I've gone Bavarian! 2015 428i Gran Coupé

Caporegime
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Is the spoiler lifting towards the right hand side? Not sure what else you can do but make sure it’s secure since one of my mates fitted a spoiler and it flew off on the motorway.

I’m in the camp of if you like it sod the rest of us, like you did with that sticker :D
I don’t believe so but will need to check it now you’ve mentioned it. I’m also considering removing the sticker and maybe getting a black one and putting it lower down.
 
Caporegime
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The MPS5 Tyres finally arrived after waiting one day short of two weeks. For a site that advertises 'Fast Delivery' and has a UK Domain they keep it very quiet that the tyres ship from Europe and in my case one pair from Holland and one pair from Germany. Anyway, brake pads changed all round, new tyres and a fresh MOT in the bag for another year. If you need tyres in a hurry I'd avoid Mytyres.co.uk but if you can plan far enough ahead then their prices were £100+ cheaper than anywhere online and they had both sizes in MPS5's when many others had eith4er fronts or rears.

It's been an expensive couple of months due to that with £783 for the four tyres, £138.60 for the MOT, a brake pad wear sensor and the fitting (£48 to fit all four, £12 per tyre!) then £108 for the brake pad fitting, Brembo which I supplied at a cost of £110, bought before Christmas. The rears probably would have done another couple of thousand miles according to the OBC but I just got them all changed. I also picked up a cabin air filter which I have yet to fit but fingers crossed that will be the full extent of the bills for a considerable time.

I'm doing less long runs so overall MPG has dropped recently with the average hovering between 27 & 30MPG running on Super Unleaded from Costco.
 
Caporegime
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Thought I’d bring this up to date. I have a cabin air filter to swap over (not sure if it’s under the drivers side or passenger side on a RHD 4 series) and I still haven’t fitted the diffuser. I also think I will likely eventually take off the M4 style spoiler and go for the smaller version, most likely in gloss black.

Nothing else has gone wrong, the MPS5’s have bedded in nicely and now that the weather is improving I’m able to push a bit more with peace of mind.
 
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Caporegime
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How are you finding the PS5s?


I’ve put them on my 135i and have immediately noticed how much more dull the steering is.
Can’t say I’ve noticed much difference in the steering tbh. Have you checked your pressures? If they’ve dropped a bit, or even need putting up a little it might feel slightly woolly as the sidewall flexes too much?
 
Caporegime
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I haven’t, no. Since they’ve just been fitted (days ago) I assumed they would be correct, but probably worth a check.
Did you check your pressures?

Looking around for insurance as mine will be due in late June. Some of the prices are absolutely wild. £629 or £647 for an annual policy. Nothing has changed!
 
Caporegime
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There's so much pollen in the air my car looks awful so quickly so I got it washed at the valet centre at work:

2jB8jQcP.jpg

She comes up pretty well for being 8 years old.

Can insurance bought from Stella insurance, who advertise about being pro women. £60 more than last year but given some of the bigger names were wanting £800+ I'll take that. £450 for the year.
 
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Caporegime
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Time for another update.

Bought some new Wipers after what appear to be the originals (8 years!) started squeaking no matter how wet or damp or moist the screen was and only a torrential downpour stopped them squeaking on every sweep. Some sites show an incorrect part number for the 4 series and I ended up with a set of wipers for an Isuzu DMax. Re-ordered and the correct set arrived and were fitted. Success! Quiet and working well again.

Still haven't got round to fitting the cabin air filter (Is it on the left or right side on RHD cars?) and the car is (finally) going in for the Gearbox fluid change on the 23rd of this month.

I've been 'using the full potential of the engine' a lot more recently while the weather is good and the average MPG has suffered due to this. 26.85mpg last fill up!! Previous fills were 30.33, 29.22 and 30.04mpg. Still running on Super unleaded from Costco. £1.509 on Friday.

Other than that no other issues to report which could mean impending doom is around the corner. I'm considering taking up the official BMW warranty even though I haven't had it in the 2 years and 3 months I've owned the car. The Satnav could do with an update I think too which, if previous Black Friday's have been anything to go by, may be on sale again this year.
 
Caporegime
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what brand - had been using Bosch but there lifespan does not seem great, maybe summer was too hot, but have temporarily put back on the older Michelin hybrid ones, whilst I think;
maybe it's like the tyre market with softer tyres.

£1.5 for super unleaded - bargain, must be, nearer to £1.70 Cambs Esso - maybe it was 1.66 ; brand snobbery have you tested mpg on someone elses super unleaded ?

so are you car play or AA - has that been working OK ?
Bosch is what I bought And what was on it previously.

I have neither AA or CarPlay. At least AFAIK for the CarPlay, I have an Android phone.
 
Caporegime
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Was it a tyre valve in the end?
No, something in the tyre. They didn't say what, just said they plugged it and it was fine. Has been fine since too.

Had to add a bit more coolant/antifreeze, on very cold mornings it would ask for a top up. Couldn't for the life of me see a min/max so added 500ml of BMW concentrated 50:50 coolant and distilled water. No complaints from the car since.
 
Caporegime
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One of my little bug bears has always been the top of the centre console. It's become very worn since I got the car, especially where I rest my arm so i got a replacement for £35 from ebay and fitted it today.

The original:
HnideZt.jpg


The replacement:
gRwziWq.jpg


And after fitting, which was easy enough and best done from the back seat. Remove the rear cover around the vents which just pulls off, unplug the cable if you wish to give you more room. Use a flat blade screwdriver in the centre of the spring to unclip it, remove the pins on each side by pushing from the middle then pulling at each end. The old cover then just lifts out, the new one goes in, replace spring and pins, push spring back into place and replace vents and you're done.

New cover in place:
vaRLrXi.jpg



Car was also at the main dealer yesterday for the airbag recall and they performed a free health check. All green except one minor issue, one of the centre exhaust clamps has a fairly substantial crack in it. I declined their offer of replacing it for £130 as the car is in for MOT on Tuesday and I'll get them to replace it then. Again I'm not expecting anything untoward, especially after the health check by BMW so expect a clean, new 12 months ticket. Should it pass it means that the only 'non service/maintenance' issue has been the exhaust clamp. Given the car is a few months shy of 9 years old and has just under 52k miles that's excellent value.

Oh I forgot to add, a new battery for the remote and a new metal cover as well have been bought. The battery was £5 for two from eBay as well, the metal cover around £14 but it's a sturdy bit of kit and keeps the key nice and clean as well as preventing me pressing the boot open by accident.
 
Caporegime
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Have you been happy with the car in general? Came from a focus if I remember correctly?


Has it been the step up you were hoping for?
I have. It's very comfortable, especially after ditching the run flats. It still feels good to drive, very smooth and easy to drive, the auto gearbox has even made me a self shifting convert. Only issue is Son says I'm never allowed to sell it, I must give it to him once I'm done!

I have had some seeds of changing it next year once it's paid off. Perhaps something with either 8 cylinders or maybe a twin turbo V6.
 
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