Discussion
Ok. So;
I now have a working iDrive!
This has been a long, convoluted and expensive story.
In short, after a few weeks of too and fro, the dealership finally traced the problem to a faulty head unit. The question then was did they break it or was it a coincidence? As you can imagine I took the former view and they took the latter. After some back and forth we came to a compromise which meant I was out of pocket but not to the tune of a full replacement.
The car went in on the 20th for a new head unit. I was due to go on holiday to France on the 24th and the car was promised to be done by then. By the Friday afternoon it was clear the car wouldn’t be ready so I got to take the courtesy car whilst they worked on my car.
So I had the use of a new 320d for the week:
We got back today and I collected the car this afternoon. Everything works as it should and I’m now a few quid poorer but overall happy to be back in my own car.
The experience with the new car was enlightening. Thoughts to follow for those who may be interested.
I now have a working iDrive!
This has been a long, convoluted and expensive story.
In short, after a few weeks of too and fro, the dealership finally traced the problem to a faulty head unit. The question then was did they break it or was it a coincidence? As you can imagine I took the former view and they took the latter. After some back and forth we came to a compromise which meant I was out of pocket but not to the tune of a full replacement.
The car went in on the 20th for a new head unit. I was due to go on holiday to France on the 24th and the car was promised to be done by then. By the Friday afternoon it was clear the car wouldn’t be ready so I got to take the courtesy car whilst they worked on my car.
So I had the use of a new 320d for the week:
We got back today and I collected the car this afternoon. Everything works as it should and I’m now a few quid poorer but overall happy to be back in my own car.
The experience with the new car was enlightening. Thoughts to follow for those who may be interested.
Stussy said:
How on earth can it take over 4 days to fit and code a head unit? I’ve watched a CCC to CIC conversation including combox with coding all done in a couple of hours!
They had a problem coding the unit and had to contact BMW technical for advice which apparently isn’t the fastest at responding. It seems my car was originally sourced from outside the UK (France?) and required subtlety different coding to a UK unit. Fair enough, particularly as they let me have a decent courtesy car to go on holiday in. 
I thought I would say a few words about the G20 320d M Sport I had on loan for 10 days and 1100 miles whilst my car was in for repair. I hadn’t driven the G20 prior to this car and found it interesting how cars have evolved in recent years.
The car I had use of was a 320d M Sport XDrive with a bunch of extras including active guard pack (inc lane departure), Parking Assist Plus (360 degree cameras), Live Cockpit (big screens and intelligent pa), Technology Pack (hud, hk hifi) & comfort pack (comfort access, heated wheel). A quick tot up and the car comes to something just shy of £50k for a 2.0 diesel!
First impression is that the car is well put together and feels really solid. It’s also big. E60 big. Cars seem to be getting bigger without a corresponding increase in the size of roads/parking spaces.
Secondly, the nvh levels are remarkable. Even when cold the car is smooth and pretty much vibration free. Only with a firm push of the go pedal does it reveal itself as a diesel which I found very impressive, particularly for a four pot diesel.
It is also very solid on the move, well damped and fairly compliant. It’s quite quick too; 0-60 in just over 7 seconds though it doesn’t feel anywhere near E90 330d quick. The performance is almost certainly helped by the vastly superior gearbox; the 8 speed is a great improvement over the earlier 6 speed in every way.
The seats are supportive and comfortable for an hour or so after which my bum got numb.
I did not like the interior however. It’s well put together but is way too complicated. My biggest gripe is the amount of information on display at any time. When I picked the car up I had 3 sources of speed, 3 sources of Nav data, fuel, revs, what was playing on the hifi, mileage, speed limit, error messages, temperature (engine and outside) plus other stuff I forget at the time of writing. TOO MUCH. Maybe I’m getting old and can’t process information as well as I used to but I found it to be too much. It looks fantastic when you’re stationary but when on the move I found it distracted from what was going on on the road.
In the end I found the car too big (if I wanted a big car I’d go for a 5 series; the F10 530d is a much better car) too fussy and too expensive for me. Money to one side which would I rather have; the G20 320d or the E91 330i? Definitely the latter. The wife and kids agree. Throw in my car is 1/10th the price and it’s an emphatic win for the older car.
The car I had use of was a 320d M Sport XDrive with a bunch of extras including active guard pack (inc lane departure), Parking Assist Plus (360 degree cameras), Live Cockpit (big screens and intelligent pa), Technology Pack (hud, hk hifi) & comfort pack (comfort access, heated wheel). A quick tot up and the car comes to something just shy of £50k for a 2.0 diesel!
First impression is that the car is well put together and feels really solid. It’s also big. E60 big. Cars seem to be getting bigger without a corresponding increase in the size of roads/parking spaces.
Secondly, the nvh levels are remarkable. Even when cold the car is smooth and pretty much vibration free. Only with a firm push of the go pedal does it reveal itself as a diesel which I found very impressive, particularly for a four pot diesel.
It is also very solid on the move, well damped and fairly compliant. It’s quite quick too; 0-60 in just over 7 seconds though it doesn’t feel anywhere near E90 330d quick. The performance is almost certainly helped by the vastly superior gearbox; the 8 speed is a great improvement over the earlier 6 speed in every way.
The seats are supportive and comfortable for an hour or so after which my bum got numb.
I did not like the interior however. It’s well put together but is way too complicated. My biggest gripe is the amount of information on display at any time. When I picked the car up I had 3 sources of speed, 3 sources of Nav data, fuel, revs, what was playing on the hifi, mileage, speed limit, error messages, temperature (engine and outside) plus other stuff I forget at the time of writing. TOO MUCH. Maybe I’m getting old and can’t process information as well as I used to but I found it to be too much. It looks fantastic when you’re stationary but when on the move I found it distracted from what was going on on the road.
In the end I found the car too big (if I wanted a big car I’d go for a 5 series; the F10 530d is a much better car) too fussy and too expensive for me. Money to one side which would I rather have; the G20 320d or the E91 330i? Definitely the latter. The wife and kids agree. Throw in my car is 1/10th the price and it’s an emphatic win for the older car.
JakeT said:
Glad you got it back sorted and all well.
Interesting about the G30. I sat in one yesterday at BMW Sunday Service, and was amazed how big it felt. properly so. I was more amazed at 20 inch wheels on a 320d. Now THAT'S madness. The E60 M5 had 19 inch wheels, The G30 brakes looked very small behind the wheel.
Yes, the G30 is undoubtedly a good car but there is a lot of style over substance and also a lot of change for change sake. Interesting about the G30. I sat in one yesterday at BMW Sunday Service, and was amazed how big it felt. properly so. I was more amazed at 20 inch wheels on a 320d. Now THAT'S madness. The E60 M5 had 19 inch wheels, The G30 brakes looked very small behind the wheel.
Take the light switches for instance; the E91 has a rotary knob for the main items plus a couple of buttons for fog lights. Easy (which is handy as you can’t see the switches when driving so imo simple is good/essential). On the G30 there are 8/9 push button packed close together, no rotary knob. I’m sure you can get used to the new layout with time but it’s not intuitive and I couldn’t find the off button at all (lights off in the Chunnel).
Mike335i said:
JakeT said:
Funnily enough I thought the same thing when I sad in a G30, and a current Gen Audi A6. They all have buttons for the lights. Why!? Some manufacturers such as Mercedes don't allow an 'off' position for the lights on their cars. It's all Auto, sidelights, or dipped beam now.
At least there are buttons, could be buried in a touch screen somewhere. I genuinely think that ergonomics are so much worse now.I read recently that the US Navy was giving up on the use of touch screens on their ships following recent accidents and going back to knobs and buttons because they were more effective in stressful situations. When I’m driving I want simple controls not stuff I have to look at to work out so taking my attention away from what’s going on in front of me.
Next item on the list now on the way to being sorted;
The car is booked in for a pair of Goodyear Eagles non runflats this week.
I have to say I didn’t experience any significant problems with Landsails but 1. They’re runflats so don’t do anything for the ride and 2) When/ if I ever have to stomp on the brakes....
Still trying to figure out how to retrofit Bluetooth. There’s lots of stuff about standard set ups but not much about retrofitting to an iDrive system (which may / may not be different?).
The car is booked in for a pair of Goodyear Eagles non runflats this week.
I have to say I didn’t experience any significant problems with Landsails but 1. They’re runflats so don’t do anything for the ride and 2) When/ if I ever have to stomp on the brakes....
Still trying to figure out how to retrofit Bluetooth. There’s lots of stuff about standard set ups but not much about retrofitting to an iDrive system (which may / may not be different?).
It’s been a while since my last update with 6 months of ownership is just around the corner and so I thought I’d do a quick update.
The car (initial teething problems and iDrive/dealership debacle notwithstanding) had it’s first hiccup this week:
£4.92 for a rear brake light.
Otherwise the car has been faultless (touch wood) over the c4k miles it’s done in my custody which I consider to be a result all things considered.
I still have not sorted the Bluetooth integration (thanks to all who gave advice) mainly because I was given this:
which has, to be honest, served my needs perfectly well. It operates via voice command and is plenty loud enough / clear the other end.
For those who are interested in such things I’m averaging about 24mpg pottering about but can get north of 30 quite easily on a longer run.
One final point of interest is that I happened to discover that the car was originally bought in France but to UK spec which explains why it doesn’t show up on some systems (such as Euro Car Parts et al). Not sure if this may become a problem come resale time?
The car (initial teething problems and iDrive/dealership debacle notwithstanding) had it’s first hiccup this week:
£4.92 for a rear brake light.
Otherwise the car has been faultless (touch wood) over the c4k miles it’s done in my custody which I consider to be a result all things considered.
I still have not sorted the Bluetooth integration (thanks to all who gave advice) mainly because I was given this:
which has, to be honest, served my needs perfectly well. It operates via voice command and is plenty loud enough / clear the other end.
For those who are interested in such things I’m averaging about 24mpg pottering about but can get north of 30 quite easily on a longer run.
One final point of interest is that I happened to discover that the car was originally bought in France but to UK spec which explains why it doesn’t show up on some systems (such as Euro Car Parts et al). Not sure if this may become a problem come resale time?
To be fair I do a lot of short runs of less than 2 to 3 miles from cold so not ideal. Plus when I do a longer run it’s usually with the family. My record fwiw is just over 40.
I do think the 6 speed auto makes a huge difference and suspect a manual would be both more fun and more economical but swmbo needs it to be an auto even though she rarely uses it.
I do think the 6 speed auto makes a huge difference and suspect a manual would be both more fun and more economical but swmbo needs it to be an auto even though she rarely uses it.
sixpistons said:
I think these were just at the turning point where autos started to get a lot better to drive than earlier slushboxes, but before they overtook manuals for fuel economy. I reckon there’s probably a 10-15% fuel economy hit vs a manual for these, unlike the later 8 speed box. I’ve a 330d auto and the economy averages about 38mpg in mixed driving and rarely climbs much over low 40s despite driving it fairly gently, whereas my mate has a similar e91 with a manual box and that easily average 40 something and 45+ on a run despite having a right foot made of concrete.
I think you're right about this box being more of a slushbox than the later 8 speed (I've had a couple of BMW's with the later box and it's without doubt much better though the 6sp was good in it's day).Edited by sixpistons on Friday 29th November 22:59
I've had a couple of 330d's in the past with this box and they seem less affected by the auto, maybe because of the torque?
One thing I will say though is this box has the most dramatic difference between standard & sport of any car I've driven. Often the most notable difference is the way in sport the box hangs on to revs for longer and doesn't engage top at all but this car has a dramatic improvement in throttle response to the point that you'd think it was a completely different engine. The difference is huge and makes me wonder if the box has been remapped in some way?
I think the 330d in normal driving picks up speed better than the 330i but having now had both (auto only) I suspect that’s down to the combination of torque and the auto box’s standard setting which is quite lazy. When in sport, with the reprofiled throttle (which may be lci only; my 330ds were pre lci) the 330i feels much livelier and quicker than a standard 330d (I stress feels as I suspect ultimately they’re very similar?). That said I rarely drive in sport mode as it’s not particularly relaxing.
First major (ish) expense in a while; 2 new tyres on the rear caused by:
What’s the chances?! The metal in this is so soft I can bend it with my hand but it managed to puncture the rear offside and create a hole too big to repair.
Fortunately the rears were down to about 3mm and were runflats which I’m happy to replace with non runflats.
I needed the car and the local garage had a pair of Khumos in stock so I went for them although they wouldn’t be my first choice in normal circumstances. I’ll report back on how I get on with them.
What’s the chances?! The metal in this is so soft I can bend it with my hand but it managed to puncture the rear offside and create a hole too big to repair.
Fortunately the rears were down to about 3mm and were runflats which I’m happy to replace with non runflats.
I needed the car and the local garage had a pair of Khumos in stock so I went for them although they wouldn’t be my first choice in normal circumstances. I’ll report back on how I get on with them.
Edited by Sn1ckers on Friday 20th December 17:57
B'stard Child said:
My winters are non RFT and my Summers are now also non RFT - I bought a 17 inch space saver spare and a bmw jack - the jack lives beside the battery in the spare wheel well and the space saver spare lives in the boot in a tailored bag.
Not a huge fan of "cans of goo" as they've never worked very well on my motorcycles
Agreed, I use a repair kit like this one;Not a huge fan of "cans of goo" as they've never worked very well on my motorcycles
This, plus an electric pump, have served well for a few years now. Easy to use and reliable. I believe many garages use similar kits themselves these days and, if you’re lucky, you can find what caused the puncture, remove it, and do the repair without taking the wheel off the car.
Major milestone reached today:
Since my last post things have been relatively uneventful. Things done amount to;
- rear brake light build replaced (free with next item).
- offside xenon bulb; £46 plus £10 to fit (bit of a faff with lci E91’s compared with pre lci models - why did they change??).
- new battery; £124 from ECP plus £10 for coding (the old battery was the original so had done good service).
The car’s asking for a brake fluid and oil change so is booked in for both tomorrow morning. I changed the oil 1 year / 6,000 ish miles ago but intentionally didn’t reset the service indicator. For the sake of £50 of oil and £15 to change I’ll get it done annually regardless of mileage.
Since my last post things have been relatively uneventful. Things done amount to;
- rear brake light build replaced (free with next item).
- offside xenon bulb; £46 plus £10 to fit (bit of a faff with lci E91’s compared with pre lci models - why did they change??).
- new battery; £124 from ECP plus £10 for coding (the old battery was the original so had done good service).
The car’s asking for a brake fluid and oil change so is booked in for both tomorrow morning. I changed the oil 1 year / 6,000 ish miles ago but intentionally didn’t reset the service indicator. For the sake of £50 of oil and £15 to change I’ll get it done annually regardless of mileage.
ahenners said:
Lovely car this. Keep the updates coming!
Thanks.Though not an update as such, I’m looking again at Bluetooth installation.
For some strange reason I’ll never fathom the original owner ticked the box for pro nav but decided against adding Bluetooth.
I can go for an aftermarket installation like parrot but don’t like the idea of separate controls when I’ve got the idrive and steering wheel buttons. A retro fit of an oven type system costs 2-3 time more than a Parrot system though.
Decisions, decisions....
After just over 18 months of enjoyable ownership it's time to part company with my 330i.
The car has been a joy to own with the combination of being relatively cheap to own, quick, fun and both practical and comfortable.
I have been completely spoilt by the Individual HiFi. In the past what speakers were fitted were never a consideration but the replacement for this car had to have Harmon Kardon as a minimum!
I now need to give the car a good clean and get some pics ready for selling it.
I'll probably start a new thread for the replacement but as a preview the next car in the Sn!ckers household is a 435i (dealer pics):
The car has been a joy to own with the combination of being relatively cheap to own, quick, fun and both practical and comfortable.
I have been completely spoilt by the Individual HiFi. In the past what speakers were fitted were never a consideration but the replacement for this car had to have Harmon Kardon as a minimum!
I now need to give the car a good clean and get some pics ready for selling it.
I'll probably start a new thread for the replacement but as a preview the next car in the Sn!ckers household is a 435i (dealer pics):
So, the car is now up for sale and I’ve had my first viewing today.
A chap called this morning and after a little bit of back and forth said he wanted to come see the car and would be with me in a couple of hours. 5 hours later he turns up with 2 of his mates. Based on his appearance/accent I’d guess the guy was from South Eastern Europe somewhere.
They wander around the car and one of them, I now realise, distracts me by wanting to inspect in detail the rear of the car claiming he wants to check for damage. After some more discussion, with bonnet put down and engine on then off and on again, one says the exhaust is smoking. Queue another look in the engine bay where there now signs of a serious oil leak. Also they go straight to the coolant reservoir where there is now lots of oil in the water (not there earlier in the day because I checked).
They are now telling me they’re experts in BMW’s (even though they’d earlier claimed the car had a turbo) and I need a new cylinder head and pistons.
After a few seconds of shock at a sudden oil leak I begin to smell a large rotten rat and accuse them of foul play. Much shock and denial after which I tell them the car is not for sale to them and ask them to leave.
I now need to get the spilled oil cleaned as it’s dripping from the under tray plus I need the coolant flushed to remove the oil.
There’s not much I think I can do by way of retribution but hope this lesson learnt gives others a heads up on the risks of selling privately!
B%st@#ds.
A chap called this morning and after a little bit of back and forth said he wanted to come see the car and would be with me in a couple of hours. 5 hours later he turns up with 2 of his mates. Based on his appearance/accent I’d guess the guy was from South Eastern Europe somewhere.
They wander around the car and one of them, I now realise, distracts me by wanting to inspect in detail the rear of the car claiming he wants to check for damage. After some more discussion, with bonnet put down and engine on then off and on again, one says the exhaust is smoking. Queue another look in the engine bay where there now signs of a serious oil leak. Also they go straight to the coolant reservoir where there is now lots of oil in the water (not there earlier in the day because I checked).
They are now telling me they’re experts in BMW’s (even though they’d earlier claimed the car had a turbo) and I need a new cylinder head and pistons.
After a few seconds of shock at a sudden oil leak I begin to smell a large rotten rat and accuse them of foul play. Much shock and denial after which I tell them the car is not for sale to them and ask them to leave.
I now need to get the spilled oil cleaned as it’s dripping from the under tray plus I need the coolant flushed to remove the oil.
There’s not much I think I can do by way of retribution but hope this lesson learnt gives others a heads up on the risks of selling privately!
B%st@#ds.
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