So where are all the first impressions? (right here)

MrMike · Jul 25, 2023

Sam said:
Not taken delivery, but on-road test-drive yesterday in a production Grenadier, principally to form a judgement on steering/ left foot hump/ in-city behaviour.

Context is everything with regard to steering, i.e. will depend on what youre coming to the IG from. Lack of self-centering will take a little getting used to but it's a truck and i'm coming from an old 110. No doubt there'll be a lot of comments from those comparing unfavourably to their VW Golf of Jeep YeeHaw or whatever.

Perfectly possible to live pleasantly with this car in the city, if you've done same in a 110, Landcruiser, etc.

Also at dealers was first WA-delivered car getting serviced after 13,000km of adventure travel. An amazing car with lots of dirt and broken front/ rear glass. Owner was glowing... i'm sure some on here will know of this car/owner (i'm not on facebook)...

Dean is on this forum but not active.

MrMike · Jul 25, 2023

Tazzieman said:
A good open conversation between grown ups. No hysterics , no conjecturing
Time to chuck all the storms in teacups down the drain.

I think Robert has hit the nail in his comments re footwear.
This is not a rock crawler (I know some of our US members may be disappointed) but it's not made for that purpose.

AnD3rew · Jul 25, 2023

Sam said:
Not taken delivery, but on-road test-drive yesterday in a production Grenadier, principally to form a judgement on steering/ left foot hump/ in-city behaviour.

Context is everything with regard to steering, i.e. will depend on what youre coming to the IG from. Lack of self-centering will take a little getting used to but it's a truck and i'm coming from an old 110. No doubt there'll be a lot of comments from those comparing unfavourably to their VW Golf of Jeep YeeHaw or whatever.

Perfectly possible to live pleasantly with this car in the city, if you've done same in a 110, Landcruiser, etc.

Also at dealers was first WA-delivered car getting serviced after 13,000km of adventure travel. An amazing car with lots of dirt and broken front/ rear glass. Owner was glowing... i'm sure some on here will know of this car/owner (i'm not on facebook)...

See post below yours with the YouTube from Robert Pepper. Dean the owner of that one is in the video talking about it.

AWo · Jul 25, 2023

AWo said:
Can someone check the place in the front left wheelhouse, behind the cover? In a later prototype I saw there a thick ground cable mounted to the frame boom. The cover was mounted in a way, that the lower cover overlapped the upper cover building an excellent water and mud trap right where the ground cable is located.

Is that still the case?

View attachment 7813977

Cheers
AWo

Today I could see two Grenadiers at a German dealer.

The mud trap ist still there with its ground connection cable. Worth to keep an eye on it. So that was not only a protoype thing...

Looking at the rear lights I found humidity (which is ok for breathing cases when the car is not driven) but also a (maybe production related) plastic nipple right in the middle you could see and feel. Not a problem, but also not nice. The humidity should g away when using the lights, otherwise it is not acceptable.

Also interesting was the seal of the front parking and distance sensors. The fitting was of low quality and two different colors where used on two different cars.

I also saw this Ineos Lightbar. At least this one had some thermally conductive paste n its reflector. So check that, you recognize it as a white spot and if necessary, get it replaced.

AWo

Tazzieman · Jul 25, 2023

AWo said:
Looking at the rear lights I found humidity (which is ok for breathing cases when the car is not driven) but also a (maybe production related) plastic nipple right in the middle you could see and feel. Not a problem, but also not nice. The humidity should g away when using the lights, otherwise it is not acceptable.

Old school lights used to get hot.
The test is to dunk them in a river and see if the water level inside drops.

AWo · Jul 25, 2023

Tazzieman said:
Old school lights used to get hot.
The test is to dunk them in a river and see if the water level inside drops.

All lights breathe. With old bulb lights the housing were not dense so they could also breathe. Modern LED lights have valves which let air pass, but not water. So a good LED light can be drowned or they are at least safe for spraying water (depending on the IP protection level) without getting water into it (which would be fatal). However, by turning them on, and they get also very hot, the water should evaporate and pass the valve to the outside. When cooling down the light sucks air and humidity in which leads to light fogging. That is normal.

AWo

Tazzieman · Jul 25, 2023

AWo said:
All lights breathe. With old bulb lights the housing were not dense so they could also breathe. Modern LED lights have valves which let air pass, but not water. So a good LED light can be drowned or they are at least safe for spraying water (depending on the IP protection level) without getting water into it (which would be fatal). However, by turnign them on, and they get also very hot, the water should evaporate and pass the valve to the outside. When cooling down the light sucks air and humidity in which leads to light fogging. That is normal.

AWo

Yes as an owner of 7 classic cars including old Porsches (the benchmark of quality engineering , at least last century) I concur!
Hermetically sealing seems ideal, but it is not.

Trialmaster · Jul 25, 2023

DaBull said:
New Robert Pepper Interview with new Grenadier Owners.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwXJsv2vfi0

Interesting video, liked Dean - very real world person.

AnD3rew · Jul 25, 2023

Trialmaster said:
Interesting video, liked Dean - very real world person.

Hard to argue with his experience

DenisM · Jul 25, 2023

DaBull said:
New Robert Pepper Interview with new Grenadier Owners.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwXJsv2vfi0

An interesting point about "that" LH footrest and how the actual size of the protrusion required for the exhaust pipework is a lot smaller than the plastic extrusion which covers it. Given the temperatures involved, I'm wondering if the large distance between the footrest and the floor is designed to reduce the thermal gradient... I haven't tested this theory...
I was particularly impressed with Dean Gallagher's measured comments born of experience.
To paraphrase him ...grew up driving on dirt roads in Africa and didn't see 4w driving as "a thing" until he moved to the Pilbara in WA!

Trialmaster · Jul 25, 2023

DenisM said:
An interesting point about "that" LH footrest and how the actual size of the protrusion required for the exhaust pipework is a lot smaller than the plastic extrusion which covers it. Given the temperatures involved, I'm wondering if the large distance between the footrest and the floor is designed to reduce the thermal gradient... I haven't tested this theory...
I was particularly impressed with Dean Gallagher's measured comments born of experience.
To paraphrase him ...grew up driving on dirt roads in Africa and didn't see 4w driving as "a thing" until he moved to the Pilbara in WA!

Denis,

The plastic covering of the Footrest exaggerates the bump significantly. Have a look you will be surprised. I have thought of trying to modify it, but as suggested I wonder if the after market will come up with something.

Tom D · Jul 25, 2023

An update to my earlier comments. We have one more day of driving on my trip from Edinburgh to Cannes. The footrest isn’t an issue even on a long trip. But I would like an adjustable lumbar roll. I’ll be fitting one to mine when I get it. The petrol engine is nice and the steering is fine, I have averaged 20 mpg doing mostly motorway driving at 65-75 mph. That’s with a large RTT and awning on the roof and a fair bit of weight.

Tom D · Jul 25, 2023

One more thing. The fuel gauge seems accurate but the low fuel warning comes on way too early. So by the time you get to a red ‘refuel now’ warning you still have a theoretical 20 l remaining. Twice now I have filled on the red warning and only got 72 litres in. There should be at least 20 litres left.

Rab · Jul 25, 2023

Used for towing first time today, 2 1/2 Tonnes of stores to the cattle market, 18 mpg For the diesel, I think that is quite impressive as there were a lot of long steep pulls on the journey. (27mpg on average click to click when not towing)
The auto gearbox adjusts perfectly when towing heavy weights, any wonder you are in 3rd gear at 20 mph when unloaded.
I thought the mirrors would be too small for reversing into the unloading chutes but they were just fine.
Had the usual interrogations at the petrol station, I’m thinking of creating a ring bound presentation and attaching it to the utility rail. Then I can just point them at it to browse whilst I fill up.

dynosoar · Jul 29, 2023

Hello,

My first report after 1500 miles.

Diesel two seat commercial in magic mushroom.

The general consensus in the thread above echoes my experience which is rather predictable I suppose.
I have had occasions of errors popping up with no obvious trigger. Possibly more often towards the end of a fifty minute drive. These are listed as reduced braking performance along with hill decent electronic stability hill hold etc. nothing that has stopped me from driving on but on a few occasions their arrival was signalled by a single sweep of the wipers.
The car often shows a transmission error at start which quickly disappears and there has been a couple of e call errors too.
Everything mechanical has exceeded expectations to be honest. I have no idea what the fuel consumption is. I have run the engine in gently, so figures are kind of irrelevant at the moment.
One medium duty towing job revealed the expected issue of hitch height being a bit too much for my trailer. The test tyres on the trailer were definitely running hotter that the fronts. A drop plates will fix this assuming all legal etc.
I have not yet had a decent weight in the back but will soon have a portable diesel tank of about 250kg to test that out.

A

Cheshire cat · Jul 29, 2023

dynosoar said:
Hello,

My first report after 1500 miles.

Diesel two seat commercial in magic mushroom.

The general consensus in the thread above echoes my experience which is rather predictable I suppose.
I have had occasions of errors popping up with no obvious trigger. Possibly more often towards the end of a fifty minute drive. These are listed as reduced braking performance along with hill decent electronic stability hill hold etc. nothing that has stopped me from driving on but on a few occasions their arrival was signalled by a single sweep of the wipers.
The car often shows a transmission error at start which quickly disappears and there has been a couple of e call errors too.
Everything mechanical has exceeded expectations to be honest. I have no idea what the fuel consumption is. I have run the engine in gently, so figures are kind of irrelevant at the moment.
One medium duty towing job revealed the expected issue of hitch height being a bit too much for my trailer. The test tyres on the trailer were definitely running hotter that the fronts. A drop plates will fix this assuming all legal etc.
I have not yet had a decent weight in the back but will soon have a portable diesel tank of about 250kg to test that out.

A

Always encouraging to read that our issues are of a very similar ilk. Provides both reassurance and hopes of a proper software update that takes care of things.

DCPU · Jul 29, 2023

dynosoar said:
One medium duty towing job revealed the expected issue of hitch height being a bit too much for my trailer. The test tyres on the trailer were definitely running hotter that the fronts. A drop plates will fix this assuming all legal etc.

Will be interested in how you get on with this.

Maybe you could post your progress on this thread:

Towing Again

When the configurator first appeared there were at least 3 options of tow hitch ,NATO 2inch ball and ball and pintle now when configuring a trail master only the 2inch ball is showing what's going on £600 for 2inch ball. The rear of the vechicle is drilled for NATO 2inch ball and also a 2inch...

www.theineosforum.com

Highwayman · Jul 29, 2023

Time for an update. I’m coming up to three months ownership and have covered 5,000 miles. My overall assessment is that I really like this car.

A few observations

The seats, and dare I say it, the driving position are excellent. The seats are very comfortable and really supportive. I’ve been to Munich and back over the last two weeks and covered over 2,000 miles in the process. This has included a few seven- and eight-hour driving days, and although tired at the end, not completely wasted. I’ve had no aches or pains and I honestly don’t notice the “hump” anymore. Sure, I had to play with the seat adjustment (getting it as high as possible works best for me) but that was in the first week.
The engine and gearbox are fantastic. My engine is starting to loosen up noticeably. Fuel consumption (diesel) on this trip is 25mpg, fully loaded and cruising at or around 130kmh. I have also noticed that it is now much more free revving and holds lower gears for longer.
Towing. It just does what it says on the tin. Excellent.
Presence. This thing gets a lot of comments wherever you go. I’ve had several people taking photographs, wanting to look inside, thumbs up, the lot.
Touring with it has been really easy. Although the rear space isn’t the biggest, I’ve had custom made drawers fitted, together with a small fridge, and easily fitted everything we needed for two weeks.
Turning circle is one thing you have to be very mindful of. It’s huge and small car parks are a challenge – doable, but a challenge. U-turns are best avoided!

Things that I need to get fixed. To be honest, given it’s brand new, not that much really.

Obviously, I will be pleased once the software update happens – although being patient before starting usually removes all erroneous messages.
On long drives, my Android Auto has disconnected and refused to re-connect a couple of times. I think this needs to be looked at.
My aircon pipes drip condensation into the passenger footwell, so need some better insulation or something.

I think that’s about it really. Very happy with the car and even more so when I get my outstanding bits and pieces that have still not arrived. I’m glad to see others are having their bits fitted, so hopefully will not be too long now.

The agent, I’m less happy with. I’m going to see if I can change my appointed agent next week, as I’m going to book in for an oil and filter change and the service received so far is beyond poor. Zero communication. Either takes ages, or often does not respond at all, to emails, voicemails, texts or messages left at the associated BMW dealer. So I stop asking questions and just rely on this forum instead. It’s beyond frustrating, so it’s time for a change.

Tomdoc · Jul 29, 2023

Highwayman said:
My aircon pipes drip condensation into the passenger footwell, so need some better insulation or something.

So do mine - just a little but it's noticeable. Glad you are enjoying it overall - so am I.

MarkH · Jul 29, 2023

Highwayman said:
So I stop asking questions and just rely on this forum instead. It’s beyond frustrating, so it’s time for a change

I'd let Ineos know in no uncertain terms about this, agent needs to be put on notice.

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So where are all the first impressions? (right here)

MrMike

MrMike

AnD3rew

Inch deep and a mile wide.

AWo

Tazzieman

AWo

Tazzieman

Trialmaster

AnD3rew

Inch deep and a mile wide.

DenisM

Trialmaster

Tom D

Tom D

Rab

dynosoar

Cheshire cat

DCPU

Towing Again

Highwayman

Tomdoc

MarkH

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