[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I know it is very late, but still, heartiest congratulation on your 330i. It looks awesome, and hopefully our cars will meet in person some day :-)

Now coming to your tyre question, my suggestion is that if you decide to replace only one tyre, then please stick with the same brand/model as the other three tyres (which is Bridgestone Turanza RFT I assume).

Your car has run only 9k, which means the other tyres would still have a lot of life left. So if you buy one tyre now which is totally different, you will drive with one different tyre for a long time till your other tyres worn out. That is not a good idea.

Thank you Dr. AD for your warm words. I've decided to go in for BMW Secure and take a stock Bridgestone Turanza tyre. Why?

1. No scope of violating the factory warranty of 2 years.
2. Matches the tread pattern of the others.
3. BMW will take the responsibility for procuring one (in stock I believe).
4. BMW will provide gratis wheel balancing and alignment (part of the Secure package)
5. Will be cheaper than aftermarket even if the surveyor allows only 50% reimbursement. Ironically, the Turanzas T005s are currently way more expensive than Michelin 3ZP RFTs.

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I wouldn't be too worried about the suspension warranty being voided if you switch to tubeless; you'll get the usual gyaan from the dealership about this, but I don't believe they'd do anything if you switch to tubeless.

In your situation, I'd buy once, buy well, and switch to tubeless tyres.

iliketurtles, BMW BLR is already making blank calls to me with the customary heavy breathing after reading my TBHP posts on their RFTs. Will definitely change to PS4 during the next change COVID-19 permitting!

[kartikv1]

Hi itwasntme -

What fuel are you using in your 330i?
I have been using regular petrol all this while since Jan 2021 and am now thinking of trying out some of the premium options.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Thank you Dr. AD for your warm words. I've decided to go in for BMW Secure

Wrong decisions in my opinion. Changing to PS4S or similar will be the best update to your car. BMWs are no Skoda so you don’t need to even think about this warranty void due to Tyres. None of my cars have RFTs, have either standard or extended warranties with zero issues.

In fact, I recently got my front air suspension changed on the 7. It had not failed but appeared to have lost the earlier damping or at least appeared to me. Rough road checked didn’t yield anything but when they put on machine, they could find some issues. That car has 20 inch PS4S against OE 19 RFT. But mine were original BMW wheels so they never asked me anything.

Secure is not worth if you have regular tyres, I think we can add tyres added in regular insurance too by paying little premium.

Originally Posted by kartikv1

What fuel are you using in your 330i?

Use the new XP95. Won’t cost you much higher than normal. Beyond this, it may not help you except little more pops. If you want to try, get 10 ltr of XP100 but make sure your tank is as close to empty as possible as else it will just blend with regular and octane will drop.

[itwasntme]

First service at 9K km:

Managed to get Shadowfax serviced at Deutsche Motoren, BLR. Kept pestering them early on, and luckily booked in the car as soon as lockdown was lifted. Got it back the next day which was great, as there was a deluge of cars as loads of people walked-in with their Bimmers & with urgent requests.

Service:
Bought the BSI 3Y/40K km BSI pack for ~₹45K which seems to be a good deal covering basic service charges and consumables. 15K a year for a 50L car is eminently affordable and comparable to my Octavia TSI. This will be valid for my next 2 services so I am set for and including 2023.
Only ‘extra’ charge I paid was for sanitization amounting to ~2.5K with taxes. Did not opt for wash/wax (estimated 3K) as I am always suspicious of the quality of work. Wasn’t a bad move as it rained lightly on the way home, and the 3 was covered in muck by the time I reached home.

Secure:
The damaged Turanza T005 RFT was replaced under BMW Secure, and I paid a piddly 7K (including deductible of 2K) instead of the MRP of 25K. This does not impact my main NCB either so a complete win-win for me.

Overall, a very satisfied customer!

[TheGearBox]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Bought the BSI 3Y/40K km BSI pack for ~₹45K which seems to be a good deal covering basic service charges and consumables.

Wow, that seems like a steal! If I were to take a 3 yr Compact Package for my C-Class now, which has been serviced twice, it would cost me about Rs 90K!

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by TheGearBox

Wow, that seems like a steal! If I were to take a 3 yr Compact Package for my C-Class now, which has been serviced twice, it would cost me about Rs 90K!

Possibly the T&Cs are different between MB & BMW? I took the middle package which does not include the no-quibble replacement of brake pads, discs or wiper blades. If I took the enhanced package (BSI Plus), my cost would double.

Attached is the current BSI 'late sale' chart for the 330i:

[Gaboonviper04]

Hey itwasntme, what an amazing ownership review! Loved reading through it all (more than once). Thank you for sharing and for passionately following up with such detailed information. The pictures are just too damn good! Great call with the black grille, really adds character to the car compared to the chrome. This very car is an aspiration for me, hopefully sooner than later.
Loved many specific notes in this thread, and one brought more smiles than the rest:

Originally Posted by itwasntme

A budding Picasso had also tried his/her hand while parked at Tirupati, but luckily with a finger and not a key.

Hoping to catch a glimpse of your fabulous Shadowfax sometime in the 'luru!

A question, one that is relevant to me, if you don't mind me asking- does your better half drive the car too, and if she does, what's her take on the car, specifically on driving and parking a longer/wider car in the city? Compared to the Octavia, how comfortable is the 3?

Thanks again for the awesome thread, man. Want to see more pictures!

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Gaboonviper04

A question, one that is relevant to me, if you don't mind me asking- does your better half drive the car too, and if she does, what's her take on the car, specifically on driving and parking a longer/wider car in the city? Compared to the Octavia, how comfortable is the 3?

Thank you for the warm words! To answer your question, my better half drives herself very infrequently as we have (had!) a chauffeur in pre-COVID days and will hire someone as soon as this madness ends. She has no views on either car.

Was doing some research on a roof box which can be a lifesaver on long trips. I know a picture of a roof box on top of the 3 is anathema to purist Bimmer owners, but I do have 4 other family members to factor in, which includes a very cute doggie.

The only time we have been on an outstation trip (to Coorg), it was an almighty struggle to fit in our luggage (even though they were all chosen soft/duffel bag types). The 330i boot is just pitiful for such a large sedan, and any hard luggage or oversized ones are difficult to fit in unless the 40% split is used.

Boot - Looks bigger in the picture


Underneath - space for odds and ends but no real help for long journeys:


Further, the couple of times I have done airport runs, I've been forced to use the 40% split anyway due to hard (cabin or checked-in) luggage. Shudder to think of the trying to stuff in the bigger bags if I cannot use the split folding feature due to a full passenger load. As a result, a roof box COULD well be an alternative to be used on such occasions.

The con is that you need to store it neatly (when unused) which can be a pain due to the sheer size. Further, the 330i (like most sedans) does not have roof rails, but instead has bespoke mounting points. These entail further expense as you have to buy the special feet / link kits on which the standard (transverse) roof bars fit.

Thule is the immediate brand which comes to mind and rightly so. Their offerings are superb and cover every conceivable type any vehicle owner may require. The only fly in the ointment is the asking price which was high to start with, and is now thoroughly obscene. Even the basic link set & bars was coming to ~30K and the nicer roof boxes at ~70K!

I am currently looking at imported alternatives like Farad and Pentair. Any tips would be deeply appreciated!

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I am currently looking at imported alternatives like Farad and Pentair. Any tips would be deeply appreciated!

Can you not remove those partitions and just keep the tyre in the corner and free up more space. This was how it is in older BMW's like my 328i.

The tyre is placed in boot. Still not great but still frees up space for duffel bags.

Ask your family to pack light and use only duffel bags and not hard suitcases.

Then just hope for the best.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Underneath - space for odds and ends but no real help for long journeys:

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Can you not remove those partitions and just keep the tyre in the corner and free up more space. This was how it is in older BMW's like my 328i.

The tyre is placed in boot. Still not great but still frees up space for duffel bags.

Or, thinking along these lines, why not just leave the tyre out when you are carrying a lot of luggage? Your car anyways runs on RFTs, and the spare tyre was not even meant to be there in the first place. That spare tyre which is an afterthought always causes space issues no matter where you keep it.

In general I always carry the spare tyre. But on one occasion when I had to travel with a lot of luggage (was driving with my family to attend a wedding and you can imagine the wedding trip luggage), I simply kept the spare tyre at home. That freed up a lot of space. That sudden additional space in the boot was like a breath of fresh air.

I would not recommend this as a regular practice. But it is OK to do this on those one-off occasions. Your car can reach the nearest city even on totally deflated tyres if required, thanks to the RFTs. In fact, having taken the trouble to use the RFTs instead of regular tubeless tyres, at least enjoy this one benefit of being able to drive without a spare tyre! All you need to carry is a small portable compressor in the boot instead of the spare tyre.

P.S. A friend of mine (my driving buddy) did all of his driving in all kinds of conditions and roads across multiple states, for 8 years and some 120k km, on his E90, without carrying a spare tyre! So it can be done.

[androdev]

I know you are trying to keep it stock :-) but just get rid of all the rubbish from the boot. Take the spare tire on long trips and it will be safe and secure once you fill up the boot with your bags. Don't carry the spare on airport trips so you can use the full boot space. I carry a full-size spare in 5-series boot during out-station trips and leave it in the garage during other times. I am sure there are some heavy packers in your family!

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by androdev

I am sure there are some heavy packers in your family!

His previous ride was the Octavia! His family needs to unlearn the habit of packing everything for their trips

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Ask your family to pack light and use only duffel bags and not hard suitcases.
Then just hope for the best.

You're not married, are you?

On a serious note, BMW India will gladly sell me a genuine BMW Floor Cover - Part Number 51-47-7-438-290 for the princely sum of ₹25K and a lead time of 50 working days for delivery.

Funny to think that F30 owners crib about carrying that bagged SST in the boot while G20 crib about carrying it under the boot.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Or, thinking along these lines, why not just leave the tyre out when you are carrying a lot of luggage?

Very good idea in city or nearabouts.

Originally Posted by androdev

I know you are trying to keep it stock :-) but just get rid of all the rubbish from the boot. I am sure there are some heavy packers in your family!

Correcta! I'm not great either - one heavy evening just before a 4 day trip to Coonoor, I somehow (cannot recollect, bit hazy) packed 14 t-shirts but no underwear. So, unfair to blame the fam...

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

His previous ride was the Octavia! His family needs to unlearn the habit of packing everything for their trips

Okay okay, I get it - 4 Distinguished BHPians have tactfully but firmly thrown my roof box plan out of the window . I will now retire to my garage, lubricate my axles, put my thinking cap on and revert with my next harebrained plan.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Funny to think that F30 owners crib about carrying that bagged SST in the boot while G20 crib about carrying it under the boot.

Very true. In fact I was just chatting in a small group of close friends owning F30 and G20, and we said exactly this. There is no respite from this issue. Even E90 had this same issue by the way. Just that they never gave the spare tyre with that car so the owners never realized they were short of boot space :-)

Very good idea in city or nearabouts.

Why only in city or nearabouts? Why not in long distance trips?

I am genuinely asking this because even I am thinking of ditching my ironically named space saver and freeing up some space.

Excluding the BMWs running on low profile tyres (18" or 19" and 45 profiles), I do not recollect any incidences of a 50 profile R17 RFT damaging so bad that you need to change to the spare. Yes, RFT will get punctured but just fill the air and drive on. I have done that many times and never had any issue.

The close friend I referred to earlier is RSUDARSANAN. He drove is E90 320d everywhere in all conditions, on RFTs, without spare tyre. He still says a spare tyre is not needed.

I could be wrong but I am just thinking aloud that if we should trust the RFTs more than we do, and ditch the spare tyre, just like BMW originally intended?

What do the experts think about this?

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

The 330i boot is just pitiful for such a large sedan

Let me tell you the real reason for it.

I think we need to have a thread on How BMW India gives wrong value for Boot Space in India

Why? Read on.

330i boot space = 480 Liters

Wrong!

This includes space where space saver tyre is kept which is technically unusable.

Real world usable India spec 330i Boot Space be just 300 Liters or less.

I faced similar issue with my BMW X1 F48 which boot space according to BMW is 505 Liters.

But I always found it less than my VW Vento Boot Space which is 480 Liters.

So I measured Vento and got usable space of 460 Liters which is excluding full size spare wheel space.

Whereas X1 stood at measly 350 Liters.

150 Liters lost for space saver tyre.

If BMW told real boot space of X1 as 350 Liters and 330i as 300 Liters; customers will surely have second thoughts to buy these cars. I would definitely.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Was doing some research on a roof box which can be a lifesaver on long trips.

Go for it. You would appreciate the additional space on long trips.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Thule is the immediate brand which comes to mind

One of the best out there.

Originally Posted by androdev

I carry a full-size spare in 5-series boot during out-station trips

Best choice. Same here but I do one better.

My X1 space saver cavity accommodates Full Size Alloy.

Driving at 80 Kmph on a space saver on a long drive/touring becomes driving a BMW bullock cart with everyone overtaking you left & right.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

In fact, having taken the trouble to use the RFTs instead of regular tubeless tyres, at least enjoy this one benefit of being able to drive without a spare tyre! All you need to carry is a small portable compressor in the boot instead of the spare tyre.

Till the hole made by foreign object is so big that no amount of pumping air helps. Faced this issue once.

Always advisable to have spare tyre.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

P.S. A friend of mine (my driving buddy) did all of his driving in all kinds of conditions and roads across multiple states, for 8 years and some 120k km, on his E90, without carrying a spare tyre! So it can be done.

Not at all advisable. Always carry spare tyre.

I have busted 3 RFT in just 26,000 Kms of owning BMW. All during outstation drives.