Looking for advice - BMW N53 vs N54 vs N55 engine

[leepox]

I'm trying to give advice to my brother who wants a car with 300+ bhp for £8k, and the BMW 135i, 330i, 335i's pop up in searches most of the time.

However, I know that the N53 was an unreiable turd with a poorly designed and expensive to replace injectors which after a quick search on the internet, looks like it's now gold dust.

Not so knowledgeable about the N54 and N55 but I heard the N54 suffers similar reliability problems and I've heard of engines going bang on M135i's with the N55 engine.

Should I telly him to go and save up a few more quid and get a car witha B58 engine?

[Xcore]

Tfsi s3 is probably the cheapest way into the mid 300bhp club.

I don’t think Youl get anything with a n55 for 8k, and the n54 isn’t known for its reliability. A set of injectors are £2k now for example.

[ChrisH72]

I had an E92 with the N53 engine.

Injectors failed at 50k miles and along with a new Nox sensor the bill was £2400.

Never again.

[RoVoFob]

leepox said:

I'm trying to give advice to my brother who wants a car with 300+ bhp for £8k, and the BMW 135i, 330i, 335i's pop up in searches most of the time.

However, I know that the N53 was an unreiable turd with a poorly designed and expensive to replace injectors which after a quick search on the internet, looks like it's now gold dust.

Not so knowledgeable about the N54 and N55 but I heard the N54 suffers similar reliability problems and I've heard of engines going bang on M135i's with the N55 engine.

Should I telly him to go and save up a few more quid and get a car witha B58 engine?

The N52 straight-six is very reliable and has an aluminium and magnesium block, making it very light, so the power-to-weight ratios for the 130i and Z4 3.0 Si Coupe are probably very similar to the heavier 135i and 335i.

Power is 265hp, so not more than 300hp, but these are still pretty quick cars with decent low-rev punch. Worth considering, unless maximum power is his only requirement…

[leepox]

Xcore said:

Tfsi s3 is probably the cheapest way into the mid 300bhp club.



I don’t think Youl get anything with a n55 for 8k, and the n54 isn’t known for its reliability. A set of injectors are £2k now for example.

They don't come in the 3L v6 300bhp guise do they? Sounds like a good alternative.

ChrisH72 said:

I had an E92 with the N53 engine.

Injectors failed at 50k miles and along with a new Nox sensor the bill was £2400.

Never again.

Xcore said:

Tfsi s3 is probably the cheapest way into the mid 300bhp club.

I don’t think Youl get anything with a n55 for 8k, and the n54 isn’t known for its reliability. A set of injectors are £2k now for example.

ouch that's painful. Thank you for sharing the pain - he went to view a 90k mileage 335i with an N54 yesterday and almost bought it. Dodged a bullet.

I'm a fan of the N52s but they're getting on a bit with age and it's really hard finding one that's been well looked after/good history those things are close to 20 years old.

Anyone have any thoughts of the E350 CGI?

[ZX10R NIN]

For your brother's budget if he want's a reliable easy to maintain 300+bhp for 8k I'd be looking at the E500:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206237...

CLK55 AMG:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201141...

C350cgi:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305197...

You will get a 4.2 S5 for that budget they cost a bit more than the Mercedes to run but are nice cars:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305197...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303285...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305057...

[leepox]

That C350 V6 looks perfect! Why does it have to be in Scotland??? I'm in the depths Surrey!

[RoVoFob]

leepox said:

I'm a fan of the N52s but they're getting on a bit with age and it's really hard finding one that's been well looked after/good history those things are close to 20 years old.

Anyone have any thoughts of the E350 CGI?

I have a 17-year-old 78k-mile 130i and a 16-year-old 73k A6 4.2 V8, which are both in very good condition and worth well under £8k. They very much exist and N52s in particular cope with miles pretty well. Drop me a PM if he’s interested in a V8 A6…

There’s no reason older cars that have been well looked after shouldn’t be reliable and easy to run.

[ZX10R NIN]

leepox said:

That C350 V6 looks perfect! Why does it have to be in Scotland??? I'm in the depths Surrey!

Flights aren't overly expensive get the seller (request more photos from the seller first interior/boot etc) to pick you up from the airport & all being well you'll have a nice drive back home

Or there's this one for 1k more with no Pano roof but it does have heated/air cooled seats & adaptive cruise, it's also closer but I'd be taking a good look at the drivers side as it may have had some spray work:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304055...

[leepox]

Thanks all for your inputs... all those great advice for nought as my brother ended up buying a 2011 335i which I suppose has an N55 engine which had £2k's worth of work recently done (cylinder head cover gasket, oil leak, transmission oil change, etc.). But I have a feeling he's going to have to save up £1k to keep it running for 12 months. I hope I'm wrong lol.