[graaja]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

As you got the new tyres installed in an independent shop, did the guy have correct data for the 330i (staggered setup) in his alignment software? Also, being RWD, did you get all 4 wheels aligned?

Hi Anand,

Yes. "330i GT with sport suspension" was there in the alignment machine's database and had correct alignment data (had negative camber for the rear wheels). And they aligned both front and rear wheels.

[anandpadhye]

Hello Ganesh and all BMW veterans,

My car came with Apple CarPlay but I am an Android man. I don't like the "closed source" mentality of Apple, however, BMW maps are "offline" so there is no live traffic status for which I end up using the google maps on phone. If I connect iPhone and use google maps on it, will it show up on HUD along with the traffic status? Is anyone using this and does it work well? If yes, then I may go for the cheapest (may be used iphone) just for this.

Thanks in advance!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

If I connect iPhone and use google maps on it, will it show up on HUD along with the traffic status? Is anyone using this and does it work well? If yes, then I may go for the cheapest (may be used iphone) just for this.

Hi Anand,

There is no HUD integration of CarPlay. When you use iPhone and Google maps, it will not show on HUD. It only shows up on the iDrive screen. But Google maps on iDrive alone is worth getting the lowest cost iPhone.

[graaja]

The GT crossed 25000 kilometers a month and a half back.


It is about 27000 kilometers now and I have started getting a service alert due in 3000 kilometers. The front brake pads show another 11000 kilometers of life, but on visual inspection, they have only about 4mm of pad left. I am expecting the brake pad change alert anytime now. Would be great if I can get both the oil service and brake pad replacement in one visit.

Other than this, nothing much to update. As ever, the car has been driving fantastic. Posting a few pictures.

With Doc_Nikhil's red Yeti.




At a friend's farm. The approach roads are quite broken and no scraping issues whatsoever.

[graaja]

Yesterday, when I was driving with family to a small town near Coimbatore the following message popped up in the iDrive.



Pulled over and called the service manager. But he was not reachable. Called the sales manager who finalized the deal when I had bought the car, and he promptly connected me with a service person. He asked me to drive to my destination without worry (about 20km further), and after the engine cools down a bit, pour water into the coolant tank. When I checked the coolant tank, the coolant level was below the minimum mark. Poured a liter of water and the level raised to maximum mark. After that the error went away and no error on the way home. The car has been notifying about oil service due in another 1500km. Planning to take the car to the dealership tomorrow to check the coolant level issue and also complete the oil service. Hope this is nothing serious like a coolant pump leakage.

[sud]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yesterday, when I was driving with family to a small town near Coimbatore the following message popped up in the iDrive.

Attachment 1927436

Pulled over and called the service manager. But he was not reachable. Called the sales manager who finalized the deal when I had bought the car, and he promptly connected me with a service person. He asked me to drive to my destination without worry (about 20km further), and after the engine cools down a bit, pour water into the coolant tank. When I checked the coolant tank, the coolant level was below the minimum mark. Poured a liter of water and the level raised to maximum mark. After that the error went away and no error on the way home. The car has been notifying about oil service due in another 1500km. Planning to take the car to the dealership tomorrow to check the coolant level issue and also complete the oil service. Hope this is nothing serious like a coolant pump leakage.

Did they suggest to use regular water or distilled water?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by sud

Did they suggest to use regular water or distilled water?

He did not mention anything specific about using distilled water. But I used water from my RO filter which should be good enough as it will have almost zero dissolved solids.

A couple of years back, when I had a similar issue with my Jetta, at that time, the service guys had mentioned about using bottled water to top up the coolant.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yesterday, when I was driving with family to a small town near Coimbatore the following message popped up in the iDrive.

What was the culprit and estimate?

Your car under BSI+RI?

Originally Posted by sud

Did they suggest to use regular water or distilled water?

Demineralized Water is correct whether SA says or not.

RO process does it.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yesterday, when I was driving with family to a small town near Coimbatore the following message popped up in the iDrive.

Hope the coolant issue is a minor one.

By the way, did you notice any increase in the coolant temperature before this error or after this error? Did the coolant temperature stay at the normal mark or was there some sign of overheating there?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

What was the culprit and estimate?
Your car under BSI+RI?

Due to some unplanned work, could not take the car to the workshop yet. Will be doing it this Friday or Saturday. Will update the details once done. Yes. I have the 6 year BRI and 3 year BSI packages. So, there shouldn't be any dent to the wallet.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Hope the coolant issue is a minor one.

By the way, did you notice any increase in the coolant temperature before this error or after this error? Did the coolant temperature stay at the normal mark or was there some sign of overheating there?

Thanks AD. Hope it is something minor. Fingers crossed.

The coolant temperature remained normal. There was no overheating. I guess the warning comes up well before the level drops too low giving some buffer (unless there is a severe leak).

[graaja]

3rd Oil Service Done:

On November 2nd, took the GT to the BMW dealer for getting the third oil service done. The only issue I had to report was the low coolant warning. And I asked for the wiper replacement as the wiper had started leaving a streak. This is the 2nd set of wipers under BSI+.

For the coolant low warning, they pressurized the coolant system and let this under pressure for an hour to see if there was any leak. But there wasn't any. So, the low coolant error may have been just coolant loss due to evaporation? Not sure about this. But hope it was just that.

As the car is under BSI+, I did not have to pay anything. I like the BSI+ for this convenience.

Due to monsoon, the car was quite dirty. They did a complimentary exterior and interior cleaning and gave the car as good as new

Had a very good experience. Hope this good experience continues.

A few other points:

1. I had asked about the price reduction in BSI+ that was announced a few months back and if that would apply if I extended my plan. The manager told me that offer was only applicable to new cars and if bought within a month of purchase of the car. So, if I have to extend the BSI package, I will have to pay the old price. As I have another year and a half left in the package, maybe there will be some other offer in the future that I can use.

2. The biggest pain point of BSI is that they do a service only if the notification shows in iDrive. The rear brake pads show a life of 10000km now. But as I had experienced before with the rear brake pads, this can suddenly reduce to 1500km at any time and I will have to take the car for brake pad replacement. As the dealership is about 50km away, a full day is gone every time I take the car for service.

That's all I have for now. Apologies for no pictures. Will get some pictures during the upcoming TBHP drive to Kodi Bengare.

[sunsbhp]

Finally, I have taken your route, Ganesh, and decided to go with 320d GT, as I sold my beloved Jetta after almost 44 months. It was back in September when I was looking for my next car that I stumbled upon your thread, and it had all the questions (and few more) I had in my mind, and of course, so much of responses, feedback and suggestions from many of the Bimmers. At the end of reading all that (couple of times, in fact), it was a lot easier for me to balance the options.

I was looking for 320d Sedan hoping to get a good price on the old model, but with new THE3 coming in, they had sold out the old model pan-India. THE3 was indeed the next in my list but was tad over my stretched budget - there was no discounts at all (obviously). Next option was X1 sDrive, and though got a very good pricing for the MSport variant, it didn’t look like an upgrade from Jetta. Then, a very good offer came for GT, and considering all the practicality, I decided this is the one!

Mr. Murali, CEO-Deutsche Motors, Whitefield (and Manjunath, Sales) were wonderful people to deal with, and some six of us friends at work were closing deals last few weeks, from X1(s), THE3, 530d MDrive and my GT. Mr. Murali was very supportive and flexible – of course with 3GT going off the production soon, guess we had a win-win situation to deal with. They had a Black with Beige interior, and I was looking for Cognac interior. Later, they offered the Imperial Blue & Cognac version (of course the girls at home liked Blue over Black), but had to be moved from the plant. Got the VIN today (Prod.Date July 2019), and hoping to take delivery in 3rd week of November.

While I wait to take the delivery, thought I try to get some (specific) points clarified, and as always, appreciate your feedbacks.

1. Tyres, the RFTs, has become one of the most prominent subject of debate among BMW threads, within TBHP and elsewhere (PistonHeads etc). Given the situation with RFTs (and space saver spare), is there any recommended brands or models for an Inflator and Puncture kit ? I see few in Amazon with good rating, but want to check before I decide. Is the puncture kit really needed – is that something a layman with weak and soft hands can manage ?
2. The Aukey 4K Dashcam I picked back in March is still in the box, and would like to know if any of you have a recommended place in Bangalore to do a concealed wiring ? Or even some feedback on how (recommended) to do in a BMW ?
3. Similarly, a recommended place for Kagu Mats in Bangalore ? I’ve struggled to get a new set for Jetta.

Thanks again, and more details (and questions) when - and if, I write my ownership thread – there’s hardly anything new or different I can write over what Ganesh has already written here on his 3GT 😊

Thanks much Ganesh for answering all those questions over WhatsApp 😊

[graaja]

Originally Posted by sunsbhp

Finally, I have taken your route, Ganesh...

1. Tyres, the RFTs, has become one of the most prominent subject of debate among BMW threads, within TBHP and elsewhere (PistonHeads etc). Given the situation with RFTs (and space saver spare), is there any recommended brands or models for an Inflator and Puncture kit ? I see few in Amazon with good rating, but want to check before I decide. Is the puncture kit really needed – is that something a layman with weak and soft hands can manage ?
2. The Aukey 4K Dashcam I picked back in March is still in the box, and would like to know if any of you have a recommended place in Bangalore to do a concealed wiring ? Or even some feedback on how (recommended) to do in a BMW ?
3. Similarly, a recommended place for Kagu Mats in Bangalore ? I’ve struggled to get a new set for Jetta.

Hi sunsbhp,

Congratulations on your new 320d GT. Wishing you tens of thousands of miles and smiles.

1. I use the below tire inflator. It inflates the tires pretty fast. Takes less than 30 seconds to inflate 2 to 3 psi.

Michelin Tyre Inflator

Not sure about puncture kit. I have been thinking about having one, but have not acted on this.

2. Not sure about installers in Bangalore. Maybe you can also post in the below thread for more people to view and you may get an answer.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...hread-174.html (The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread)

3. A friend had got the Kagu mats for me from Chennai. From him, I came to know that there is a dealer in Bangalore who sells Kagu mats. The mats are a perfect fit for the 3GT and I am very happy with them.

Hot Tracks
1st Cross Road, No. 17, Thyagi M Palanivelu Rd, Next to India Garage Workshop, Victoria Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560047

Congratulations once again. Post a few pictures of your GT.

[mrugu]

Originally Posted by sunsbhp

1. Tyres, the RFTs, has become one of the most prominent subject of debate among BMW threads, within TBHP and elsewhere (PistonHeads etc). Given the situation with RFTs (and space saver spare), is there any recommended brands or models for an Inflator and Puncture kit? I see few in Amazon with good rating, but want to check before I decide. Is the puncture kit really needed – is that something a layman with weak and soft hands can manage?😊

I own a 330i GT MSport. I have the below tire inflator from Amazonbasics. Great price. Been using it for the last 5 months. Takes about 15 seconds for me to add 4 psi. Very good experience so far.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[sunsbhp]

A generic BMW question... have any of you observed a 12v power socket under the front passenger glove box (deep under, and close to center console) ? I read in many forums that most of E and F models has this, but apparently i have only a matching (in size) hole (and no power socket).