[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by phattbam

I hope they at least put you in a comparable loaner vehicle while yours is in the shop.

I got a base 320i the first day, a 328xi Sportline the next week then a base 328i for the next 3+ weeks. So it was not strictly speaking "equivalent" to my car (335i+tune, 'improved' M sport suspension, pretty much fully optioned), but it was still way better than getting an Impala or Chrysler 200 from the local Enterprise rental location for more than a month

Since you are so kindly asking the question, please suffer my $0.02 about the loaners (with two useless pics as you have seen F30's millions of time):

Base 320i



The car had sticker price in the low $30K and I frankly speaking find it a bargain, especially when you look at BMW's lease rates for this car. No bells and whistles but not a boring car by any means and feels quicker than the claimed hp and torque. I have driven pretty much all mainstream midsize sedans as rentals while traveling for business, and I would take the 320i over any of them in a heartbeat. Too bad there is no loaner with an MT which would work best with the 320i

Sportline 328xi and Base 328i



First and foremost, the 328i engine was a bit of a revelation. Yes, it sounds and vibrate a (little) bit like a modern diesel engine, but the car feels very light on its feet. In fact, the engine seemed to push harder/quicker than the N55 at take off. I guess it is just a matter of perception, throttle mapping and the car being louder. Actual speed and acceleration measurements would show that the 335i is quicker (definitely when navigating above the speed limits), but a stock 328i is more than enough car for everyday driving. In fact, a base 328i with sport seats, a firmer suspension and a tune should be a ton of fun. The stock suspension is definitely too soft and wobbly compared to the potential of the engine. This being said, I drove from Atlanta to New Orleans and back and it was a very comfortable experience.
The weather conditions were good (cold but dry) while I had the Xdrive and I could not really feel a big difference. It surely is not a must for the Deep South.

One of my biggest frustrations came perhaps from the standard iDrive system with its nintendo sized display and limited functionalities (not even bluetooth audio streaming)

In brief, I would be a snob saying that a 320i or 328i are not good cars, but it is not what I went and paid for when I got my car. I am a power and speed junkie and felt that the N55 needed a tune to meet my expectations. Without a tune (or MPPK), I am not sure that there is enough of a performance gap between a stock 28i and a stock 35i. Replacing the 335i by the 340i soon is probably a good move in terms of line up management (328 -> 340 -> M3).

Also, based on the above and should I be in the market for a 2-series, I would probably go for a manual (available?) 228i M sport with a firmed up suspension.

[phattbam]

that sport line 328xi isn't too bad. but i know what you mean. it's definitely not your own car.

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by phattbam

that sport line 328xi isn't too bad. but i know what you mean. it's definitely not your own car.

It looked good indeed and it had red stitching on the upholstery which I liked a lot. Had it had a better iDrive unit, I would have been pretty happy with it.

[M3AWD]

Sorry to hear what happened to your engine.. I hope you get your car back very soon. I wonder what the dealership & BMW NA would've done if you had JB4 instead of DINAN??

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by M-SP0RT

Sorry to hear what happened to your engine.. I hope you get your car back very soon. I wonder what the dealership & BMW NA would've done if you had JB4 instead of DINAN??

Not quite sure. The dealership almost immediately claimed that the engine was 100% at fault. As it turned out when they replaced the engine, they found out that the high pressure injection pump had failed and had caused 2 cylinders to fuel-hydrolock. So, strictly speaking, they should have reached the same conclusion in case of a JB4 tune. I can not help to think that the dealership and BMW NA could have made things more difficult.
My impression is that BMW dealerships that are also Dinan shops make (very) good money on tune and mods and will rather try to make the wealthy BMW mothership pay than Dinan. But this is just a personal perception...

The car is running very strong since I got it back last Tuesday.

BTW, since I am back in business -so to speak- PM me if you want to swing by one of these evenings or the week end to do a bit of coding.

[ATLBlue]

Lighting cable in dash

Someone recently PM'd me to know how I ran a USB cable 'under the dash' to keep my iPhone mount setup as clean as possible





Here's modest attempt to provide a DIY (I did not document the install when I did it):

Remove the centre dashboard air vents & trim and the radio/ac control panels as explained in the first 1:30 min of this video (no need to go any further!):

Remove the centre console trim with the iDrive controller (pull gently, only clips):



and unclip the USB connector in the armrest compartment. The USB cable will come underneath and it is cleaner to unplug the female USB connector from the trim, connect it to your cable and put the trim back in place so that the USB cable stays out of sight:



At this point, you only need to run a black (good quality) USB-lightning cable

I tried to represent the path followed by the cable on the following stock picture. The only tricky part is to get the cable from the centre console to the passenger footwell. Once it is done, you just tuck the cable under the the passenger side of the center console trim and make it re-emerge at some point around the iDrive connector. You then push it under the armrest compartment. With the trim pice surrounding the USB connector removed, you can easily access your cable and connect it.



It is all a lot easier than it seems. Just do not rush things and use trim tools to avoid scratching or breaking the trim parts you are removing.

[f30luxline]

Do you have it plugged into the top side of the port, as you would normally plug it in?

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by f30luxline

Do you have it plugged into the top side of the port, as you would normally plug it in?

No I have not. I 'unclipped' the port and the USB cable is plugged in it under the trim as I found it cleaner. It means that the port is no longer directly accessible, but it is not an issue for me as I only connect my iPhone anyhow.
It only takes 30s to pop out the trim and access the port if needed or put it back in place.

[ATLBlue]

Coming back from lunch today, I noticed a brand new i8 on the parking lot. I have not found out yet who the owner is in our office building, but in the meantime I could not help but taking a few pics of my F30 in good company.

Please note I parked far enough from the i8 so that its driver would not freak out by fear of dings in case he was watching through the window









PS: I realize that my car needs a good wash but it will have to wait as I banned the word 'car wash' from my vocabulary.

[ATLBlue]

"Free" blind spot detection mod

I am not a fan of blind spot detection systems (or lane departure alert, automatic cruise control, etc.), and I would be a lot happier with the European left and right 'blind spot' convex rear view mirrors. I imagine it is one more obsolete DOT rule but that this one also makes carmakers happy: they either use a cheaper piece of mirror or they charge you $3,000 (incl. a 200% margin) for a gizmo package that includes blind spot detection.

Convex auto-dimming mirrors can be ordered online (i.e. from ECS tuning), but I found $416 -a piece- way too expensive

The Society of Automotive Engineers published a paper in 1995 explaining how outside mirrors could be adjusted to eliminate blind spots:



I follow this recommendation and have my mirrors adjusted according to Fig.1 and Fig.4. There are nevertheless instances were I like to have them in the classical Fig.2 and Fig.5 position: backing out of my garage, parking in a narrow spot etc.
Being (almost) the only driver of my F30, I am using my memory seats as a work around. I have programmed the memory settings #1 and #2 with the exact same seat position and only the position of the mirrors differ.

when I back out of my garage in the morning, I select the settings #1:



then I get on the street, press the memory button #2 and my mirror switch to the 'SAE' settings:



Nothing earthshattering or incredibly smart here, but I thought I would share just in case...

[f30luxline]

Excellent info! I will be trying this.

[ATLBlue]

Another (free) mod

I am playing it cheap for now, so here's another well known free upgrade to your F30. I discovered it recently on F30post and wanted to share for those of you who did not know about it either.

Your trunk may have become a bit 'lazy' when popping it up, especially with Comfort Access. It happened to me after I installed a rear spoiler (or for whatever other reason). It turns out that the springs tension can be easily increased. Just pull the trunk lining and you will notice that there are 3 different notches that can be used to attach the springs. I just moved mine from position #1 to position #3 and it took care of the issue.

[smithf80]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

Another (free) mod

I am playing it cheap for now, so here's another well known free upgrade to your F30. I discovered it recently on F30post and wanted to share for those of you who did not know about it either.

Your trunk may have become a bit 'lazy' when popping it up, especially with Comfort Access. It happened to me after I installed a rear spoiler (or for whatever other reason). It turns out that the springs tension can be easily increased. Just pull the trunk lining and you will notice that there are 3 different notches that can be used to attach the springs. I just moved mine from position #1 to position #3 and it took care of the issue.

Nice one, I've heard about this being adjustable. Most likely will need to do it when I put my trunk lip on.

[ATLBlue]

What is your favorite Chime ?

I spent some time coding last night and tried the various options available in our car for the warning chimes. There are plenty of video's on Youtube, so I just re-used stuff graciously posted by others:

BMWi :

Mini:

Rolls Royce:

...and the usual BMW Chime:

As annoying as it sometimes can be, the original BMW sound is still my favorite and I ended up recoding to the initial value! (HU_NBT -> 3002 -> SOUND_SIGNAL_SET to 00).

Maybe it is just a matter of resistance to change. I still like the 'old' BMW Sound Logo better too. Here's a short video with the old and new sound logos:

[ATLBlue]

More coding...

Thanks to tboooe, I discovered that the variable light distribution could be coded even if you do not have the HBA (and that it is simply disabled for the US).

Here's what the headlights look like with the US settings:



and with the variable light distribution coded:



the headlight beams cover more area at low speed, are more sensitive to steering wheel input (I think) and also go into a 'highway mode' at higher speed.

I was very happy with this, except for the fact that I had to VO code FEM_BODY and that a number of things I had coded before were returned to stock. This was anyway the opportunity to try a few new options...

I already had the mirrors coded to fold, but I have now turned the delay to 0. There is no need anymore to wait about 1 to 3s pressing the remote button or holding a finger on the door handle.

I tried the Sport display with the "M" color theme:



and reverted to the standard 'amber' theme that matches the rest of the instrument cluster colors, even though I never use it (i guess it is just meant to impress your passengers but provides no useful information).




Next step was to code the taillights as DRL's (improves visibility without getting people behind you to believe that you hit the brakes)



Finally, I coded the audio/nav systems so that it turns off when the ignition is off and that you open the driver door (this one was not documented in the usual cheat sheets and is straightforward: FEM_BODY/3020 TcMaster/TCM_LOGIC_R_OFF_DOOR/aktiv)

[gaijin]

Just a quick note of appreciation. Thoroughly enjoyed the read and very informative to boot!

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by gaijin

Just a quick note of appreciation. Thoroughly enjoyed the read and very informative to boot!

Thanks a lot. The F30 has been on the market for a while and there is not much new stuff to test or new mods to try, but I like to share my discovery process and some extra's. It may be more relevant to new F30 owners or to those who missed something on F30post (which is quite a goldmine compared to other forums).

[swagon]

Great thread. Learnt something new even though I don't own an F30. Thanks a bunch for the mirrors tips; bookmarked and will set the up a bit differently in the morning, and for the coding info. The possibilities seem endless.

[f30luxline]

Good stuff!

I would love to reduce or possibly remove the delay from the mirror folder. I think I would still want the option to fold or not.

[tboooe]

Originally Posted by f30luxline

Good stuff!

I would love to reduce or possibly remove the delay from the mirror folder. I think I would still want the option to fold or not.

That's what I did. Reduced the time to 1/2 a second. Works great for me.

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by f30luxline

I would love to reduce or possibly remove the delay from the mirror folder. I think I would still want the option to fold or not.

Originally Posted by tboooe

That's what I did. Reduced the time to 1/2 a second. Works great for me.

Yep, FEM_BODY -> 3053 -> KOMFORT_SCHLIESSEN -> werte = XX

XX is in HEX the delay time to activate convenience features via Key Fob or Comfort Access

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

[B]I coded the audio/nav systems so that it turns off when the ignition is off and that you open the driver door (this one was not documented in the usual cheat sheets and is straightforward: FEM_BODY/3020 TcMaster/TCM_LOGIC_R_OFF_DOOR/aktiv)

I forgot to mention that with this option coded, you will get the splash screen on your iDrive display every time you start the car. One more reason to code the ///M startup animation