Mikey 44

Does anyone know if an i3 (2019 base model) can be fitted with run flat tyres. Web searches suggest that in USA they have no problem with this but in UK I am still finding conflicting information as to whether they can or cannot be fitted to the supplied OEM wheels ?

Hi I would be interested in hearing anyone’s experiences of the Advanced Car Eye 2.0 front and rear BMW camera accessory. I hope someone in BMW reads this and takes note. Having used the Nextbase HD DUO successfully in two previous vehicles I found that it was necessary to increase the microSD storage capacity in order to have video recordings that went back at least three weeks. Why ? Well, I got caught on camera in a part of the country I had never been before and unknowingly turned onto a town ring road with a 30 mph speed limit. Too late… Flash flash and that was a letter from the constabulary on my door step three weeks later. It was then that I realised I needed to be able to check video recordings up to a month old so I bought two 128GB microSD cards and rotated them every three weeks. Nextbase told me these would work and they did. So now I have got two new BMWs and put them in to have the Advanced Car Eye cameras fitted. It has been a nightmare trying to get information from my local UK dealers and BMW UK. At one point a service engineer said that BMW are good at providing tech info on main equipment but poor on tech info for accessories. You can say that again ! The standard camera comes with one 32GB microSD card and is designed to delete old files when the card is full. Perhaps BMW think that the card should never need to be removed and if so they need to get real. Video recordings can be more useful for what happened several weeks ago than what happened today or yesterday but with this system you are unlikely to have any recordings from a few weeks back especially if you use the car daily. I have now had to go against BMW official advice and have started to use 128GB cards in these two camera systems. So far they are working well but I don’t know what will happen if they record to the point where they are full. I have estimated from rough testing that if I swap them over every three weeks I should avoid getting to the ‘full’ stage where the cards might or might not start to overwrite early files. I may well push my luck and move up to 256GB microSD cards if the system continues to work well. But BMW you really need to re-think the 32GB maximum approved card size. Good Driving ! Mikey44

Hi Greydog Thanks for your comments. I have two BMW dealerships near me and both are owned by the same major Motor Group. Having had many dealings with both over the last 10 years I suspect the Service Managers have been put through the same training and regrettably I don't think being straight with customers about technical problems is high on their list. I wonder does BMW UK realise the damage that these cavalier service managers do to their reputation. I have raised a couple of previous problems with them but they seem too scared to want to get involved. I understand the attitude having worked in an industry that sold through dealerships and we, as the manufacturer, would endeavour to steer clear of issues involving our dealers. Thanks for your input.

Just bought a 2019 plate diesel X3 ex demonstrator with 1400 miles on the clock. From the start there was a background smell of diesel in the cabin but during the first long run from Cheshire to Kent, the smell became very strong when slowing down on motorways to turn off for Service Stations. Coming to a halt and opening the doors it was like gas was being fed into the cabin it was so bad. It’s going back for an inspection but I have two questions. Has any other BMW diesel owner experienced diesel odour in the cabin (which did not come from standing in diesel at the filling station !). Secondly, the dealer service manager claims that it is quite normal to have diesel fumes in the cabin for about the first 5000 miles of a new vehicle. This does not sound right to me but I am very happy to be corrected. Thanks to anyone who can shed any light on this problem.