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Bangalore to Mumbai & back to bring a BMW 330i home

6th July 2021, 12:05 by Chirag Moro

After twiddling my thumbs in Kerala during the lockdown and combing the web extensively, I managed to find a used F30 330i Sportline that we could afford. That decision making part looked easier compared to actually getting the car down to Bangalore from Mumbai.

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Kerala was under lockdown, so was Karnataka and same was the case with Maharashtra. After letting go of the GTI, there was a void in the driving department. After twiddling my thumbs in Kerala during the lockdown and combing the web extensively, I managed to find a used F30 330i Sportline that we could afford. That decision making part looked easier compared to actually getting the car down to Bangalore from Mumbai. Considered transport options but the stories I got to hear were not pleasant and the mind also wasn't exactly willing to do a trailer transport. So the wait for an unlock began but each state kept moving the dates by a few weeks and we could not do anything more than just wait. Not that it mattered much as there was nowhere to drive, but at least having the object of your desires in your parking meant you could salivate without interruption.

So one drab evening over a covid vaccination meet, I discussed the predicament with Robi Mahanta, who in turn suggested a quick in and out dash to bring the car down. We agreed on a date that our schedules allowed. Booked our flight tickets and waited with bated breath for the day to arrive.

A few days later, on a cold June morning, Robi met me with his GTI at a designated meet point and we started for the Bangalore airport that was an hours drive away. The anticipation and the cold morning got the excitement levels up and we made the journey in quick time. We were armed with all the safety gear and the requisite documents to do the trip. The flight was short and sweet and we were welcomed by a very wet Mumbai. Got out of the airport, booked a prepaid non AC taxi and we were bouncing our way through morning Mumbai traffic.

Airport taxi stand

Inside the Mumbai taxi headed to Borivali

There was a lot of traffic and the rains just got heavier. After an hour of jostling in morning traffic, we reached our car dealer's place at Borivali and set our eyes on the car. Felt great to see the car in flesh after so many nights of anticipation.

We were greeted and ushered in by the dealer who was quite transparent in his dealings. Since we had come after a flight and had missed breakfast, we were treated to some Gujarati delicacies and it was the much needed booster shot for us.

Breakfast

Discussions

We quickly got the paperwork done and set out to check the car. Robi did an OBD scan and everything looked good. Spent a little more time setting up our luggage, checking tires and fixing Gopro's and off we started on our road trip to Bangalore at around 1pm after bidding the dealer goodbye. It was going to be a long journey and a very wet one too as the skies had opened up big time.

Our immediate task was getting out of Mumbai as quickly as possible. There were apprehensions of water logging and traffic snarls and even though we had to encounter only a little of both, the journey out of the city was laborious and time consuming. Speeds picked up once we hit the expressway and that part was a joy to drive. It was raining cats and dogs but the car was easy to pilot and we made rapid progress. Robi meanwhile was in touch with an M340i owner friend in Pune who was planning to meet us midway on the expressway. After a bit of hit and miss with the meet point, we managed to meet at a food court parking closer to Pune. The blue M340i was gorgeous to look at and we spent a good deal of time talking cars over a coffee and vada paav. Robi and the M340i owner did some coding and we did a quick test to see the results.

The beast

Thereafter, it was time to make a move and this time we were two cars headed in the same direction. The M340i was going to give us company till Pune after which we would continue our single minded pursuit to Bangalore. Seeing the six cylinder move was quite a sight on a free road. Brutal acceleration was the most noticeable characteristic of the 340i. We parted ways with the big six cylinder on the Pune bypass and continued our journey.

A fastag had been procured for the car and this made the drive a breeze at the toll plazas. The going till Satara was slow on account of bad roads. The entire road was pockmarked with craters. After Satara came and went, we dreamt of Kolhapur. Meanwhile, the conversation in the car ranged from driving trips to how best to use the car, sport plus mode, food and people. Progress wasn't very fast on account of the road condition and the rains. Big clouds loomed over us and darkness was setting in. We kept a steady pace toward Kolhapur. Except for a quick loo break, we did not stop for much else.

Took a long time for us to cross Kolhapur especially with the rumble strips, traffic, rains and darkness. Robi had to unfortunately do the bulk of driving as I had a bad headache and decided to give driving a miss. We kept a steady speed and decided to try the eco mode to better the gas mileage, as we had very little else going our way thanks to horrendous roads. A lot of darkness and petrol consumption brought us to Belgaum. I forgot to mention that we had tanked up at Mumbai on an almost empty tank. We were slightly less than half at Kolhapur when we stopped to do a refill.

Fueling

The Karnataka border made us a wee bit anxious and a cop on duty asked us few question about our destination but had no issues with us moving on. We breathed a collective sigh of relief and looked ahead at Belgaum. The Kolhapur-Belgaum stretch was always a fast drive but not this time. It was anything but fast and we kept dodging potholes all the way. We were thanking our stars that we had 17 inch rims and not something larger. Car was doing fine eating up miles even tough we were doing ordinary speeds. We made a stop on the road side for coffee and sandwiches at Belgaum.

Coffee break

Making a hot cup

The highways had very little traffic and the rains were a constant companion. The Dharwad-Hubli stretch will go down in the history of Indian motoring as a blemish that will be unparalleled. Speed breakers, narrow roads, intersections and such made that 30km stretch a white knuckled drive. We kept our composure and made it to Hubli without incident. Bangalore was still a good 400kms away and the time was 3.30am. Got into a hotel in pouring rain and had a plate of gobi manchurian and coffee just to beat the sleep. The loo was mercifully clean and useable.

The roads got considerably better after Hubli and the speeds also picked up. There were deviations and sections of moonscape but after the Maharashtra training, this was a piece of cake. We trooped into Davangere dreaming Bene Dosa which obviously weren't around at that hour. Chitradurga was the next town on the route and the roads were very good. This part of the drive was quite difficult as I dozed off intermittently but Robi did not blink for the whole duration. I could see him getting tired but was amazed to see the steely resolve.

Dawn brought us to Tumkur and we started hallucinating about home. We of course had to make our way to the airport parking to pick the GTI before heading home. Made it without incident to the Bangalore airport and picked Robi's GTI. Stopped at the airport to admire the two white cars before doing the last dash home.