BMW and M Power Owners

kitkat9933 · 21 Aug 2025 at 08:47

tamzzy said:
The middle finger

Walked into that one

Robbo · 21 Aug 2025 at 08:57

kitkat9933 said:
What’s the best gesture? So no pause button either ?

The peace sign (careful

) will mute/pause, but you can change what it does in iDrive somewhere.

Bear · 21 Aug 2025 at 09:08

Poke two fingers towards the infotainment screen as if you were going to poke someone in the eyes works for me

Tee Hee Johnson · 21 Aug 2025 at 09:19

MrRockliffe said:
Is that comfort or the comfort plus, whatever it’s called, with memory seats and sunroof?

Just comfort, heated steering wheel, electric tailgate and all the wee cubby holes and storage netting.

naefeart · 21 Aug 2025 at 10:08

Bear said:
Poke two fingers towards the infotainment screen as if you were going to poke someone in the eyes works for me

I had just been turning the volume down via the knob on the center console, I hadn't even noticed there wasn't a pause button until I read the comments here

I will try some random gesturing later this afternoon.

Bear · 21 Aug 2025 at 10:24

naefeart said:
I had just been turning the volume down via the knob on the center console, I hadn't even noticed there wasn't a pause button until I read the comments here

I will try some random gesturing later this afternoon.

To be honest, I very rarely use it. It’s an amusing gimmick to confuse people that have never seen it but the pause is a useful one as you don’t need to take your eyes off the road. Volume I just use the steering wheel buttons

aaronyuri · 21 Aug 2025 at 11:35

naefeart said:
I had just been turning the volume down via the knob on the center console, I hadn't even noticed there wasn't a pause button until I read the comments here

I will try some random gesturing later this afternoon.

You can normally press the volume button in to toggle mute off/on rather than manually turn the knob down and up? Not sure on the G series.

naefeart · 21 Aug 2025 at 11:45

aaronyuri said:
You can normally press the volume button in to toggle mute off/on rather than manually turn the knob down and up? Not sure on the G series.

Indeed, I have also done it this way in the past. If I'm going to gesture with my hand anyway, it's certainly not a huge additional effort to just push the button. Would a pause button on the steering wheel be nice? Yeah maybe, but it's not keeping me up at night.

I do however wish they had kept the buttons for the climate control, I hate having to use the touch screen

aaronyuri · 21 Aug 2025 at 12:56

naefeart said:
Indeed, I have also done it this way in the past. If I'm going to gesture with my hand anyway, it's certainly not a huge additional effort to just push the button. Would a pause button on the steering wheel be nice? Yeah maybe, but it's not keeping me up at night.

I do however wish they had kept the buttons for the climate control, I hate having to use the touch screen

Touch buttons for climate control?! This is why I hate cars of the last 3 or so years. Real buttons have gone the way of the dodo. Screens with endless nested menus are absolutely not an upgrade over physical buttons.

GravyMonster · 21 Aug 2025 at 12:56

naefeart said:
I do however wish they had kept the buttons for the climate control, I hate having to use the touch screen

The single reason I went for an iDrive7 car instead of iDrive8. Having climate controls on a touchscreen is awful.

squerble · 21 Aug 2025 at 13:12

MrRockliffe said:
HK is needed as the standard audio is dire, but that comes from someone with an Arendal speaker setup at home (I.e. I love my music).

Is it really that dire or is there an element of audio snob in there?

I also enjoy my music, but I've been trawling AutoTrader and PistonHeads and there's very few cars that seem to come up with the Tech Pack to get the HK sound system.

tamzzy · 21 Aug 2025 at 13:19

squerble said:
Is it really that dire or is there an element of audio snob in there?

i had both (standard in my 2013 f32 and HK on my 2018 f36)
yes, it really is that dire. i'm not an audiophile by any means and the quality difference is instantly noticeable

GravyMonster · 21 Aug 2025 at 13:22

It depends what you can tolerate really. My wife does not care about audio quality and all and cannot hear any difference. I on the other hand, can, and it bugs the life out of me so for me HK/Burmester/Bose/etc. are a necessity.

Except the Sonos systems in some cars. They're still terrible and aren't worth it.

MrRockliffe · 21 Aug 2025 at 13:54

squerble said:
Is it really that dire or is there an element of audio snob in there? I also enjoy my music, but I've been trawling AutoTrader and PistonHeads and there's very few cars that seem to come up with the Tech Pack to get the HK sound system.

Standard audio is the 4 inch mid/high paired with a 6.5 inch bass driver.

HK is tweeter + mid + 8 inch bass driver

And a 400w amplifier.

It just provided much better volume when driving at motorway speeds IMO, the standard system begins to sound very thin.

I have the standard audio in the ID.7 and find it fine, for context.

MissChief · 21 Aug 2025 at 14:56

Standard audio in my 2015 F36. It's fine for me, mainly because I listen to the radio and Spotify and not much else. And I likely haven't heard a good sound system like the H&K or Burmeister.

DJMK4 · 21 Aug 2025 at 15:08

MissChief said:
Standard audio in my 2015 F36. It's fine for me, mainly because I listen to the radio and Spotify and not much else. And I likely haven't heard a good sound system like the H&K or Burmeister.

I had a H&K System (speakers and amp) in my 2010 120D E82 Coup

the quality of the sound was supirior and much better

Unfortunatly i dont have any system like this in the 420D 2018 Coup i have.

You can tell the audio quality is not as good, given i like listening to my music quite loud , it doesnt have the same output , but still its not an end of the world thing

the idrive system is good and its better than not having one (like i was lacking with any idrive system on my e82)

bingham67 · 22 Aug 2025 at 00:14

Stone chips what do people do? Suppose to be getting touch up pens from BMW whenever they turn up.

I have fair few chips around car mainly on the lower part of passenger side door, a scratch and chip near handle level on drivers side. And black trim above door been chipped to.

I've had a smart repairer come out who was recommended on local Facebook page, looking at pictures of his work it seems visually very good. He will have to spray the driver side abit so he said. He wants £345 for all the work, Im in two minds my concern is I don't want to end up with an obvious mismatch of colour. His page says he has 15 years experience.

He said we do the job blah blah you won't be able to tell the difference, but If I end up selling the car I don't want to be in a position where a dealer notices it then I'm screwed, I also don't want it to be bad and you can really notice it it's just embarrassing then.

tamzzy · 22 Aug 2025 at 00:31

If you don't have to do a smart repair then don't. For all the bluster of the colour matching...no it doesn't!
I had one done because some doofus made a big scratch on my door previously. Could tell a mile away that the door had been repainted. Sold the car a few months later because my OCD couldn't take it any longer (and also because I got a deal on a 440i lol)

MrRockliffe · 22 Aug 2025 at 16:05

How do I figure out what service is required on a BMW?

The iDrive just says service required but gives me no context as to what's needed.

Called BMW and they're saying spark plugs are due, but info I can find online says 60k miles - car had them done 4 years ago and it's only done 5k miles since then.

TS7 · 22 Aug 2025 at 16:12

naefeart said:
Sounds like you were satisfied with the M5 up to this point, what is it your are looking for in a change?

I had an M5 previously, currently I have an M3. I don’t think I would have made the change directly, other than the M3 being a bit smaller, more agile and a bit more raw, it’s not night and day different from an ownership perspective. The M5 is more plush and you are more insulated from the overall driving experience, but it’s still a really good car.

When I was looking earlier this year, I did consider going back to an M5, but I’d been there, done that and didn’t need the size. I started looking at Alfa QFs but when I tried to test drive a nearly new one, the garage cancelled because it was in the workshop, broken and they couldn’t tell me when it would be coming out. No such worries with the M3.

Yea no grumbles with the M5. I don't need a car that large and the overriding reason for purchase was I've always loved saloon cars, owned many of them and wanted to own and experience the ultimate Super Saloon that is the M5 and "tick" the V8 box off too.

I think it's largely the proposition/temptation of "getting out" of the M5 with minimal depreciation having not spent any money on tyres, brakes etc. just stuck fuel in it and driven it - [it was purchased Used Approved so the few bits that needed doing were done under Warranty] and trying something new.

Also conscious the depreciation curve over the next 10,000 miles will likely be steeper - although being honest, I'd not even thought of this until I received the call and checked how much it was still worth. I didn't purchase it worrying about future value but it is indeed a bonus its kept it.

On the flip-side. The E63 does not interest me [the engine certainly does, but the not the car/shape itself]. The new C63 would be more than I want to spend and the previous gen is now quite dated.

The Audi RS range has again never got me particularly excited; I "respect" what they are and their capability but I've never thought "I'd love one of those".

Which really just leaves me with an M4. I'll give one a test drive. I'll think about it over the weekend...

or I'll just stick with the M5!