[TurboWeasel]

Afternoon folks, thought I'd drop by and introduce my myself.

Picked up a 2016 330d last weekend, which is my first BMW after a 20 year hiatus in VW land. I'm so glad to see BMW still make great driver's cars

So yeah, it's quite a youthful example with 39K miles on it and 2 previous owners. I know virtually nothing about BMWs but I do know how to spanner, so I set about an oil change this morning.

BMW can keep their 2 year/18,000 mile service regime, which is ludicrous. The 10,000 mile old stuff that came out was almost like valve grinding paste, so I can see some truth behind the N47/57 chain & crank bearing wear horror stories which are so prevalent on t'internet, and it had another 8K to go! Utter madness.







The air filter wasn't looking too clever either, so I stuck a new one of those in whilst I was there.



I'll be keeping it standard. I've learned so many times with assorted VAG hot hatches that modifications just cause problems. It's more than quick enough for my needs, and handles well enough also

The only things I'll be changing will be the removal of the cheesy aftermarket shiny crap off the front bumper and possibly dropping down to 18" 400Ms as 19" runflats aren't great if I'm honest. They look lovely but the tramlining is getting annoying.

Couple of questions whilst I'm here, if you'd be so kind.

What is the most comprehensive BMW scan tool available? Is it still INPA or some such that I used to use years ago? I'm not really after cheap generic OBD dongles that can't do much, but rather dealer level if such a thing exists? Don't mind paying for it, I just want the deeper functionality.

What brake pads do you guys use on the blue caliper brakes? I'm very underwhelmed by the pedal feel. It's completely dead and they don't feel particularly strong, or is that just how they are?

Sorry in advance if the pics are enormous. I'm not sure if this forum automatically rescales them or not.

Cheers all and happy weekend

[TurboWeasel]

Actually, I've just had a thought, will 18s fit over the blue brakes? If not, are there any runflats that aren't quite so runflatty? If not, I'll just switch to regular 19" rubber.

[Armaan]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Actually, I've just had a thought, will 18s fit over the blue brakes? If not, are there any runflats that aren't quite so runflatty? If not, I'll just switch to regular 19" rubber.

18s will, 17s will not. The 400m are made for the M Sport with the blue brake upgrade, so you'll be absolutely fine.

Your reasoning for the 19s is exactly why 18 is the max I'll go. Far too crashy, mostly for the aesthetics.

Edit - most swap out the runflats, improves the ride significantly. If you can go without that is.

Armaan

[SteveChester]

Keep the wheels and put some decent Michelin rubber on it.

Don't worry we will help you spend some money on this car

[scouse stelth]

Very nice looking car. Just get your wheel sealed and put some good rubber on there and your off go for a stage 1 map makes a big difference

[330Stevie]

Nice car! I had a 330d and have nothing but fond memories.
I had blue brakes; I found them strange to start with insomuch as they are very progressive through the pedal imo; once I got used to them they were fine. Suggest you stick with and see how you feel about them. Especially if they are not squealing (known issue even with aftermarket)
Has it had EGR cooler recall carried out…?
Do check…

[ian332isport]

INPA was for older E series cars. Newer stuff needs ISTA for dealer level diagnosis. It available free if you poke around.

[fuzzybunny]

Lovely car, the 6 pot diesel is a gem of an engine, economic on fuel as well.

[TurboWeasel]

Thanks guys

Yeah I've been surprised by the fuel economy to be honest. I had seen figures of 50mpg around the internet before I started looking at them, which to me seemed impossible for a 1600+kg car with a 3.0 turbo, but it really does do 50mpg! Amazing. Well, the caveats being comfort mode and sticking to the speed limits

Ta muchly, I will seek out ISTA and familiarise myself with it.

Yeah it's had the EGR cooler done. Not had any squeaks from the brakes yet but looking more closely at them over the weekend, the front discs are pretty much done. One heck of a wear lip on them. I suspect they are the originals and might explain my lack of blown awayness by them. They just feel old and glazed over.

Yeah no one believes me when I say I'm keeping it standard I'll have to look into remaps at some point but tyres and brakes first. I hear the official MPPK (intercooler and ECU) is pretty good, but expensive! I like the idea of a separate ECU to make it fully reversable.

Had a weird one with the oil change. 6.5 litres came out, 6.5 litres went back in, but the oil level thingy in Vehicle Status is showing 3/4 full. Just prior to the oil change, it showed full. What's up with that? Lol.

[330Stevie]

Always used the good old fashioned dip stick regardless of the idrive reader.
Much more accurate

[Lorcan]

Welcome aboard

[Alscoob]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

Always used the good old fashioned dip stick regardless of the idrive reader.
Much more accurate

...and it's hidden away at the rear right hand side of the engine near the bulkhead, just in case you didn't know?

[TurboWeasel]

Had a bit of a situation last night. So I stuck 0.25L oil in, in the dark, in the rain, and due to my impatience and the less than ideal conditions.....the oil filler cap rolled off the engine cover straight into the fan housing.....behind the fan blades

But yes, during the cap recovery fiasco, I spotted the dipstick! I'll use that instead because the iDrive system only seems to move in 0.25L segments.

I think BMW only implemented the oil check/measuring system to save people the embarrassment of lifting the bonnet of their 'reliable' car in public

[Gorsh]

I've got a Foxwell NT530 for BMw/Mini, it reads and clears everything, also good for diagnosing - I had a ABS fault there were loads of faults logged which didn't pin it down, went into live data and I could immediately see which wheel sensor was faulty.

Re the oil - maybe the filter refilling would be the reason the level was a little lower than with the old oil?

[TurboWeasel]

Thanks Gorsh, I think you're right. In any case, it took 7 litres to get it back up to max on the dipstick. I think the iDrive check accounts for approx half a litre being in circulation during the measurement.

One thing that struck me is, I bet BMW techs use the dipstick during services. If they're on flat rate, they're not going to drive it for 30 minutes and then sit there waiting on the electronic measurement, lol.

Cheers, I will look into the Foxwell. I'm finding the whole ISAT D, ISTA P, ICOM, ENET, D-CAN stuff confusing. It was so much easier in VAG land with VCDS or OBD Eleven.

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

Nice car! I had a 330d and have nothing but fond memories.
I had blue brakes; I found them strange to start with insomuch as they are very progressive through the pedal imo; once I got used to them they were fine. Suggest you stick with and see how you feel about them. Especially if they are not squealing (known issue even with aftermarket)
Has it had EGR cooler recall carried out…?
Do check…

Not just aftermarket re brake squeal! I've stopped caring now. Have only ever had the stock m sport, blue brake setup and always with OEM pads. But three BMW garages and sets of pads later (also had worn discs replaced) and they still intermittently squeal like a horny fox.

[Busted]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Not just aftermarket re brake squeal! I've stopped caring now. Have only ever had the stock m sport, blue brake setup and always with OEM pads. But three BMW garages and sets of pads later (also had worn discs replaced) and they still intermittently squeal like a horny fox.

I had my brakes (hubs, discs, pads, carriers and calipers) replaced under warranty and they still squeaked like crazy. Ended up getting rid of the car because of it. They aren't great brakes either.

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by Busted

I had my brakes (hubs, discs, pads, carriers and calipers) replaced under warranty and they still squeaked like crazy. Ended up getting rid of the car because of it. They aren't great brakes either.

Didn't you post at the time? I recall reading that and laughing! You're 100% correct though - it's nuts that a 50k car has such a basic (not to mention irksome) problem in this age of precision engineering.

Yes, there are some lucky F3X fellows who have ever suffered from it, but it's deffo' not just a handful of us - if you do a search it's so common an issue over the years!

[TurboWeasel]

Well the honeymoon period didn't last long

It slid into the wall at the end of my drive on Monday morning as it was all snowy and frozen over.

So yeah this self inflicted 3mph crunch is going to cost about £2500 to fix, mainly because the offside headlight (£1500!!) is broken where the wing collapsed onto it, which has left a hole in it.

Word of advice - do not use LV= as an insurance company, they are fricking awful. Haven't been able to get through to the claims department all week and they're ignoring my emails.

Not only that, the only 2 approved repairers they have in my area aren't even in my town! So now I have to pay an additional £200 excess to use a bodyshop of my choice (A BMW approved one locally), but the bodyshop told me to challenge that as it's illegal under FCA guidelines.

FFS, what a pain in the hoop. Don't crash your cars peeps

I'm blaming the Pirelli P zeros as they're bloody awful. 9 years with Golfs and Michelins, Continentals, Goodyears etc never had a problem getting off my drive in winter, another ffs for good measure

[danb1979]

Ouch Bloody hell, sorry to see that...

Amazing how much damage a slow impact can do!

Fingers crossed it'll soon be sorted and back ship-shape!

[TurboWeasel]

Yeah it's insane. I'm just thankful nothing structural bore the brunt. Just easy to replace parts.

It's booked in mid January for repair. Pretty good metal quality as there's not even a trace of rust on the exposed areas after nearly 2 weeks of road salt exposure.

It makes you realise what a sham insurance is. The bodyshop even claimed I needed a new wheel because it had a tiny little scuff on it. A brand new diamond cut 19 incher from BMW won't be cheap!

So yeah, bodyshops rip insurance companies a new one with over inflated estimates, and the insurance in turn rip us a new one I told him that was ridiculous and I didn't want 1 brand new wheel and 3 old wheels, which are in need of a mild refresh. That would just boggle my OCD too much.

Still enjoying the car though. Over a month's daily use, it's had one random iDrive reboot and the occasional handbrake not releasing squeakathon session, but these appear to be common issues so I'm not too concerned.

[330Stevie]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

the occasional handbrake not releasing squeakathon session, but these appear to be common issues so I'm not too concerned.

At slow speeds pull hand brake on off several times on a semi regular basis. It should help and is the official bmw guidance