Learn me BMW 328ix

My wife has been driving our Toyota Sequoia since our move to Denver and she struggles with it in the snow(its 2WD). So we are in the market for a sub $20k 2007 or newer AWD vehicle with a manual transmission and 4 doors.

She has been smitten with the 2007ish BMW 328iX's I have never owned a BMW before and I worry about reliability a bit, can anyone in GRM land school me on common faults and other things to lookout for? how has the ownership experience been?

And yes I know AWD won't solve everything, the new car will be getting a set of snow tires for the winter.

The 328 engine isn't that unreliable. It still has a weak cooling system but no turbos, and the mechanicals of the engine are pretty reliable. As long as you resign yourself that you'll at some point probably have to spend $1000 on a water pump and thermostat while you own the car, you can't go wrong.

Also, keep an eye on the bushings particularly the control arm bushings (they're kinda floppy) and if anything seems weird with the handling get it on an alignment rack pronto and inspect everything.

Also, manual x-drives are pretty hard to find.

In reply to drdisque:

Awesome this is good info. Manual, AWD, and wife approved is dammed near impossible to find.

Thankfully she is as big a clutch zealot as I am.

Also oil cooler housing gasket(easy to DIY) and valve cover gaskets are common. VANOS solenoids(easy) and occasionally an eccentric shaft position sensor will leak(pull valve cover to R&R).

Those plus water pump and t-stat(pain in the ass to DIY I'd imagine.. I have a lift at work and still dislike them) are normal things to watch for.

Also an 07 may have all the door locks stop working and you won't get in. The fix is to replace a 15a fuse with a 20a fuse per a service bulletin(IIRC, may be a 20-->25 but you get the most).

At approximately what mileage will I have to start worrying about the water pump and t-stat?

Capt Slow wrote: At approximately what mileage will I have to start worrying about the water pump and t-stat?

They are more peace of mind items for when the radiator cracks and you lose all the coolant anyways....

In reply to Capt Slow:

The minute it's out of warranty.

For real though, they seem to fail like clockwork between 60-70k.

When you do one, do both. The t-stat is mounted on the pump. Also make sure the aluminum bolts are replaced as they are one time use. Don't use steel as they will corrode to the magnesium block.

They're not downright HORRIBLE to DIY, but it will be messy. The worst part IMO is how the hose clamps are clocked in stock form... Damn near impossible to loosen a couple easily. Lots of 1/4in drive extensions and good swivel sockets are a must.

FWIW I've not had any problems with other cooling system parts, certainly no radiators. I'm fairly sure the E90+ don't operate at 30psi like the E46s did. For the record I'm not a dedicated Bimmer tech, I work all makes and models, and happen to get a lot of the German stuff... I've done probably 20+ pumps/t-stat over the last 2-3 years. Never a radiator or other stuff on an E90/E60/etc. Maybe a coolant hose o-ring at some point though.

Hopefully you'll find a car where the owner has service records so you can see if the cooling system has been maintained (service records are pretty common for enthusiast owned BMWs.)

well good I will definitely be looking for this in the service records. Also good to know the e90's run at a lower pressure than the E46's hopefully that will translate into fewer cracked hoses and radiators.

Our 2008 328xi is at 120,000 miles with no problems from the water pump (yet).

Have been through the oil filter housing gasket leak, and the original belt tensioner appears to have a 60,000 mile life, but it's an easy DIY.

If you want to change the fluid in the rear diff, you have to suction it out, no drain plug. Front diff fluid is easier, but you have to drop a reinforcement plate with $20 of alleged single use bolts. Transfer case fluid is a PITA, because you need to unbolt the mounts to get at the fill port, and getting the case remounted is a minor struggle. You also need to then visit the dealer to get the transfer case ECU reset.

Changing the ATF is actually not that bad, as long as you like getting a good bath of the stuff. The filter seal though, is a bugger to get out.

Coolant change is pretty easy, though you do have to deal with undoing one of those interestingly clocked hose fittings though. Use the BMW coolant-- you've got the electronics of a $400 electric water pump immersed in the stuff. Neat part of the electric water pump though is purging a refilled system-- after closing the bleed screw(s), you hook up a batter charger, turn the ignition on and press the gas pedal to the floor for 10 seconds. It then sounds like a dishwasher started up under the hood and as it kicks off a 10-12 minute bleed and purge cycle.

Battery change also requires a visit to a shop to "register" the new battery, otherwise the charging system will cook it. There are DIY coding solutions to that problem though.

Get the wagon! I'm liking mine.

They are rare ducks with a stick though. Wagons are about 2% of total 3ers and about 10% of wagons are manual. The 2007s had bad expensive ABS failures, so a newer one would be better. Also newer ones get the heated steering wheel, which has become my favourite thing. $20k should get you a 2010 or 2011 with low to average miles.

A wagon is what kicked this particular branch of the search off. Unfortunately it appears that it was a data entry error since the pictures clearly showed an Automatic.

We will be looking at a low mileage sedan this evening...

I have an 09. On stock summer tires, it just slides both ends in the snow. On winter tires, it gets around very well, but not as well as my subaru does on plain old all-seasons.

Maintenance is brutal at the dealer.

There is ALWAYS a light shining for something. Most times it's nothing. One tire slightly off on pressure, or other minor things. Other times it is very expensive.

Up to 2010 had "rest air" which is genius. When you turn off the car, it uses engine heat to keep warming it for a half hour. Getting in the car and having it already warm is a wonderful thing.

If you can't find anything you like in your area my sister recently sold her 2010 328ix manual sedan to the dealership she bought it from as her family needed something a bit bigger. Somewhere around 70k miles on it and well maintained. Still there at the dealer last I heard. Chicago suburbs.

We were not too impressed with the car at the test drive, we will probably be looking for something else.

Wife said it felt "too small" and she would prefer to stick with an SUV.

Volvo XC90?

535xi wagon? Smoking Tire just put up a YouTube vid on one and I just saw one on my local cl for 14k.

What others are you considering at this point?

We had an '07 328ix manual wagon come through the used car dealer I work at, I really wanted to like it but I found the seats uncomfortable and I found the turn-in when going into corners strange. Could have just been this car but I was hoping for more. Maybe a 5 series would be a better fit. I'm also looking for a wagon, kids keep growing and don't fit in the R56 MINI anymore.

In reply to rustysteel:

I agree on the turn in strangeness, but that could be that it does not compare favourably with a MINI. I have an R52. I think proper sporty tires will help a lot because going from the Conti run flats to cheapo snow tires made it noticeable worse. The basic seats are OK, I just did two 7 hour road trips with no ill effect. The Sport seats are supposed to be much better. However, finding a manual wagon with sport seats makes life challenging.

On the plus side, it holds more than I though. I put a 16 ft^2, box on the BMW rails with 200lbs of stuff and you wouldn't know it was there. Plus the wife,2 teens and dog and it was quiet, no ill handling, and returned 8.5l/100km while averaging 120kph (70mph). The brakes were strong and confident despite all of the weight and I could still accelerate nicely on uphill passing lanes.

I am now liking it more that my former Saab Sportcombis, even the Turbo X manual. The TX did have a better AWD set up, but it was prone to frequent multi-$1000 failures so I don't miss it.

Mrs. Capt Slow may wish to test an X3 with a manual, but I found them to ride harshly due to the extra ride height and stiffer springs that attempt to make up for it.

What about a Subaru Outback XT Turbo Wagon w/stick shift?

Aspen wrote: In reply to rustysteel: I agree on the turn in strangeness, but that could be that it does not compare favourably with a MINI. I have an R52. I think proper sporty tires will help a lot because going from the Conti run flats to cheapo snow tires made it noticeable worse.

Yes, proper tires (especially ditching the runflats) and getting the -0.5 degrees of camber up front that the factory equipment allows drastically improves turn-in on these cars.