[robimahanta]

2 year/ 18XXX kms update : M340i

The M340i completed 2 years few days back and it has been a great journey so far. After I got the Thar, I haven't been driving the M340i much, hoping to munch some miles this year.

I did the 2nd year oil/filter service at BMW and it was pretty quick and professional. They updated the built in navigation maps for free and did a free wash and vacuum too. Overall quite impressed with BMW service over the last few years (both with the 328 and the 340).

Latest Map version


Washed and parked next to an i4 after service



Cosmetic updates

I got the M style carbon fibre mirror caps. But it was a mismatch with the cerium grey grill surround and the lower bumper panels. So got a new black grill and bumper panels. I didn't want to mess around with the stock set.

Got the grill and the bumper panel hydrodipped in a dark carbon fibre look. The finish is reasonably good and you cannot find any difference between the mirror caps and the grill/panel unless you look at it really close.

The M style Carbon fibre mirror caps


The black grill


The lower bumper trim in black


Hydro-dipped the grill surround and the panels




Final look of the car after installing the cosmetic bits


The CF Eventuri intake gel well with the grill and panels

Hardware upgrade

Active Autowerke (AA) Catted Downpipe

I wanted the Active Autowerke Catted (400 Cell GESI UHO series) downpipe as I didn't quite like the harsh sound of the decatted downpipes. Also the weird smells and boost creep of decatted downpipes is not something anyone would desire, moreover it would throw a CEL and I did not want to tune (unlock dme) the car.

AA Downpipe


Comparing with the stock down pipe. It is one kilo lighter (3.8kg) and has a narrower mid section. Fantastic build quality and extremely simple plug and play.


The car does feel a lot less restricted and sounds fantastic. In comfort mode it is as quiet as stock. Together with the M performance exhaust, the car feels like different animal in Sports mode now.

Further details about the downpipe:
https://store.activeautowerke.com/pr...atted-downpipe

CSF Heat exchanger

With our weather conditions, more efficient cooling is always welcome. I got the CSF heat exchanger which has great reviews and significantly reduces intake air temperatures (IAT) and achieves much faster heat soak recovery (not just on track but also on our hot and humid day to day drives). The best thing is that, it is again a drop in installation without much fuss.

Details about the heat exchanger
https://www.evolveautomotive.com/csf...ota-supra-a90/

I got the coolant from BMW and it is nice that BMW made the process of coolant bleeding so easy in their cars.

The CSF heat exchanger




Comparing with the stock one





The expensive BMW coolant (just because it is imported from Germany for no reason)




Looking forward to driving and enjoying the car even more over the next year.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

2 year/ 18XXX kms update : M340i

The M340i completed 2 years few days back and it has been a great journey so far. After I got the Thar, I haven't been driving the M340i much, hoping to munch some miles this year.

Congratulations on the wonderful 2 years with the M340i. 18k km on this car in two years, when you have two other very purposeful cars in your garage, is a great running! You have used this car very well!

I have been fortunate enough to see this car in action during many memorable drives! This is an absolutely wonderful car. Not just in the material sense of just the car itself, but more so based on how well you drive the car and enjoy it to the fullest! I am sure it is an inspiration to many, including me

Wish you many more happy drives and happy miles on this car. Keep driving, keep sharing the stories, and keep sharing the photos. We all love those, and look forward to those!

[Shreesharai]

Wonderful upgrades sir, are there any errors on the dash since the cat is removed? Will it require a tune or not. are there any Downpipes for GLC 43 AMG ??

[KKapadia]

Great job on an already fantastic car. The heat exchanger( radiator) will definitely help the cooling system. Your car will use less energy to maintain operating temperatures. Water pumps/ fans will have less stress and last longer/ plus the bmw oem with the plastic tank is known to give way as the car gets old. The CSF unit looks solid. Since you have already taken care of the fluid cooling I would also recommend you get a high performance intercooler. Which will lower temperature of the actual air entering the engine. An upgraded intercooler along with this setup will make a huge difference to the intake air temperatures( IAT) at city driving speeds.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by Shreesharai

Wonderful upgrades sir, are there any errors on the dash since the cat is removed? Will it require a tune or not. are there any Downpipes for GLC 43 AMG ??

Thanks. There are no errors and a tune (assuming you mean an ECU tune) is not required as "the cat is NOT removed". It is a downpipe with a high flow sports cat. Not sure about GLC43 as I don't own that particular car.

Originally Posted by KKapadia

Great job on an already fantastic car..I would also recommend you get a high performance intercooler. Which will lower temperature of the actual air entering the engine. An upgraded intercooler along with this setup will make a huge difference to the intake air temperatures( IAT) at city driving speeds.

Thank you for the suggestions. Will look into it.

[MrA]

Don't get alarmed if you do get a CEL about the cat efficiency being below limit value, there have been reports of AA and other catted downpipes eventually triggering this CEL, in some cases you can just clear the code and it doesn't come back for a while. A simple stage 1 tune should fix it but I see you are avoiding that. Also your car most likely has post November 2019 production date so ODB flash would not be possible otherwise bootmod3 or MHD stage 1 would've been perfect and an easy DIY. B58 can safely take a stage 1 tune without any issues.

I'd also suggest an M Performance rear diffuser and exhaust The diffuser really transforms the rear.

[robimahanta]

14 months/19XXX Km update: Thar

I bought the Thar to do some unique trips once a while apart from the off-road trails near Bangalore and I am happy to be a part of an enthusiastic bunch of Thar owners in Bangalore who keep planning drives almost every other day. I always wanted to drive down to Spiti and when “Thar Bengaluru” planned a trip to Spiti in December 2022, I signed up immediately. After a lot of planning, a group of 33 Thar's set out from Bangalore on an amazing cross country trip.

Good friend and Tbhpian Turbonath has already covered the trip in detail with some amazing drone images ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...onderland.html (36 Thars and a Winter Wonderland) ).

I would just like to share some images along with my experience. The drive was so much fun and action packed that taking photos took a back seat. All the images are taken with the phone or my drone.



Day 1: Nagpur


We drove down to Nagpur and it was mostly an uneventful drive. There was some political event going on in Nagpur and the traffic was a nightmare. After a scrumptious dinner and the usual banter, we retired for the night.* I have driven to Nagpur before but the Thar can be driven in such a carefree manner that the drive is never tiring. After years of driving low slung sedans with low profile tyres, the Thar with the AVO dampers is a welcome change. By habit I slow down a lot for bad surfaces and take speed humps at an angle (even at times with the Thar) but the terrible feeling of tyre and alloy damage on hitting a pothole is non existent with the Thar.

Flag off from Bangalore’s iconic Vidhan Soudha




Day 2: Gwalior



From Nagpur it was a lovely drive through Pench, Sagar, Jhansi to culminate in Gwalior early afternoon. We went to see the Gwalior Fort and it was well worth it.* Negotiating narrow lanes and traffic in Gwalior took some effort especially when Google Maps threw us off track.* But with the help of some friendly locals we finally managed to reach the fort just before it closed for the day. The views were breath taking and the history behind the fort was quite interesting as well.

The Gwalior fort


Views from the fort




Day 3: Chandigarh

It was a fast drive on the Yamuna Expressway and the Eastern peripheral expressway by-passing Delhi. Traffic picked a lot near Karnal and it was quite surprising to see a zillion dhabas on the highway for a change. Checked into a Chandigarh hotel in the afternoon and headed straight to Mahindra Service Centre, where a check-up of all the Thars was arranged. The stock coolant in the Thar is rated only up to negative 12 degree celsius. So, Mahindra arranged Glysantin 30 coolant for all the 33 Thars in Chandigarh. It was a smooth and quick service which involved replacing the coolant/distilled water in 50:50 ratio after flushing out the stock coolant. Evening we went out for some amazing dinner in Chandigarh. The lemon chicken in Deluxe Dhaba and the butter chicken in Pal Dhaba is to die for.



Day 4: Chandigarh (buffer day)


This day was kept as a buffer to sort out issues with the cars if needed. Mahindra even arranged two service technicians with a laptop who joined us in Chandigarh for the trip. They even gave nice Thar branded jackets to all the participants. The technicians proved to be a boon for the diesel Thars which had def/dpf issues in the extreme winter of Spiti.

Since I had a free day, decided to visit the rock garden in Chandigarh and some eateries to experience local cuisine.



Day 5: Theog


Started early again and drove via Shimla and could cross Shimla without the notorious traffic thereby reaching Theog for an early lunch. This was the first day in the mountains and single digit temperature. It was great to see 33 Thars parked in the hotel parking lot overnight.



Thars parked in the Theog hotel


Day 5: Kalpa

We drove to Kalpa and stopped at multiple places for photographs. The road was amazing and views were surreal. The view of the Kinnaur mountain range from the Kalpa hotel was spectacular.



Kinaur range


Sunrise



Day 6: Kaza

We drove down to Kaza via Nako and the road up to Malling Nala was smooth. Tremendous effort by the BRO to make such a road in such conditions. Construction is going on near the Malling Nala and I guess in a few months, the road will be done all the way to Kaza. We reached Kaza late afternoon and it was biting cold.



Fantastic roads near Nako


Nako helipad


Frozen Nako lake


Some more scenic roads




Sangam of Sutlej and Spiti rivers


Close to Kaza


Beauty of the Thar is its ability to go off road anywhere


At India's highest petrol bunk


Some fun in snow




Day 7: Kaza

This day was reserved for local sight-seeing around Kaza. We went to Hikkim, Langza, Key Monastery, Khibber and Chicham bridge.

Kaza sunrise


Some drone images over Kaza




At Hikim (highest post office in India)


Langza






Along a desolate route from Komic to Kaza


Komic (highest restaurant)


Scale was beautiful







[robimahanta]

Day 8: Tabo

We started the drive with a trip to Pin Valley and on to Mudd village. After a leisurely picnic lunch by the river, we drove to Tabo. Checked out the Tabo Monastery and then headed to our respective home stays in Tabo.



Chicham Bridge




The amazing Pin Valley








We parked and a quick picnic




Near Mudd


Key Monastery


Snow blanket


Day 9: Chitkul

We started our way back towards Sangla and all the way up to Chitkul till the ITBP check post. After some photos around Chitkul which is the last Indian village (coincidentally even last year around the same time I was in a last Indian village Kaho, in Arunachal Pradesh) we headed to our hotel in near Sangla.

Chitkul Board


Snow near Chitkul


Near the ITBP checkpost


Civilians not allowed beyond this point



Day 10: Chandigarh

Today the group split into many small groups and everyone had their own plans of returning to Bangalore via different routes. I along with a couple of other Thars decided to take the long route via Tatapani and entered Chandigarh in the night by passing Narkhanda and Shimla completely. It was a long but scenic drive.


Day 11: Jodhpur

I have a good friend near Pali, Rajasthan who is into off roading and he offered to host us in his resort near Pali. We started the drive from Chandigarh around 9am but the highway near Ambala was closed due to fog. Finally, with some help from the locals and google maps, we ended up on the brilliant NH152. It was over 200kms of straight line bliss. We reached Jaipur around 4pm and finally reached the resort near Pali at 9pm for an amazing barbecue dinner as well as some lal maas and bajra roti.



The fantastic NH152D (the best road surface I have been in India)


Offroading near Jodhpur


Mstallion's with a beautiful stallion


Day 12: Baroda

We went out on a drive in the villages and spotted some wildlife as well. After another amazing lunch at a village house, we did some dry river bed off-roading. It was immense fun to slide around in the sand with the new Thar. I had done the dunes earlier in a gypsy but it was way easier in the new Thar. Eventually we hit the highway and started driving towards Baroda. The NE1 expressway was great as usual but packed with traffic even late evening.



Day 13: Solapur

We started from Baroda around 8am and got stuck in terrible traffic. Initial plan was to take the Mumbai Pune route but we decided to take a left near Navsari and head towards Nashik. The road was amazing and there was hardly any traffic. The ghats near Saputara were awesome to drive on. We drove on towards Aurangabad to experience the Samruddhi Mahamarg for around 40kms or so. It is a great albeit boring expressway. It gets monotonous soon and the concrete surface is very noisy. The subsequent highway from Aurangabad to Solapur was fantastic and we reached Solapur for another special mutton dinner.



Samruddhi Mahamarg


Day 14: Bangalore

Started from Solapur early and by noon we were in Bangalore outskirts. The road via Bijapur, Hospet, Chitradurga, Tumkur is great except for the few kms of bad stretches near Tumkur.* Finally parked the car, with close to 6700kms on the odometer over the span of two weeks.

I am mighty impressed by the capabilities of the Thar over different surfaces like snow, gravel, sand, tarmac etc. It never skipped a beat and 95% of the drive was done in two-wheel drive.

Looking forward to many more interesting drives with “Thar Bengaluru” group.

Final ODO of the trip

[trippytragopan]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Civilians not allowed beyond this point

Civilians are allowed but permit is required. A trekking route (Lamkhaga pass) pass through this place. It connects Chitkul to Harsil (Uttrakhand).

There are two more ITBP check posts (located along the trekking route) beyond this point. BRO is building a road till the last ITBP check post.

[mohitm29]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your travel story and loved all the pictures, especially of Thar in the Snow. we know that the new Thar is a remarkable SUV and truly one of its kind machine to own, however if you can share some thoughts on how does it feel to drive it on such long distance highways in terms of ride quality and high speed stability for driver and passengers. Thanks in advance.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by mohitm29

I thoroughly enjoyed reading…if you can share some thoughts on how does it feel to drive it on such long distance highways in terms of ride quality and high speed stability for driver and passengers.

Thanks. I found it comfortable over the long distance on the highways too. Having said that I have the adjustable dampers from Avo so it may not be an accurate representation of the stock Thar. Also I have seats with extended thigh support and better cushioning as well.

[robimahanta]

Thar:

My Thar was due for the 20k kms service and I decided to take it out on a couple of long drives over the weekend. It was great fun with another friend to roam around some trails near Mudigere and Shimoga. Some pictures from the trip.

The two Thar's together






Some random trail and view point images











Got this cheap tyre cover as I am often parking the Thar out in the sun. It has a reflective ring.


Becomes a mess in the dust


Beautiful morning fog and tarmac


The 20k Kms service was routine other than a relay recall and my transfer case sensor failing (replaced under warranty).

The relay recall details




The transfer case sensor which was replaced. 4L and 4H was engaging but the cluster indication was not coming on. It is a 37INR part



M340i:

Got sun shades for the rear. Not worth even half the price BMW which charges, but is a perfect fit. It comes with clips and a installation pamphlet. However, I haven't installed the clips as I found it made the look clumsy.

Shades installed


From outside


The part number


Also got a Matte screen guard for the touchscreen. Not a fan of screen guard but this screen is a fingerprint and glare magnet.



Before and after images (reflection is of the cabin light)




Got the screen guard from: https://armourguards.co.in/


Thanks for reading.

[rnkaushal]

How's the HU holding up? Thinking of it for my Jetta

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Polo GTI:

Decided to go ahead with Apple CarPlay installation in the GTI along with the OEM flip camera. I had been contemplating whether to go ahead with the infotainment module upgrade since a long time and finally bit the bullet as I decided not to sell the GTI any time soon. It is expensive but completely retains the stock look and all components are OEM VW.

Mod Note : Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

[robimahanta]

Had a fantastic drive with some BHPian friends to Mangalore. We took the Bangalore-Hassan-Charmady-Managlore route and headed back via Mangalore-Sulia-Sampage-Madikeri-Bangalore route.

The roads were fantastic and it was immense fun in the 340. It was raining almost all throughout the drive. The outright grip due to awd makes it so easy to push the car in the ghats. Together with the intake and the lovely exhaust notes, I never turned on the music in the car.

Didn't take many pictures. Just sharing a couple of them from my phone.

Somewhere in the ghats




Parked after a 800km drive


Washed and ready for the next one

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Had a fantastic drive with some BHPian friends to Mangalore. We took the Bangalore-Hassan-Charmady-Managlore route and headed back via Mangalore-Sulia-Sampage-Madikeri-Bangalore route.

It was great seeing your car on those lovely fast corners, and more often than seeing it (there was no way I could keep up with it to see it that often), hearing the lovely sound. I could hear the sounds from the next corner, and it was a great experience. What a magical machine this is!

If you would please allow me, I would like to share one picture I took. Hope this is OK:

The gorgeous wheels on this magical machine: