• Welcome to N-cars.net - the largest Hyundai N car forum. Check out the model specific sections below and scroll down for country specific forums. Scroll down for i20 N, Kona N and Tuscon N forums! Check out the i30 N Bible Here!

Engine Red i30N Performance from Bulgaria

s.arhangelov

Well-Known Member
Nthusiast
Aug 26, 2019
390
370
63
28
Sofia, Bulgaria
I've been on the forum for two months now. Finally got around to making one of these. At first I didn't see the point in making a dedicated thread for my car since I'm not planning any major changes to it. Only a few cosmetic touches here and there. Despite that I thought it would still be nice to "record" it's history somewhere other than my phone gallery (plus I'm tired of always searching for that one photo I took a month ago and is lost somewhere on my phone). So, here is my N:

  • My Name: Stefan
  • My car: i30N Performance (with GPF)
    • Sunroof
    • Comfort Package (Heated, electrical and part-leather seats)
    • Navigation Package (SLIF, MapCare, Live-Services)
  • Price paid: 33,250 EUR (discounted from 34,700 EUR)
  • Color: Engine Red
  • Model year: 2020
  • Order-Date: 20th August 2019
  • Pickup-Date: 16th October 2019
  • Where to find her on the road: Dodging potholes in Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Distance driven as of 28-Feb-2023: 60700 km
  • Average fuel economy (95% city): 13.7 l/100km

My previous cars:
- 2013 Ford Fiesta ST
- 2014 Renault Megane R.S. 275 Trophy
- 2016 Infiniti Q50 2.0t

What I have done to my i30N so far (not in order):
- Black covers for front and back Hyundai badges
- Black covers for front and back N badges
- Got Racechip RS as a gift (happy with it)
- Did the RPM Performance GPF Delete (sounds amazing)
- Full exterior and interior detail and ceramic coating
- PPF Smoked film on headlights
- PPF the front of the car (bumper, fenders, hood, mirrors, tail lights and rear fog lights)
- Debadge "Hyundai" and "i30"
- Wrap the small panel next to the spoiler in gloss black so it matches the rest of the roof
- LED reverse light bulbs
- LED rear indicator light bulbs
- LED licence plate light bulbs
- Remove anti-theft lug nuts from all wheels and replace with normal ones (they were installed by the dealer. 1 per wheel)
- Replace brake fluid with Motul R660
- Replace brake lines with braided ones
- Replace discs with EBC Sport GD
- Replace pads with EBC Yellowstuff

What issues I've had so far:
- Condensation in passenger headlight (replaced under warranty. The new headlight has even more condensation) (update: dealer put in moisture absorbers in headlight housing. issue completely resolved. cost 50 EUR per headlight)
- Turbo makes high-pitched whistling noise (Replaced under warranty. Issue completely resolved)

- 6th gear hard to engage (I rarely use it anyways) (gets better with time)
- Rattle from passenger seatbelt holder surround (haven't been able to reproduce at dealer)
- Occasional engine startup issues (haven't been able to reproduce at dealer)

- Rattle from exhaust back box (Replaced under warranty. Issue completely resolved)
- Rattle from suspenion (fixed but then came back months later)
- Rattle from catalytic converter heatshield (Replaced under warranty. Issue completely resolved)
- Spark plug in 4th cylinder failed and lost the cylinder (spark plug replaced. Issue completely resolved)


Service expenses at dealer:
- 1000 km post run-in oil and oil filter change - 119 EUR (132USD)
- 10000 km service - 119 EUR (132USD)
- 20000 km service - 193 EUR
- 30000 km service - 205 EUR, Sunroof service - 40 EUR, New front wipers - 35 EUR
- 40000 km service - 164 EUR
- 50000 km service - 123 EUR
- 60000 km service - 360 EUR (had to replace spark plugs)

*Pictures in next post
 
Last edited:
- Condensation in passenger headlight (will be replaced under warranty)
- Turbo makes high-pitched whistling noise (will be replaced under warranty)
- 6th gear hard to engage (I rarely use it anyways)
1) A bit is normal. Just if it's a lot I would recommend to change it
2) You get a new turbo just because of some whistling noise? Do they have inspected the whole turbo?
3) Almost every i30N has that problem. I can tell you it will get better from time to time. I would not recommend to have changed this immediately because they need to open the gearbox. Only if your 6th won't working completely.
 
1) A bit is normal. Just if it's a lot I would recommend to change it
2) You get a new turbo just because of some whistling noise? Do they have inspected the whole turbo?
3) Almost every i30N has that problem. I can tell you it will get better from time to time. I would not recommend to have changed this immediately because they need to open the gearbox. Only if your 6th won't working completely.
1) It's not much condensation and it happens rarely. I showed my service manager a photo and he ordered a new headlight on the spot. No questions asked.
2) Yup, they took the turbo out and disassembled it for an inspection. They ordered a new one on the spot. The whistling noise comes on any time the turbo spools more than 0,3 bars of pressure and gets louder as it rises. During any medium to high accelaration it fills both the cabin and the outside with this annoying noise. It gets louder than any music playing. When I step on it, everyone in a 50m radius turns around. Other than that the turbo works perfectly fine. I've been driving like this for the past month, waiting for the new one to arrive.
3) I don't plan on taking it in because very rarely use 6th, even on the highway/motorway. The driving culture here doesn't really allow you to maintain one speed for long.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mattymofo and c4bl3
Just curious, isnt the n a quite expensive car in Bulgaria? The salaries are really poor over there what i have heard. Around 400€ per month.
 
Just curious, isnt the n a quite expensive car in Bulgaria? The salaries are really poor over there what i have heard. Around 400€ per month.
Good question. I live in the capital where salaries are much higher than the average. We have a lot of small towns and rural areas where there are no decent paying jobs. Most people don't disclose their full profits so that affects the average also. I'd say an actual average salary in my city is about 900-1000€.
 
  • Like
Reactions: R Veloster N
Good question. I live in the capital where salaries are much higher than the average. We have a lot of small towns and rural areas where there are no decent paying jobs. Most people don't disclose their full profits so that affects the average also. I'd say an actual average salary in my city is about 900-1000€.

Still that aint much. :oops: In Finland the average is over 3000€ a month.
 
Still that aint much. :oops: In Finland the average is over 3000€ a month.
That's true but you have to take into account what that money gets you where you live. Food and fuel is much cheaper here. Real estate is much much cheaper. 300 Euro a month lets you rent a nice one bedroom in the city center (about 1200euro per sq.m. to buy). A liter of 95 Octane is 1,10 euro. Dinner for two in a nice restaurant is about 20-25 euro. Cars aren't cheaper but taxes and additional expenses are dirt cheap. Sales tax is 20%. Mandatory insurance is 150euro/per year for the N. Eco tax is 65 euro for new cars and 150 euro for old cars (doesn't matter if Euro 1 or Euro 6d). Road tax (vignette) is 50 euro per/year for any and all roads. Healthcare, although not perfect, costs about 15 euro a month if unemployed.
1000 Euro a month in the capital is enough to live comfortably. 1000 Euro in the smaller cities and villages is enough to live like a monarch :D
 
Doesn't finland have to also pay ridiculous car tax?

I am going there in 2 weeks to see a friend, he was telling me about it a while ago.
I know Denmark has an insane sales tax for cars. 180% if I remember correctly. When I lived there the only expensive cars I saw were taxis. They didn't have to pay the sales tax.
 
I know Denmark has an insane sales tax for cars. 180% if I remember correctly. When I lived there the only expensive cars I saw were taxis. They didn't have to pay the sales tax.

Yes. The n cost a bit over 40000€ here. There is over 10000€ of cartax in the price. Here the regular gti golf costs around 36000€ and in Denmark its almost 60000€ if i remember correctly.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: s.arhangelov
Update on issues:
1. Condensation in passenger headlight
- Replaced under warranty last week. The new headlight has even more condensation. Still haven't decided if it's worth asking them to replace it again.
2. Turbo makes high-pitched whistling noise
- Replaced under warranty. Issue is completely solved. From what they've told me the sound came from the rotating assembly. One of the blades didn't have the correct bend in it's shape so it created the whisting noise when spooling. Picture of a random turbo for example below. Seems it's not a one time manufacturing error because the demo MY18 i30N I drove has the same whistling noise although not as loud. With the new turbo they installed the high pitched whisting noise is completely gone.
 

Attachments

  • Turbo-turbine.jpg
    Turbo-turbine.jpg
    57.2 KB · Views: 37
  • Like
Reactions: Damir
The condensation in headlight issues you have, how bad is it? Can you post a pic?

Reason I ask is because it is quite normal for this to happen in LED headlights, although it should only be light misting and not full on condensation around the whole assembly.
 
Update on issues:
1. Condensation in passenger headlight
- Replaced under warranty last week. The new headlight has even more condensation. Still haven't decided if it's worth asking them to replace it again.
2. Turbo makes high-pitched whistling noise
- Replaced under warranty. Issue is completely solved. From what they've told me the sound came from the rotating assembly. One of the blades didn't have the correct bend in it's shape so it created the whisting noise when spooling. Picture of a random turbo for example below. Seems it's not a one time manufacturing error because the demo MY18 i30N I drove has the same whistling noise although not as loud. With the new turbo they installed the high pitched whisting noise is completely gone.
Considering Hyundai doesn't produce the Turbo and manifold assembly directly, I can understand it being a one off production issue.

The lights, you need to stick it to them, until they correct the issue. Returning with the same issue means production engineering hasn't address the issue. Your continued pursuance with the issue will produce results not on for yourself but others as well.
 
Considering Hyundai doesn't produce the Turbo and manifold assembly directly, I can understand it being a one off production issue.

The lights, you need to stick it to them, until they correct the issue. Returning with the same issue means production engineering hasn't address the issue. Your continued pursuance with the issue will produce results not on for yourself but others as well.
I'll tell them about the new headlight right before my 10k service. It's a pain in the ass to leave the car there because my dealer doesn't offer courtesy cars (almost none do here. regardless of the brand). My dealer has an extremely good relationship with Hyundai Global because they sell an insane amount of cars (they re-export cars to other dealers in 4 neighbouring countries). Unfortunately the people who work at the dealer don't give a sh*t about customer satisfaction. Only about sales volume. So I doubt they will even bring it up with Hyundai.....