[Petrolhead Tom]

It’s not what you got. It’s what you do with it.

Hello everyone. Let me introduce myself. My name is Tom, I’m 31 years old and I just bought a BMW F31 with the smallest engine BMW does in the Netherlands. Because of family expansion we needed a larger car and for obvious reasons we looked at the BMW F31 wagon.

My demands for the car where:
- Manual
- Tunable
- Cloth sports interior
- Untinted windows
- No sunroof
- Navi prof
- Xenons
- 18 inch wheels

Quite a list and believe it or not we found a car that was the car I would have specced myself. I would have opted for the 320i but the 1.6 in the 316i asked for a test ride. The torque in the 1.6 is actually quite good and it is eager to steer in because of the lack of weight over the front wheels.

A deal was done and since last tuesday we are the proud owners of a mint F31 316i.

This is a project for me eventhough it will be a slow one.

Things I would like to change is:

- bigger intercooler;
- intake pipe
- oil cooler
- remap to bring it up to 220 hp.
- Bastuck front pipe to connect a stock 335i exhaust to the car

And then it will be done.

Why the 316i? Because we like to drive. In the past I drove a small citycar (the Volkswagen up!) in 7 days to the Northcape and back. A 7.000 kilometer journey in only 7 days. I am really keen on driving and will be heading to the south with the BMW on thursday.

Our travel plans are:

Munich (for obvious reasons
Grossglockner
Velden
Ljubljana
Bari
Locorotondo
And back to the Netherlands where we live. I am really looking forward to it and will update this thread with pictures and maybe some videos of our travels.

Thanks for reading.

Here are some pictures of our car:

At the dealer:
First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Destickered:
First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Way better!
First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

First fuel stop to give it some good 100 octane fuel:
First pictures by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

[obert]

Congratulations

Great looking car!

[.BMW.]

Beautiful Touring!

Congrats.

[Petrolhead Tom]

Thanks for the nice reactions. I will post updates during our holiday trip. We leave on thursday for Munich to visit BMW Welt. Can't wait!

[CJ421]

Great looking car ...so jealous you can get the F31 with a manual transmission!

Charles

[kern417]

100oct should really wake 'er up

[Petrolhead Tom]

When we bought the car she ran a little ruff. I still have the feeling that she was used to be only used for small distances.

I shall start posting my road trip that is currently in progress. I am writing this from Velden by the Wörthersee where the big annual Volkswagen GTI meeting is held.

Day 1. Enschede - Munich.
Only about 700 kilometers. Not a distance I usually start in the morning. When we go on holiday and the distance is sub 1.000 kilometers I try to get out of work a bit early and drive until late in the evening to get a jump start on the holiday. But because it was busy at work and I couldn't leave any sooner we opted to drive off in the following morning. The drive up to Munich was great. The car performed flawlessly and I got to test its top speed. It does exactly what the factory promises and tops out at a strongly limited 215 kilometers on the tachometer which compares to 204 kilometers an hour on the GPS.

NewX5 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

I saw the new BMW X5 on the Autobahn, as mentioned above. Although heavily camouflaged and I spotted the new Rolls Royce Cullinan as well as the new BMW Z4. That was to be expected around Munich.

What wasn't expected was how insanely economical the car is. It really sips fuel and even though it has only 136 horsepower it can easily keep up on the autobahn as long as you drop a gear when you really want to get on it.
Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

I am starting to love it more by the kilometer. The rest of the day was spent wandering the city and having a beer at the Hofbrauhaus, which is mandatory when you visit Munich.

IMG_6183 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

One happy start to the holiday!
Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

[.BMW.]

Looking forward to follow your updates in this thread!

[Hammer Werke]

congrats on the wagon. Interesting for me seeing different spec'd f31s. Here in the usa they all come auto, with xdrive and moonroof. I wish i could drive mine to the hofbrauhaus! I love that place....Munich is a gorgeous city. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Petrolhead Tom]

Thanks for the kind replies.@Hammerwerke, because there are a lot of specs to choose from I could be a bit picky about what I wanted in my car. I couldn't have dreamt that I could find this exact spec as I would have specced it from new myself.

Day two was spent around the BMW Welt and BMW Museum and exploring the city some more. I couldn't wait to finally get to BMW Welt and the BMW Museum as I've seen it so many times on here and enjoyed so many Euro Deliveries that it felt almost strange that I haven't been to the Welt and Museum once. The BMW Welt is just as beautiful as all the pictures on the internet would make you believe. It is just stunning. Right at the entry, there was the new 8 GC prototype. I didn't like it so much on the first release pictures but I just fell in love with it in real life.

The lovely 8 Grand Coupe prototype
Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

We wandered around BMW Welt some more and enjoyed the whole atmosphere. I was blown away by the looks of the new Rolls Royce Phantom and I loved the blue Ghost that stood beside it.

Overview of the BMW Welt
BMW Welt by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

After an extensive visit of every hook and cranny in the BMW Welt, it was finally time to visit the Museum. For me, it was a great moment. I just love old cars and to me, BMW has some of the best heritage of all the German brands. I will be making a movie about the visit to the Welt and Museum but here are some pictures for now.

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

There wasn't any driving involved but we did enjoy the city life and went shopping for a bit.

Found this awesome Defender in the city.
Holiday 2018 by Tom westendorp, on Flickr

Next stop: Ingolstadt!

[F30 316i]

nice car i have f30 316i m sport also manual. but i also have m sport seats and some kind of M steering wheel.
am thinking about catless downpipe and ecu remap next month

[mike@x-ph.com]