Boba

I guess that leather driving gloves just aren’t a BMW thing.

That’s interesting. I had assumed that the clickiness meant it was mechanical but since I never wear gloves (as I’m prone to losing things like that) I’d never noticed otherwise.

I bought an OBD->Ethernet cable for ISTA and it came with a CD with an old chineseified version of Esys. Looks too doubtful to try but it caused me to do a bit of browsing. Is Esys still viable for the G30/31? If so where can I get it? Browsing around there are endless Esys threads talking about Premium, Pro, Launcher etc. but does anyone know if it can still be downloaded from somewhere and used successfully?

Everyone has different views on RoF tyres. I find them perfectly fine for ride and roadholding and I prefer the greater protection from a sudden flat.

Just personal preference, either the 520d or 530d will do all you need. My last was a G31 520d and I’ve swapped to a 530d. The 2 litre engine is probably amongst the best in its class and is really quite quick if you push the loud pedal even with a well loaded car. Its only drawback is that it’s always a bit clattery, very diesely at startup and you can certainly hear it when it’s working though it’s pretty quiet on cruise. The 3 litre is in a different class altogether, needs minimal throttle to make great progress and always sounds quiet with just the hum of a BMW 6-cylinder. If consumption is an issue then my experience so far on mixed driving is low 40s for the 2 litre and mid 30s for the 3 though both get good mileage on long motorway runs. My personal preference is the 530d as it performs more like my idea of a BMW and I always found with the 520d that I needed to put effort into hurrying it along as the throttle weight seems to push you towards economy! Something to consider of course is that for the same money you can get a much better kitted 520d as there are so many more around.

Take care on roundabouts. You know what BMW drivers can be like!

if it was a diesel I’d say glow plug control but on a petrol surely it could only be mixture?

I think the switch is mechanical (on mine anyway) but it’s a real cheap and nasty effort. My last car was OK but on this one the switch to ECO needs either to be pressed right in one corner or very firmly and sometimes twice. Inadequate design for something which I personally use quite often (ECO on wide open spaces and Comfort in town).

As above, I have them set to the door pillar figures. I’d prefer them harder but ATM they’re at standard. My current 18” winters aren’t staggered but my 19” summers are the original M Sport ones which are staggered. Re your Q I think the staggered setup is purely for looks anyway, not needs. The 245s have plenty of load bearing and road holding and as you point out the xDrive should get away with less grip anyway.

It depends on how you have set tyre type on the TPS monitor. You can set it to nonstandard and specify the required tyre pressures to whatever you like. I guess the previous owner faffed around with it for his own reasons and it wasn’t picked up on the so-called AUC multi-point check. Actually the salesman queried me when I pointed out the low pressures and said that the fact that the TPMS readings were green ‘proved’ that the pressures were OK. I got him to call their resident ‘genius’ who looked at it and explained things to him.

15 seconds!!! Not round here mate. At -7 my car was still a solid crystalline white iceberg at 9 o’clock this morning. Stuck everything on (even the heated seats) and 5 minutes later only the bottom of the screen and the bit in front of the rear view mirror had melted. So into the garage for the deicer which took 20 seconds to clear the lot. I used to use warm water but found that it tended to ice over a few hundred yards down the toad. Gave up altogether years ago after I blamed it for cracking a screen.

Yes I did. Recommended cold settings are 36 front, 38 rear on iDrive (same as door pillar) and they’re bang on that ATM. i think that the M90 here (Fife up to Perth) is quite rutted in places but not noticed much of an issue before. It’s much less a problem elsewhere but on the M90 it feels like the car’s wandering all over though in reality it’s probably quite slight. The 520d didn’t do it on those wheels though (grumble, grumble).

I just had a new 320d loaner and I can say with certainty that the ride in my G31 (non VDC) is in a different league altogether. Mediterranean Blue is a great choice (unbiased opinion!)

I’ve never noticed TBH though I agree it does seem possible. I’ve only ever pushed the stalk button when driving off after dark, so I guess the lights have never had occasion to switch themselves off and then on again during a drive for me to notice. Actually since I invariably push the button as above it seems a bit redundant to me. On what occasion wouldn’t you want the full icon features?