[mojo]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Thanks mojo. I'm sorry but you can't just enjoy the pics here without adding your own too

For monitoring these stats, I'm using the Bimmerlink app with an ENET cable, connected to a USB C to ethernet adaptor to my phone. It's possible to use Bluetooth or WiFi obd dongles too but the refresh rate will be slower. The enet cable provides lightening fast updates at around 15 times per second. The phone is mirrored to the car infotainment display.

Pics in due time. Will need to give it a wash first!

[Cresterk]

This is quickly turning into one of my favourite ownership threads simply from the amount of interesting tid bits about the car.

[d3mon]

So we'd gone to Ranganathittu bird sanctuary last week on the Ugadi Holiday. Turned out to be a fantastic choice of day as everyone else seemed to prefer staying indoors on the festival and we got to enjoy empty roads and an almost empty Ranganathittu bird sanctuary too!

As there were 4 of us, I increased the tyre pressures to 36 PSI. The recommended range is 32 (up to 3 people) to 39PSI (5 people + luggage). Despite the high pressures + RFTs, there was no hint of sharpness felt inside the cabin. The F30 was far more sensitive to high tyre pressures - an increase to these levels was immediately noticeable inside the cabin.

Anyway, I also got to experience the new Mysore expressway and it did not disappoint. I think it was pretty much fully done, with the exception of one small diversion along the way. By now, I've raved enough times about the stability of the car at expressway speeds, so there isn't much to add here, except that even with 4 passengers, there was no compromise noted to the body control of the car.

The onward journey:


We had a fantastic breakfast at Thotada mane. We got served some of the crispiest dosas we've ever eaten here. Highly recommended place to have a relaxed breakfast.



Reached the bird sanctuary and found a nice parking spot.


Spotted a 530i LCI at the sanctuary while heading back.


Stopped at the Same Place cafe on the way back, with a really nice parking slot.



Back home with the final stats.


In other news, I've installed ISTA on my laptop. It gives access to basically everything all the diagnostics that the official BMW service centers can run. There are tons of things to play with, control & monitor using this tool. Just as an example - you can monitor the individual status of the current going to all the dampers.


And finally, a quick shot of the adaptive LEDs turning along with the steering wheel. The hotspot with the high beams is incredibly bright!
The claimed range by BMW is ~500m for these lights, vs 650m for the laser ones.

[Downshift98]

Congrats on your new car! @d3mon Happy to see you are enjoying your 530d. Did you take the extended warranty or BSP for you car?

[_raVan_]

Congratulations on your G30. It looks very beautiful and was well maintained. Wishing you a lot of carefree and happy miles in it.

Can you tell me what all changes did you do using the Bimmercode? I am specifically looking for the codes for "Easy Access" by which the seats will automatically slide back when the car switches off for easy exit. My G31 LCI only moves the steering up and down on entry and exit.

[dawnthegreat]

In 2019, I decided to get a pre-owned German sedan. I test drove a couple of options and finally found a very well maintained 320D, which had done just 33K KMs in 5 years and had a full service history.

Do you mind sharing how much you paid for the 320D? Even a ballpark figure would be useful.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by Downshift98

Congrats on your new car! @d3mon Happy to see you are enjoying your 530d. Did you take the extended warranty or BSP for you car?

Thank you. Given the general reliability of these cars, I feel it's better to pay out of pocket for any unforeseen expenses, rather than pay upfront for something that you may never own.
Hence, I did not purchase any kind of extended warranty.

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Congratulations on your G30. It looks very beautiful and was well maintained. Wishing you a lot of carefree and happy miles in it.
Can you tell me what all changes did you do using the Bimmercode? I am specifically looking for the codes for "Easy Access" by which the seats will automatically slide back when the car switches off for easy exit. My G31 LCI only moves the steering up and down on entry and exit.

Thank you. Sorry, I don't know the coding parameters for easy access. My changes were limited to whatever is offered by the bimmercode app.


Been some time since I updated this thread. Nothing much to report - Trie continues to relish munching highway miles. The odo has crossed 16K now, which means I've driven just under 6K KMs so far. 90% of them must be on the highway, as it's a royal pain to take Trie out in the city thanks to the chaos all around.

Sharing a bunch of photos captured during this period.

Enjoying a roadside break:


Riding high:


Some deserted roads near the airport




Enroute to Kodaikanal


Crowded parking


But parking with a view!


Drenched in rain


On the way back to Bengaluru




After a long drive


Some TLC at Madhus


Trie wanted to see my office, which to be honest, even I see quite rarely. So I took her there one day.


However, she did not like the city commute one bit. Delivered the lowest efficiency till date of about 9.3KMPL due to terrible traffic.


Trip to a riverside resort near mysore.






The ambience at night is just wow!








On the way back


Engine oil level hasn't budged an inch. Same was the case with my ex 320d.


Beautiful dials.


A recent tbhp drive to mulbagal.



18KMPL while cruising at 100-130KMPH. German efficiency at its best.
I mean, small hatchbacks with 1.0L engines will struggle to beat this when driven like this.


Dosa with bae during one of the innumerable drives to Kolar.
Important note: Bae is actually out of the frame, sitting to my left.
Not to be confused with Trie pictured in the background.

[Kevinrevvz]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Given the general reliability of these cars, I feel it's better to pay out of pocket for any unforeseen expenses, rather than pay upfront for something that you may never own.
Hence, I did not purchase any kind of extended warranty.

Hey! I hope you're doing well and hope you're having a great time with your white beauty. This is probably the most detailed and technically sound review of the car that exists.

I've personally owned a used F10 530d and got it serviced at a 3rd party workshop and it remained fairly niggle free and easy to maintain even after 1.2L Km apart from the timing chain replacement and a starter motor failure.

I was considering to pick up a G30 530d now that used prices have become fairly reasonable. Can you enlighten me regarding the reliability of the G30 530d as well as the maintenance costs at the official BMW dealer for periodic maintenance such as oil changes + filter replacements as well as the wear and tear parts such as brake pads or rotors?

Drive safe, Cheers!

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by Kevinrevvz

Hey! I hope you're doing well and hope you're having a great time with your white beauty. This is probably the most detailed and technically sound review of the car that exists.

I've personally owned a used F10 530d and got it serviced at a 3rd party workshop and it remained fairly niggle free and easy to maintain even after 1.2L Km apart from the timing chain replacement and a starter motor failure.

I was considering to pick up a G30 530d now that used prices have become fairly reasonable. Can you enlighten me regarding the reliability of the G30 530d as well as the maintenance costs at the official BMW dealer for periodic maintenance such as oil changes + filter replacements as well as the wear and tear parts such as brake pads or rotors?

Drive safe, Cheers!

Thanks Kevinrevvz, yes both me and the car are doing great. The odo is just about to touch the 20K mark.

The car has been eminently reliable - no tantrums to speak of. I got the engine oil service done recently at BMW and that was around 24K IIRC, with some discounts due to the 5+ year age (BMW Joy rewards). This will change based on which exact filters etc need replacing as per CBS, but it's not too bad if you ask them to remove all the unnecessary stuff like interior cleaning / Wheel balancing etc.

Haven't had to change the brake pads/discs yet, but they will cost a bomb at BMW. Better check with BMW directly, but if you are concerned about the costs involved, you can always source OE parts from a reliable source yourself for a fraction of the cost and get them changed yourself.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Better check with BMW directly, but if you are concerned about the costs involved, you can always source OE parts from a reliable source yourself for a fraction of the cost and get them changed yourself.

You’re in south India car heaven. Ask around locally or Google for high end FNGs like Carmed in BLR. They are excellent in my experience.

[ganapathy_anand]

The 530 bug has finally bitten me too. I am in the market and have found two cars, first one is still under warranty - 2021 vintage with 10k on the odo and with a dealer and the other is 25k kilometers, 2018 registration and with the second owner himself.

I am not sure which one to go with as the there is quite a bit of difference in ask price with the first one being almost 30% more expensive than the second one.

Assuming all else is good to i am looking for advice on how important the mental comfort of warranty is for this car.

[mojo]

Congratulations!
As an owner of the same exact vehicle (same colour as well!), may I applaud your choice...
I have the 2019 model, and so love driving it both inside town and on long drives as well
Unfortunately, the Delhi pollution problem is creating a hiccup in my original plans to keep this car long-term, therefore am considering selling it before next winter
Could you tell the price you paid for yours and what year model (mileage) was the car?
Thanks

[d3mon]

Trie is approaching 22K KMs now. Here are some long overdue updates along with random pics.

Servicing / Insurance - Had got the regular yearly service done at Kun, Electronic city back in December. Cost around 25K. It continues to be a good experience for me - I have been taking my BMW there for the last 5 years now. Brake pads have plenty of life left. Also got the insurance renewed with Zero Dep from Tata AIG at about 65K (with 65% NCB). The last insurer, ICICI Lombard, is a joke of a company - my ordeals with them are too long and painful to document but I will steer clear of them for the rest of my life. All this was without me even having to make a claim with them.


Tyres - still have tread for 5-10K KMs, though they are pushing 6 years of age now. No punctures so far and there's no air loss even over long periods of time. Will be replaced with tubeless ones when the time comes.


Adaptive dampers - still the star of the show. Compliant in the city and rock-hard on the highway (if you want). In all of my driving, the car hasn't bounced unexpectedly even once, no matter the speed or the undulation on the road. It sticks flat to the road like a leech at high speeds.

Adaptive mode - Quite good. Keeps switching between comfort / Sport automatically based on the driving pattern. There's no change on the instrument console, but you can feel the dampers get stiffer and the throttle get more aggressive when you drive more aggressively. Most of the times this is all the mode that I need. One sure shot way of getting sport mode automatically is to flick the gear lever to S mode, and downshift manually. It's only during sustained high speed runs that I feel the need to switch to Sport mode to get the car absolutely flat with the dampers in Sport mode.


Touch controls - still have to look down to adjust the fan speed via the climate control screen. Thankfully the temperature knob is physical. I've gotten used to the Driving Experience Control switches though - I can adjust the driving modes, traction control and operate the camera buttons by feel. The Traction button has a textured finish, separate from the nearby switches to ensure you don't press it by mistake.


Power / Torque - Still very happy with the stock tune. No plans to remap and even on long journeys, I rarely need to go above 3-3.5K RPM. There's just so much grunt from 1500-2500RPM and it's somehow a lot more satisfying to let the car pull hard in this range, rather than downshift to 3K+. It pulls ferociously even in 3rd / 4th gears and sometimes leaves me surprised at how urgent it feels. The gearbox is also insanely quick to respond to paddle inputs in Sport Plus / S mode. The feeling of going through the gears while accelerating hard is pure joy.
I have noticed that the torque is slightly limited at higher altitudes (like in Bangalore) - I only get 600nm on the sport displays, but when I head out and reach closer to sea level, I get a bit more than 620nm. Bangalore is usually around 1.5PSI lower atmospheric pressure than at sea level, that translates to ~4% lower MAP at full boost (about 24 PSI boost / 39-40PSI MAP) and the math check out - 4% of 620 is ~20nm that I lose here.
That said, there is turbo lag which comes out if I drive it in manual mode. The crispness of the throttle pedal (vs a NA petrol) is missing as the engine does take about a second to start delivering the peak torque, even if I'm in the boost band. However, if you leave it in auto mode, a quick blip of the throttle results in a downshift and the turbo is quick enough to have spooled up quite a bit in the half a second that it takes for it to kick down, so turbo lag is actually harder to notice in auto mode. Also, the torque converter can unlock and provide torque multiplication, which further hides turbo lag, at the cost of directness. In manual mode, the Torque converter tries to stay locked up as much as possible, to provide a super direct feel.


FE - Couple of attempts at driving carefully on the Mysore expressway have delivered ~4L/100KM @100KMPH average speed over a ~90KMs distance. Regular efficiency on the highways is around 6L (relaxed cruising) - 8L (driving hard) / 100KM, and on the few occasions that I drive it in the city, I get about 8.5L - 10L/ 100KM, which is still pretty good. Recently, I went to Ooty and filled up the tank while leaving near my home. Came back from the ~600KM round trip with more than a third of the tank still remaining. The real world range on this car is bonkers with the 65L fuel tank.


Ground clearance: Yes, I do get the occasional scrapes here and there, but I've never had to turn back anywhere - it goes absolutely everywhere a regular car will and actually with a lot more comfort & aplomb than you'd think. Standing water is Trie's kryptonite and that's the one thing that Trie can't cross.


Overall summary: Trie has got the luxury and comfort aspect absolutely licked. It's the perfect tool for road trips in India. Hours and hours of traveling later I can emerge as fresh and energized as when I started off, even with loads of spirited and grin-inducing driving along the way. However, a recent chance to drive a friend's subaru BRZ along some winding roads in the US reminded me in no uncertain terms that as fun as Trie is to drive, it's not a sports car by any stretch of imagination. Wow, a diesel 5-seater sedan is not as fun as a purpose built 2-seater sports car? I guess it is obvious, but maybe not stated frequently enough. The biggest differences that I felt were in the compact size, engagement due to the manual gearbox, and the NA petrol engine. But I also noticed how cruising in that BRZ at 100KMPH was quite painful even on great roads with the huge amount of road noise and generally uncomfortable suspension. You win some and you lose some - again, thanks to the adaptive dampers I do get the best of both worlds in comfort and sportiness at the flick of a switch, but I cannot get similar levels of engagement as a true sports car. For that, I'll need to wait until I can get my hands on a small RWD Manual Petrol - since so few cars fit the bill and most of them are super old, the chances of that happening are quite slim. Until then, Trie's doing a darn good job at pulling double duty as the friends & family hauler, and also as my weekend toy




Catching the sunrise on an early morning joyride...










Joyride with friends, including my ex 320d.







Quick blast to coorg and back in a single day, along with Megazoid's 330i. This was a super fun drive with all the curvy roads that we found.










Yet another joyride...







On the way to a nice resort somewhere...





Almost tried opening this LCI 5's door when I came back and found it parked up next to Trie.




E60 & G30 530ds


Pics from the most recent Trip to Ooty a couple of weeks ago.

[d3mon]

Trie took us on a week long ~2000KM road trip in the end of May. The initial plan was to drive to Goa, but we ended up breaking up the journey into 4 pieces to allow us to visit more places, and also to keep the driving under 8 hours per day. The final plan was to drive down to Udupi, then drive along the coastal NH66 up to Goa, then head to Hampi and then finally come back home.

Leg 1: Bangalore to Udupi

We kicked off nice and early along the new Peripheral ring road, which is a fantastic piece of road. It turned out that there was actually no need to start that early, given that the traffic was quite sparse. After ~95 KM of driving, we stopped at a Coco IOCL to fill up the tank and then further drove on to a Paakshaala en route, which is where the pic below was taken. ~70KM after the fillup, Trie was indicated she could go on for another 1015 KMs, while cruising at 120KMPH wherever possible



After a quick breakfast, we were back on the road. Since there were concerns about some construction work going on in Shiradi & charmadi ghats, we'd decided to go up to Chitradurga and then come down to Udupi via Shimoga. This turned out to be an excellent decision as the entire route was fast, flowing, comfortable and scenic, especially some forest sections near Shimoga. We just had 2 more quick breaks to stretch and have some tea before hitting Udupi at lunch time. The odo read 500KM, which was done and dusted in just 7:30, way faster than what Google maps had predicted.







After a lunch at a nice cafe, we checked into our hotel - Fortune Valley view, Manipal. After resting for a bit, we decided to head out to the nearby Kaup lighthouse, which provided us some really great views.












The next day, we were bowled over by the breakfast buffet on offer at the hotel - the quality and sheer variety of dishes on offer was just great. This buffet would command a price of no less than Rs 1500 in Bangalore per person, and we'd paid just 4500 ITC points per night for the place. And in fact, the food in Udupi was quite a pleasant surprise - upscale restaurants and even the hotel's own dining joints were priced at just 1/3rd of the bloated rates that we are used to paying in Metro cities like Bangalore. The good roads, lack of traffic, great facilities and nice beaches made me really like the place.

Couple of vintage cars at the Hastashilpa heritage village.





Malpe beach sea walk - extends quite a bit into the sea.


Wonderful Khao suey at the Cosmo restaurant in Fortune - so good that I ended up having it twice.


Trie admiring the ocean.

[d3mon]

Leg 2: Udupi to Goa

As this was a short leg, we set off at a leisurely time of 10AM, and planned to stop en-route at a couple of places. First stop was the famous Marwanthe beach , which to be honest looks better in drone shots than in real life. But this was one place that I had wanted to visit for quite some time so I'm glad I could check it off my list.











The next place was the Mirjan Fort, which was a nice green place offering some splendid views. Well worth checking out if you are traveling on NH66.




NH66 itself was absolutely great - little traffic and super fun roads to use up all 620NM of torque frequently. In fact the onboard sport displays were reporting up to 650NM here, due to the thick soup of sea air. One crazy number I saw was 500NM at just 1250RPM, which was unusually high.



Final stats after reaching our destination of ITC Grand Goa.