Discussion
After seeing a post on here recently about a 335, I thought I would share my experiences, mine is the diesel and the wife’s is the petrol.
I drove a 535d many years ago and was absolutely gob smacked by the power so I decided that I wanted to buy one, at the time I had an e46 320d manual coupe, mapped to close to 200bhp. I upgraded that to a manual e90 330d, which also got mapped.
Last year I saw the 335d for sale whilst browsing the auto trader and immediately arranged a viewing, a few hours later I was driving home in it with my wife following in the 330d. I was instantly impressed.
I’ve owned the 335d for just over a year and its been ok, I’ve had to replace the thermostat twice, the rear brake discs twice, the first set had hairline cracks in both discs.
I’ve recently:
• Replaced Turbo Pressure Converters with Pierberg turbo pressure convertors
• Replaced Actuator
• Replaced all vacuum lines
• Replaced Charge Airline Hose – The big red turbo pipe
All of which were as a precautionary measure as they are weak spots on the 335d.
Im now thinking about removing the EGR one weekend and giving that a clean, also need to find a BMW specialist that is willing to do an oil change on the gearbox, it’s a sealed for life unit but my understanding is you can buy a kit that includes a new filter. My mechanic is not too keen on doing it as apparently the oil needs to go in at a certain temp so suggested I see a specialist. Might need to speak to my local BMW specialist, DM Worx.
At the moment I have not remapped it, but may consider doing that once the box oil has been changed.
It drives great, the paddles on the steering are great on twisty roads, but would be so much better suited to a manual.
The 335i was a recent purchase for the wife, she previously had a cooper s but we had to replace it with something more sensible when mini rz1 was born, so we got a 5dr 120d Sport. Lasted a few months and she hated it, didn’t like it the fact it was a diesel, and didn’t like the ride as felt it was too harsh for the baby.
That very quickly got replaced by a 5dr petrol A3 3 litre, but that was considered to be boring as it was an auto and no where near as much fun as the cooper s. That’s when I went and got the 335i, this ticked all the boxes on the fun scale, being a petrol and manual and plenty of power.
Key thing was she wanted something that was fun when the boy was not with her, this is ideal.
So it’s a 335i se manual, which I think is pretty rare, has the wide screen sat nav with black leather and piano black wood, and its an absolute joy to drive. The engine in this is epic, the twin turbo’s are smooth and wow does it cover ground quickly, completely different car to the 335d. They both cover ground quickly, but the 335d throws you back in the seat more than the 335i.
A lot of people don’t like the sound of the 335i, I must admit I think it sounds lovely, the previous owner had disconnected the vacuum hose for the butterfly valve on the exhaust, which I decided to plug back in, meaning that it’s a more muted sound up until about 2500 revs, the butterfly valve opens on the other pipe and then it sounds a lot meatier.
Running costs have been pretty low, other than servicing and new pads and discs all round its been fine, and its decent on fuel too, averages around 26 and the wife does give it some stick. Oh I have had to get the allows refurbished, apparently it’s the fault of councils for not having footpaths that are level….
Unfortunately now that the baby is getting a little older the wifes struggling to get the baby seat out of the iso fix base due to the back seats being so deep, the baby is about 10kg and the seat is about another 5kg so lifting a total of 15kg up and out of a coupe is not particularly easy, so we are now on the hunt for a replacement. Just need to decide what to get, not sure if the 135 is available as a manual and 5dr.
I drove a 535d many years ago and was absolutely gob smacked by the power so I decided that I wanted to buy one, at the time I had an e46 320d manual coupe, mapped to close to 200bhp. I upgraded that to a manual e90 330d, which also got mapped.
Last year I saw the 335d for sale whilst browsing the auto trader and immediately arranged a viewing, a few hours later I was driving home in it with my wife following in the 330d. I was instantly impressed.
I’ve owned the 335d for just over a year and its been ok, I’ve had to replace the thermostat twice, the rear brake discs twice, the first set had hairline cracks in both discs.
I’ve recently:
• Replaced Turbo Pressure Converters with Pierberg turbo pressure convertors
• Replaced Actuator
• Replaced all vacuum lines
• Replaced Charge Airline Hose – The big red turbo pipe
All of which were as a precautionary measure as they are weak spots on the 335d.
Im now thinking about removing the EGR one weekend and giving that a clean, also need to find a BMW specialist that is willing to do an oil change on the gearbox, it’s a sealed for life unit but my understanding is you can buy a kit that includes a new filter. My mechanic is not too keen on doing it as apparently the oil needs to go in at a certain temp so suggested I see a specialist. Might need to speak to my local BMW specialist, DM Worx.
At the moment I have not remapped it, but may consider doing that once the box oil has been changed.
It drives great, the paddles on the steering are great on twisty roads, but would be so much better suited to a manual.
The 335i was a recent purchase for the wife, she previously had a cooper s but we had to replace it with something more sensible when mini rz1 was born, so we got a 5dr 120d Sport. Lasted a few months and she hated it, didn’t like it the fact it was a diesel, and didn’t like the ride as felt it was too harsh for the baby.
That very quickly got replaced by a 5dr petrol A3 3 litre, but that was considered to be boring as it was an auto and no where near as much fun as the cooper s. That’s when I went and got the 335i, this ticked all the boxes on the fun scale, being a petrol and manual and plenty of power.
Key thing was she wanted something that was fun when the boy was not with her, this is ideal.
So it’s a 335i se manual, which I think is pretty rare, has the wide screen sat nav with black leather and piano black wood, and its an absolute joy to drive. The engine in this is epic, the twin turbo’s are smooth and wow does it cover ground quickly, completely different car to the 335d. They both cover ground quickly, but the 335d throws you back in the seat more than the 335i.
A lot of people don’t like the sound of the 335i, I must admit I think it sounds lovely, the previous owner had disconnected the vacuum hose for the butterfly valve on the exhaust, which I decided to plug back in, meaning that it’s a more muted sound up until about 2500 revs, the butterfly valve opens on the other pipe and then it sounds a lot meatier.
Running costs have been pretty low, other than servicing and new pads and discs all round its been fine, and its decent on fuel too, averages around 26 and the wife does give it some stick. Oh I have had to get the allows refurbished, apparently it’s the fault of councils for not having footpaths that are level….
Unfortunately now that the baby is getting a little older the wifes struggling to get the baby seat out of the iso fix base due to the back seats being so deep, the baby is about 10kg and the seat is about another 5kg so lifting a total of 15kg up and out of a coupe is not particularly easy, so we are now on the hunt for a replacement. Just need to decide what to get, not sure if the 135 is available as a manual and 5dr.
Edited by RZ1 on Wednesday 14th September 19:36
RZ1 said:
They both cover ground quickly, but the 335d throws you back in the seat more than the 335i.
I'm sure I've read on here the 335d only comes in auto flavour as a manual gearbox couldn't handle the torque.Something I always took with a pinch of salt unil I just checked the figures between the 2 cars.
335d on top
335i on bottom
Both 2007 cars like the OP.
DaveH23 said:
I'm sure I've read on here the 335d only comes in auto flavour as a manual gearbox couldn't handle the torque.
Something I always took with a pinch of salt unil I just checked the figures between the 2 cars.
335d on top
335i on bottom
Both 2007 cars like the OP.
Yup the torque on the 335d is lovely, a remap could be interesting as torque can increase close to 500, hence I want to get the gearbox serviced first. Something I always took with a pinch of salt unil I just checked the figures between the 2 cars.
335d on top
335i on bottom
Both 2007 cars like the OP.
I've not remapped it yet as wanted to enjoy it standard so when it is finally remapped I will be able to really enjoy the extra.
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