New to the fold

[CaLzA]

Hi all,

Thought I'd whack up an introduction post to say hello and ask some basic questions.

Picking my car up on Thursday and praying to the weather gods that it stays dry:




You all know how excited I am, as you've been there!

I did have a couple of questions I was hoping people could help me out with though:

• I know these like a drink, is monitoring through iDrive sufficient to know when it need a top up? (Actually as I type that, does the car even have a dip-stick?)
• I've seen a lot of discussion on this, but is there a definitive preferred oil and brand I should have for these top ups? Or basically just the best 0w30 I can find?
• I beleive the Nav can be updated to more recent maps - how up to date are these?
• How useful is the traffic system? (Basically figuring out if I'm still going to use google for traffic & speed camera alerts)
• Is there a vin decoder which separates options from stadard kit? Would just be good to know what I actually have.
• Finally, are there any easy "software unlocks" for any of the options that can be enabled without additional hardware? (don't think the car has any options apart from speakers).
  

Thanks all!

[M5Rick]

Hi mate, welcome to the fold.
No dipstick, it's electronic on the dash.
I use Castrol Edge 0W40 A3/B4 spec with a Bosch filter,used to be 0w30 though I want more protection on those full throttle runs.It doesn't matter if there is no BMW spec on the oil container so long as it's the spec written in handbook.
Not too geeky on the software side,I haven't updated traffic system since I bought it and it works fine for my needs but you can download update traffic discs, as for the others I'm sure others will chime in and help you out there. Good luck with it.

[co_pa]

welcome.

i'll add on to rick's post:
- i have the dealership update the maps annually when i'm in for an oil change. things seem accurate on the latest version.
- there are plenty of free vin decoders out there. one that i prefer, because it generates a label, is https://monroneylabels.com
- visually, looks like you have a non-comp and your 343M wheels have a gloss finish, meaning they were painted (from silver). not 100% about that or what else you might have tho.

a lot of good folks in this community. don't hesitate to ask and share.
enjoy in good health.

[Blaxwil]

Great replies from those 2 guys. How many miles on the clock? Was the car tuned? To be on the safe side, I would start a solid oil change regimen. Use a high quality oil like Mobil, Motul or Liquid Moly with a 5W/40 viscosity. Start with a change at the 7500 mile interval.

I don't use the navigation so no comments there.

There are several features to unlock which can be done via Carly or Bimmercode. Or you can have a professional coding session done remotely. Either way, you can unlock many features that will give you a little more versatility. Check previous coding threads on the forum for a full list of what can be done.

Outside of that, take a few months to learn the behavior of the car. It's a powerful machine whether tuned or stock. Do not ever take traction control off. We've seen way too many new owners end up on the wrong side of the road if you know what I mean. Respect the machine and it will provide you with a ton of smiles in return.

Good luck and sweet color btw.

[CaLzA]

Car has just over 38,000 miles. I barely do 5000 a year so a yearly oil change should keep all things sensible there.

Interesting the wheels were painted, I didn't realise it wasn't a factory colour (although I kind of like it!).

The car also comes with the platinum interior which has unfortunately seen a bit of staining on the driver seat, so will be seeing what I can do to rectify that asap.

Will absolutely be taking it slow learning the car, and I can't ever imagine wanting to turn TC off, or even going in to MDM to be honest!

[M5_Raz]

Looks great, congrats! My manual recommends 0w30 or 0w40.

I've used Mobil1 0w40 since I've gotten the car and it seems really happy with it. I went with a 40 due to the higher summer temps around here.

Hope you get many smiles out of it!

[CaLzA]

Okay, now I've got some miles under my belt, I have a series of questions - hopefully easy answers for those in the know:

MPG Readout - is there only an average since reset, or instantaneous too?

Dot on "miles left" gauge - what is it? It seems to move around a little (see photo)


Oil top up - 1100 miles / 3 months after a full service it asked for a litre of oil - is that normal? I know they like a drink but that seems quite soon?

Service Indicator - Car was serviced 3 months / 1300 miles ago. It's now coming up telling me it needs a service in 1400 miles or July (which would be 12 months). Is this right, or has sitting on a forecourt for a while and various test drives screwed with the computer?

Lock and fold mirrors - can this be set to one push instead of hold?

Hill hold - why only 2 seconds and can it be extended?

Handbrake - does this disengage automatically or not? It seems to but I'm sure it told me off once for not releasing it.

Nav - is auto scaling only for North View? Any way around it?

Nav - I have split screen with map and entertainment. Sometimes the nav takes over the entertainment screen and comes up on the HUD more detailed. Quite like it. Is there a logic to when?

Exhaust valves - Google has 10 different explanations of how they behave. Is there a definitive answer?

Revving when out of gear - occasionally it'd be nice to give it a rev in neutral and here the noise, when showing friends the car for example. There's a soft limit at 4000rpm regardless of anything else that I can see. Any way to remove this?

Dash warnings - for example exceeding speed limiter or service info. It seem pressing BC clears the message but the warning triangle stays illuminated. OCD is triggered by this. Is there a way to clear it when I want?

Cruise control - Is there a way to always have it on / ready, rather than pushing the button then the toggle every time?

Heated seats - even on 1 these are super hot. Is this normal? Haven't even tried 3!

Speed limit info - I don't have any additional cameras, but is there any way to at least get this from the maps or something to show up?

Coding - I know loads of stuff can be unlocked (hardware restrictions aside) but is there a list? The information is a bit overwhelming! Car has no options to capitalise on so appreciate scope will be fairly limited

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by CaLzA

Okay, now I've got some miles under my belt, I have a series of questions - hopefully easy answers for those in the know:

MPG Readout - is there only an average since reset, or instantaneous too?

Dot on "miles left" gauge - what is it? It seems to move around a little (see photo)


Oil top up - 1100 miles / 3 months after a full service it asked for a litre of oil - is that normal? I know they like a drink but that seems quite soon?

Service Indicator - Car was serviced 3 months / 1300 miles ago. It's now coming up telling me it needs a service in 1400 miles or July (which would be 12 months). Is this right, or has sitting on a forecourt for a while and various test drives screwed with the computer?

Lock and fold mirrors - can this be set to one push instead of hold?

Hill hold - why only 2 seconds and can it be extended?

Handbrake - does this disengage automatically or not? It seems to but I'm sure it told me off once for not releasing it.

Nav - is auto scaling only for North View? Any way around it?

Nav - I have split screen with map and entertainment. Sometimes the nav takes over the entertainment screen and comes up on the HUD more detailed. Quite like it. Is there a logic to when?

Exhaust valves - Google has 10 different explanations of how they behave. Is there a definitive answer?

Revving when out of gear - occasionally it'd be nice to give it a rev in neutral and here the noise, when showing friends the car for example. There's a soft limit at 4000rpm regardless of anything else that I can see. Any way to remove this?

Dash warnings - for example exceeding speed limiter or service info. It seem pressing BC clears the message but the warning triangle stays illuminated. OCD is triggered by this. Is there a way to clear it when I want?

Cruise control - Is there a way to always have it on / ready, rather than pushing the button then the toggle every time?

Heated seats - even on 1 these are super hot. Is this normal? Haven't even tried 3!

Speed limit info - I don't have any additional cameras, but is there any way to at least get this from the maps or something to show up?

Coding - I know loads of stuff can be unlocked (hardware restrictions aside) but is there a list? The information is a bit overwhelming! Car has no options to capitalise on so appreciate scope will be fairly limited

Mine is on 39500 miles also, I'll answer one question giving the others a chance to put some input in also. The dot to the left is an advisor to fill up when the fuel left indicator gets to it I think, you don't want to run these too near the empty indicator.

[CaLzA]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Mine is on 39500 miles also, I'll answer one question giving the others a chance to put some input in also. The dot to the left is an advisor to fill up when the fuel left indicator gets to it I think, you don't want to run these too near the empty indicator.

Ah nice - what year?

Makes sense, although I'm sure I've seen it on 0 miles too.

Do feel free to answer some of the questions too though if you know the answer please

[Blaxwil]

First and foremost, you need to get intimate with the I-Drive system. Many of the features you mentioned are covered in I-Drive. For example, there are many variations for heated seats in I-Drive. Oil consumption needs a full thread by itself so let's not go there. I would say 3 months is normal if 3 months is normal for your vehicle. Some cars are burning more or less with no rhyme or reason. I would however start with changing from the OEM viscosity to a 5W\40. Most have seen a drastic improvement with just that. I could answer more ??? but will leave some for others

You can also do a search on this forum which should yield 99% of the answers to your questions. Good luck with the ride.

[vafan13]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Mine is on 39500 miles also, I'll answer one question giving the others a chance to put some input in also. The dot to the left is an advisor to fill up when the fuel left indicator gets to it I think, you don't want to run these too near the empty indicator.

I thought the dot had to do with the expected fuel remaining after reaching the destination set in the nav.

[walmark]

Originally Posted by vafan13

I thought the dot had to do with the expected fuel remaining after reaching the destination set in the nav.

Actually, I believe the dot is the fuel needed to reach destination. It won't show up if you don't have any destination set in Navi.

[CaLzA]

That's strange - in the photo above I had about 40 miles left and was driving pretty gently. Definitely not anywhere near using 60 litres!

[CaLzA]

Originally Posted by Blaxwil

First and foremost, you need to get intimate with the I-Drive system. Many of the features you mentioned are covered in I-Drive. For example, there are many variations for heated seats in I-Drive.

Sorry but I can't find that at all in settings, am I missing something really obvious?