{"id":246873,"date":"2023-11-30T08:50:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T08:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=246873"},"modified":"2023-11-30T08:50:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T08:50:10","slug":"bought-a-used-bmw-630d-gt-in-gurgaon-drove-it-back-home-to-bangalore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/bought-a-used-bmw-630d-gt-in-gurgaon-drove-it-back-home-to-bangalore\/","title":{"rendered":"Bought a used BMW 630d GT in Gurgaon & drove it back home to Bangalore"},"content":{"rendered":"

I swerved left to avoid a big pothole but the rear wheel went over it and I could hear a sound followed by dub-dub. I immediately knew what it meant.<\/h2>\n

BHPian vignesh.cv<\/strong> recently shared this with other enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

My Skoda Laura completed 10 years this year, and I was looking forward to upgrading to something better for a while now. I wanted something that was a step up in all regards while still maintaining that practicality that I’ve started to appreciate over the decade of owning the car. I was also clear that I wanted to stick with a sedan-like form factor. Furthermore, I also wanted to stick with a diesel if possible, as I did experience great efficiency & torque all through my ownership of the Skoda. I still look at EVs with mixed feelings, as I genuinely feel they are in their infancy, and it’ll take another decade or more to actually bring them on par with their fossil fuel counterparts.<\/p>\n

The options<\/h2>\n

With all of that said, the only option that was in front of me was a G30 BMW 530D at that time. It offered a torquey 6-cylinder diesel motor, was a sedan, and was slightly better in terms of space as well. The M340i might have been an option for me if I were single or did not have kids. The 320Ld while offering quite a punch in standard trim was still underpowered when compared to my tuned Laura. The 520d didn’t really excite me as well. The other suggestion I got was to look at the 6GT, with the notion that it offered a mix of practicality & performance, especially when compared to the 5 series.<\/p>\n

The search<\/h2>\n

In Oct 2022, I had the chance to see a brand-new GT 630D in the flesh. The interior space was amazing, and the car really felt like it was built for the highways. I still had to convince myself to put down approx 1cr for a brand-new car, and in that time, I saw that the 3-litre diesel was being taken off from both the 5 & 6GT. Was disappointed and felt I should have been taken the decision sooner. I then started looking at the classifieds to see if anything popped up for sale. That’s when I got to see fellow bhpian Mohit Tater’s 6 GT put up for sale. It was a 2021 model, in mineral white colour, had the 3-litre diesel motor, and had all the features including the 360-degree camera (which I believe got deleted in later variants).<\/p>\n

The purchase<\/h2>\n

I reached out to Mohit, got all my queries answered satisfactorily and I had made up my mind for the purchase. He’s a petrolhead himself, having owned a 60th anniversary Mini and an X1 in addition to the 6 GT. The car was purchased and maintained at BMW Bird Automotive, so that meant the complete service history was available with them. The car’s tyres were changed a few months back (running RFTs), as was the battery.<\/p>\n

We both decided that we’d meet up in Gurgaon post-Diwali and take it forward from there. I flew down to Gurgaon on the 17th of Nov, and the car was given for a 360-degree checkup at Bird the same day. The report came out with a thumbs up, with the mention that the wiper blades need to be changed in some time and that the brake pads had 9mm of thickness left equating to a few thousand kms of usage. Monsoons are over in Bangalore, so I wasn’t too worried about the wipers. I was mentally prepared to get the pads changed as soon as I got the car, so no concerns there as well. The car was under warranty until May 2024, and I had the chance to extend it further before it expired. I only needed to think about purchasing the BSI package, which again I felt could be done after I purchased the car.<\/p>\n

After their test drive, it was cleaned and delivered. In the meanwhile, we finished all the paperwork necessary at Birds with the help of Mohit’s contact from there. We went for a test ride the next day and I found that it was in mint condition, both internal and external. The leather still had that fresh smell of a new car inside and after having seen Mohit drive, I knew I had made the right choice. We then finished up the payment formalities and I had the keys to my now new BMW 6 GT!<\/p>\n

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The Driving Home Experience – Part 1<\/h2>\n

The feeling that I had actually purchased a BMW 6GT took a long time to sink in, and I was still overwhelmed. My plan was to drive the car back to Bangalore all the way from Gurgaon, a distance of approx. 2100kms. I know that sounds really crazy to drive an unfamiliar car cross-country. I felt this would be the best way to sample the car and get acquainted with her.<\/p>\n

My original plan was to drive from Gurgaon to Nagpur the first day, take a break and then drive from Nagpur to Bangalore the second day. By the time we finished the formalities and dropped Mohit at his place, it was almost 10:45 am and Maps was showing 15hrs of driving to reach Nagpur. That would mean I’d reach there past midnight, so changed the plan to 3 days instead. Covering from Gurgaon – Narsingpur, Narsingpur – Hyderabad and then last day from Hyderabad – Bangalore.<\/p>\n

The drive from Gurgaon towards Mathura was peaceful. After Mathura, the container truck traffic started picking up and it was just slow progress. I stopped somewhere after Morena for a late lunch, refuelled and proceeded towards Gwalior. It took another couple of hours to cross Gwalior and I was just frustrated with the amount of traffic on the road. The road quality was worse after Gwalior and Jhansi, with potholes appearing in strategic locations and you had no way of going around them but to slow down to a crawl. Around 7pm, I reached this place called Lalitpur and decided to stop as the roads were becoming worse and I was tired as well. Had a quick snack, and wiped the windscreen clean before resuming the journey. At this point, I was shown an ETA of 10:30pm to reach the hotel at Narsinghpur.<\/p>\n

The roads were in poor condition all through and then disaster struck around 9:30pm. I was trying to avoid a pothole by keeping the wheels on either side and then saw another one appear to the right where the front would be. Swerved left to avoid that, but then the rear wheel went over that pothole and I could hear a sound followed by dub-dub. I immediately knew what it meant and stopped and checked the tyres. The right rear had burst open in the outer sidewall and I had to replace the tyre. Called up Mohit and apprised him of the situation, he also advised me to switch to the donut and proceed.<\/p>\n

It was quite dark so it was a bit of a trial to place the tyre jack properly under the car. I had done this procedure twice on my Laura earlier, so was familiar with it. Thankfully, the wheel nuts weren’t too difficult to remove, and swapped out to the donut. I then remembered the advice from various forum members to keep the donut tyre pressure to 60psi, so proceeded slowly to find a station. Luckily found one close by and it was what the trucks use as well. Filled it up, then proceeded towards Narsinghpur keeping speeds below 70kph. The roads were still in terrible condition so was very watchful of the speeds and where I placed the wheels. In between spoke with Mohit, and he mentioned he’ll try to arrange for a new rear tyre to reach me. I made it to the hotel at midnight and just crashed.<\/p>\n

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In the morning, I checked for options in Nagpur – either BMW service centers or tyre shops that have this spec tyre in stock. Given it was a Sunday, most were unreachable, and the few who answered said they could only revert back on Monday. By then Mohit had arranged for a new rear tyre through his friend and said it would be sent via road transport from Jodhpur. It meant, that it would arrive by Monday evening and that implied I had to stay in Nagpur for one extra day.<\/p>\n

While most sellers would call it a day after taking the payment, Mohit was super helpful all through this episode. Massive thanks to him for arranging the new rear tyre and getting it to me. Made it to Nagpur driving again keeping speeds below 70-75kph all through. Used the cruise control feature liberally to maintain that speed. Drove through the beautiful Pench forest section – the roads were concrete and were in good condition in stark comparison to the quality of NH-44 between Jhansi & Narsinghpur. As I approached Nagpur, the quality of roads improved drastically. Reached Nagpur towards the evening and checked in.<\/p>\n

The tyre was sent via transport bus by Mohit’s friend and the bus was scheduled to reach Nagpur by 3pm. In the meanwhile, I wanted to check if there were other options, so I went to the BMW service center and enquired about the rear tyre availability. This was just as insurance and I was prepared for a no answer. To my surprise, they had it in stock and I purchased it as an insurance. Also, checked the tyre pressures for the other wheels, as well as the brake pad thickness to ensure I was covered for the rest of the journey. Grabbed some lunch post this, picked up the tyres sent by Mohit from the transport and then went to the tyre shop to get the rear tyre swapped.<\/p>\n

Found a nearby store named Ajmera Tyres and got the work done. I also decided to get the wheel balancing and alignment done. They took approx an hour to balance and align the wheels and they did a great job. I saw they had the balancing & alignment equipment from Madhus. Now the TPMS system was constantly lit complaining that the tyre pressures couldn’t be recognized. Got that resolved by resetting the TPMS system after the wheel change. Got the car washed and waxed in preparation for the journey the next day. Visited a place called Ceramic King in Gokulpeth, Nagpur. The owner Vishal is a very detailed and knowledgeable person, and had some good conversations on cars and bikes when over there. If you are in Nagpur, and looking for a good detailing shop, definitely consider this place.<\/p>\n

The Driving Home Experience – Part 2<\/h2>\n

Got some rest and started off from Nagpur at around 5:45am. A brand new rear tyre, with additional front and rear tyres as back up, gave me a sense of confidence. Also, the roads from Nagpur were turning out to be much much better. There were only a few areas where there was either some diversion due to road work, or bad patches. By now, I had learned the trick, so I would slow down completely whenever I saw bad patches irrespective of the depth of the potholes. I had originally planned to stop overnight at Hyderabad but then decided to take a chance as I heard the road conditions were much better from here onwards.<\/p>\n

I covered a distance of approx. 1100kms from Nagpur hotel to my home close to 14hrs excluding the breaks. This is the part where I truly got to experience the 6 GT. What an impressive car she is. An amazing weapon on the highways. She’s built for such cross-country touring and is happy to just munch the miles whilst keeping the passengers comfortable, safe and fresh.<\/p>\n

Driving modes<\/h2>\n

The car comes with the following driving modes<\/p>\n