SilverJohn

My 2012 Convertible is the same. Can open the roof off the key but not close it. I think it may be a safety thing that if the car is unlocked, there may be people moving into / out of the car who could be caught unawares or even trapped by the roof movement although it does have sensors which stop it if there is an obstruction. RTFM John

Hi Mike I'm no expert but it may be the age of the car and it's level of technology isn't compatible with an up to date phone. 14/15 years is a long time in technology terms so you may need either a newer car or an older phone ! If no-one on the forum can help, maybe try a local in-car entertainment specialist or an independent BMW garage as a main dealer will probably charge just to investigate. Final suggestion - speak to the previous owner if possible. Hope you get it sorted, it's legal and so much safer than holding the phone !! John

Wheels and winter tyres now fitted and although they don't look quite as good as the 19", they don't look bad at all so I'm happy I took the plunge. I've today pressure washed the summer wheels and tyres and when dry, will put them into storage until probably March or later if the weather dictates. As we've had very little ice and no snow yet, I can't advise on the difference in grip. As and when appropriate, I'll post again. John

Possibly a bit late as I've only just seen the post, but perhaps for the benefit of others, I've recently had work done by B M Technika of Luton having been recommended to them by another BMW owner. Their number is 01582 491011. The owner and staff are friendly, approachable and knowledgeable. They are only a small company so don't expect a flashy showroom ! Hope this helps. John

Wow, that's drastic but I guess in the circumstances, you have little choice. I take it you've asked (in writing) the dealer to remove the wheel bolts? You would probably need to get their response also in writing to substantiate the claim. It might also be worth contacting BMW corporate to get their stance. They're not going to like this sort of adverse publicity. Hope you get it sorted soon. John

So, here we are a couple of weeks later and things have moved on. The set of wheels and tyres I'd found on THAT auction site eventually went for a few quid more than my maximum bid so I lost out with only seconds to spare. Never mind. I found another set of the same size at a fixed price although they weren't in as good condition. After going to collect them (just a 90 mile round trip) found they had pretty rubbish summer tyres on and that all the balance weights had been stripped off. Went straight to my local tyre depot who had helped me in formulating my decision to go with winter tyres and they quickly removed the tyres and sent them for re-cycling. I've spent some time since then refurbishing the rims myself. Not to the standard of a professional rim refurbisher, but they'll only be in the car for 2/3 months and appear ok as long as you don't look too closely !! I've also bought a brand new set of full winter tyres with an A rating for wet grip. These are run-flats, the same as the existing summer tyres. My next stage is to get the tyres fitted to the rims and then fitted to the car. Hopefully this can be achieved by the end of this week. Local tyre depot is a branch of Tyre City Tyres sourced on-line from Camskill.co.uk Watch this space ! John

Hi Phil Yours is a 2.0L Diesel, mine is the 3.0L Diesel so clearly there's going to be a difference ! Since buying the car in April of this year, my calculated figures from fuel purchases are as follows : Overall MPG 34.95 (5289 Miles) Recent Months : Sept 36.59 (466 Miles), October 38.18 (1237 Miles), November 33.82 (808 Miles). The Car computer is currently showing 36.2. The significant change in October was mainly due to a family wedding in Carlisle (we live in Luton) I don't actually know how the car's computer calculates the MPG, particularly over what timescale/mileage. It might be in the manual somewhere but hey, life's too short. Feel free to draw your own conclusion but it would seem that the car's calculations are slightly optimistic. Finally, thanks for the compliment, like you I am retired but try to keep active both physically and mentally. Cheers, John

Hi Phil Are you taking the figures from the on-board computer? If so, I would question their accuracy. A habit I picked up when employed and running company cars is to maintain a spreadsheet of fuel purchases including mileage at the time of the fill-up. Even though now retired, I still do this and find there is ALWAYS a difference between the car computer figure and spreadsheet calculations. Sometimes this is quite significant. OK, call me a saddo for still doing this but remember a decline in fuel consumption can be an indicator of engine or brake problems. Hope this helps. John

I'd be interested to know the technical reason for this. It sounds potentially very expensive. John

Hi Richard Like you, I have been motoring for 40 years or so and this is the first time I've sought winter tyres. This is because I now have a moderately powerful car with automatic transmission and wide tyres. Cars in your Dad's and my Dad's day were far less powerful, rarely had automatic gearboxes and had relatively skinny tyres. I've discussed this at length with a tyre specialist. The optimum snow/ice tyre has a soft compound and soft sidewalls so it will mould itself to the road surface. Summer run flat tyres are the exact opposite. Both BMW and Mercedes rear wheel drive cars have a reputation of being difficult to control in winter conditions. I would rather be safe than sorry. I don't know about the X-Drive and possible transmission damage, that's out of my knowledge range. John

I recently bought a 3 series, 2012 and found it had the original maps. Never been updated. Found www.satnavupgrades.co.uk and have had great service from them. Latest upgrade is 2020-1 and I got it for £35 but that may vary depending on which flavour of Sat-Nav you have. If it's the same as mine (our car years are the same) then you get sent a series of files via bit-torrent which you then download, unpack and transfer to a usb drive which you then insert in the usb port in the glovebox. You just need a little bit of computer know-how and about an hour or so of time, most of which is the download processing time (It's 25 Gb). Bear this in mind for next time !! Hope it helps. John

Hi Jarrod Last week I posted about winter tyres and sizes etc for my 3 series. According to my local tyre specialist, just putting winter tyres on the rear is not a good idea. I'm in the process of buying a full set of 17" wheels and winter run-flat tyres to temporarily replace the 19" summer wheels and tyres. Yes, this will slightly compromise the appearance of the car but as it will be used less in the winter and will be so much safer, I'm prepared to accept the difference. Hope this helps. John

Thanks Upt'North I eventually got the word from a parts specialist at the local dealership that they will fit so I've put a bid in. I didn't bother asking about storage or anything as I can't believe anything they do would be competitive 🤣. I'll post again in the next few days, hopefully with the news my bid has been successful. John

My car has 19" wheels with run-flat tyres but they're summer tyres and I'm apprehensive about the forthcoming winter weather. I've seen a set of 17" BMW wheels and run-flat winter tyres with 5 mm of tread on e-bay which at the moment have a very low bid price which I expect to increase as the auction expiry date approaches. I've been exchanging messages with the seller and have also spoken to a contact at my local Tyre City who is knowledgeable on wheels and tyres. However, as well as the size difference, there is a difference in the offset between my existing wheels and the ones for sale. Mine are designated as IS 37 Front and IS 39 Rear whereas the one for sale are IS 34 Front and IS 37 Rear. 64 million dollar question is : Will they fit ? Any and all advice welcome, the e-bay auction still has 6 days to run. Thanks.

Hi Donny That's a fairly low mileage for a 2016 car. This might suggest frequent small journeys rather than long commutes or travelling greater distances. If so, take the car for a 200 mile drive so it gets good and hot all the way through and this may help in clearing carbon build up. Otherwise a clean of the valve may be necessary following the instructions posted earlier.

I had an EGR problem with my 325D but cleaning wouldn't have solved it. After nearly 70,000 miles, a leak had developed causing exhaust to penetrate into the actual mechanism which led to it's sticking. Only solution was a new valve which came out at £260 including fitting. This was at an independent garage, not a main agent but the new valve was genuine BMW part. (According to the garage owner, I could have asked for proof but felt it unnecessary). You say in your post it's your mates car, depends on vintage and mileage.

I recently bought a 2012 325D Convertible and found it still had the original 2012 maps. Not good. Found www.satnavupgrades.co.uk who were brilliant in supplying an upgrade. Since then, I have bought 2 further upgrades as they have been released so am bang up to date with maps without spending a fortune. For example, latest one has just been released, 2020-1 for the very modest price of £35. OK, so you have to do a bit of computer work to download the files and then load them onto a USB drive, but it only takes a couple of hours and that's mainly processing time. To return to the question, the Sat-Nav in my car cannot be updated to give camera warnings. I've asked the guy who does the maps and he gave a very definitive No. So, what I've done is plugged in my old Tom-Tom 5000 into the USB port in the centre console and left it under the drivers seat. As such, it turns on automatically when I start the car and beeps when approaching a camera which serves as a useful reminder if I've inadvertently been a little over enthusiastic with the right pedal. Rare but we're all human 🙂 Hope this helps.

Hi Richard I bought my first BMW in April of this year as a retirement present to myself. It's a 325D convertible (2012) and I love it ! Previous owners hadn't taken care of the wheels and there were multiple scuffs on all four rims. So, to help get the car back to pristine condition, I shelled out £300 to have all four cleaned up and re-sprayed. Since then, unfortunately on 2 occasions, I've "just touched" a kerb and have found that by careful use of a Dremel with a fine sanding drum, I can smooth out the marks and then touch them up with Hammerite smooth silver paint applied sparingly with a 4mm brush. A couple of coats and they're done. Up close, of course you can see the touching in as against the sprayed finish but from only a few feet away, it's hard to tell. Hope this helps. John