considering E90 320i

skyhighflyer

Hi all

Going to look at this E90 320i tomorrow if I can get out of work on time.

Anything to watch out for? I know they have a timing chain and I'll be looking for service history but beyond that I'm not aware of anything peculiar to this model. I initally thought it was a 6 cyl but seems as if the newer 320i is a 4 cylinder. It has VANOS I've heard it can be problematic in the M-cars but a google doesn't show up any horror stories about it in the 320i's.

I considered a few cars (mainly the Alfa 159), but the Alfa petrols seem weak (the 1.8i in the 159 especially so) and I don't do the miles (8,000 per year) for a diesel. Also don't like the idea of turbo / dmf issues so just going to stay away.

The one I'm looking at seems to have a nice spec and seems reasonably well-priced although it's been for sale for a while so I'm assuming there'll be a bit of wiggle room on the price.

All thoughts welcome. Thanks

magunkey

Biggie Owners! You'll be number five on a six year old car. No a problem if you're keeping it forever - big problem if your looking short term.

skyhighflyer

magunkey wrote: »

Biggie Owners!

What the fcuk does that mean

Leonard Hofstadter

Looks like quite a nice car - only thing is that the E90 320i is basically the E46 318i - the E90 320i is far less powerful than the E46 - the E46 320i had a 2.2 six cylinder engine with 170 bhp, the E90 has a 2.0 four cylinder engine, which is all but identical to the 2.0 four cylinder in the E46 318i.

The 320d has more power, much more torque, better fuel consumption and better resale value. To counter that, the 320i is more reliable and a little quieter - the 320d can suffer from turbo failure and of course the swirl flaps need to be removed or else they can be injested into the engine, which writes off the engine.

skyhighflyer

captainspeed wrote: »

Looks like quite a nice car - only thing is that the E90 320i is basically the E46 318i - the E90 320i is far less powerful than the E46 - the E46 320i had a 2.2 six cylinder engine with 170 bhp, the E90 has a 2.0 four cylinder engine, which is all but identical to the 2.0 four cylinder in the E46 318i.

The 320d has more power, much more torque, better fuel consumption and better resale value. To counter that, the 320i is more reliable and a little quieter - the 320d can suffer from turbo failure and of course the swirl flaps need to be removed or else they can be injested into the engine, which writes off the engine.

Thanks, I was actually quite surprised that it was only 150bhp. On the other hand, driving a mkV Golf 1.4 at the moment so it'll probably feel like a rocketship by comparison.

skyhighflyer

magunkey wrote: »

Biggie Owners! You'll be number five on a six year old car. No a problem if you're keeping it forever - big problem if your looking short term.

Oh, thanks Can I ask how you know - is there a free way to check? Planning on doing a proper cartell if I'm still interested after I see it.

Also, can anyone recommend someone to check it? Was thinking of ringing AC cars tomorrow and seeing whether they do inspections.

magunkey

skyhighflyer wrote: »

AC Cars

Can't recommend! Damaged my 316TI when in for a basic service and laughed when I asked them to put it right.

bazz26

ABS/Traction Control module can be troublesome on these and costs about €1k to replace. So make sure the ABS/traction control warning lights don't stay on.

The E90 has run on flat tyres so don't expect to find a spare wheel or jack in the boot unless the previous owner ditched them for standard tyres.

Service history is important and remember that the E90 has condition based servicing which means the computer will tell you when it is scheduled an oil, brake pads, etc change.

RandomAccess

skyhighflyer wrote: »

... I initally thought it was a 6 cyl but seems as if the newer 320i is a 4 cylinder...

Sneaky buggers... never knew that till now. I just thought they were a lot more muffled as I never noticed much sound from them. (I wind my window down when I reckon a 6cyl+ is going to zoom away from the lights etc)

166man

captainspeed wrote: »

Looks like quite a nice car - only thing is that the E90 320i is basically the E46 318i - the E90 320i is far less powerful than the E46 - the E46 320i had a 2.2 six cylinder engine with 170 bhp, the E90 has a 2.0 four cylinder engine, which is all but identical to the 2.0 four cylinder in the E46 318i.

The 320d has more power, much more torque, better fuel consumption and better resale value. To counter that, the 320i is more reliable and a little quieter - the 320d can suffer from turbo failure and of course the swirl flaps need to be removed or else they can be injested into the engine, which writes off the engine.

The E90 320i four cylinder engine has 168bhp does it not?

Collibosher

skyhighflyer wrote: »

Oh, thanks Can I ask how you know - is there a free way to check? ....

The advert in your link states four previous owners

VolvoMan

skyhighflyer wrote: »

Also, can anyone recommend someone to check it? Was thinking of ringing AC cars tomorrow and seeing whether they do inspections.

magunkey wrote: »

Can't recommend! Damaged my 316TI when in for a basic service and laughed when I asked them to put it right.

They went tits up about a week or two ago IIRC.

pajo1981

166man wrote: »

The E90 320i four cylinder engine has 168bhp does it not?

Only the ED ones (2008+).

skyhighflyer

Well, went to see and and sure enough there was a dash light on during the test drive (cheers to bazz26 for flagging this). Problem is I can't recall whether it was the 'due a service' light or the 'DSC is fcuked' light. They both look similar on the E90 manual I downloaded.

Other than that the car was mint and very well specced with leather, BMW professional audio, climate, parking sensors etc etc.

I asked the salesman (nice guy to be fair) outright: "if this is the €1k ABS module and it blows 2 months after I buy it what happens". His response was a non-commital 'It'll be all sorted before sale and we'd look after you' and he said the car would come with a 3 month bumper to bumper warranty.

Not quite convinced. I've seen a few companies online that claim to rebuild the modules for £250. I've no bother with mechanical stuff generally so would have no difficulty taking it out and refitting. I walk to work so it wouldn't be a killer to be without a car for a couple of days.

I was thinking of going back, checking to see whether it was indeed the DSC light that was on and if so negotiating a deal on that basis. Or am I mad to be considering this and should I just keep looking?

high horse

A 3 month warranty is the legal minimum so its not really anything to boast about

skyhighflyer

high horse wrote: »

A 3 month warranty is the legal minimum so its not really anything to boast about

True I guess. I'm sceptical of warranties anyway and do most of the work on my cars myself. I was just slightly more comfortable with the fact it was bumper to bumper rather than engineand box.

Mahuga

VolvoMan wrote: »

They went tits up about a week or two ago IIRC.

Did they? Thought they had a good reputation and a loyal following?

Esel

skyhighflyer wrote: »

I was just slightly more comfortable with the fact it was bumper to bumper rather than engine and box.

Q. Will you get that in writing?

A. I don't think so. It would mean they would be providing a warranty on items that even the manufacturer will not give on a brand new car!

Personally, I would consider such a statement to be a shoddy and misleading practice on the part of the salesperson, and it would colour my opinion of the dealer.

VolvoMan

Mahuga wrote: »

Did they? Thought they had a good reputation and a loyal following?

They did. It looks like they just got too carried away with expanding.

Owen

99% of the ABS modules that fail can now be repaired with a kit from BMW which costs about 300 Euro. There were so many failing that some form of kit had to be put on the market.