Planning on buying a E92 335

Donnelly117

Hello folks,

I wasn't sure if I should make a new thread on this as its been done before but there was not a lot from the last year or so. Im looking to trade in my Cooper S and buy an E92 335 in the next few weeks so I was wondering if you lot wouldn't mind fielding a few questions, as I know there are a few owners on here? Mostly based on running costs, mpg (I know people say if you need to know the mpg you can't afford it etc but id obviously like to have an idea...), servicing, tires etc. BMW have decent enough service price list online to I guess thats covered. I do less then 10k miles per year so a diesel doesn't interest me really...

Ive read about the turbo, injectors and HPFP issues to this would obviously be the first questions to ask a dealer. Other then that how are they reliability wise? Its my first BMW (not counting the Mini) so I haven't much experience with them. I have it narrowed down to these two, ones an auto and ones a manual. The manual has the advantage of having the M-Sport kit and the tax is 300 isn cheaper (this will be soaked up by the extra purchase price for a few years so its too important). The 07 auto comes with a 2 year warranty apparently? Would you recommend the auto or manual in these? Would an auto be easier to move on in the future?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/335-M-SP/38213912537733240/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/335i-SE-/43213943455134070/advert?channel=CARS

Supergurrier

Will your one come with 2 turbos ?

Donnelly117

Supergurrier wrote: »

Will your one come with 2 turbos ?

Im sure there will be 2 in there somewhere...whether they make any boost is another matter!

alanmc

The second of the two (the auto) is my old car. And a fantastic car it is too. I didn't gel with the auto box at all. Horses for courses and all, and I discovered I'm not an auto man.

Having said that, the car is a fantastic drive. Hugely fast. Not exactly sports car handling, but it's not meant to be.

My advice would be see if you could get the car for a few hours of a test drive and see if the auto box suits you or not.

I was getting high 20's mpg, mostly motorway. But I do like a spirited drive, so the tachometer did see the naughty side of 5000 on occasion.

Reliability wise. The only thing I had trouble with was the stupid service computer. The brake service light came on. I went to change pads myself, but couldn't reset the computer. Valdas sorted it out for me. Other than that, no reliability issues for me anyway.

Best of luck.

Donnelly117

alanmc wrote: »

The second of the two (the auto) is my old car. And a fantastic car it is too. I didn't gel with the auto box at all. Horses for courses and all, and I discovered I'm not an auto man.

Having said that, the car is a fantastic drive. Hugely fast. Not exactly sports car handling, but it's not meant to be.

My advice would be see if you could get the car for a few hours of a test drive and see if the auto box suits you or not.

I was getting high 20's mpg, mostly motorway. But I do like a spirited drive, so the tachometer did see the naughty side of 5000 on occasion.

Reliability wise. The only thing I had trouble with was the stupid service computer. The brake service light came on. I went to change pads myself, but couldn't reset the computer. Valdas sorted it out for me. Other than that, no reliability issues for me anyway.

Best of luck.

Cheers, that good to know! Id say there arent too many of them out there that havent been north of 5k rpm at some stage! Its good to know its never given trouble, I presume at its current mileage that turbo issues etc would have occurred by now if they were going to... (and it was well looked after )

The auto/manual debate it a tricky one, Ive never owned an auto so I dont know how id adapt to it. The paddle shift thing seems a bit gimicky so I cant see that getting much use.

Were you the last owner yea? What did you replace it with? I kind of have my heart set on a 335 at this stage, but would be open to suggestions to alternatives. I just cant think of a single one! A TT was about the only other car I could think of but the TTS is out of my price range and the 2.0 TFSI isnt in the same league as the BMW...

CountingCrows

FWIW I bought my 6 series (now for sale ) from Brian in Wilcox. Pleasure to deal with and he even covered a problem that occurred just after my warranty had ended.

Donnelly117

That car is immaculate in fairness! Have you driven a 3 Series? Im wondering what the size difference between them is. The 6 looks monstrous! Appreciate the feedback on the dealer too, its hard to gause how big it is etc from the pics they have up. It kind of looks like a shed in the background!

CountingCrows

Donnelly117 wrote: »

That car is immaculate in fairness! Have you driven a 3 Series? Im wondering what the size difference between them is. The 6 looks monstrous! Appreciate the feedback on the dealer too, its hard to gause how big it is etc from the pics they have up. It kind of looks like a shed in the background!

Yep, driven a few of them. Size difference is night and day really, your welcome to look at mine at time. Presume if your looking at 335i's though your after out and out performance where as the 6 is more of a cruiser. Wilcox's is very small, usually keeps about a dozen or so cars. Brian is ex Murphy & Gunn so most of the BMW's he has were traded in there. All my warranty work was carried out there too.

MetzgerMeister

I've had my manual 2007 e92 335i for a year and a half now and I'm still in love with it despite the issues I've had.

I replaced both turbos - BMW sell you a remanufactured unit with upgraded parts and you send them back your old one in part exchange. This cuts the price down to less than half that of a new turbo. I got the rear one done by a local mechanic (big mistake as he took so damn long) and the front one done by George Dalton. I would seriously suggest George for this job and get both replaced in the one go if they're needed.

Other issues are injectors whereby the idling is fluttery, the car can conk out in traffic and acceleration is a small bit juddered. I'm having these symptoms at the moment. New injectors from BMW are €1,200 but you can get them from the US for half that but you might be caught for customs duty once they reach Ireland.

The seat belt extender arms can give hassle too and they don't catch the belt properly and it slips off. This is solved by replacing the catching part, c. €40 and you just pull the whole arm out, replace this part and push it back in again. No special tools needed at all but there is a bit of a knack to it.

Other owners have experienced excessive wear on the seats from the seatbelt rubbing off it. I haven't had this myself.

HPFP failure was mainly an issue in the US due to their crap quality fuel. It has somehow affected a small number of cars in the EU but it's nowhere near the issue it was in the US.

alan - I didn't know you got rid of yours! The E92 comes standard with M Sport suspension so it should have handled excellently.

With regard to the auto vs manual thing, I have always been a manual man. I never drove this car with the auto but I have my reasons for always choosing manual and I'm never regretful with the 335. It's a superb car to drive and the noise is fantastic especially when the engine is fully warmed up.

Another thing to note is taht because the temp gauge on the dash measures OIL temp and not coolant temp, it takes quite a bit longer before it'll reach full operating temp. Do not drive it hard until it has reached at least the fourth mark.

I got these installed on mine about a week ago. This is my own car in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=109NP_D98Xc

Donnelly117

Thanks for the detailed reply, I was secretly hoping you would stop buy as Ive seen your BM a few times on here and its a beauty! I see your point about the auto box, Ive barely driven autos at all, and I do enjoy the odd spirited drive on a bendy road with a bit of heel toe action and the likes! I dont think the flappy paddles will make up for a clutch and manual! Especially cause they are set up kind of stupidly with both paddles being + and - instead of the normal right for up left for down setup which I would have expected...

I presume the boot opener you've added works with the button on the key and doesn't add another fob thingy? Its just stronger dampers or something is it?

MetzgerMeister

AFAIK, the 335i was alanmc's first auto and I think it's safe to say that he didn't enjoy it as he traded it in. Others here have had auto 335i's though and they liked them but personally, they're not for me.

The boot lid thing is an addition to the already installed struts. That chap manufactures all the bits himself and they utilize your existing struts. Yep, it works from the button on the key fob. It's just an extra thing to lift the whole boot open on its own. Normally the button just pops the boot open a bit and you have to then fully open it. Not a major deal but it's nice to have

they have a tough job to do because he told me to lift the boot open when he had both struts removed and it was incredibly heavy!

alanmc

Donnelly117 wrote: »

Cheers, that good to know! Id say there arent too many of them out there that havent been north of 5k rpm at some stage! Its good to know its never given trouble, I presume at its current mileage that turbo issues etc would have occurred by now if they were going to... (and it was well looked after )

The auto/manual debate it a tricky one, Ive never owned an auto so I dont know how id adapt to it. The paddle shift thing seems a bit gimicky so I cant see that getting much use.

Were you the last owner yea? What did you replace it with? I kind of have my heart set on a 335 at this stage, but would be open to suggestions to alternatives. I just cant think of a single one! A TT was about the only other car I could think of but the TTS is out of my price range and the 2.0 TFSI isnt in the same league as the BMW...

I went back to a 350Z (albeit a 07 one with the HR 308bhp engine).
My 335i did have a rattle from the turbo wastegates on startup. Sounded like a kid on a bike with spokey dokeys. But it was only really when it was cold. Once it warmed up, it was grand. And it was only noticeable outside. The car was immaculately quiet while driving it. I think that's one of the things I didn't like about it if I'm honest - the quietness.

MetzgerMeister

alanmc wrote: »

I think that's one of the things I didn't like about it if I'm honest - the quietness.

You weren't driving it right :P

alanmc

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

alan - I didn't know you got rid of yours! The E92 comes standard with M Sport suspension so it should have handled excellently.

Another thing to note is taht because the temp gauge on the dash measures OIL temp and not coolant temp, it takes quite a bit longer before it'll reach full operating temp. Do not drive it hard until it has reached at least the fourth mark.

Yeah, I traded it in a couple of weeks ago. It was the auto box that was the deal breaker. I toyed with the idea of getting a manual 335i to replace it and I was actually looking at the other one in Donnely's OP. But a deal came up for the 350Z, so I went with what I knew.

I think the handling issue with my 335 was the tyres. It was very very tail happy ... especially in the wet. In contrast, you have to work quite hard to break the ar$e end of the Z away.

The temp gauge confusion caught me out as well. On my first commute to work, it wasn't where I expected it to be after 20 mins of driving, so I thought my thermostat was stuck open or something. After I read up on it, I stopped worrying about it

MetzgerMeister

I can push mine a fair bit even in the wet and not have any tail happiness. What tyres did you have? I got rid of the run flats and replaced them with Goodyear Eagle F1 Assy's. incredible grip from them.

alanmc

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

You weren't driving it right :P

Maybe. I think I was just used to a more unrefined motoring experience.

The 335i is an awesome car. And I'd say if I'd bought a manual one like yours MM, I'd still be driving it.

alanmc

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I can push mine a fair bit even in the wet and not have any tail happiness. What tyres did you have? I got rid of the run flats and replaced them with Goodyear Eagle F1 Assy's. incredible grip from them.

They were Bridgestone RFs. It understeered a bit on turn in as well. The Z does that as well though. The heavy V6 lump wants to continue in a straight line.

Donnelly117

I've also been looking at a few of these lately. Its the 330 N54 330 engine in these isn't it? Anyone have any experience of them? The 335 insurance is killing me!!!

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/Z4/COUPE-3./201409222009065/advert?channel=CARS

MetzgerMeister

Donnelly117 wrote: »

I've also been looking at a few of these lately. Its the 330 N54 330 engine in these isn't it? Anyone have any experience of them? The 335 insurance is killing me!!!

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/Z4/COUPE-3./201409222009065/advert?channel=CARS

Nope, the N54 is the 3.0 twin turbo. That has the N52 3 litre. It's a totally different engine and a new design whereas the N54 is a new design based on the M54 330i engine that was in the E46.

Donnelly117

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Nope, the N54 is the 3.0 twin turbo. That has the N52 3 litre. It's a totally different engine and a new design whereas the N54 is a new design based on the M54 330i engine that was in the E46.

N52 I meant sorry, so this wasn't the motor from the E90 330? Or was it from some variant of an E46? Bloody BMW and their billions of engines!
I'm starting to think the 335 is just out of my price range, mostly in terms of insurance. The best quote I've got is 2k fully comp from Aviva. I really cant justify paying that with 1494 tax on top of it per year. :mad:#
That leaves me back to square one in terms of what to look at...

MetzgerMeister

What age are you and what NCB do you have? I'm 28 with 8+ years NCB and my premium in December was €625.

That Z4 has the same 3.0 (N52) engine that's in the 330i and it was a brand new design. The N54 3.0 twin turbo engine that's in the 335i is based on the old E46 330i engine.

Donnelly117

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

What age are you and what NCB do you have? I'm 28 with 8+ years NCB and my premium in December was €625.

That Z4 has the same 3.0 (N52) engine that's in the 330i and it was a brand new design. The N54 3.0 twin turbo engine that's in the 335i is based on the old E46 330i engine.

Im 24, with only 3 years NCB. Liberty gave me the normal BS about having to be 30 etc. Aviva were 2k Comp or 1300 TPFT. The TPFT quote isnt too bad but I think Id rather have FC insurance on a €17,000 ish car.

MetzgerMeister

Yep, TPFT is only suited to a car worth around 2 - 4k IMO.

Give First Ireland a call, they're my brokers and they consistently get me great quotes every year. I've been with them for 3 years now albeit with 2 different underwriters.

Donnelly117

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Yep, TPFT is only suited to a car worth around 2 - 4k IMO.

Give First Ireland a call, they're my brokers and they consistently get me great quotes every year. I've been with them for 3 years now albeit with 2 different underwriters.

I will do cheers! Agrees with the TPFT/FC. I have TPFT on my Cooper S, which I would say is around the €9,000 mark. But only because the quites for FC were mental. Hopefully I can get my NCB maxed out this time without any incidents

Other then the Z4 Coupe and the 335 I'm at a loss. I'm trying to avoid the max tax bracket so that rules out most VAG cars (they all seem to be 3.2's). The 2.0 TFSI stuff isnt really in the same league as the BMW's. I would also love the 08 Impreza STi on carzone but Insurance companies run from those like wildfire!!!