[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

Thank you. Small correction in your post, 2 years of NCR road-worthiness. I am not from here, and have lived in Mumbai, Chennai and Gurgaon over the last 9 years, so didn't want to let such a clean car go. My folks stay in Hyderabad, and Dad is into cars as well, so he can use this after 2 years, or I myself maybe working in a different city. There are a lot of options open for me, hence took the plunge.

Congratulations on the 530D. I've always liked the looks! I may have spotted you on Golf Course Road sometime in the past week.

Lucky for you that you have the option of sending the car to Hyd or elsewhere. Most 8 year old diesels are going for ridiculous prices in NCR, well done on taking full advantage of it!

[mrpitt]

Congratulations on the car!

Those tan interiors are just drool worthy. Lucky you had some help in picking out the right car. :P

There are so many cars in NCR which are going for such ridiculously low prices. Great to see people taking advantage of it. Looking forward to reading about the rest of the mods planned!

I'm with the lot of people that thinks you need sportier rims!

[Acharya]

Congrats on a great purchase. Driving 1.8 TSI Octavia, I don't see much of an upgrade option, except for 530d/i unless I am open to compromise on performance.

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

Likes-
I’ve not driven a Tesla, but I’m guessing it’ll feel similar to this 530d when in sports mode. Attachment 1877546

I recently drove Model X (with double motors), boy o boy, you can't compare an EV with a 3L oil burner any given day. In the timing of 0-100 mph, EVs can put Ferrari/Porsche to shame, forget about 530d.
The acceleration is INSTANT & brutal in Tesla, it's more of 'break your neck' kind than 'push you back in the seat' kind.

Anyhow, I missed the engine roaring behind my seat in Tesla. It's more of silent job in EV & I belong to a breed who enjoy right noises for a fulfilling experience ().

Enjoy your ride, it's one of the best available in India

[McLaren Rulez]

A BMW for Honda City money? I'm absolutely stunned at that price but assume it has a lot to do with the diesel ban in NCR.

Congratulations - you're clearly a very savvy buyer!

[Dr.Naren]

Congratulations! Nicely written review and loved reading the technical stuff

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

P.S - I forgot to mention the car is currently running a stage 1 quantum tuning tune with 300Bhp/600nm. Downpipe is on the way before we head to stage 2. Do stay tuned for more updates.

Good figures ! Did you get to time stock vs remap ? (0-100 or QM)

[bhuvan_prasad]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

A BMW for Honda City money? I'm absolutely stunned at that price but assume it has a lot to do with the diesel ban in NCR.

Congratulations - you're clearly a very savvy buyer!

Thank you. Well, the diesel ban here does have a part to play, but these expensive Germans do depreciate like crazy. Prices in the rest of country may be around 20-30% more for 7+ year old diesels.

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Congratulations! Nicely written review and loved reading the technical stuff



Good figures ! Did you get to time stock vs remap ? (0-100 or QM)

Glad you liked the technical stuff, hope it helps others on the forum as well. Haven't timed yet, but timing runs will obviously happen soon.

Originally Posted by Acharya

Congrats on a great purchase. Driving 1.8 TSI Octavia, I don't see much of an upgrade option, except for 530d/i unless I am open to compromise on performance.



I recently drove Model X (with double motors), boy o boy, you can't compare an EV with a 3L oil burner any given day. In the timing of 0-100 mph, EVs can put Ferrari/Porsche to shame, forget about 530d.
The acceleration is INSTANT & brutal in Tesla, it's more of 'break your neck' kind than 'push you back in the seat' kind.

Anyhow, I missed the engine roaring behind my seat in Tesla. It's more of silent job in EV & I belong to a breed who enjoy right noises for a fulfilling experience ().

Enjoy your ride, it's one of the best available in India

Yes, an upgrade from the Octavia 1.8Tsi will be tough given the amount of space, comfort, refinement and performance it offers. The electric comparision was more like what I felt. Obviously a Tesla will be brutal, given its supercar beating 0-100 and 1/4 mile times. I just wanted to highlight the fact that it goes immediately.

Originally Posted by mrpitt

Congratulations on the car!

Those tan interiors are just drool worthy. Lucky you had some help in picking out the right car. :P

There are so many cars in NCR which are going for such ridiculously low prices. Great to see people taking advantage of it. Looking forward to reading about the rest of the mods planned!

I'm with the lot of people that thinks you need sportier rims!

I hope more enthusiasts take advantage of this and pickup a few of these cars, rather than these just ending up as show-cars for people who will not appreciate them and not take proper care of them as well. Alloys will have to wait, good ones are expensive, and the current ones other than being a little plain in design are doing great.

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Congratulations on the 530D. I've always liked the looks! I may have spotted you on Golf Course Road sometime in the past week.

Lucky for you that you have the option of sending the car to Hyd or elsewhere. Most 8 year old diesels are going for ridiculous prices in NCR, well done on taking full advantage of it!

Thank you. Yes, I stay close to golf course road, so it probably was me.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

How did you manage to get zero dep on an 8-year old car? I haven't found an insurer who'd give me zero-dep on my first-owner 5-year-old Beat for the 6th year even though it has been under the zero dep umbrella for the first 5 years.

Hi Mahesh. I use coverfox for all my insurance needs. When I put in all the details of the car, including the fact that the previous insurance had lapsed for over 3 months, I was given comprehensive quotes for around 40K from 4-5 insurers, and a single zero-dep quote from Iffco-tokio for almost double that amount, which I ended up taking. I'm guessing it could be a combination of model, location, age, fuel etc which decides this. Do you think this could be because GM has made an exit from India?

[newtonMeter]

Congratulations Bhuvan! She looks gorgeous!

Happy million miles munching on her and beyond.

The ZF is one of the craziest engineering marvel!

With the tune now, she is in Loco class torque category

Waiting desperately to see her in person and take her for a "Mild" drive

[metal]

Great Car and a great buy. Congratulations.

You have gone through the purchase in a very methodical manner. Also your approach and experience outlines some of the suited and must conditions to get hands on a well-priced used German car. Most folks will be scared to get a car that is 8 year Diesel German.
Is a good learning process for us folks. - Diesel Ban - Well Priced/within budget - Reliable - Second Home - Technical know how - Not-the-only-car. I think all very necessary to make it work. Thanks

[Ooomph]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

Thank you for the compliments. I will take your word that this 3 litre engine + ZF gearbox is the best, I didn't even consider the others. I agree with you and definitely would not recommend someone to get an 8 year old German if you are planning to run to the authorized service centre for everything. It simply wont work. Other than fleecing you, most service centres are disinterested in problem solving and trying to fix older cars. They give ridiculous solutions like replacing the whole steering rack and PS pump because of a faulty O-ring. Even a FNG will take you for a ride as the number of spurious parts like filters and pads available for these German's at places like Kashmere Gate, is no joke. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty, read up manuals, forums and order some stuff from abroad. And even then, there is no guarantee everything will go as per plan, hence spend only what you are comfortable spending.

If above isnt a skill / time one has at hand, which other model comes close?
Especially when finding one in good shape, kms and price is a nightmare for one looking to spend <20 lacs.

Godspeed!

[iliketurtles]

Congrats on the fantastic ride! That color combination reeks understated elegance and belies the car's explosive performance, which is a great thing in my books. You really did get the car for a steal, praise be the diesel ban!

Thanks for the how-to's on the transmission fluid change, it'll be immensely useful for greenhorns like me. Keep the updates coming, and keep driving the wheels off that mon-star.

[bhuvan_prasad]

Originally Posted by Ooomph

If above isnt a skill / time one has at hand, which other model comes close?
Especially when finding one in good shape, kms and price is a nightmare for one looking to spend <20 lacs.

Godspeed!

You can probably look at getting a used Octavia VRS for around 20-25 Lakhs. That car has been fairly reliable and numerous stage 2 builds are holding up well, while being devastatingly fast at the same time. You can get the maximum warranty Skoda offers for extra peace of mind. Spares etc. are nowhere near as expensive as the 3 German companies.

[bhuvan_prasad]

As I had mentioned earlier the stock OEM HID bulbs seemed to have become dull, and the output was very pedestrian. I had a friend carry down these replacement bulbs from the U.S.



BMW's manual says you cannot replace the HID bulb as they are a "lifetime" bulb, and you should goto the service centre for any issue. However the replacement was quite simple. Turn the wheel fully out, remove the cover held in by two philips head screws, turn the dust cap out, disconnect the connector, turn and carefully remove the bulb, put the plastic fitment in the same angle as the old bulb onto the new one, and do everything in reverse. Ensure your car is locked and that no power is flowing to any bulb.

New bulb on driver's side, old one on passenger's side. Can see the difference in brightness.


Nice OEM colour


Long low beam throw


High beam is good too


I had already done the EGR soft delete, along with my stage 1 remap, however given the issues with the BMW egr cooler, and that some flow of EGR still happens even with the soft delete, I got a 55GBP kit from the U.K to block everything off fully. A full egr + cooler delete will reduces inlet air temperatures, prevent inlet and turbo from clogging up and removes the problematic EGR Cooler. This is a fairly advanced DIY, and I would dissuade most people from doing it. It took me around 8 hours to do the whole job, along with help from my friend Akshay of GT Tunerz DIY garage. I didn't want to do it alone at home, as I am pretty sure I don't have all the weird bits and sockets needed by this German car(all my tools are for Jap cars), plus removing the intake manifold is much easier with two people as it is fairly long.

After removing lot of acoustic packing, airbox, wiring looms and various electrical connectors, one has some access to the egr valve, cooler and pipe.
Engine bay ready to be worked on


Cooled and non-cooled EGR gases flow via this Y-pipe into the manifold


The egr cooler + valve mechanism is attached directly to the rightmost end of the exhaust manifold and we had to block this out as well. While the top bolt was somewhat accessible, the one below was totally out of sight and reach.


I worked on removing the rest of the EGR cooler, thinking that I remove and could rotate the egr cooler+valve a little as there was a flex pipe section. This rotation would give access to the bolt below.


Coolant drained out on removing the cooler from the block. A friend had picked up 3 litres of BMW coolant from a dealer, and he dropped this off just in time. Rs. 950 for 1.5 litres of BMW coolant concentrate.


One the egr cooler+valve was moved a little, I could remove the bolt. Pic with the whole mechanism out. Arrow points to the exhaust manifold. Port numbered 1 and Port numbered 2 are the 2 coolant ports which need to be plugged.


I then put the blanking plate + gasket and closed the exhaust manifold.


Next I put in the coolant plugs into the block and head and via the blanking plates and gaskets screwed everything shut. The arrow points to the plate which covers the port in the head which transports the cooled egr toward the intake manifold. I'm guessing the ECU carefully controls when and how much of the exhaust is to be released, how much to be cooled, how much not to be cooled etc.


I've read a lot about how BMW intake manifolds get clogged up with this EGR gunk. I did not initially plan on removing my manifold, as I knew it would take a lot of time, but one pipe carrying the cooled egr gases from the head into the intake manifold, needed the manifold to be removed. The arrow points to the part which is tucked in between the intake manifold and head.


I frankly expected more gunk, compared to the stuff I'd seen online, but was quite happy that my intake manifold was fairly clean. It still took 4 cans of brake cleaner and half a litre of diesel to get it almost fully clean. The dirty manifold.


With a rag soaked in brake cleaner, I tried and cleaned as much of the intake ports as I could. The round port below intake port no.4, is from where the cooled egr gases come and via a metal pipe go back into the intake. Dirty manifold shown below.


Putting everything back was much easier as with the EGR cooler, valve, pipes and hoses out, there was much more space. I wrapped the now open connectors with self-fusing silicone tape. A vacuum hose into the egr valve was fairly knackered and that was fully removed and sealed off as well. When my car had gone in for the BMW inspection, BMW said my egr cooler+vacuum hoses need to be replaced and quoted a 1Lakh +figure for the same. I frankly found my egr cooler to be fine on a physical inspection after removing it. I could be wrong but maybe just the rubber hoses needed to be renewed, which is a fairly simple job.

EGR cooler + Valve:




Am glad I got this job done, as the words of that BMW service advisor about my leaky EGR cooler were constantly at the back of my mind, and even though the coolant levels were fine, it still kept nagging me. Also, it now means my cleaned intake manifold will remain clean as no EGR gases flow back into it. On starting up we did not see any codes , as the quantum stage 1 remap + EGR soft delete would have already disabled the readings from those sensors. Car seems to rev more freely now especially in the 3-5000RPM range and it seems more silent(could be placebo). If BMW offers an intake manifold cleaning service, people who's diesels have done more than 60k+ km should definitely get it done. Huge shout out to Akshay of GT Tunerz for all the help and for getting his hands dirty as well while trying to clean my intake manifold. Hope this post helps and was useful for those facing similar issues.

[SRT]

Thanks for the thread and all the best for the new ride. I was also preparing technically for the purchase of a similar model, to have enough DIY knowledge and confidence to make it a daily drive. Hope you will update this thread regularly so that it be useful to us who are keen on purchasing it.

[bhuvan_prasad]

Just got back from the car's first road-trip from Gurgaon to Jodhpur and back! The car was flawless throughout and gave an average efficiency of 16 Km/L despite doing Gurgaon-Jodhpur in 7 hours flat.

People who regularly drive on this route will know that the Gurgaon-Jaipur road is not in great shape and combined with the usual truck traffic one encounters, there is a lot of braking and accelerating to be done. The automatic really makes matter easy, and the torque is sufficient that in 8th gear itself it undertakes most of the overtaking. Of-course, if you want to slingshot past everything, just pull the paddle a few times, and off one goes.

The Beawar-Jodhpur stretch is undergoing 4 laning and there are a lot of diversions, broken surfaces, and the car did a good job of filtering most of it out. I carried a full size spare, and my civic's jack and tools (with a no.17 socket) in case of any emergency. Touch wood, I did not need to use it at all.

Big tank, efficient diesel, equals big range. Saw a range of 1200km after tanking up. Realistically this is closer to 1000km though, which is what I did on one tank. The White dot on the fuel gauge shows the amount of fuel needed to complete the journey to one's destination which is fed into the navigation. In my case this was near Jaipur and that was the fuel I needed to reach home in Gurgaon.


My fan speed adjuster switches for driver and passenger were worn out. This is a known F10 issue world over. I ordered replacements from aliexpress for around Rs. 800. Using my trim removal tools removed the old ones and put in the new ones to make the interior look mint.


I am going to go by the condition based sensor(CBS) for the oil change. It is decreasing by 1km for roughly every 2km that I drive. For example, after my Jodhpur trip of 1200km, the distance to go before oil change reduced from 4600Km to 4100Km. I am guessing the EGR soot not going back into the combustion chamber and the fact that car does not spend much time idling or in massive traffic jams helps. Would love to hear about the experience other members have had with the CBS oil change reading.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

I am going to go by the condition based sensor(CBS) for the oil change. It is decreasing by 1km for roughly every 2km that I drive. For example, after my Jodhpur trip of 1200km, the distance to go before oil change reduced from 4600Km to 4100Km. I am guessing the EGR soot not going back into the combustion chamber and the fact that car does not spend much time idling or in massive traffic jams helps. Would love to hear about the experience other members have had with the CBS oil change reading.

On my X1 CBS reduces distance by 2 Km for every 1 Km covered.

It has to do with EGR delete. Otherwise it's impossible CBS to go down by just 500 Km after covering 1200 Kms.