[bj96]

Small ride report

Had to attend a family function in Vapi (GJ) over the weekend. Used the opportunity to drive down with family and stayed overnight in Daman. Encountered very very heavy rains, both sides, between Lonavala and Charoti Naka close to GJ border. IMD has issued "Orange Alert" for these areas.

Took us almost 8 hours either side for 320 odd kilometres which is normally done under 6 hours. This was mainly due to heavy traffic slowed down by the continuous downpour. Saw multiple accidents and broken down vehicles en-route. Airoli underpass had knee deep water gushing down under.

X3 waded through all these unfazed. No sensor lights, no beep-beeps, no wiper squeals, no drama anywhere. In spite of the chaos and extended idling at toll posts and signals, she returned ~16 kmpl on normal Shell diesel. Odometer now reads 7000+ kilometres. Overall it was a thrilling ride made memorable by the inclement weather. I am slowly becoming a fan of German engineering.

It was both reassuring and heartening to see full Mumbai police/traffic force braving rains and guiding the traffic in the deluge.

Some pictures from the trip.


Is it Mikyway or scattered liquid crystals?




Khandala ghats in full glory!


Cloud cover enroute.




Night stay and Daman waterfront

Cheers !
-BJ

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by bj96

Attachment 1991842
Neat and well laid out engine bay. Notice absence of underhood insulation. M40i Sport models (IIRC) gets this in US markets from factory. AliExpress has them much cheaper. Thinking of my first DIY.

Hi @bj96, thank you for your detailed review, which I read atleast 20 times before picking up our X3 yesterday.

One thing I noticed is that the 30i in India gets the underhood insulation! I didn’t check whether the 20d gets it now as well.

[bj96]

Congratulations and best wishes for miles and miles of sheer driving pleasure. Phytonic blue on X3 looks awesome . What colour is your interior? Please create a ownership thread and share, there aren't many G01 threads on T-BHP.

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

... 30i in India gets the underhood insulation...

Thanks for the info. I've been thinking about this for quite some time now. I'll try to get the hood insulation retrofitted in second annual service coming up in a few months. Can you please check if it has barcode printed and post the part# here?

Cheers,
-BJ

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by bj96

Congratulations and best wishes for miles and miles of sheer driving pleasure. Phytonic blue on X3 looks awesome . What colour is your interior? Please create a ownership thread and share, there aren't many G01 threads on T-BHP.

Thank You

Yes, BMWs = Blue always! Exterior colours available were only white and blue for the 30i, we chose the blue. Interior colour chosen was Mocha, which was the only available option at the time of booking at the beginning of August. After seeing it in person, the Mocha interiors go very well with the Blue exterior and I am glad we got the Mocha and not the beige which would be harder to maintain.

Ownership thread is already in the making. Will share it as soon as I am done.

Thanks for the info. I've been thinking about this for quite some time now. I'll try to get the hood insulation retrofitted in second annual service coming up in a few months. Can you please check if it has barcode printed and post the part# here?

Will try to search for it and share it with you as soon as possible.

[GAPune]

I bought the same color in Pune (Oct 2021)
I changed the tires immediately.
It had RFT: 245/50 R19 Alenza, Bridgestone
I changed it to tubeless: 255/50 R19 102Y, Yokohama Advan

Does anyone know what tire pressures to be kept in psi for front and rear. The tire guy has put 32 psi in all four tires.

Also the TPM in X3 is not going away and continuously throwing alerts on the screen as low pressure in tires.
How to get rid of this alert?

I was of the opinion: 32psi front, and 35psi rear, nitrogen. Suggestions?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by GAPune

Also the TPM in X3 is not going away and continuously throwing alerts on the screen as low pressure in tires.
How to get rid of this alert?

I was of the opinion: 32psi front, and 35psi rear, nitrogen. Suggestions?

32 PSI for front and 36 PSI for rear. I normally keep it 2 points higher as I live in a colder climate. And, check air pressure maybe once in 6-months.

I faced the alert issue. You just have to go to TPMS screen and clear the message and if it keeps repeating then there is an issue with sensor and dealership can clear the code for you in a few minutes.

[bj96]

Our annual family pilgrimage to Goa, this year, was delayed by a couple of weeks due to the erratic monsoon withdrawal and dynamic Covid rules across states. We did this trip in Dussehra instead of usual Gandhi Jayanti weekend. Started late after work on Thursday evening and stopped for the night at The Hotel Park Inn little after Kolhapur on AH47. This is a new property and good service and safe parking. I will recommend this as a nice stopover between Bangalore-Mumbai or Mumbai- Goa rides .

Here I will not write about road conditions as we have dedicated threads for that and I have posted updates (Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries) there. Posting just some pictures as nothing else unusual to report. X3 will be completing two years in December and engine is settling down well. Have done around 8000 kms so far.

We stayed with Cidade Goa, a IHCL property near Dona Paula in Panjim. Hotel has good ambience, service and rooms. However, no beach shacks nearby. This trip presented a mild offroading opportunity to a hidden location in central Goa close to Panjim. It started raining and the trail was full of slush and storm water flowing over. X3 managed to glide through effortlessly.

A small clip from the trail ride

Vitthal Kamat near Karad- quintessential halt for the family roadies.

Hotel Park Inn - stopover for the night after Kolhapur.

View of Atal Setu from Panjim coastal road.

Cidade beach front.

Sunset from the hotel room.

One of the countless scenic roads in Goa.

The float of Vasco Da Gama :-).

An abandoned billboard at Gaganbawda top.

Newly built 4-lane Sawantwadi bypass (NH17)

Blue sky, rice fields and coconut orchards... Sublime!

Cheers,
-BJ

[bj96]

End of Year 2, annual service etc.

Happy new year folks. Hope 2022 turns out better than last two years.

As 2021 ended, X3 completed two years (officially) and ~9,800 kms. Beast is becoming smoother with every passing kilometres with nothing unusual to report. Following is the snapshot of some memories made during the year with X3.



It went for annual service and the bill amount was 26.8k. Out of this, about 10k was due to change of intake Air filter and Cabin Air filter. Although CBS didn't report these items for change, Bavaria Motors' SA, after reviewing the conditions told me if I don't change these now I might have to come back mid year for replacing these items. I wasn't convinced fully, however, no prior BMW ownership experience, I gave in and approved the work.

Service invoice attached below. If we discount filter replacements, about 16k for annual service appears about right for this class of car .





Both filters replaced. One is made in France while other is Italian. Just the Cabin filter costs 6.5k .



Another interesting thing noted is the next service due is now showing 11/2022 instead of 12/2022 i.e. 12 months/10k kms service interval. Is this data punching error in the iDrive?

Went ahead with ceramic coating and detailing as 2nd year birthday gift. Service was done at home for 10k. Guys assured that shine and water beading will last at least six months. Happy with the result considering the price paid.



Cheers,
-BJ