My Glacier Silver F30 320d, and my previous BMWs

[joropug]

I shouldn't get so excited about mpg but this thing runs on fresh air when you want it to. Benefit of a smooth journey and eco Pro mode.

Edited by joropug on Wednesday 25th April 19:56

[JakeT]

Looks nice. The real appeal to me of an F30 model is the fact that Carly can seem to do so much now. On my E46 models it's good for coding and diagnostics, but on the later ones it seems to allow anything! My ideal welcome home lights would be front angel eyes and fog lights.

[Oh Behave]

joropug said:

Fantastic, night and day. I think my map was a relatively 'safe' one. The peak boost was no different (23 psi if I recall) before and after. It was the throttle response and how quickly it came on boost that you really noticed the difference. So much better lower down.

I used MVT in Wareham, who put in oscarli software which I believe is written by the same bloke who does revo diesels. I coded out my faulty egr at the same time and you can go back and update it to remove the dpf at a later date if yours failed. Mine was still fine at 115k despite the map which had been on since 85k, regenerated approx weekly.

Thanks for the feedback, its still got extended warranty until next April but once that's up I might have to take the plunge.

[joropug]

Just a quick update, after a fair bit of driving this weekend I was finding it hard to shift smoothly on particular from 1st to 2nd. I realised the clutch stop I'd installed was causing it so did another test run on the first setting and it is now so much better. Takes a little bit of the travel distance away without compromising the clutch engaging and disengaging properly.

This is it in the current setting, versus the standard stopper:


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And in situ:


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And these arrived to replace the final piece of halogen (bar indicators). Led Fog/Welcome lights/Cornering lights:



Hopefully work!

[joropug]

Updated some coding on page 1.

Had an issue with Carly coding again. This time the FEM module failed when coding. Luckily everything still worked but I couldn't access my back ups after and restore it. A panicked email to Carly and it was sorted next day. Just had to rename a file removing the module name to force it to show up.

Fitted the fog bulbs I previously acquired. Colour was great but very low quality. Bulb was always on a small amount and one snapped putting it in. I bought identical ones off amazon looks wise but they're better quality. Down side... Bulbs are too blue. Just leaving them for now as I may upgrade the headlight bulbs at a later date. Fogs only used for my cornering lights really.

Also had a change of heart on the clutch stop. The more I've driven I've noticed it slightly hard to take out of gear, sometimes hard to engage second and reverse. I've removed all spacers and it's far better but means it's basically stock again, maybe a few mm difference. Maybe just my clutch...


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[joropug]

Just an ownership update, had the car about 9 months or so now and really enjoying it.

Things I like:
-Economy (45mpg is my lowest, 73mpg is my highest.) 600 miles a tank is lovely.
-Tax is £30 and insurance is cheap
-Ride quality is really good
-I'll never put leather as a criteria when buying a car again. The anthracite cloth is comfortable and the heating was sublime over winter, so quick to warm up.
-Love the coding flexibility on Carly
-Adaptive xenon's are the best I've ever used

Things I don't like:
-Wish I'd bought an automatic , the manual is reliable and solid but the clutch position really grates me. I feel like I'm too far away from the clutch or too close to brake/accelerator.
-That it had a service pack on it (woohoo) but I couldn't get it serviced until next of April (which felt like too long , I prefer to get oil changes done more regularly) and it invalidates if the car goes past 50k, which it did. So glad I got it done last year for peace of mind. Annual schedules for this one now on.
-Want a chunkier steering wheel, M Sport ones are much nicer.

Overall though really pleased. Never had such a frugal motor that isn't a bore to drive. Probably have this one a while.

Updated coding on page 1.

[iSore]

The 8 speed auto really is magic - a well specced 320d Auto is such a superb all rounder. I'd love one. Just an SE Touring in the solid red (which is actually metallic apparently) with black leather, spot on.

[joropug]

Updated coding list on page 1

Well the MOT man advised my tyres are not long for this world. To be honest , they have a fairly decent amount left on them but all 4 due at once is a kicker.

Did some pricing up and almost fell off my chair. 4x Bridgestone Potenza (staggered) was coming out at nearly £800! Mental

So I took to eBay and made a 2 hour drive to collect some apparently mint style 400 wheels with 5mm approx all round on the same potenza tyres. As my car has upgraded alloys as standard the dimensions are the same.

Got there and the wheels were absolutely spot on, I mean really mint....but....tyres were worse than mine. To say I was disappointed was an under statement , I let the guy know and to be fair to him he was a bit embarrassed and went to his unit to see if he had another set (small business).

That he did ! The same set, 99 percent condition with 7mm rears and 6mm fronts. All this for the same agreed price of £450. My luck has turned.

When I factor in the sale of my style 398 probably looking at 150 to 200 to upgrade alloys and get great tyres at the same time. Less than the cost of one front.

Need them fitted!!

Edited by joropug on Thursday 4th October 07:20

[joropug]

Before



After (Ignoring the fact it's M Sport)

[d_a_n1979]

Lovely looking motor

We looked into one of these albeit the small petrol for the wife; alas too small for me/what we needed and bedroom decorating took over the budget haha

I could never go back to a manual, unless it was a toy car/weekend warrior. Just love my auto's too much!

[cerb4.5lee]

I'm not a fan of Auto's, but when I had my manual 520d I often thought the Auto would suit the engines characteristics far better. Yours offers stunning mpg for sure, my 520d only ever managed around 44mpg.

Yours looks nice in silver.

[joropug]

Cheers ! My dad and mate both have F10 520d auto and are also struggling to get more than 40 unless it's on the motorway.

62mpg round trip to collect the wheels for me !

[Alfa Pete]

I had a 320ed for two years. As you’ve found the economy was astonishing particularly given that the performance was plenty for pretty much any scenario.
The ED rode well on its 16” wheels but the low rolling resistance tyres weren’t especially grippy and the suspension sometimes was a little soft.
Other than that was a great cruiser and really enjoyed my time with it.

[joropug]

Alfa Pete said:

I had a 320ed for two years. As you’ve found the economy was astonishing particularly given that the performance was plenty for pretty much any scenario.
The ED rode well on its 16” wheels but the low rolling resistance tyres weren’t especially grippy and the suspension sometimes was a little soft.
Other than that was a great cruiser and really enjoyed my time with it.

Yep I'm so happy with running costs. I've been tempted to downgrade with a looking house move but anything worth having at the 5k price point will outweigh its benefits in extra costs.

I didn't consider the ED as wanted the extra oomph if needed although I hear they remap to the same figure as mine would.

[Scobblelotcher]

joropug said:

Cheers ! My dad and mate both have F10 520d auto and are also struggling to get more than 40 unless it's on the motorway.

62mpg round trip to collect the wheels for me !

Yeah after driving various BMW’s the auto models are always much worse. My M135i is an auto and does about 18mpg being driven gently but in start/stop traffic most of the time.

Although the auto fuel economy is worse, I love how they behave/drive so I still got one anyway.

[rayyan171]

Was on the lookout for a good example of an early F30 328i, really wanted one but struggled to find a good spec that included xenons, auto, leather and at the very least the business navigation.

320d is just about everything one could ask for. Nice!

[joropug]

Well got them fitted and I'm over the moon! Luckily no wobbles or problems I can tell of.

The car is driving nicer courtesy of the fresher rubber and alignment. I think it looks great!







Tracking done, the guy wanted to leave NSF as the tyre had worn perfectly even - he knows best.



And mental how clean it is underneath, no leaks, damage or missing parts always a plus.

[Mr Tidy]

Looks good OP.

BMW diesels do seem to offer amazing economy for the performance. I had an E46 320td for 3 years and 42K miles that showed an average of 47.8 mpg on the OBC.

Then an E87 123d with 201 bhp for over 6 years and 80K miles that showed 48.7mpg on the OBC.

But then I stopped getting a car allowance and doing business miles so since then it's been all petrol straight 6 for me. Even they are pretty good - my 136K miles E91 325i is showing 35.7mpg!

[joropug]

I upgraded my camera this week, so fancied getting out tonight and having a quick go.

I used 2 LED strip lights (the kind that would normally go behind a TV) , USB powered and placed them on the passenger and drivers seats accordingly to give some great colour to the image.

[joropug]

This is now for sale on Pistonheads if any of you lovely people are interested:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...