BMW 335d

Zascar

Going to look at one tomorrow. Beautiful car the exact spec I want - and it has a full BMW main dealer service history. Only thing I don't like about it is it has 133,000 miles - it's 2008. Normally I would stay away, but most of them of this age seem to have this type of mileage, very few under 100k and they are very expensive if so. Also the fact it has full bmw dealer stamps and only 2 owners is a big plus. I don't do much mileage myself as I have a motorbike I mostly ride to work, so I dont plan to be clocking that up past 150 very soon. What worries me is what sort of stuff could go wrong at this mileage and be an expensive fix.

Any opinions from those who have owned or driven them? What should I look for? Any other pointers?
Thanks.

Idbatterim

If you don't do big miles, why you going diesel? get it thoroughly checked out, given that its a 9 year old car, its hardly high mileage. Either way get it checked by a bmw specialist prior to purchase, if you think its a runner after you have viewed it...

Zascar

Yeah I'll definitely get it checked out. Dealer who has it said the only reason he bought this car is because it's 2 owner and full bmw service history. This does account for a lot and in fairness I've seen loads of them with 150/170 on the clock. I suppose it's just risk. Wondering are there any specifics that are likely to go at this mileage?

Blazer

Zascar wrote: »

Yeah I'll definitely get it checked out. Dealer who has it said the only reason he bought this car is because it's 2 owner and full bmw service history. This does account for a lot and in fairness I've seen loads of them with 150/170 on the clock. I suppose it's just risk. Wondering are there any specifics that are likely to go at this mileage?

if you're only doing low mileage get a 335i instead...fantastic car and a great engine to boot.
The 335D has a great engine the M57 i think which was practically bulletproof.
Around 100K the steering rods etc usually need to be replaced especially on the higher powered cars as heavy accelerating and braking tends to wear them down.
Take it for a spin and go heavy on the pedal to make sure she's still rock solid on the road...

MarkN

Blazer wrote: »

if you're only doing low mileage get a 335i instead...fantastic car and a great engine to boot.
The 335D has a great engine the M57 i think which was practically bulletproof.
Around 100K the steering rods etc usually need to be replaced especially on the higher powered cars as heavy accelerating and braking tends to wear them down.
Take it for a spin and go heavy on the pedal to make sure she's still rock solid on the road...

The 335i suffered with injector and coil pack issues. I had a 3 month old one for over a year and it was in for both under warranty. Check out if they were done previously if looking at petrol.

The thing about the petrol versus diesel in this specific engine case is, the petrol simply does not have the torque of the diesel. I've had mine a year now and the pace of the diesel still regularly scares me.

Blazer

MarkN wrote: »

The thing about the petrol versus diesel in this specific engine case is, the petrol simply does not have the torque of the diesel. I've had mine a year now and the pace of the diesel still regularly scares me.

The sound though I found the 335i extremely fast though I was coming from a remapped 520d. But still really fast

Zascar

Not going for a petrol - not paying €1500 in tax. Also I want the torque and better mpg of the diesel.

MetzgerMeister

Let's not forget the turbo issues the 335i had

Blazer

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Let's not forget the turbo issues the 335i had

And the whistle gates

ddire33

Normally very solid motor, but at 130k the following should have been or will need changed soon, water pump and thermostat & ERG thermostat, auto gear box should have had oil and filter change before 100k (if not might be better not to change now) shocks, brake disks, front lower control arms, glow plugs and controller, check DPF is working as it should.

Zascar

ddire33 wrote: »

Normally very solid motor, but at 130k the following should have been or will need changed soon, water pump and thermostat & ERG thermostat, auto gear box should have had oil and filter change before 100k (if not might be better not to change now) shocks, brake disks, front lower control arms, glow plugs and controller, check DPF is working as it should.

Thanks that's great. Any recommendations on where to get an inspection done before I buy it? Someone who can properly look over the car and see if the things have been done?

MetzgerMeister

There's a very good BMW independent garage called Motor Confidence run by a guy named Valdelis. He used be a user on here I think but I know he's on BMWHaus.

tossy

MarkN wrote: »

The thing about the petrol versus diesel in this specific engine case is, the petrol simply does not have the torque of the diesel. I've had mine a year now and the pace of the diesel still regularly scares me.

Great... if the OP is planning on pulling trailers.

If you aren't doing the mileage then why settle for something less OP, there is so much on offer out there in petrol form from BMW and other makes. These big power 6 pot diesels are compromise cars - they are designed to make reps feel as if they are driving something remotely fun. I'm not knocking them i'd gladly drive or own one but if you are doing small mileage then a high power petrol with decent performance will probably work out cheaper to run.

LG1234

tossy wrote: »

Great... if the OP is planning on pulling trailers.

If you aren't doing the mileage then why settle for something less OP, there is so much on offer out there in petrol form from BMW and other makes. These big power 6 pot diesels are compromise cars - they are designed to make reps feel as if they are driving something remotely fun. I'm not knocking them i'd gladly drive or own one but if you are doing small mileage then a high power petrol with decent performance will probably work out cheaper to run.

But the torque from the 335d is seriously fun, and you get cheap tax and better mpg.

166man

LG1234 wrote: »

But the torque from the 335d is seriously fun, and you get cheap tax and better mpg.

Torque and straight line speed gets boring after a while.



You never get tired of a six cylinder petrol engine noise.

LG1234

Have you checked out the insurance for the 335d? I was quoted huge figures for one...

Zascar

LG1234 wrote: »

But the torque from the 335d is seriously fun, and you get cheap tax and better mpg.

This. Thanks for the advice but I'm definitely not going for a 3l Petrol.

So I drove it this morning. Beautiful car you'd think it had half the miles or less. Really solid, no issues whatsoever. Getting a good deal trade in etc. Only thing holding me back is the mileage. I know its a lottery, some people have zero problems and others have loads - hard to tell. A mate thinks I should wait and try to find something similar in the UK with lower mileage - I'm in two minds.

Idbatterim

Zascar wrote: »

This. Thanks for the advice but I'm definitely not going for a 3l Petrol.

So I drove it this morning. Beautiful car you'd think it had half the miles or less. Really solid, no issues whatsoever. Getting a good deal trade in etc. Only thing holding me back is the mileage. I know its a lottery, some people have zero problems and others have loads - hard to tell. A mate thinks I should wait and try to find something similar in the UK with lower mileage - I'm in two minds.

what is the cost of bringing in the equivalent with less miles from the uk, thats what it will come down too...

Blazer

Zascar wrote: »

This. Thanks for the advice but I'm definitely not going for a 3l Petrol.

So I drove it this morning. Beautiful car you'd think it had half the miles or less. Really solid, no issues whatsoever. Getting a good deal trade in etc. Only thing holding me back is the mileage. I know its a lottery, some people have zero problems and others have loads - hard to tell. A mate thinks I should wait and try to find something similar in the UK with lower mileage - I'm in two minds.

Anything big done service wise on it? I think the fact that it has a full bmw service history as long as the intervals were only around 15k etc would be a good sign that it was a well looked after car. Plus as you said it has everything you wanted in it...

MarkN

tossy wrote: »

Great... if the OP is planning on pulling trailers.

Did I just wake up in 2004?

I'm not a sales rep. I've also had all the petrol BMWs a man could want. I'd still have the 635d over all of them bar my M3. Never pulled a trailer either, for the record.

Oh and when you're finished, nobody will want to buy your big engined 10 year old + petrol BMW that doesn't have low tax.

Zascar - would you be willing to go to UK for less miles?

Moanin

OP if you're not doing diesel miles is this car not a waste of time in terms of maintenance issues (DPF, EGR valve etc etc). All of which cause trouble due to not been driven as a diesel should be? If it were me I'd go for petrol equivalent...

tossy

MarkN wrote: »

Did I just wake up in 2004?

I'm not a sales rep. I've also had all the petrol BMWs a man could want. I'd still have the 635d over all of them bar my M3. Never pulled a trailer either, for the record.

Oh and when you're finished, nobody will want to buy your big engined 10 year old + petrol BMW that doesn't have low tax.

Zascar - would you be willing to go to UK for less miles?

The OPs quest started with a hunt for something different from his TT , with cheap tax and big power. This is possible without going for a 3L petrol BMW. Also who takes resale value into account when buying a car ? What normal sane petrol head i mean.

Citing torque as a reason to buy a diesel over petrol is like saying go out with this girl because she can carry bags of coal which is way more interesting than the other girl who is great craic and better in every way if you are looking to have fun.

Either way we are derailing his thread with our differing opinions, he's made his choice and i wish him the best of luck with it.

MarkN

tossy wrote: »

The OPs quest started with a hunt for something different from his TT , with cheap tax and big power. This is possible without going for a 3L petrol BMW. Also who takes resale value into account when buying a car ? What normal sane petrol head i mean.

Citing torque as a reason to buy a diesel over petrol is like saying go out with this girl because she can carry bags of coal which is way more interesting than the other girl who is great craic and better in every way if you are looking to have fun.

Either way we are derailing his thread with our differing opinions, he's made his choice and i wish him the best of luck with it.

I think it's worth expressing my opinion considering I've lived with the engine he's interested in. The comparison you are making is far too black and white. In many cases, there's a good reason for petrol over diesel. This particular engine has an unbelievable amount of torque (perhaps read some archive reviews of it) and on raw power there is a lot of merit in it over many petrols if you separate the requirement for the sound of a petrol engine.

JoeA3

tossy wrote: »

Citing torque as a reason to buy a diesel over petrol is like saying go out with this girl because she can carry bags of coal which is way more interesting than the other girl who is great craic and better in every way if you are looking to have fun.
.

Always enjoy your torque rants Tossy!

Zascar

Thanks lads. So I have been looking online - most of them that are 2008 seem to have milage that's similar or considerably more. There are loads with 150k, even 180k on the clock - still asking strong money. There are not too many with less than 100,000 miles - and they are way more expensive. Minimum £10k sterling. With vrt and the normal expenses that's going to be pushing €15k.

So as already said it depends on the condition and the service history. I think I'm going to send it in for an inspection and get an expert opinion on if it's a good buy. Any niggles - I'll walk and take my time. If he says it's good I think I'll go for it.

JoeA3

Am I missing something here? A 2008 car is 9 years old. 100k or even 150k miles is only 15-16k miles pa on a car of that age. That's surely in or around average, or barely above average, no?

We bought a 131 A4 last year that had 80k miles on the clock! Immaculate inside and out, acres of receipts, so we took a punt and touch wood it's been fine.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Having had a 335i, serious petrol cars, M cars and and a twin turbo 3ltr diesel bmw...I can say with certainity they are all good engines. The gearbox plays more of a part than most otherthings in the experiance. The speed the engine revs is important also.

As with all BMW buy on condition. condition, condition. Mileage seems average to low IMHO.

Teh 335d engine is certainly more reliable than the early 335i N54 engine.

All this desiel versus petrol talk is riddled with oldschool notions that are simply not true of modern desiel or turbo petrol engines.

bazz26

You're going to find most 9 year old diesel cars are going to have upwards of 100,000 miles as that's quite normal. I'd actually prefer that to a low mileage one that may inheritably have problems related to an incorrect driving style. I had a loan of a 07 530d that had 300,000 km on the clock, body and interior were not great but the engine pulled like a train.

Rowley Birkin QC

As another poster mentioned, check out insurance quotes before making any major commitment. I was looking at 330 and 335d's semi-seriously earlier in the year and the insurance was astronomical. Drove a 330d sport out of Beshoff's, absolutely cracking car but financially it didn't make sense.

Best of luck.

Zascar

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

As another poster mentioned, check out insurance quotes before making any major commitment. I was looking at 330 and 335d's semi-seriously earlier in the year and the insurance was astronomical. Drove a 330d sport out of Beshoff's, absolutely cracking car but financially it didn't make sense.

Already called insurance, they want €140 extra until October, not too bad

bazz26 wrote: »

You're going to find most 9 year old diesel cars are going to have upwards of 100,000 miles as that's quite normal. I'd actually prefer that to a low mileage one that may inheritably have problems related to an incorrect driving style. I had a loan of a 07 530d that had 300,000 km on the clock, body and interior were not great but the engine pulled like a train.

It's a good point. Even if I could get one at 100,000 I'd be much happier..

IrishZeus

PM'd you the details of Valdas/Motor Confidence that was mentioned earlier in the thread. Used him in the past and found him excellent.

Theboinkmaster

IrishZeus wrote: »

PM'd you the details of Valdas/Motor Confidence that was mentioned earlier in the thread. Used him in the past and found him excellent.

I agree - I use him for my f10 and he's brilliant. I trust him, which is important.

tossy

Zascar wrote: »

still asking strong money. There are not too many with less than 100,000 miles - and they are way more expensive. Minimum £10k sterling. With vrt and the normal expenses that's going to be pushing €15k.

You expanded your original budget to 15-20k if you have your heart set on a 335D then it would make way ore sense to push the spend out and get a good one with low miles from the UK.

Shane732

A great car - I had a 335i. Only problem I ever had with it was the wheels. Went through a lot of cracked rims and tyres.

The power is brilliant, will beat an aul VRS any day :D

Zascar

Does anyone know the difference between the 2008 and 2009 models?

millington

Zascar wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference between the 2008 and 2009 models?

Most 2008 will be pre-LCI models. The LCI (facelift) 2009 car has updated styling & interior.

Zascar

Ok Thanks. I just read the iDrive got a major update making it a lot better - but does anyone know if there was any update to the gearbox/gearshift?

bazz26

iDrive was not standard on the 3 Series back then, even on the 335d. The 335d kept the same M57 engine even after the facelift. The coupe didn't receive the exterior facelift until late 2009 afaik and even then it was more subtle than the saloon.

MarkN

3/5/6 got LCI treatment in 2008 but as mentioned the iDrive was upgraded in 2009. The wheel control is more like the one in the F10 5 series.

Moanin

What about this one OP:

http://www.carsireland.ie/car-dealers/county/meath/east-coast-cars/detail.php?ad_id=1696458&r=s.php%3F%26g%3D0

Mileage is pretty low (If genuine)

LG1234

Moanin wrote: »

What about this one OP:

http://www.carsireland.ie/car-dealers/county/meath/east-coast-cars/detail.php?ad_id=1696458&r=s.php%3F%26g%3D0

Mileage is pretty low (If genuine)

The blue one linked earlier was nicer, only 3k dearer and had the cheaper tax which the OP wanted.

Did you buy the blue on OP? I see its gone from donedeal

Zascar

No I decided against it. Was a beautiful bar but I decided I want gray and under 100k. Looking in the UK. Will cost a bit more but will be a better buy long term I think.

bazz26

Not cheap but low milage (if can be verified) and a nice colour combo imo:



http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1594231&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D10%26o%5B%5D%3D86%26f%3D2%26nn%3D22%26yn%3D2008%26g%3D0

166man

€16k though for a 10 year old car with alloy wheels that crumble over the first speed bump and an engine that will need a timing chain inevitably?

You can buy an '07 535d for literally half that.

Zascar

Does look like a good car but I don't like red leather... Also it's black and I swore I'd never have another black car - so hard to keep clean!

pa990

a nine yr old B M troubleU, is bound to have problems, in fact any car of that age is bound to have some issues, or about to come across things that need replacing. And with a BMW it will be expensive.

As for the milage.. it averages out at less than 15k miles per annum, Thats not high mileage for a diesel.

I doubt you'll find a 9 yr 335d with much less, unless its clocked.

Zascar

Yes I do understand that... I'm not buying a new car. If I was, I would not get much for by budget. These cars were €75k+ new. I can get a €75k car for a tiny fraction of that, and it's every bit as good as a car now as it was when it rolled out of the factory. You do however have to factor in running costs, and repair costs. Things do go wrong and need replacing - and you need to budget for that. But the value you can get can be excellent all in all.

For example, my current car is a 2001 Audi TT Quattro. This car was 53k new, I bought it 5 years ago and only paid €4.5k for it. It's 225bhp, 4 wheel drive, heated leather seats, a beautiful interior and just a nice place to be, and a lovely car to drive. At the time I had the choice of buying an 10 year old premium car, or I could have bought some low end Japanese car half the age. I do not regret my decision. Compare this interior to any of the small popular runabouts. I've had 5 years of driving a high quality car and in that time it's performed brilliantly. A few small things have gone wrong - I had to replace some sensors, a coil pack, a headlight motor, brake disks a clutch master cylinder. But overall the value I have got out of it including everything has been fantastic. And it's still worth about 2k, so the depreciation is tiny. If you buy a new(ish) car you may be less likely to incur problems, but you'll most certainly get hit with a lot more depreciation.

Blazer

lovely car..is the only reason you're changing it due to mileage etc or just fancy a change?

Regarding what someone said above about mileage. I'd much prefer a high mileage well maintained 335d than a low mileage with someone who just went by the service indicators. You'll have less trouble with the well maintained one.

MarkN

pa990 wrote: »

a nine yr old B M troubleU, is bound to have problems, in fact any car of that age is bound to have some issues, or about to come across things that need replacing. And with a BMW it will be expensive.

As for the milage.. it averages out at less than 15k miles per annum, Thats not high mileage for a diesel.

I doubt you'll find a 9 yr 335d with much less, unless its clocked.

Do you have examples of these troublesome BMWs you're talking about?

Zascar if you do manage to find one that perhaps has lived a life in Dublin, you could get lucky. Mine has 90,000kms, it's 9 years old. It ain't clocked.

bmwguy

MarkN wrote: »

Do you have examples of these troublesome BMWs you're talking about?

Zascar if you do manage to find one that perhaps has lived a life in Dublin, you could get lucky. Mine has 90,000kms, it's 9 years old. It ain't clocked.

Well the timing chain problem on certain engines is an example of very troublesome whether he knew it or not.

But in general, BMWs are neither more reliable or less reliable than everything else out there. Mine is 13 years old now and standard regular maintenance keeps it running sweet, so much so that every time I think about selling it, I decide not to. I know the car inside out at this stage. But mainly because it's as good as everything else out there but it's cash value is almost non existent it would trouble me to give it away.

166man

MarkN wrote: »

Do you have examples of these troublesome BMWs you're talking about?

Zascar if you do manage to find one that perhaps has lived a life in Dublin, you could get lucky. Mine has 90,000kms, it's 9 years old. It ain't clocked.

Troublesome BMW's? Do you have enough time to listen to the long list?