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-   -   BMW 320d & 328i (F30) : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/126290-bmw-320d-328i-f30-official-review-139.html)

Had to replace my 2012 F30 320d's battery recently. Looked for aftermarket options but 90Ah battery was in short supply.

Having seen the OEM Varta battery last 8 years, I didn't want to explore further. EVM Autokraft in Kochi did the replacement.

Cost Rs.43k



Good bye my old battery from 2012 !

Wow! 8 years is an amazing battery life, that too for such an electronics and sensor ladden car :thumbs up

My friend, that's a lot you paid for a Varta battery. A search of this forum would have pointed you to the official supplier of Varta AGM batteries in India that could have saved you INR 20K.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-bmw-audi.html

I didn't do the homework. Was tied up with a lot of other things and asked the dealer to sort it out quickly.

Will bear this in mind the next time and hopefully won't be needing it in the life time of this car.:)

Understandable. And yes, with the life a Varta AGM has, you won't be needing another for a decade. :)

My F30 is almost 5 years old now and went in for a service today. It has done approx 33000 kms. The SA told me that they checked the battery and the voltage is low somehow. I asked them if they could change it, however, the SA said that they'll just recharge it and there won't be a need to change it then.

Is he right? Should I just get it recharged instead of getting a new one?

does anyone have a pre 2014 328i (N20) engine F30? I've been reading up about it and turns out its plagued with the timing chain issue resulting in huge damage to the engine. I am looking at a used 328i which seems great value considering the 240 horses I get for the money. But I am worried about the problems that might arise post 80k kms.

Was there a recall? Any news?

Hi Amit, I brought one of these bad boys home. You're right to be worried about the timing chain, it's a major fly in the ointment. There was a recall internationally, but not in India as far as I know, and even if there was, a statute of limitations would almost certainly render it moot.

If I were you, I'd still go for the 328i. It's a fun, practical daily driver with lots of mod potential (if you're so inclined), and prices are becoming more reasonable by the day. My own car is at about 36500 kilometers, and I intend to get the timing kit changed proactively from my trusted garage. I'm told it's fine for now, and have no need to imminently change it, but I'm ready to get it done at short notice. It'll cost a bomb if I were to get it done at BMW, I'm certain, and should cost in the ballpark of about 60-65k if I were to get it done outside their network.

Look, let's be honest. There's no such thing as a cheap BMW. Affordable, yes. Cheap, no. It will extract its pound of flesh in one way or the other, and it seems that for N20 equipped 3'ers, the timing chain is it. The good news is the car is fundamentally sound and reliable. I've had it for about 1.5 years now, and have had no reliability issues. All I've had to do is regular servicing to keep it ticking over, and it's been (touch wood) hassle free.

My sincere advice; don't throw out the baby because of the dirty bathwater. The F30 328i is a fun daily driver, and if you find one that is in good nick (a quick scan will reveal that), don't hesitate to pull the trigger. Good luck in your search.

Interesting discussion everywhere on the internet about 328i time belt issues. So what does it cost to get timing belt changed for the 328i at the BMW service center in India? Anyone has taken a quote or even better gotten this done at the service center and can share the invoice?

Any idea if the 330i F30 steering can be hardened with a software tweak or any other way?

In Sports mode, it does not harden like it does in 320d F30, I feel.

The kit costs about 650 USD on FCP Euro, so it's not that bad to replace if you can get someone to hand carry it (not that big a challenge pre-Corona). I'd say it will cost about 2-2.5x that plus labour to get it fixed at BMW India. I'd love to hear a quote if someone got one. I'm in no mood to call them and get a heart attack, things are dicey as it is out there.

I don't believe it's possible, as the improved feel some talk of in the LCI F30s was down to the steering rack update. So no dice there.

I went the extreme step of switching to B6's and lowering the car, and it's given me much better feel than what it was from factory. It's a pricey, impractical fix though, only suggested if you don't have enough common sense, like moi.

Remap and coding update
Since i delayed my upgrade plans to another 12-18 months owing to this pandemic and the financial hit, i was thinking of tinkering with the car now. 5 year warranty would end on 29th September as the car completes 5 years and 35k kms. I had already upgraded to Bilstein B6's to solve the floaty feel and rear end bounciness on highways, what i wanted now was more power since the car felt very planted with the Bilstein. 5 years with her and i had got used to the power/torque now.

Have never remapped any of my car and straight away sent a message to our mod Akshay, he recommended me GT Tunerz for Quantum tuning remap and i just did not look anywhere else. Cleared my doubts, fixed an appointment with Gt tunerz and Akshay there just took 35-40 mins to flash the ecu after removing it from the car. I already had planned a drive to Udaipur the very next day.

The remap has totally changed the characteristics, the car is so much more fun now. Oodles of extra torque in low/mid end and 320D used to feel out of breath in the top end but now she just goes. The zeal and enthusiasm with which she lunges forward is something else, each and every penny worth.

Stock figures - 184 BHP/ 380 NM
Remap figures - 220 BHP/ 440 NM.
Also measured the FE after a long time, all 700 kms in comfort + sports mode and this 220 Bhp car returned 16.6 KM/L.:D

Coding update
Was planning to invest in bimmercode and an obd adapter for a long time. Veepeak adapter was 7k INR in India whereas it was around 26 USD on amazon. Ordered through amazon, used myus to ship to India and shipping was free since they gave a 20$ credit for delays. No customs was charged and what would have costed 7k INR costed me 2k INR with another 25USD for bimmercode app as a one time fee.

Have coded many small things like orvm settings, enabled sports +(my variant did not come with it), auto start stop off, Bmw i gong and also sports automatic transmission.
Best thing was sports auto transmission and sports+, with gear in sports and sports+ enabled, the car gives jolts on flat out acceleration which feel nice.
Sharing some photos of the Udaipur trip and bimmer code app.

What do I do about my steering feel in 330i- need it to stiffen like the 320d?

Hi, I too have done the Bimmercode coding but never got Brake force display to work. It needs couple of changes to be done in the Front Electronic Module (FEM) and REM, but doesn't work.

Does it work for you?

Also, when you did the Digital speed in board computer coding (in Instrument Cluster) did the date, time and fuel consumption readings get reset to zero?

In fact, my Front brake pad "kms to go for service" went up from 60K to 70K after this reset. Not 100% sure whether it happened after this or after a BMW software update via USB since I did both on the same day.

Pls check and confirm.

Hey ais, there's not much you can do to stiffen up the steering feel of the 330i. All F30s stiffen up the steering in sports and sports+ mode but you may still feel its light due to your car being fitted with Variable Sports Steering.