E90 BMW 320d advice

travelman1

Hi All,

I am thinking of buying a BMW 320d 2005 with 85k on the clock. Only my local mechanic advised to to steer clear of this model and make as its troublesome. He said with BMW's you're paying for the badge, he said that the electronics are always problematic and the ABS issues are common and said that if I buy one I need to be prepared to spend quite a bit on it annually.

He said the run flats were expensive 300euro a tyre.

Now this is contrary to what I understood about BMW 3 series, I always thought they were a very reliable low maintenance car and a good buy.

So whats the truth, will this car bleed me every year....

Has anyone got experience with these cars. Or might there another reason the mechanic advised me this way....

Thanks in advance.

Anan1

My mother has an 07 one and, lovely car as it is, the extended warranty has been well worth while. Run flats are under €150 each for 16", bigger wheels will bring bigger tyre bills and a jarring ride.

Leonard Hofstadter

travelman1 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am thinking of buying a BMW 320d 2005 with 85k on the clock. Only my local mechanic advised to to steer clear of this model and make as its troublesome. He said with BMW's you're paying for the badge, he said that the electronics are always problematic and the ABS issues are common and said that if I buy one I need to be prepared to spend quite a bit on it annually.

He said the run flats were expensive 300euro a tyre.

Now this is contrary to what I understood about BMW 3 series, I always thought they were a very reliable low maintenance car and a good buy.

So whats the truth, will this car bleed me every year....

Has anyone got experience with these cars. Or might there another reason the mechanic advised me this way....

Thanks in advance.

Your mechanic is right in the sense that if you're not prepared to spend a bit on maintaining it, you will pay for it in the long run.

He's a bit out of date on the ABS issue though - yes the ABS fails but there's now a much cheaper fix available, there is one bit that fails in them and this can now be replaced on its own rather than buying a brand new ABS module.

The main issue with these is the swirl flaps - get them removed asap unless you want them to get injested into the engine and thereby writing off the engine in the process:eek:! The turbo can give trouble but only if you don't service it on time and change the oil regularly.

JerCotter7

Anan1 wrote: »

My mother has an 07 one and, lovely car as it is, the extended warranty has been well worth while. Run flats are under €150 each for 16", bigger wheels will bring bigger tyre bills and a jarring ride.

You can replace the run flats with normal tyres.

Anan1

captainspeed wrote: »

The turbo can give trouble but only if you don't service it on time and change the oil regularly.

Ours had a new turbo at 80k kms, it was dealer serviced on the button.

DublinDilbert

If they are 16" alloys the run flats are approx €125, for a decent brand.

Pretty much the same engine was used in the e46, all the issues are pretty much known and can be avoided.

Abs system can be fixed very cheaply now too.

Anan1

JerCotter7 wrote: »

You can replace the run flats with normal tyres.

You can. With 16" wheels you won't need to, though, tyres are reasonably priced and the ride is good.

travelman1

okay - that doesn't sound too bad. Its along the lines of my expectations of a car like this. I do understand that if I look after and maintain and service regularly all should be okay and within normal car cost parameters - unusual and unforeseen events excepted that is.

So aside from usual car maintenance - this car isn't going be excessive as compared to other makes of a similar ilk - i.e. 2.0 litre diesel.....is that what I'm getting hearing?

king_of_inismac

I was Under the impression that the swirl flap issue was resolved with the e90?

I have one with 143000 miles on the clock.

Only problem so far was blocked windscreen washer. Fixed it myself. Also do all the servicing myself.

Great car to drive and probably the best put together car I've owned.

high horse

Anan1 wrote: »

Ours had a new turbo at 80k kms, it was dealer serviced on the button.

They set the service intervals way too long on them. I have an E46 320d with 141k miles and still on it's 1st turbo. I change the oil every 8-10k miles and the breather filter on the turbo every 3rd oil change

king_of_inismac

high horse wrote: »

Anan1 wrote: »

Ours had a new turbo at 80k kms, it was dealer serviced on the button.

They set the service intervals way too long on them. I have an E46 320d with 141k miles and still on it's 1st turbo. I change the oil every 8-10k miles and the breather filter on the turbo every 3rd oil change

Agree 100%. I service mine every 9k miles. When I first got the car, I'd say the breather filter was never changed. Improper maintenance is a killer

Anan1

high horse wrote: »

They set the service intervals way too long on them. I have an E46 320d with 141k miles and still on it's 1st turbo. I change the oil every 8-10k miles and the breather filter on the turbo every 3rd oil change

I can well believe it, but very few cars will be serviced more frequently than the manufacturer recommends.

high horse

Anan1 wrote: »

I can well believe it, but very few cars will be serviced more frequently than the manufacturer recommends.

True, I just took the advice my mechanic gave me and did the oil changes when he said I should. According to him, he was cleaning the turbo breather filters before BMW were selling them as a standard service part. Without his direction, I might be like many others needing a replacement turbo

jimmyvr5

I have a 08 e90 320d which i bought in cargiant after moving to england for a bit.The car had 56000 miles when i bought it at cargiant and was only serviced every 15-18000miles.Now on 64000 miles no problems so far with reliability.The ride on the 17's is a little hard however.Would advise you go for this car -as long as you mind them they are sound.Not as comfy as my previous b6 passat but faster and more fun.I always allow a minute for the turbo to spool down before shutting down the engine and will be changing the oil every year/10000 miles as i believe as others have stated here that the service intervals are way too long.

aido76

high horse wrote: »

True, I just took the advice my mechanic gave me and did the oil changes when he said I should. According to him, he was cleaning the turbo breather filters before BMW were selling them as a standard service part. Without his direction, I might be like many others needing a replacement turbo

Put in the newer Vortex type breather filter and you will never need to replace it again;)

bazz26

Inlet manifold was redesigned on the E90 so it doesn't suffer from the swirl flap issue. RFTs can easily be replaced by standard tyres. Service history is paramount on these cars.

Other common problems include the blocked windscreen wiper pipes, central locking can also give problems as can the ABS/TC module.

Mine is a 08 with nearly 100k km done, oil and filter changed every 15k km, car has been very reliable to date. Service History is very important, look for receipts for work/maintenance rather than just garage stamps.

BTW 85k miles seems very low mileage for a 7 year old diesel, it would want to have a full verified service history to convince me that it is genuine, by this I mean ring the garages that stamped the service book to verify the work and mileage.

travelman1

if the turbo goes is it expensive?

Leonard Hofstadter

travelman1 wrote: »

if the turbo goes is it expensive?

Yes. But if you service it at least every 20,000 km (the service indicator in the car can say up to 30,000 km without a service - way too long to be going on the same oil IMO), probably more like every 15,000 km to be on the safe side or once a year (whichever comes first) then you are massively reducing the chances of it happening:)!