E90 325i M Sport with over 100K miles potential issues?

E90 325i M Sport with over 100K miles potential issues?

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Emeye

Original Poster:

9,773 posts

222 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
I fancy a 325i M Sport and there is a 2006 one with just over 100k miles on the click local to me.

How well to these cars wear their miles? The older BMWs E46/39 etc generally wanted a suspension refresh and had waterworks issues at these sorts of miles. Is this still the case with later gen Beemers?

A 70k mile car is probably about £1500ish more, but if a 100k car is going to be a sound purchase I may be tempted to make the saving, as I'm not doing much mileage and with another baby on the way I'm happy not to spend the cash!

Cheers.

Jedilai

96 posts

120 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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No real cooling known problems and a great car if you plan for moderate mileage.

Just the usual E90 points to look for, Its on here somewhere. There are common foibles but nothing to put you off I would say. The six cylinder petrol is maybe the most reliable choice at this mileage.

The N52 engine is quite robust and if looked after and should be fine. Lift the bonnet after starting and listen for sounds. There maybe be rattles from VANOS or HVA noise or a bumpy idle. it should rev as smooth as silk though. By that mileage it probably has had coil packs changed but even if they do go it is a relatively cheap and easy job to do yourself. That is about the only known issue worth waiting for with this engine.

Car should handle pin sharp, I have found some handle the miles really well where as some of the harder driven M-sport models eat the bushings and ball joints earlier. This wear and tear can lead to funny handling before it manifests in creaking/noisy suspension. overall though suspension should last much longer than it did for E46.

There have been some reports of steering lock and column issues - a clicking noise. This usually ends up with outright replacement. Also fuel tank breather issues which is rare but has a cost to fix due to the labour required to fix, but again this can be lived with.

Keep an eye out for wheel type/condition. The MV3 18" alloys and 19" alloys suffered from buckling and cracking due to RFT passing on the impacts, on a higher mileage car this 'might' be more likely. The slightest Buckling would be noticiable by vibrations in car at speeds around legal speed limit. This combined with bushing condition can cause vibration via the front tension arms and read equivelant. All noticable on a motrway test drive and should be obvious.

Definately look out for Xenons as the halogens can be scary on dark B-road.

These are my experencies

Edited by Jedilai on Thursday 24th April 14:07

Emeye

Original Poster:

9,773 posts

222 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
Jedilai said:
Lots of useful info
Cheers. smile

MantaMike

423 posts

250 months

Friday 25th April 2014
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I have a 2006 325i M-sport with 111,000 on the clock, purchased with 87k 2 years ago.

Mine uses a litre of oil every 1200 miles or so, but I am assured by my specialist that that is nothing to worry about, if it gets down to 1l per 6-800miles and smoke from exhaust then it could indicate bore wear which apparently can happen with these engines. mine had the fuel tank breather hose problem, where the breather hose chafes on the inner wheel arch and wears through, subsequently leaking when the tank is brimmed, luckily this was sorted by my selling dealer as it requires the tank dropping and thus rear subframe removing to fix which will be a big labour bill. The replacement part is modified by BM so once sorted it shouldn't happen again.

I have also had the VANOS solenoid fail a couple of months ago, the symptoms being a loss of power and a misfire, only a £60 part and half hour labour so not a major expense to fix. Once this was sorted it was back to its silky smooth revvy self.

other than that the car has been excellent, it still feels tight and solid, I have driven my Dad's 2007 325d which 40k and it feels no different. the interior has aged well with very little wear to the seats and all the gadgets still work. I have averaged 27mpg with a 30mile per day mixed m-way and a road commute.

I would suggest test driving a few and you will soon be able to spot a tired one!

Emeye

Original Poster:

9,773 posts

222 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
Cheers for that.

Is there a strong smell of petrol when the breather pipe is faulty?

MantaMike

423 posts

250 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
Emeye said:
Cheers for that.

Is there a strong smell of petrol when the breather pipe is faulty?
A strong smell of petrol and a large puddle around your feet when you fill the tank! but harder to tell if there is not much petrol in it, when I got mine the dealer only ever put in a couple of quids worth so neither they or I noticed the problem, only found out the first time I filled it up!

Emeye

Original Poster:

9,773 posts

222 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
MantaMike said:
A strong smell of petrol and a large puddle around your feet when you fill the tank! but harder to tell if there is not much petrol in it, when I got mine the dealer only ever put in a couple of quids worth so neither they or I noticed the problem, only found out the first time I filled it up!
My current Merc barge has a similar problem - I just never fill it up! smile

Emeye

Original Poster:

9,773 posts

222 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
Despite being led to believe otherwise, it turns out the car I was interested in has no service history at all, oh and is being sold as a private sale for a mate by a car dealer.