E92 330i Opinions / Reliability

E92 330i Opinions / Reliability

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Discussion

Mackey444

Original Poster:

15 posts

147 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Im currently got the itch to buy a new car, I've had Audis for the past few years, first a 3.2L A3 and now a A4 2.0T Quattro S-line Special Edition, but the silky smoothness of BMW's 6 cylinders is calling me again.

I bought the A4 looking to be a bit more sensible ahead of buying a new house, and wanting to get rid of the A3 before the DSG gearbox gave me any trouble. Ive now got the new house, and the A4 is lovely inside and handles well, but I miss the 6 cylinder power delivery and sound, and just the feel of driving a beemer. The A4 has 220bhp but feels a bit gutless for it, also I'm 28 and single, so it looks a bit odd with me behind the wheel, and every woman I know takes the mick out of me for it (im not that shallow obviously smile )

But now I have a bit of spare cash and rather than being sensible and saving it for a rainy day, I've been thinking what the hell, I'm a petrolhead and you only live once!!

I have been looking at a few options, generally between £8-12k and no more than 70k miles.
  • 130i M sport hatchbacks can be picked up at good prices, but not my taste of looks and generally not as well specced as 3's. 125i coupes are highly priced and pretty rare.
  • I looked at Z4 coupes but while I dont need all the seats, it a bit too impractical.
  • E46 330ci's. There are some very nice well specced low milage convertables kicking about which I could almost just straight swap my Audi for value wise, but a 10 year + old roof would worry me, plus I have already owned an E46 albiet a very early 328.
  • Keep the Audi, revo chip to 255bhp, replace the drilled brake disks which need doing and find a girl with 3 kids!
  • Then theres the E92's, right up my street looks wise. I actually wouldnt mind a 325i, the autos are a little sluggish, slower than what I already have, or are they deceptive like many BM straight 6's? Also there are a few convertables which are not much more, even slower but they must be a decent investment depreciation wise. Then theres the 330s. I wouldnt mind and SE if it meant saving some money but I'm reluctant to go for non sports seats, the BMW ones always seem quite poor (maybe to make you upgrade!). The M sports seem an excellent mix of looks, spec, power with sensible MPG figures! I ignored the early 335i's, 2 turbos to go wrong!
There is a very nice M Sport close to me which I could go look at, 62k miles and £11k. However now I have the house to worry about too, I still have nagging worries that the newer cars seem to get, the more expensive the problems seem to be! I will maintain to the highest standard but money will be a bit tighter, dont want £500+ problems!

What have peoples general ownership experiences of these been? I read about cracking alloys - this one has 18"s. Tyres £300 a pop? Injector problems? I only get around 28-32 mpg from the Audi so hopefully it could even be an improvement on that front. Insurance is another 25% higher.

Ive always been reasonably lucky with my cars, plenty of little issues (VAG seem experts on this front!) but never had the "big one", so I wanted to make sure I wouldnt be opening myself up to any nightmares or having to sell the house to run it. Should I just follow my heart??

Edited by Mackey444 on Tuesday 22 April 14:48

tomic

720 posts

144 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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My 330i has never cost me a penny other than normal maintenance (N53 Engine), but it has suffered with injector and coil pack issues. Both were fixed under recall even though my car hasn't got full BMW history. I can see from the (detailed)history that a previous owner had to replace some plugs at an unscheduled interval to cure a misfire once.

They do need to be driven though. I drive mine around London a lot and it does start to feel a bit hesitant until I treat it to a good motorway blast at high revs, then it's fine again. I generally get about 29/30 in mixed driving. You can get more (or a lot less), depending how you drive it (I got 40mpg on a long run with the cruise on and around town it drops to about 24/25), but it is a really nice thing to drive and I would highly recommend it.

I think the 19" alloys are best avoided as they are the ones that crack.

Just to add, my car has 102,000 miles on it now, and it feels and looks like new.





Edited by tomic on Tuesday 22 April 15:11

mosc7pc2

111 posts

178 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Got my 330i a few months back as a AUC. Within 3 weeks, 3 injectors and cat convertor all went boom.

It has been fine since though. Just done 2000 miles to Germany and back in 3 days, absolutely faultless drive.

It is a sept 08 model registered as a 09 plate so pre LCI. I don't know exactly which N engine it is?

From my experience, I wouldn't want another 6 cylinder from BMW again unless it's an AUC.

csampo

236 posts

194 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Our 2006 330i has been fine aside from a failed DSC hydraulic unit. These seem to fail quite regularly (plenty reported on the net but then there is always a strong negative bias for faults on the net). It is a £1200+VAT part for the 6 cylinders but fortunately there are specialists reconditioning them now and offering lifetime warranties for a few hundred quid. We went down the latter route with ours and it has been faultless since (http://www.ecutesting.com/)

Low 20 mpg commuting/around town. Mid 20's on a cross country blast. Mid 30's on a relaxed motorway cruise. Engine is a wonderful, sonorous, responsive thing; last of the non turbo'd straights.

Also - the ride is crashy on earlier M-sport cars (like ours); this can be sorted by swapping dampers, springs and tyres but it will cost a bit to do.

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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I know where my money would be going. 370bhp of creamy V8 goodness yes

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Mackey444

Original Poster:

15 posts

147 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Sure that would be nice to waft about in, but I was trying to get away from family guy image, dread to think of the fuel costs on that too. There's a few 6 series kicking about for reasonable money, even convertibles, just seems a bit excessive!

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Seen plenty of car seats in a 3 series! If you're worried about that then go Z4 or 645Ci if you ask me.

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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csampo said:
Our 2006 330i has been fine aside from a failed DSC hydraulic unit. These seem to fail quite regularly (plenty reported on the net but then there is always a strong negative bias for faults on the net). It is a £1200+VAT part for the 6 cylinders but fortunately there are specialists reconditioning them now and offering lifetime warranties for a few hundred quid. We went down the latter route with ours and it has been faultless since (http://www.ecutesting.com/)

Low 20 mpg commuting/around town. Mid 20's on a cross country blast. Mid 30's on a relaxed motorway cruise. Engine is a wonderful, sonorous, responsive thing; last of the non turbo'd straights.

Also - the ride is crashy on earlier M-sport cars (like ours); this can be sorted by swapping dampers, springs and tyres but it will cost a bit to do.
I second this too I have a 2006 N52 330i purchased end of November last year as a AUC car and I have put 5k miles on it since I got it and its a cracking all rounder, strangely its using more oil than my old M3 did but other than that its top notch and a great daily driver.

bracken78

983 posts

205 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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We have an E91 330i with N52 engine and the car is great. Please look at my profile for running costs if it helps.

Carmo99

1,308 posts

185 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Lovely car, I owned one for 4 years bought (leased) new in 2008. I had the usual fuel pump and coil failures, all fixed under warranty and apart from that it was no trouble. I went for the auto which is also very good, I know the PH crowd don't support this but the autobox is great and 99.9% of the time is what you really want. We will be changing the current Merc C350 coupe for the new 4 series, probably a 435, possibly a M4 because SWMBO misses her Beemer.

Ultuous

2,247 posts

190 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Bought my late pre-LCI E92 325i MSport Auto about 3 weeks ago... Was really looking for a 330 Manual, but the right trim/ condition/ mileage/ options/ price came up and I didn't have much time to mess about being more choosy over the powertrain so went for it. Absolutely loving it so far!...

Given the choice (if I'd had more time to look) I'd definitely prefer the extra oopmh (without any real penalty) of the 330, but the power's more than adequate for a smooth blast in what's never going to be an out-and-out B road machine. As others have said, I'm finding the ride (on 18s) a little crashy but bearable - and that's with the RFTs still fitted!

The Auto was my biggest worry of all (having always been a manual fan before) but like any good woman, I'm growing to love her class and pedigree - even if it means losing a little bit of the fun - the Steptronic just about gives me what I need on more enthusiastic drives!

doogle83

758 posts

146 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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mosc7pc2 said:
Got my 330i a few months back as a AUC. Within 3 weeks, 3 injectors and cat convertor all went boom

From my experience, I wouldn't want another 6 cylinder from BMW again unless it's an AUC.
Similar experience here but issues after 9 months. Coil packs and injectors replaced under warranty. Lovely car otherwise, it replaced my 3.0 Z4 which was pretty bullet proof as I needed more doors... Warranty expires in June though so can't decide whether to renew it or chop the car in for something else... Either way I wouldn't own an N53 without a warranty.

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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doogle83 said:
mosc7pc2 said:
Got my 330i a few months back as a AUC. Within 3 weeks, 3 injectors and cat convertor all went boom

From my experience, I wouldn't want another 6 cylinder from BMW again unless it's an AUC.
Similar experience here but issues after 9 months. Coil packs and injectors replaced under warranty. Lovely car otherwise, it replaced my 3.0 Z4 which was pretty bullet proof as I needed more doors... Warranty expires in June though so can't decide whether to renew it or chop the car in for something else... Either way I wouldn't own an N53 without a warranty.
Is this a prime example why the N53 has a worse reputation than the N52, I like my N52 but I like the N53 more as not only is it quicker and more powerful but its more fuel efficient too so what is not to like...but maybe there is a price to pay for the benefits.

doogle83

758 posts

146 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Slightly faster and better fuel economy were the reasons I chose mine. Even found a pre LCI as I preferrerd the look of them. Just frustrating when those "common" issues talked about on forums actually start happening to you! Should maybe mention that there's another N53 330i in the work car park, bought at a similar time and they've had no issues at all!

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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doogle83 said:
Slightly faster and better fuel economy were the reasons I chose mine. Even found a pre LCI as I preferrerd the look of them. Just frustrating when those "common" issues talked about on forums actually start happening to you! Should maybe mention that there's another N53 330i in the work car park, bought at a similar time and they've had no issues at all!
I suppose its just the luck of the draw then really...just like the AJP engine in my old TVR everyone told me how solid it was and it rarely ever goes wrong yet mine went bang at 19k miles causing an expensive rebuild!

There isn't such a thing as a reliable engine in reality though as there are too many components to go wrong in the first place...you just spend your life keeping your fingers crossed hoping it doesn't go wrong.

mosc7pc2

111 posts

178 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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I chose the 330i as I thought it was meant to be quite reliable. No turbos to fail. No waste gate rattle to worry about. I actually wasn't so fussed on AUC or non AUC when I bought mine.

But now I gained that little bit of experience and realise I won't want a non AUC 3 litre straight 6 from BMW. If I could choose again, I would've gone for the 335i for the full experience!

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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mosc7pc2 said:
I chose the 330i as I thought it was meant to be quite reliable. No turbos to fail. No waste gate rattle to worry about. I actually wasn't so fussed on AUC or non AUC when I bought mine.

But now I gained that little bit of experience and realise I won't want a non AUC 3 litre straight 6 from BMW. If I could choose again, I would've gone for the 335i for the full experience!
I have gone AUC for five of the six beemers I have purchased and I know you get your pants pulled down with the price of them but the warranty is good for a little piece of mind...like you I should have gone with the 335i as it returns the same MPG as the 330i but it goes like the clappers in comparison plus you get the lovely twin exit exhausts! cool

Mackey444

Original Poster:

15 posts

147 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Thanks guys, well I've decided to go look at one tomorrow. It's not an auc but it does have full bmw s/h and it's at a small prestige dealer so looks clean enough. I have Munich legends round the corner so I tend to use them for all issues anyway, had a bad experience with a BMW dealer when servicing my E46.
If I get it I'll post some pics.

Mackey444

Original Poster:

15 posts

147 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Well I didn't get the one I went to see.

It had a lot of stone chips all over the bonnet and bumper, I know you have to expect some at 62k, but it seemed like a lot. Other than that the bodywork was clean. Inside the leather was good, but some of the plastic near the buttons on the steering wheel had been worn off (by rings?) and and metal trim on the door was badly pitted. Also the catch on the armrest lid no longer work. The dealer had got the wheels painted gun metal grey himself, they looked good but I always want things as they came out the factory. It was a great drive, engine felt lovely. A red tyre light came on while we were driving, he said one of the runflats probably just needed pumping up a bit, but could this be hiding another issue?

Also it said full BMW s/h but the last BMW one was in 2012 at 40k, and then he has just done an oil service himself now at 62k, so it must have been long overdue, he tried to explain it away. I would be the 5th owner.

Think I was justified to pass on it, but maybe I am expecting a little too much for the money I want to spend. Are the coupes very bad for stonechips at this sort of milage?

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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It will do no harm looking at others as you will have something to compare it too, stone chips are a pain I didn't have many stone chips on my old M3 coupe when I got it but I put 10k miles on it and sold it with 43k miles and it was very stone chipped they are hard to avoid unless you stick it in a garage and don't use it.

Good luck in the search going forward I think its worth looking at others to get a rough idea of what you can get for the money.