[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by morphin1

Dear Santosh,
Thanks for the quick reply .
I did not check the life of the breakpads prior to the change message .
60% drive is highway and 40% is city(Delhi).
Also this message came up after the last service and the car had barely been driven for 600kms .
I feel that my after sales Center Deutsche Motoren is Is up to something.
I had sent my car in October for free software upgrade after which problems started .
After the upgrade some sensor failed and I had to spend Rs 10000 on having that fixed .
Then service reminder came up.
After service they also managed to screw up my horn and now are ready to replace the same after I complained to BMW India.
After service reminder brake pads came up.
So I need some help figuring out what's going on .
Also guys should I get the break pads changed from outside ? Cost difference is Rs 23,000.
A shop called Motor 1 in Faridabad is offering to change the pads for about 10,000 and Deutsche Motoren is asking for about 28,000.
I don't have faith in Deutsche anymore though .
Please help.

I suppose you haven't taken extended warranty and BSI. Automatics do chew up brake bads faster than manuals and I've read about many fancy Germans needing pad change every 12k kms also.

For critical items like brake pads on a complex machine like the X3, I would not venture to go for after market parts. I'd still give the benefit of doubt to BMW's official dealer and not suspect foul play. Ask them to remove the pads and show you how much they have worn. In case you find pad wear to be consistent on all four wheels, then I think you can rule out foul play.

My car went for service recently and the dealer told me that pads have about 6,000 kms left. When I told him that iDrive thinks its still got, 30,000kms, he just gave a grin. Maybe the iDrive is not very accurate?

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I suppose you haven't taken extended warranty and BSI. Automatics do chew up brake bads faster than manuals and I've read about many fancy Germans needing pad change every 12k kms also.

I am on my original pads at about 17.8K kms. Seems to have about 5K life left. I bought the maintenance package including pads, so I am actually hoping they wear out.

[androdev]

I found the hard way that the brake pad wear sensors are not to be relied up on. There is no problem with the sensor per se, it does alert you well in advance. The problem is these cars have 8 brake pads (2 on each wheel) and only two of these pads have sensors (one rear, one front). So if any of the remaining 6 pads wear out faster than these two sensor-pads, then you are going to end up with metal-to-metal scraping with fine metal dust damaging paint.

More details here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3505665

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

One year : 16,000 kms update

[*]Lack of cavity to store space saver spare tyre.

....

On RFTs : ...

As a results RFTs wear a little faster and don’t last as long as regular tubeless tyres. At 16,000 kms tyres look like they are down to about 40% wear and I expect them to last anywhere between 35 and 40k kms. I had not gone for wheel alignment or tyre rotation upto 15k kms and was thinking of getting it done during next service. About a month back I observed that tyres were showing signs of feathering. The feathering was not from inner edge to outer edge but rather on both, the other and inner grooves, in the direction of rotation. I guess its due to fact I haven’t rotated the tyres and the tyres have been spinning in the same direction for nearly 15,000 kms. Immediately I took the car to a nearby tyre shop and did a basic X rotation.

I expect the tyres to deteriorate at an accelerated rate over then few thousand kms and I may well need to replace them before 30,000 kms.

if I have to keep changing tyres every 30k kms, it is not going to be pocket friendly. I am likely to stick with RFTs come replacement time as my usage is maximum on the highway and I can easily live with the slightly firm low speed ride. Out on the highway RFTs don’t feel very different from regular tubeless tyres and come with two major advantages.

Originally Posted by GTO

You said it - something about these cars and how they keep you fresh on long drives. Like your 3.0, even mine has covered a majority of its miles on the highway. I'm 21 trips up in less than 2 years.

I doubt it. Considering the 530d requires new runflats every 22k - 25k km, you will too.

Smart decision. 19s will kill your ride and also increase the possibility of tyre / wheel damage. This is especially important since you drive on the highway so much. If I had a choice, I'd have picked 17s for my car.

@Santosh: I was just wondering how many kms you've clocked now and whether you've required a tyre change already. If you have, what was the approximate cost to switch to OEM tyres?

@both:
I'm surprised it needs changes as frequently as 22-25k kms. That's a pretty expensive proposition. Is there any chance this can be stretched to at least 30-35k at all?

[H_Dogg72]

Originally Posted by Axe77

@Santosh: I was just wondering how many kms you've clocked now and whether you've required a tyre change already. If you have, what was the approximate cost to switch to OEM tyres?

@both:
I'm surprised it needs changes as frequently as 22-25k kms. That's a pretty expensive proposition. Is there any chance this can be stretched to at least 30-35k at all?

Depends on how you drive. If you don't break traction with gingerly Accel input then sure they'll last.

PS. The tires on my Polo TSI (stock accelere) and now Maxxis iPro were changed at 9.7k first and now at 22k they're gone again 😂 all depends on how and how fast you drive. I've found braking is more decremental to your tires than outright high speed. Along with insane tire squeal cornering.
Hell, that's why we buy fast cars.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Axe77

@Santosh: I was just wondering how many kms you've clocked now and whether you've required a tyre change already. If you have, what was the approximate cost to switch to OEM tyres?

@both:
I'm surprised it needs changes as frequently as 22-25k kms. That's a pretty expensive proposition. Is there any chance this can be stretched to at least 30-35k at all?

I've done close to 20K kms now and surprisingly the tyres are holding up good. The wear rate isn't alarming at all, in fact I think I will get about 30K kms from this set. Even other parameters like road noise, grip and bump absorption haven't deteriorated much. Just one puncture so far. So overall pretty happy with the Pirelli RFTs. But when they're done I may switch to regular tubeless just to see how they feel on the X3 with adaptive suspension.These new gen RFTs generally ride well but on sharper cuts they tend to jarr a bit. Since I carry space saver and jack kit in my car anyway, I have this option, which I think I will use.

Current state of tyres after 20,000 kms.

[Axe77]

Thanks guys. Some background to my questions on X3. It's just that I came across a 2015 April X3 x line 2.0d (run 22,000 kms). I briefly felt tempted to lateral trade in my 2015 October GT (run 12,000 kms). Would have considered if the approx trade in value would have been less than 5.5 lakh.

One drive of the X3 however and I really fell in love with my GT all over again. I'm not necessarily saying the GT is better than the X3 - just that my GT felt nicer than that X3. While the X3 sunroof was a nice feature, despite being x drive variant it lacked rear camera, powered tail gate - the leather didn't feel much superior and while driving I just felt my car had been better kept.

[aaggoswami]

Does the X3 M Sport come with Adaptive M Sport suspension like X5 ? Are the adaptive dampers and Adaptive M sport suspension the same ?
The query is because a friend wants to purchase the X3, but these questions cropped up.

Thanks In Advance.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Does the X3 M Sport come with Adaptive M Sport suspension like X5 ? Are the adaptive dampers and Adaptive M sport suspension the same ?
The query is because a friend wants to purchase the X3, but these questions cropped up.

Thanks In Advance.

X3 M Sport comes with standard adaptive suspension or Dynamic Damper Control (DDC) as BMW likes to call it. The suspension set up is the same for thre X3 Xdrive 2.0 and X3 M Sport 3.0.

The regular X5 comes with "Adaptive suspension package - Comfort "with air suspension for the rear wheels whereas for the X5 M Sport comes with "Adaptive M suspension". This also is adaptive suspension with air suspension for the rear wheels but tuned more for sporty handling and driving pleasure than comfort.

The basic difference between the X3's suspension and X5's suspension is lack of air suspension for the rear wheels in the X3. BMW has confused lots of people with all this terminology and there are pages and pages of discussions on these topics on BMW forums with people arguing about it.

[Santoshbhat]

The car completed 20,000 kms on a recent drive. That's a decent amount of running - 20,000 kms in 15 months. Really happy with the car. A lot of running has been on smooth highways, but I've also taken it to a few hill stations and some bad state highways. No complaints whatsoever. Suspension in comfort mode handles bad roads with uplomb although at times the aging RFTs make their presence felt. I am pretty sure bump absorption will be much better with normal tubeless tyres, which is why I have decided to switch to normal tubeless once these tyres are done. Reliability has been top notch too.

I am so happy I picked the 30d. Thanks to the 8ZF and X drive, the power is harnessed beautifully. Now you'd think 258 hp and 560 NM should be enough to satisfy any power hungry enthusiast. But yeh dil maange more! I enquired with BMW about their MPPK kits and there is no clear word on it. I was looking at other options and Racechip seems to be the easiest and cheapest one. I can't seem to find a bad review anywhere and everyone who's installed seems to be happy. The company has been in this business for almost a decade and the engine in my car has been around for quite some time for them to have ironed out any poterntial issues. I am really tempted given the fact that installation is an easy DIY and cost is not really prohibitive. I am looking at the Racechip Pro2 https://www.racechip.eu/shop/bmw/x3-...0kw-560nm.html that claims an addition of 48 hp and 79 NM. Even if you discount their claim by 50% , it'll take the torque fiqure past 600 NM. Would love to get the feedback of any anybody using this product on thier 530ds or X5s? Advisable or should I stay away from such temptations? Opinions and advice highly appreciated. Btw I recently paid 1.50 lakhs for a 5 year warranty. Don't want it to go down the drain. They say the chip is easily detachable when you send the car for service. But the question is does the ECU record any error code in its logs?

[Happysmiles]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The car completed 20,000 kms on a recent drive........ I am pretty sure bump absorption will be much better with normal tubeless tyres, which is why I have decided to switch to normal tubeless once these tyres are done. Reliability has been top notch too.



I am so happy I picked the 30d. Thanks to the 8ZF and X drive, the power is harnessed beautifully. Now you'd think 258 hp and 560 NM should be enough to satisfy any power hungry enthusiast. But yeh dil maange more!......I am really tempted given the fact that installation is an easy DIY and cost is not really prohibitive........Advisable or should I stay away from such temptations? Opinions and advice highly appreciated..........But the question is does the ECU record any error code in its logs?

I have been keenly following your thread.
Iam also planning on getting the tubeless tyres and take the extended warranty for my 2015 X3 20d.
I too, had a similar dilemma on getting a power module which would not void warranty.
This is what I decided.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4181023

Do consider this Steinbauer. Comes with a 3year warranty.
The dealer also assured me that there would be no error codes.
Keep us posted with your feedback on the tuning box you decide.

[abhi182]

Originally Posted by Axe77

@Santosh: I was just wondering how many kms you've clocked now and whether you've required a tyre change already. If you have, what was the approximate cost to switch to OEM tyres?

@both:
I'm surprised it needs changes as frequently as 22-25k kms. That's a pretty expensive proposition. Is there any chance this can be stretched to at least 30-35k at all?

I changed mine (Bridgestone) at 45K kms
I am a firm believer in replacing tyres at the first sign of trouble as it's just silly to risk extending tyre life by a few K kms to save the fractional delta of a new tyre

However every air refill guy I asked about the remaining tread post 30K kms told me not to + the tyres passed the penny test happily till the day they were changed

Even at 45K, the tread had some life left but since the tyres had aged beyond 4.5 years, I changed them to Pirelli P7 (non RFT) - oddly enough, I ended selling the car just about a month later

This was on a X1 - the GT may see somewhat lesser life (although probably not) but I don't see why they won't last till 35K unless you are a boy racer

PS: I am far from a sedate driver but not a boy racer either any longer
PS: Hanging by a thread waiting for the delivery of my GT - Your input on the GC was the final deal sealer - so to speak

[Santoshbhat]

A couple of months back while cleaning the car I noticed that the both the front air dams on the bumper were closed with no opening for air flow whereas I distinctively remembered that the right one had a kind of perforated opening that fed air to a small auxilliary radiator just behind it. I looked at some old photos and zoomed in and confirmed. Basically after the dog hit accident the entire bumper was replaced and the replacement bumper had faux air dams on both sides. I did some research and realised that only the 30d engine comes with the auxilliary radiator and the 20d engine does without one. Internationally the M sport kit comes with various engine options. So the replacement bumper I got was the one designed for the 20d engine. Instead of complaining to the service entre I decided to take the matter into my own hands. Took a small knife, heated it with a candle and cut through the plastic and created the openings for air to flow through. Superbly designed bumper actually. The small openings that you can see just below the number plate on either side, channellise air onto the front brakes and help keep it cool!

You can see the air dams on the original bumper before the accident. Post replacement both air dams were similar to the one on the right of the picture.


Rear Brake pad change.
The car comes with a sensor on one pad on each axle. These sensors wear out with the pads and based on their depth the iDrive gives a read out of an estimate of how much usable pad life you've got left. The reading started out with about 50,000 kms and progressively reduced at a slightly higher rate than actual kms run. At 20,000 kms the iDrive displayed 25,000 kms left for the front and 20,000 kms for the rears.Then around 21,000 kms this reading suddenly dropped to 3,000 kms for the rear pads. Thereafter it dropped progressively until I decided to get it changed when it came down to about 1000 kms. Mind you, to get these readings you have to navigate to the service menus and warnings are not thrown up automatically. Even after the pad life estimate dropped to 1000 kms there was no warning. I guess it throws up a warning when it gets down below 500 kms. I decided to get it changed with 1000 kms left after reading this post by androdev. Since the sensor is fitted on only pad, the system assumes that the pads wear evenly. Theroetically that's correct, but over 25 odd thousand kms there's every chance that pad wear will vary by 5 to 10%. I fixed up an appointment with Navnit motors Airport ROad centre and checked with their stores guy whether the pads were in stock. They weren't in stock but the E city centre had it, so a set was requisitioned from there. The pad change procedure was expected to take about 2.5 hrs so I decided to hang around and leave with the car after getting it done. BMW recommends a pad change when the pad depth reduces to 3 mm and as per the sensor the depth had reduced to 3mm. As expected some pads had worn out more than the one with the sensor, so its a good idea to not wait for the last mile and get the pads changed with a couple of 1000 kms left if you want to save your discs from being damaged. Total cost came to Rs. 20,865.00 (Part cost 16,315 + labor 1,900 + taxes). The service advisor told me that part prices have come down recently. Wonder why BSI packs are priced so absurdly then!!

BMW have introduced a new system where the job card contains certain more details (downloaded from the key) and some pictorial representations. The service advisor walks out with an iPad and makes entries, takes photographs of scratches etc.. All these details get uploaded to BMW centralised servers and can be accessed by any BMW service centre in the world.

Attention to detail? The picture of the car shown is exactly identical to how it was delivered to me when new. Even the alloys! Its VIN based, so based on the VIN, it pulls out the picture from the database. Nice touch! It also shows pad depth reading from the sensors, tyre mfg date, tyre pressure status and tyre tread depth. The last reading is of course manually entered by the SA via the iPad. Front pads still have 10mm depth left as of now.

The new job card


You may wonder how did the rear pads wear off quicker than the front? Well, BMW loves the rear wheels. The rear wheel bias theme extends to the braking as well. Apparently it reduces nose dive on braking. 23k kms is decent pad life for a car like this. The brakes are brillinat overall. Great stopping power and excellent feel and feedback.

Overall a good experience and I am quite happy with the service I am getting from Navnit. This is my third visit to the centre and I have nothing to complain as far regular service is concerned. They don't restrict customer entry into the service bays, so you can watch them working on your car and the service centre itself is quite large, well equipped and organised.

[abhi182]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Total cost came to Rs. 20,865.00 (Part cost 16,315 + labor 1,900 + taxes). The service advisor told me that part prices have come down recently. Wonder why BSI packs are priced so absurdly then!!

That's good news!
The brake pad change on my erstwhile X1 was quoted at close to 45K at the ASS vs almost 1/3 of that by ordering and getting them fitted!
At 20K, I would have taken the BMW ASS option instead
Goes on to prove why I have always found opting for BSI a bit illogical( vs spending that money on an extd warranty instead)

BTW any idea of revisions on regular service costs?
I have always chosen to get oil changes done at ASS and the other 2 elements of a reg service (Cabin & air filiter) DIY because of the inane markup on the filters

[anandpadhye]

So they installed wrong bumper during the denting painting work! I would expect guys who charge 50L+ for the vehicle would be more diligent!!

Rs.16315 is for all 4 brake-pads or just the rear 2? For the 1.8 TSi Laura. the front 2 cost 5126 and the rear 2 cost 3626. Also, in case of the TSI as well the rear wear out faster than front. So this seems to be independent of FWD or RWD. I am curious to know the reason for this especially on FWD cars. I saw a post that says "Cars with traction control are bound to have their rear brake pads shot too often if you drive them a little too hard" Ref: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post4150126