E90 335i

[MattTheHat325]

I've decided to have a bit if a tidy up in my stable, and as old school as I like to think I am, this last 12 months of averaging 60+ miles a day has started to take it's till on me and my poor old e30 325i. The recent miserable weather has confirmed for me that the both of us are getting on a bit now! And as such I need to get into something with less years under its belt.

Being such an awkward fusspot when it comes to cars, I've somehow managed to restrict myself to what has turned out to be the most elusive vehicle I've ever tried to find, an e90 335i m sport manual. Where are they? How many were made? 10?

I have briefly considered an e92 version, and VERY briefly considered a dct 92, just to increase my chances, but you want what you want I suppose!

My main issue is, I'm wanting to buy with warranty/finance and as such I've spent most of my searching time in the AUC network. To no avail obviously.....

It's a new process to me and I could do with a bit of a steer. Are any of you guys involved with BMW and could shed any light on the rarity of my desired steed? Or does anyone have any advice regarding finance/warranties via non-BMW 'prestige' dealerships that this kind of car tends to crop up at?

I'm not interested in buying one privately as compared to an e30, the prospect of repair bills on a car like this scare me, but as I'm not well versed in this kind of purchase I'm also scared of getting burnt should I have issues with the car........

The sooner I 'go modern' the better as I'm about to start a new job on Monday 30 miles away and my e30 is showing signs of not being up to the task!!!

[Simon13]

twin turbo or the later twin scroll turbo?

[bss325i]

Forget about aftermarket 3rd party warranties, the ain't worth a wank! Only cover some items, pay partial labour costs, as little as £30 ph in some cases and want repairers to use non genuine or even second hand parts in some cases!!

A BMW auc or insured warranty is the best you will get as most things are covered and labour is paid in full!

As for finding a manual E90 or E91 335i M sport,
Good luck!

They are out there but very rare!

E93 you will stand a better chance of finding in manual form.

Buying private can be ok as long as you get the car checked out and you can put a BMW insured warranty on a car with full BMW service history but check first for a quote as age and mileage dictates how much it will cost PA and the costs can be brought down by having an excess, just like normal insurance.

[Simon13]

i've just looked on ebay there are 3 manual cabs, 6 coupes and 1 manual touring in various ages trims and mileges

The saloon and touring will be the hardest to find imo they are out there!

[Simon13]

theres another 335i touring on auto trader red with no pics

[MattTheHat325]

twin turbo or the later twin scroll turbo?

I'll be honest Si I wasn't aware of this!? Ideally I'm looking at anything from 07 to 10 obviously dependant on mileage, price etc

Bss, I was hoping you would pop along mate!

This was exactly my thoughts on aftermarket warranties, I'm just pulling my hair out at the lack of candidates in the AUC network. If I'm honest I'm not holding my breath for an e90, but I wouldn't go for a cab. I can see it being an e92, AUC have 2 at the moment but there's always something I don't like about them!

What did new buyers have against the manual gearbox? And I have t really heard any major horror stories about the n54(?)

I had considered an m3 as an alternative but realistically I couldn't justify the extra costs involved just to say I had an m3

[MattTheHat325]

i've just looked on ebay there are 3 manual cabs, 6 coupes and 1 manual touring in various ages trims and mileges

The saloon and touring will be the hardest to find imo they are out there!

Yeah I have seen a few on eBay, but it's the finance/warranty side of things that's keeping me close to BMW, that silver e91 has been on the bay forever!

[zd3bx]

Nothing on BMW's website and I doubt you'll find any that way...

Like others suggested, your best bet would be to buy on Autotrader/eBay and then get it insured with BMW.

There's one grey (£9k) and one black (£10K) one on Autotrader atm.

Grey > http://www.mylesbrowning.com.razsor.aut ... 2200639334

Black > http://www.lmc-cars.co.uk/bmw-335i-m-sp ... le-3278953

[MattTheHat325]

That's looking like a viable option now then, I had really considered/wasn't aware of doing it that way before. Looks like I need to have a sit down with my man at Cotswold and figure out their criteria and prices for that kind of warranty. Cotswold seem to be uber picky about what cars they will have anything to do with, they don't seem too keen on anything with around 50k or more, as far as the more performance orientated models go at least.

125k is way too high, and the black 56er is juuust a touch too old

Did I mention I was an awkward fusspot!?

Thanks for the advice though guys, you've given me a new perspective in my search now, so hopefully it will turn up something suitable soon!

[MattTheHat325]

I keep going back to that black saloon.........

Damn if it was a 57-58ish with 10 thou less........otherwise it's pretty much perfect. Cheap too!

Hmmm we'll see what BMW have to say!

[bss325i]

I know of an E46 M3 that had 198k and an insured warranty!!

It had the warranty for a long time and just kept being renewed, at what cost I don't know but obviously had fbmwsh.

[zd3bx]

Yeah, probably it would be a good idea to find out from BMW what kind of cars they can insure first, before you start day-dreaming on eBay/Autotrader

And obviously you have to ease down your requirements a bit, otherwise you'll be a driving an E30 for longer than you think...

P.S. With regards to age, I wouldn't bother much getting a facelift just for the sake of the year, because it seems like the facelift models didn't have any major technical improvements - just visual, like bumpers, lights, grill, nav, etc.

Here > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series_(E90)

Scroll to the bottom for the info about facelifts.

[Simon13]

this is tasty albeit an e60 but the thinking mans choice i'd say. Its a bit of Barry

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

[bss325i]

this is tasty albeit an e60 but the thinking mans choice i'd say. Its a bit of Barry

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Yes now that is the one!

I'm normally a 3 series man but I would have that over an E90 335i or E60 M5!

Just needs a super charger ala Alpina B5 and its bye bye M5!

[MattTheHat325]

I'm not particularly worried about the whole facelift thing, it was just the general age of the car really, but in fairness that 56 only wears 63 thou so.....

The one seemingly pathetic thing that was bugging me was, I want one with the screen in the dash. I'm not in slightest bothered about anything it does, I just can't stand the feebleness of the dash without it!

I did go through an e60 phase a while back, but I've made my mind up on a 3er now! I'd go with Barry on the charged m5 killer if it had to happen though.......!

[tom325ise]

I'm not particularly worried about the whole facelift thing, it was just the general age of the car really, but in fairness that 56 only wears 63 thou so.....

The one seemingly pathetic thing that was bugging me was, I want one with the screen in the dash. I'm not in slightest bothered about anything it does, I just can't stand the feebleness of the dash without it!

I did go through an e60 phase a while back, but I've made my mind up on a 3er now! I'd go with Barry on the charged m5 killer if it had to happen though.......!

If you find one without the screen, these units get fairly decent reviews on the E90post site and make the dash look a lot better. I'm waiting until they make one with DAB before I get one for my E92 330i.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eonon-7-Car-S ... 43beaa342b

[bss325i]

Most 335i's have a monitor with pro Nav so its not a rare option to seek out.

[Simon13]

the manual touring has no i drive, looks to be low spec wise. I'd get over it myself as shes a LCI which look alot better

What about this white B3 saloon, they're mean to be epic but its switch-tronic auto which is a pretty good system but it no manual. More of a half way house

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... bo/1945129

theres a coupe also popped up on there

[zd3bx]

That black one is indeed not bad and surely worth looking at, probably the only downer is the cream leather, but I guess that's a personal preference...

With regards to age, I doubt there'll be a massive difference in terms of general condition between 2006 and 2007-8 cars. As usual, it largely depends on how it has been looked after/driven.

[MattTheHat325]

If you find one without the screen, these units get fairly decent reviews on the E90post site and make the dash look a lot better. I'm waiting until they make one with DAB before I get one for my E92 330i.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eonon-7-Car-S ... 43beaa342b

I see what you mean, I guess it would ease the blandness!

That B3 is gorgeous that looks almost too nice to drive to me! I would have that and force myself to like the gearbox before I even began to consider an m3!

I'm genuinely liking that black saloon, see I like that colour leather in a black or Le Mans e90, so that's a plus for me! I'm going into Cotswold tomorrow so if I get positive vibes I'll go have a look at it I think!

[zd3bx]

Let us how it goes, I'd be interested to know their pricing on this kind of stuff

Might be useful to take the reg number of that black one, just to show them an example of what you'd like to insure under warranty.

[tom325ise]

You can get a warranty quote here

https://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk

That black car is odd though as it doesn't show up on the BMW warranty website

Also, pre Sep 07 cars will cost £475 p/a to tax - ignore what it says on autotrader, you need to check on the DVLA website

The vehicle details for YG56 XUL are:
Date of Liability 01 01 2014
Date of First Registration 28 09 2006
Year of Manufacture 2006
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2979cc
COâ‚‚ Emissions 231 g/km
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Licence Due to Expire
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval M1

This vehicle can be taxed at a tax-issuing Post Office® without the V5C Registration Certificate.
Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £261.25
12 Months Rate £475.00


More info here: http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... 4&t=141365

[bss325i]

When you do to look at these, make sure there is no metallic rattle on the overrun after blipping the throttle as this is down to wear in the waste gates and it usually means both turbos need to be replaced and that is an expensive job, not something i would tackle without a ramp as the front subframe needs to be dropped to remove the turbos.

Some times but not often, a software update can cure it.

[zd3bx]

You can get a warranty quote here

https://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk

That black car is odd though as it doesn't show up on the BMW warranty website

Also, pre Sep 07 cars will cost £475 p/a to tax - ignore what it says on autotrader, you need to check on the DVLA website

The vehicle details for YG56 XUL are:
Date of Liability 01 01 2014
Date of First Registration 28 09 2006
Year of Manufacture 2006
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2979cc
COâ‚‚ Emissions 231 g/km
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Licence Due to Expire
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval M1

This vehicle can be taxed at a tax-issuing Post Office® without the V5C Registration Certificate.
Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £261.25
12 Months Rate £475.00


More info here: http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... 4&t=141365

That's useful

Yeah for some reason the black one doesn't show up, but I checked the grey one and it was £1175.70/year with 0 excess - pretty good, I think.

[MattTheHat325]

Right, just been to see my man. Unfortunately they can't offer me any kind of warranty on a used car unless it's a continuation of warranty extension. But he did say BMW might be able to, this is the thing with individual dealers having their own ways I guess.

We pulled up the black saloon on the system and as you all know, we could see it's life story. He did a hpi on it for me aswell which showed nothing untoward, not stolen, crashed, no outstanding finance etc etc, nicely specced and obviously well looked after, it was last in the network for servicing 18 months ago at just under 40k so until I speak to the seller I can only assume/hope it's had at least one more service between then and now at an Indy.

One thing we found was that it had a personal plate from new, which was then changed to it's existing 56 plate in 2007. Could this be the reason it's not being recognised by the BMW warranty website?

I obviously can't determine whether it's spot on or not without going to see for myself, but it is a rare car at almost half the money I was considering paying should one have popped up in the AUC network.

Hmmmm

[bss325i]

Speak to Pony. He got an insured warranty put on his e46 M3 CS and that was not a continuation of a BMW auc warranty.

[tom325ise]

You can get a warranty quote here

https://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk

That black car is odd though as it doesn't show up on the BMW warranty website

Also, pre Sep 07 cars will cost £475 p/a to tax - ignore what it says on autotrader, you need to check on the DVLA website

The vehicle details for YG56 XUL are:
Date of Liability 01 01 2014
Date of First Registration 28 09 2006
Year of Manufacture 2006
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2979cc
COâ‚‚ Emissions 231 g/km
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Licence Due to Expire
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval M1

This vehicle can be taxed at a tax-issuing Post Office® without the V5C Registration Certificate.
Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £261.25
12 Months Rate £475.00


More info here: http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... 4&t=141365

That's useful

Yeah for some reason the black one doesn't show up, but I checked the grey one and it was £1175.70/year with 0 excess - pretty good, I think.

That's not a bad price - it quotes £1238 for my 08 plate 330i with 90,000 miles. If you add a £250 excess, it almost halves the cost though.

[bss325i]

It only takes a couple of turbos or an auto box to hit you with a £2k+ bill so the warranties can be worth it.

If you have no excess the cheaper repairs such as sensors, injectors etc wont dent the wallet.

[MattTheHat325]

I rang the BMW warranty line and they seemed quite confident that the reg change was the reason it didn't show up on the website, she sent me an email with a run down of prices. With no emergency services and a £250 excess (no biggie) an annual comprehensive policy is £547.82

How very agreeable!

Just got off the phone to the place selling it and I'm going down to have a butchers tomorrow. Bit of a slog down to Essex but hey ho! If it's as good as it looks on paper I'll find out how much of a meal the journey home will be with 300 horses on tap

[zd3bx]

Another thing with AUC, they can put massive mark-ups on their "checked" cars simply because of the brand awareness.

Would you rather pay a bit more to buy a fully checked car from BMW or save some cash and buy privately?

Eventhough both cars might be in the same condition, most customers will always go for BMW approved ones because of the trust factor, so if you see similar cars for cheaper, it doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with them.

And if you do buy that black one, you owe me a beer

[bss325i]

And don't always assume BMW AUC cars are perfect either!

[MattTheHat325]

Well I haven't committed myself to anything yet but I've got everything in place to pull the trigger if I don't find anything upsetting. I've got a mechanic pal giving me a ride down there and he's got a good head on him so if I should miss anything then he's sure to pick it up.

The turbos are my main concern, but is there anything else I should be keeping a special eye out for other than the normal car stuff? I'm no stranger to cars but something this modern and complicated is new to me I won't lie.

Thanks for all your help and advice here guys, it's been invaluable! Barry, an absolute wealth of the good stuff as usual!

And zd3bx, what's your tipple?!

[tom325ise]

Assuming this is the N54 engine then there are high pressure fuel pump issues, and also engine coking. If you download the pdf from the Birds Website below you will find more details (although as this is a pre efficient dynamics car this may not apply, I'm sure one of the BMW techs will correct me if I'm wrong).

http://www.birdsauto.com/parts/L9007115001

That is a very nice looking car, but I would consider that the £475 road tax may make it hard to sell in a couple of years. I wouldn't imagine there would be many E30's around now if they cost £475 to tax!

[bss325i]

Yes, as tom said high pressure fuel pumps fail and this can manifest itself in poor performance and/or extended cranking times on start up.

Coking is very rare to be honest on an N54. Take the car for a long road test and dont be afraid to use all the cars performance, make sure the engine performs smoothly at all engine speeds. No warning lights!

Check everything works electrically more than once!

Check for uneven tyre wear as they like to kill the edges of the tyres if the wheel alignment is out, especially on run flats.

Check for cracked rims on 19's and even 18's.

Suspension is pretty good on these with only the odd track rod end or drop link wearing out.

Make sure the Nav works and doesnt take an age to boot up or cut out.

[MattTheHat325]

I read through the PDF of the warranty terms sent to me from BMW-warranty.co.uk and for what it's worth (until something goes tits up!) it sounds fairly reasonable. The relatively low mileage of the car and it meticulous service history would be on my side, I would like to think that stuff like fuel pump failure shouldn't be considered wear and tear after less than 70,000 miles? I'd certainly argue the case with them at least!

Good point about the tax, does anyone know anything about the impending changes to the vehicle licensing system? Will be interesting to see what impact (if any) a monthly tax system would have on the gas guzzling sector?

My e30 more than makes up for that £475 over the course of 12 months! Fuel, rubber components, hoses, breathers, sensors, welding wire.......... it's never ending! It will be a relief for it to return to 'toy' status