. It’s an amazing product, but for the BMW, at least my issue wasn’t resolved with it, which leads me to think it’s not a simple beading lubrication.

[krishsreedharan]

Speaking of rattles, I have the odd rattle once in a while from bad roads - but that appears to be coming from the left rear seat area. Need to observe and see what it actually is and how to resolve it.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by NerdyMillennial

Even my G30 has a similar rattle from the sunroof area which can be heard only when the sunshade is retracted with the sunroof in closed position.

Coincidentally G20 sunroofs being discussed on the 330Li/Ld thread too . This is what I had posted on the official TSB from BMW:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post5757916 (BMW 3-Series Gran Limousine Review (Long Wheelbase))

[kartikv1]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

3. Rattles: Well, it sounds quite ludicrous that a car costing 85 lacs OTR Mumbai (when I bought it) should develop rattles in such a small period of time and distance.
The rattles seem to come from the sunroof and the area below the headliner. I've not had similar issues in any of the cars I've owned before.

On the third point, I did approach Infinity BMW in Turbhe to get it resolved.
Imagine my surprise when the came with an estimate of ₹30,000/- to get rattles fixed.
I mean, I know BMWs are expensive, but that doesn't mean you agree to get ripped off!
I escalated the matter to BMW and a week later, they came back with a revised quote of ₹15k+.
Still not a solution that can be considered acceptable, given that all manufacturers - right from Maruti to Honda to Tata to Skoda (cars I've owned in the past) rectify rattles as part of warranty or maintenance package.
My M340i is still well within warranty and has a maintenance package for 2 more years.

Now I have a 330i Sport 2020 manufactured - i have faced 2 rattles in my car - 1 is still unresolved.

1) Sunroof - i got it treated by BMW under warranty 5 times (they applied different fixes - as per what BMW says they need to follow - including apply tape, some lubrication chemicals, etc.). Each time they applied a fix the rattle would go away for a few weeks before returning. This went on for 2 years, then finally I had enough and told the SA to replace the roof after i visited them repeatedly. They replaced the frame of the sunroof - no rattles since then. Also this is a global issue for G20.

2) Gate - I'm yet to get this addressed as this is very minor.


I would recommend you to push the BMW service advisor for replacement of sunroof - they will try a few things - you would need to be diligent with followups - eventually they should agree if this problem persists.