learn me 335i

So the wife and I have decided that we will be purchasing a manual 335i in the next 5 months. Undecided on a coupe or a sedan but either way are they any major issues i should be concerned with?

E9x answers--

Carbon buildup in the head and intake manifold-- known issue on this and most other direct injection engines. $$s to address at dealer-- requires removal of intake manifold and walnut blasting of the head through the intake ports.

Electric water pump is expensive ~$400 when it goes.

No drain in the diff, so you'll need a suction device to change the fluid.

Don't know if the turbo motors consume belt tensioners every 60-70,000 miles like the N52 does or not.

You'd prefer it if the previous owner hasn't put in a tune and an cheap aftermarket blowoff valve, overspeeding the turbo and turning it into a ticking time bomb.

I think the replacement interval on the plugs is around 40,000 miles. No real big deal, but believe it takes a special odd socket.

RWD or AWD? Car is much easier to DIY without the AWD stuff in the way.

I've heard about newer cars having problems with carbon build up because of the direct injection and the only solution i keep hearing people mention is walnut blasting. We are going to avoid the AWD 335i's because we are moving to Las Vegas as soon as we move back from Japan.

What about the HPFP issues?

HPFP issues were solved years ago. Every car now either came with revised HPFP on it or has one one it by now.

The N54 cars were twin turbo (parallel) and more tuneable. The N55 cars (newer) had a dual scroll turbo and are less tuneable but have less lag. The N55 should, in theory be more reliable, but they're also newer so it's hard to say for certain if they just seem more reliable because they're newer.

Replacement turbos for the N54 will run you close to $3k for both of them. So hope they don't blow on you.

They're great cars and generally fairly reliable for the performance level, but they're expensive to fix for an "entry level" luxury car. When you realize that the N54 was originally designed to be a "premium" engine for the 5-series, it makes more sense.

I replaced an '02 WRX with an '07 335i 2.5 years ago. The HPFP and turbos both have an extended warranty out to I believe 88k miles/10 years (something like that). On my car the HPFP had already been done. I bought a 4 year aftermarket warranty since I was paranoid about potential maintenance costs. Halfway through I have used about half the cost of the extended warranty.

After a few months of ownership I brought it to the dealership to look for a rattling/clanging noise. They diagnosed the exhaust valve in the left muffler, not covered since wear item. After checking out e90post and crawling around the car it seemed the noise was clearly coming from the turbos. I brought it back (since they had mis-diagnosed) and had to talk to the manager and BMW of America before they agreed to replace the turbos on BMWs dime. There were no perceived performance issues, just the noise of the wastegates clattering at idle. Now 2 years later I can faintly hear the clanging/rattling noise at idle. Again no performance issues.

Consider the water pump to be routine maintenance. I did mine at 72k. Before that I considered the water temps around 250 in the summer to be just a warm running car (the engine bay does get hot). After replacing the water pump the normal operating temps went down 25 degrees. I plan to replace every 60k miles.

I have not done the walnut blast. I don't feel the car responding jerkily or any other symptoms, so not sure if that would make a difference. The only other non maintenance issue I had was the turn signal speaker, yes a speaker!, went out. The symptom was the click-click-clicking noise you hear from the signal was intermittent. That really screws with your head. The signals still worked just the noise went. To replace the dealer replaced a significant chunk of the dash. I imagine it was a $10 speaker but the repair (covered under warranty) was something like $1000.

Overall I love the car. With snow tires it has been fine in Il and MN winters. Not nearly as good as a Subaru, but still safely driveable. I just got an Accessport and flashed stage 1. It made a significant increase in power, looking forward to getting used to it.

'09 335i x-drive E92 bought at 55K. After a once over needed power steering hoses. All fluids done at the time also to get that E36 M3 outta the way. Water pump and t-stat shortly after. Still has a faint smell of coolant when reservoir is topped off but at half mark is OK, suspect the reservoir for hairline crack per forums.

Thought the HPFP was covered to 120K? IIRC. Haven't heard about the turbo coverage but that's good to know.

Cold Weather, Premium and Sport Packages, absolutely love it except for some of those little quirky things zee berkeleying Germans do. Contemplating a Dinan tune come spring but happy now as is.

One of the best cars I have ever owned, silky smooth, pleasure to drive, glad I bought it. Not exactly cheap to maintain but you know that comin' in.

IIRC one owner on this board had a horror story about the engine shifting on its mounts, causing the crank pulley to make contact with the frame in some fashion and causing a ridiculous amount of damage. I don't know much about these but that story was memorable enough not to forget.

make sure you have the newer injectors in there. Also, turbos on those cars should be replaced every 70k miles, the wastegates tend to fail and chatter. Also, invest in a proper catch can, these things blow by A LOT of oil.

-Henry

pointofdeparture wrote: IIRC one owner on this board had a horror story about the engine shifting on its mounts, causing the crank pulley to make contact with the frame in some fashion and causing a ridiculous amount of damage. I don't know much about these but that story was memorable enough not to forget.

That was 84FSP

I'm not sure exactly how much his 2 years owning his cost him, but I think it was a pretty brutal number.

'07 335i sport package here. Many of the big $$ issues that these cars have are covered under an extended warranty. Turbos are 8 years/80,000 miles, injectors and HPFP are 10year/120,000 miles IIRC. I have had all replaced under warranty and haven't had many other issues. Only big $$ item not under warranty is the electric water pump as mentioned above, but as far as I know, all e9x and nerer BMW's have this.

Spark plugs are BMW Bosch specific, but if you check out n54tunning or some other BMW parts sites you can find some cheaper cooler NGK plugs that work well with tunes for a more resonable price. Requires a deep thin wall 14mm socket to change, not exactly convenient, but not exactly the worst either.

Super awesome car. Was scared once I started having issues, but BMW took care of them pretty well. I will need to do the intake walnut blasting soon and then get an intake oil catch car. Check out some to the n54 or e90 specific forums for individuals that do the walnut blasting. Dealer charges upwards of $900 for it, but there are some DIYers out there that have the walnut blasting unit that charge a minimal price to do it. The oil catch can has shown good results in preventing carbon/oil buildup on the intake valves.

Get yourself some downpipes, exhaust, intake, and a tune (jb4 or accessport) and never wipe the smile off your face.