[mobike008]

Originally Posted by rvracer88

Just subscribed to the Seattle thread. Yes, I live in Redmond very close to the Hilton hotel. If you like to wash you car, the polar bear in Redmond and the one in Bellevue are great options. I go to the one in Redmond and wash by hand atleast during summers. As the weather deteriorates, I shift my allegiance to Rose hill car wash near Costco kirkland. They are good and wipe your rims clean after the wash!!

Thanks for the inputs. Firstly, the shock that hit me was the cost of a car wash. Most of the places charge upwards of $10 for a basic car wash. I was referred to Costco in Downtown Seattle by a friend and I was very happy to see the quality of the wash. It was fantastic for the price that included soap, wax and tyre shining.

Also, I heard there are some deals from Brown Bear Car washes? Do you know about it?

Back in Michigan, I used to have a $14/month plan with unlimited washes and I would just breeze in and out for a nice (not great) wash 2-3 times in a month.

Darn! I miss Michigan already

[mobike008]

As outlined in aforementioned post, Blau Rakete was delivered in a dirty mode so it went for a super nice wash after which it came out pretty as a peach



Post that nice wash last weekend, we decided to head to Leavenworth which was roughly 120 miles away. But, I have slowly realized that this is Washington state and not Michigan where these 120 miles would be done in < 2 hours.

Washington state has just too much traffic and the natural beauty enroute is simply breathtaking. We encountered lot of traffic and as it was already late afternoon, we abandoned our trip after covering 50 miles. However, we stopped at a few places enroute where the fall colors were in full bloom (And, this is just the onset of this beautiful season and expecting a burst of colors in a few more weeks.)

What could be better than a quick photo shoot of my beauty against the backdrop of natural beauty

[mobike008]

As is our yearly tradition, "Vahan Pooja" on auspicious day of Dusshera is an important event for us.

Usually, we do it elaborately but, this year it was pretty low key as after our relocation, we are settling down in our new home and busy with lot of activities.

A simple pooja for the most exciting car that I owned in my life

[mobike008]

Last week, my Blau Rakete completed "8000 Miles/13,000kms" in 9 months which is a pretty bad monthly average

But, then in between my car was out with dealership for a couple of weeks for replacement of the carbon fiber that never happened due to shortage of parts.

I forgot to update here, before I moved to Seattle, I was on a speed run and slammed the brakes hard. The seat belts pulled hard and ever since then, I get a message on screens (both) as you can see in this image.

Every time I start the car this message pops up, I close the message and everything is fine. I assume this is related something to the seat belt as my car as that auto tensioner feature (Every time, car moves from standstill the seatbelts pull really hard against the chest)

I need to go to dealership to get it shown but, just not finding the time. Will probably get it shown when I go for the 10,000 mile service that should come up in a couple of months.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Last week, my Blau Rakete completed "8000 Miles/13,000kms" in 9 months which is a pretty bad monthly average

You moved to a busy state and not getting enough miles on your car. Do a East coast trip soon to cover up those miles

By the way you were successful in converting me to a bimmer guy!

Teaser!!!!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

You moved to a busy state and not getting enough miles on your car. Do a East coast trip soon to cover up those miles

Haha! The exact reason for trucking my car to West Coast was not to waste miles on driving it on straight flat land. Now that I am here, the terrain here is way more exciting than Michigan. It's all hilly, scenic and extremely curvy roads everywhere and this is where the Bimmer will come alive.

In fact, you should move here now that you got it

Originally Posted by fusionbang

By the way you were successful in converting me to a bimmer guy!

Teaser!!!!

Congrats Sunay. Glad to see you also jump into the X3 M40i Bandwagon. I knew this will eventually happen. Whoever drives this car will have to BUY IT

Please call me today if you are free to discuss the changes to my version vs. your LCI version. And, that white looks killer. Hope you got the Cognac seats to compliment the exterior.

Also, you drove the M40i extensively including long highway drives so I'm bit surprised that you went with an X3 M40i and not the M40i? Any specific reason?

Please detail the differences here so I can also compare the notes as I too have driven it.

Btw, I have another friend in Columbus, OH who is also in this dilemma and he will getting an X3 M40i soon. At this rate, BMW USA should be paying me a commission.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Haha! The exact reason for trucking my car to West Coast was not to waste miles on driving it on straight flat land. Now that I am here, the terrain here is way more exciting than Michigan. It's all hilly, scenic and extremely curvy roads everywhere and this is where the Bimmer will come alive.

In fact, you should move here now that you got it

Ha ha let's see if I get that chance!

Originally Posted by mobike008

Congrats Sunay. Glad to see you also jump into the X3 M40i Bandwagon. I knew this will eventually happen. Whoever drives this car will have to BUY IT

Please call me today if you are free to discuss the changes to my version vs. your LCI version. And, that white looks killer. Hope you got the Cognac seats to compliment the exterior.

Also, you drove the M40i extensively including long highway drives so I'm bit surprised that you went with an X3 M40i and not the M40i? Any specific reason?

Please detail the differences here so I can also compare the notes as I too have driven it.

Btw, I have another friend in Columbus, OH who is also in this dilemma and he will getting an X3 M40i soon. At this rate, BMW USA should be paying me a commission. LOL!

Thanks Avinash Will call you in the evening after work.

Yes, I got the Cognac Perforated Sensatec seats. Now the LCI models has new color options for the Sensatec seats (Black, Cognac, Tacora Red, Canberra beige). I was inclined initially on the M340i, but had to chose the X3 M40i mainly for 2nd row & boot space. Also, having owned the 330i before wanted to go with an performance oriented SUV (SAV in this case). Nevertheless, the X3 never felt like an SUV to drive and gives you a sedan feel.

Some key pointers on X3 M40i compared to M340i:
1. Commanding view of the road (those bold bonnet lines )
2. Easy on the back & knees for longer drives
3. Spacious 2nd row, especially with the kid growing older
4. Easy access to boot and spacious compared to the 340i
5. Panaromic Sunroof (my son loves it)
6. Similar features as M340i
7. Perfect Family Enthusiast car

Some more pictures (sorry for gatecrashing your thread). Planning to vinyl wrap the front chrome grill soon.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Some key pointers on X3 M40i compared to M340i:
1. Commanding view of the road (those bold bonnet lines)
2. Easy on the back & knees for longer drives
3. Spacious 2nd row, especially with the kid growing older
4. Easy access to boot and spacious compared to the 340i
5. Panaromic Sunroof (my son loves it)
6. Similar features as M340i
7. Perfect Family Enthusiast car

Some more pictures (sorry for gatecrashing your thread). Planning to vinyl wrap the front chrome grill soon.

That's a nice list compilation of the comparison. Yeah, I feel the same that X3 drives like a sedan plus you have all the benefits of a SAV (more space in cabin and boot). It's indeed a family enthusiast car

Thanks for sharing your car pics (You can continue to gate crash till you get your own thread...LOL). It looks smashing and with new interior options, I would have chosen the red to go with white interiors. But, Cognac is not a bad option either.

Now Nikhil has a drag competitor from Pittsburg to your Team-BHP meet points in Michigan or Ohio

Sure, Let's talk in evening. Cheers and Keep Sharing updates!

[mobike008]

Last weekend, it was pouring heavily. But, weather usually never deters me to step out if the mind is made up

We decided to headed to "Microsoft's Redmond Campus" which is just a few miles away from home as the main campus is renowned for it's fall scenery.

I was hoping to bump into the pride of our nation - Satya Nadella, unfortunately that did not happen.

All these pictures of the campus where I ducked out of the car and shot a few pictures in heavy rain.

Well, all I can say is that these pictures cannot do justice to what the eyes saw. Simply gorgeous fall scenes coupled with rain.

Hope you'll enjoy the pictures (Click for full size) as much as I loved clicking them.

[mobike008]

Diwali came in early this year.

A week ago, I was in downtown Seattle and some areas the roads are very lightly patched and something popped up in HUD in yellow talking about uneven surface. I was like WOW

I didn't pay too much attention to it but, then I receive this email soon after and then it all fell into place

Not sure if it's a global roll-out or just for North America. But, nevertheless an awesome feature as we see a lot of construction out here too so the roads aren't the best yet.

Will take some pics when it appears on screen to show how it actually warns in advance.

[mobike008]

I was depressed for last few days as "Blau Rakete" looked dirty and ugly from the inclement weather and fall season

Rainy season started here and it's continuously drizzling and coupled with fall season, car had become downright dirty with leaves, small twigs stuck to underside, tyres and bonnet area and not to mention the wheels had turned jet-black.

I took this matter seriously and decided to head to a nice automated car-wash and pamper it with their best car wash-Diamond (In fact, I bought 5 washes so I can now get her back to her full glory atleast once a month).

There was no human intervention. I pay outside the booth outside and enter the bay and that machine you see in video will move back and forth and spray some nice rainbow foam (Seeing it for first time) and turned a dirty car back into it's full glory.

She looks pretty now. Doesn't she?





Diamond Wash Details



View from inside. They took their sweet time. Whole process took around 8-10 minutes.

https://youtu.be/6-BNNzwDxDk

[mobike008]

Ever since I moved to Seattle, I noticed fuel efficiency has dropped drastically so decided to use an app to track the usage.

When in Detroit, I used to get a consistent 20-21mpg for my city runs and 27-28mpg for highway runs with a few occasions even hitting the magic 30mpg number for a tankful.

Reckon the following are the reasons for drop in FE here:

a) Irrespective of taking the back-route or highway their is an issue here.

Back-routes give satisfaction of driving on roads that are curvy and hilly but, downside is that I encounter multiple traffic light stops. Highways are mostly choked during the times I head out (Mornings or Late Afternoons).

b) My bad habit of accelerating from one traffic light to another.

0-45 mph on back route and 0-80mph on freeways. Immense satisfaction of cars instantly disappearing in the review mirror. This car is all about it's mind numbing acceleration and I make sure to enjoy it every chance I get. I don't cut corners here at all.

With above in mind, Rough percentage of toggling between Sports + (10-15%) Sports (25%), Comfort (40%), EcoPro (20%) this fuel efficiency is not bad.

What do you think?

[mobike008]

Your's truly behind a "V8 Monster" humming on one of favorite songs from Strings

https://youtu.be/AxZ_Vx0INHI

Anyone can take a guess which car that I'am driving and the city?

[mobike008]

Cross posting from other thread for the Run Flat Tyre Update

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Very interested to hear what your service center has to say.

9000 Miles- 1st Service Update on December 17th, 2021

I completed 11 months of my ownership and my Blau Rakete was due for a scheduled service appointment on Dec 10th but, I could not make it due to official commitments.

I moved it to Dec 17th, 2021 (yesterday) at 1:30pm.

BMW Bellevue is a huge dealership and probably the biggest in state of Washington. Their customer service was excellent. I was greeted as soon as I reached and they scanned my keys to get the full details of the car. Matt (My service advisor) told me there is a recall + software update pending on my vehicle and he said he cannot do that today. I was fine as I needed the service work completed and scheduled an appointment for Jan 7th, 2021 for updates.

Recall- Apparently is for something they need to check/replace of fuel/air mixing ration. Something like that he explained and I wasn’t paying too much attention as it was not a priority for me.

Software Update- Now the collision warning will show up on screen even if a car approaches from “Sideways”. This is a fantastic feature and you can set the proximity.

Anyways coming back to service, it was a regular oil change, oil filter change, wiper blades change (Here in Seattle, we use it a lot ). There was a full check of car wash and vacuum done.

Tire Update

I specifically asked him to check tyre depth which SA did using an instrument. At 9000 miles ( 15,000kms), my front has 6mm depth and rear has 5.5mm depth and it’s good until 2.5mm depth which means my current run flats will hopefully last me at least until 20,000 miles (32,000kms) which is not bad at all.

As they promised to return the car by 4:00pm, I did some office work for a while at the dealership enjoying their exotic coffee options and complimentary sandwiches while ogling at the M-line up at the dealership.

I was particularly blown my their flagship model- BMW M8 Competition. It was just outstanding and super long in flesh. It had a price tag of 140 grand. Sigh! Wish I can afford it one day.

They also fixed my WA license plates (Feels weird to see front of car with a plate. In Michigan, there is no need for front plates).

Overall, a seamless and wonderful experience !!!

P.S : Click images for full screen.

[mobike008]

Here is a link to my new photoblog of a 1400 miles road-trip in Blau Rakete.

Detroit to The Great Smoky Mountains and Nashville over 4 days earlier this year.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5214182 (Photoblog- BMW Roadtrip from Detroit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park + Nashville)