BMW 335i Owners Advise?

[teggypimp95]

Hey

I am debating on buying a BMW 335i Manual that has 100,000 km on it.

Just curious what these cars are like as the km gets higher on them? All the maintance is up to date and needs nothing right now.

I would want to keep it for a while but dont want too many repair bills down the road.

Thanks

EDIT*

Also its RWD, how are these in winter with a good set of winter tires?

Thanks

[artieg30]

Depends on which model you're after... If it has the N54 motor with the twin turbos (not their stupid twin scroll marketing b/s) then there are a few things to watch out for such as the fuel pump and the oil cooler.

If you do a little bit of googling you'll find that the first gen e90 335i's were notorious for this problem. The fuel pump I believe is covered by BMW but the the oil cooler is something you may want to consider upgrading at some point, Dinan has a moderately priced one and if you plan on chipping it with their stage 2 software it's a pre-requisite so definitely worthwhile investment!

[teggypimp95]

Thanks!

It has brand new brakes, new fuel pump and filters. No idea about the oil cooler though.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Intake valves should be cleaned ASAP if not done already. Spark plugs should be changed if not done already. Watch out for water pump failure, if it hasn't been replaced already it is on borrowed time.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Is the valve ticking/lifter issue present on the turbo cars or was that just in the 330's? Lots of stories about guys fighting for warranty work, even new engines in some circumstances. Scared me a bit when I was shopping for a 2006 330i.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
Hey

I am debating on buying a BMW 335i Manual that has 100,000 km on it.

Just curious what these cars are like as the km gets higher on them? All the maintance is up to date and needs nothing right now.

I would want to keep it for a while but dont want too many repair bills down the road.

Also its RWD, how are these in winter with a good set of winter tires?

I have a 2009 E90 335i (RWD, sedan, 6spd MT). So far it has been a dream to own. I am off warranty now, and only at ~ 60,000km. My car has had zero problems, so far.

I was lucky that my car did not suffer the high pressure fuel pump failure. BMW did a recall/TSB that involved reflashing software which I believe changed the low pressure pump to high pressure pump priming sequence, if I'm not mistaken. That plus it's possible somewhere in production between 2007-2009+ they started installing more reliable pumps... not totally sure. All I know is I haven't had the problem.

Honestly winter driving with the RWD hasn't been an issue for the most part (it's got traction control, ABS, e-diff, etc.). BUT... I do not recommend "performance" winter tires. Get regular winter tires.
example Bridgestone: Opt for the WS70, not the LM60. (Or better yet, consider some studded Nokians). I have the LM60 and while they're awesome for handling on those cool dry roads, or plowed/packed surfaces, they absolutely SUCK in deep snow. Venture into a culdesac or parking lot that hasn't been plowed and you will get stuck.

Originally posted by artieg30
a few things to watch out for such as ...the oil cooler.

the the oil cooler is something you may want to consider upgrading at some point, Dinan has a moderately priced one and if you plan on chipping it with their stage 2 software it's a pre-requisite so definitely worthwhile investment!

Regarding the oil cooler comment. I do recall that early production runs (2007-2008?) may not have had an oil cooler and it was an item added eventually. AFAIK some if not all 2008s have an oil cooler and all 2009+ definitely do. For the cars that do have oil coolers, I wasn't aware that there was a deficiency with it and I would question whether the aftermarket option (eg. Dinan) is intended for cars that didn't come with one, or is it a quantifiable benefit over the OEM oil cooler?

[dennisaur]

I have a 2008 E90 335i and it has an oil cooler. I believe the oil cooler came standard with the sport package so not all MY08 have it.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Dont worry about not having an oil cooler. It's only important if the car is tracked. If you can track down the service history on the car that will help tell you if it's a worth while car or not. In all of my experience, the 335s that have had problems from day one continue to have problems. The ones that didn't have many problems usually end up being perfect. The water pump will have to be changed soon if it hasn't been already.

They're an awesome car and easy to make fast.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by dennisaur
I believe the oil cooler came standard with the sport package so not all MY08 have it.

Ah, I forgot about that. I think you're right. I don't normally think about that because it's unfathomable to me why anyone would spec a 335i without the sport package.

[benyl]

Yeah, steer clear of any car that doesn't have the sport package.

Budget for rear tires and brakes if you are a spirited driver.

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by dennisaur
I have a 2008 E90 335i and it has an oil cooler. I believe the oil cooler came standard with the sport package so not all MY08 have it.

Correct... however for the MY07's with the sport package and a pre-march 07 build date will not receive the oil cooler.

Pretty easy item to spot... just look inside the front passenger wheel wheel towards the front of the car.

[Aleks]

Look to see what's been done so far and what recalls have been completed

HPFP recall
injector recall
as mentioned water pump will have to be done
central locks sometimes go
valve cover gasket will seep eventually
listen for the wastegate rattle which could lead to costly turbo replacement. This is covered in USA but not in Canada.

Rear brake pads will have to be done pretty much once per year, esp if you tune it.

I found regular maintenance like brakes, belts, oil etc to be no more expensive at BMW than any other make out there.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Aleks
Rear brake pads will have to be done pretty much once per year, esp if you tune it.

I found regular maintenance like brakes, belts, oil etc to be no more expensive at BMW than any other make out there.

Rear brakes only need to get done if you floor it with traction control on all the time. Turn off the traction control or run it on half mode to prevent it from always coming on .

Brakes are cheap, I think pads, rotors and labor is $900 or less. An oil change is $130 for full synthetic and that's only once or twice a year, seems cheap to me .

[benyl]

Cars equipped with E-diff use brakes even with the DTC totally off.

[Idiot Stick]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2


Rear brakes only need to get done if you floor it with traction control on all the time. Turn off the traction control or run it on half mode to prevent it from always coming on .

Brakes are cheap, I think pads, rotors and labor is $900 or less. An oil change is $130 for full synthetic and that's only once or twice a year, seems cheap to me .

900 for rotors pads and labor? Cheap? Shit! Remind me to not get a bmw until im rich

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Idiot Stick
900 for rotors pads and labor? Cheap? Shit! Remind me to not get a bmw until im rich

That's rear brakes on a Porsche, haha. I'm not silly enough to call it cheap though :P

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by Idiot Stick



900 for rotors pads and labor? Cheap? Shit! Remind me to not get a bmw until im rich

For OE BMW stuff at the dealer, that is pretty damn cheap!

FYI pretty much all GM vehicles are that much or more for brakes that the dealer, including the smaller economy cars, when you compare the two it's pretty cheap considering the difference in vehicles.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Idiot Stick



900 for rotors pads and labor? Cheap? Shit! Remind me to not get a bmw until im rich

Seems cheap to me, $100 x 4 rotors= $400
Labor $140/hr x 2hrs = $280
Pads 4 pads = $220

other than labor rate and possibly pads, I imagine a toyota corolla wouldn't be much cheaper.

[Aleks]

Originally posted by Idiot Stick



900 for rotors pads and labor? Cheap? Shit! Remind me to not get a bmw until im rich

Ask one of the Honda dealer in town to quote you a full brake replacement on the Civic and see what they say?

They wanted $1,200 for a 2006 Accord 2 years ago. So yea 900 isn't bad at all for a 3 series.