330i to 335i

[Andy70]

hi all after taking the advice off the chaps on here, I decided not to go for a 645i for reasons of expensive maintenance on the engine, which later was backed up by my mechanic, so ended up with a 335i, which was advertised at the same time locally, so went so see it and ended up with it, 82k on the clock and cost £4900 so quite reasonable. Im expecting the turbos to go at some point as I believe they do around about now-ish (from other ones I have seen for sale with similar mileage that have been done), but seem ok for now. tick over is a bit lumpy for some reason here and there, working on that though and it has a JB4 box that I have little knowledge about, all I know is it kicks in at higher revs when the engine is warm and makes all the difference to the point where traction is compromised in second and third gear and yes it has got decent tyres on it. thinking about taking it off though as its not my thing, id prefer to upgrade it in my own way. better turbos when they need replacing, intercooler upgrade etc. So thanks to the guys that talked me out of the 645, im generally over the moon with this one. Just wish the grunt was better lower down as with this it comes into its own after the point where you could loose your licence before it winds up fully which isn't my thing, I prefer low end grunt (hence my interest in V8's, my s4 had loads bottom end in any gear). Opinions on these cars would be great , in desperate to build up a knowledge of the turbo pressures, standard and the max they can put out and if there is any benefit from upgrading them etc

[Smuler]

I’d say the 335i has the low end grunt , assuming you mean by that it pulls hard from low revs and / or higher gear.

My N/a M3 is the one that needs the revs.

I found mine fast stock , JB4 was a popular mod so should make yours feel faster. MHD via Android was the popular mod to augment JB4 when I sold mine. You should get some more details here , from other respondes but if not try E90 post.

I sold mine at 85k with only injectors ever going wrong. It was 2009 , possibly earlier ones had more problems. Otherwise , it really depends how car was maintained.
Seems like you did really good for price

[Dannbodge]

Standard boost pressure for the 335i is 7psi, Stage 1 (remap) is 14psi, Stage 2 (Downpipes, Intercooler and Charge Pipe) is around 20psi and Stage 3 (FBO) is about 25psi.
Plenty of people run 20-25psi without issues.

Turbos don't generally go on them, it's the wastegates that cause the issues.
Rough running will be sorted with a walnut blast (especially at the mileage)

Strange that you say it has no low end grunt. Peak torque on the 335i is about 12/1500rpm and stays flat until about 5500rpm.
I've never found that mine needs revs to get going, it's certainly faster when coming from 3000rpm, but i wouldn't say it lacked anything low end.

[cerb4.5lee]

I can understand a 330i feeling limp low down(mine did because its a heavy car/and has relative low torque), I'd expect a 335i to feel miles more punchy in comparison.

My 330i helped me go back to a Turbo engine...because all the performance was at the top of the revs. I prefer more on tap performance(in a daily driver). A 335i/235i/M4 would be ideal for me.

[Andy70]

It's just me being fussy, my n/a s4 took off in any gear from about 0 revs lol. The pressures mentioned can be achieved with standard turbos?

[Andy70]

I say it has no low end grunt but suppose that's unfair it just feels like it as it takes off at higher revs that's all so low end feels a bit limp in comparision

[Dannbodge]

Andy70 said:

It's just me being fussy, my n/a s4 took off in any gear from about 0 revs lol. The pressures mentioned can be achieved with standard turbos?

Yep.

[Andy70]

Cool all very promising then, I heard a limited slip diff can help put the power down too, is this right? If this is the case would a diff from the m3 fit? I assume the ratios are different though, just a thought rather than spending a grand or so on one when you can get an m3 one for 400 quid

[Dannbodge]

You would need the whole rear subframe including driveshafts and the prop too.
From what I've seen elsewhere you have to use the front half of the 335i one and then back half of the M3 one.

E90 post is the best place to look for things like that.

[Andy70]

Dannbodge said:

You would need the whole rear subframe including driveshafts and the prop too.
From what I've seen elsewhere you have to use the front half of the 335i one and then back half of the M3 one.

E90 post is the best place to look for things like that.

More trouble than its worth then I think, I know on the 330i they all seemed to be interchangeable, but I suppose the back end would be different on an M3, I'll invest in wider/better tyres when these need changing then

[Andy70]

Dannbodge said:

Standard boost pressure for the 335i is 7psi, Stage 1 (remap) is 14psi, Stage 2 (Downpipes, Intercooler and Charge Pipe) is around 20psi and Stage 3 (FBO) is about 25psi.
Plenty of people run 20-25psi without issues.

Turbos don't generally go on them, it's the wastegates that cause the issues.
Rough running will be sorted with a walnut blast (especially at the mileage)

Strange that you say it has no low end grunt. Peak torque on the 335i is about 12/1500rpm and stays flat until about 5500rpm.
I've never found that mine needs revs to get going, it's certainly faster when coming from 3000rpm, but i wouldn't say it lacked anything low end.

.

Just curious, what the hell is a walnut blast? Never heard of it before believe it or not till last week when I stumbled on a guy doing it on youtube and it was on a 335i, coincidence or what, what's wrong with terraclean? that cleans the whole engine/cat/injectors doesn't it? had it done on the 330, it was a different car after,

[Dannbodge]

Andy70 said:

Just curious, what the hell is a walnut blast? Never heard of it before believe it or not till last week when I stumbled on a guy doing it on youtube and it was on a 335i, coincidence or what, what's wrong with terraclean? that cleans the whole engine/cat/injectors doesn't it? had it done on the 330, it was a different car after,

Nope terraclean won't work on a direct injection engine. On normal injection engines the fuel is injected before the valves so washes them every cycle so they stay clean.
On direct injection the fuel goes straight into the cylinder so nothing washes over the valves hence why they get coked up.

As terraclean goes through the injectors it won't touch the backs of the valves so won't do anything.

Walnut blasting is what it sound like. Blasting the backs of the valves with crushed walnuts to remove the carbon.

[Andy70]

Well, you learn something every day I never knew that, is walnut blasting widely available? And at what cost?

[Dannbodge]

Most BMW specialists will do it
I paid £280 to have mine done last year.

[Sohaib-ijiiv]

Its fairly widely available, independents can do it for around £300 odd.

I spoke to BMW and they call it inlet cleaning and it is £790.

I personally find my 335i to be fairly rapid low down and looses fizz towards the top end, either way it can get up to silly speeds rather quick - Yours with a JB4 must be rapid.

[Andy70]

Sohaib-ijiiv said:

Its fairly widely available, independents can do it for around £300 odd.

I spoke to BMW and they call it inlet cleaning and it is £790.

I personally find my 335i to be fairly rapid low down and looses fizz towards the top end, either way it can get up to silly speeds rather quick - Yours with a JB4 must be rapid.

yes it is, it lets loose at around 3500 revs and keeps pulling strong up until the red line, I mocked a bit earlier regarding the lack of low end grunt, I suppose it just feels it compared to higher up the rev range when its really exciting, the problem it, im doing silly speeds before it winds up, hence my love of low end grunt, the strong pull you get low down with just a blip of the throttle and within the speed limit too, 300 quid is palatable, i'll have a look for some garages in my area, I'm in Bristol if anyone knows anywhere local-ish?? I want to remove my JB4 box really, no idea what they cost but if any one is interested, that's if it is removable without damaging it,

[Smuler]

Andy70 said:

yes it is, it lets loose at around 3500 revs and keeps pulling strong up until the red line, I mocked a bit earlier regarding the lack of low end grunt, I suppose it just feels it compared to higher up the rev range when its really exciting, the problem it, im doing silly speeds before it winds up, hence my love of low end grunt, the strong pull you get low down with just a blip of the throttle and within the speed limit too, 300 quid is palatable, i'll have a look for some garages in my area, I'm in Bristol if anyone knows anywhere local-ish?? I want to remove my JB4 box really, no idea what they cost but if any one is interested, that's if it is removable without damaging it,

I’d strongly recommend Forza West in Caldicot, just over the bridge. I use them for my M3.

JB4s used to be traded regularly and removed when cars went into dealers , in the hope they never noticed. So you should be fine.

[Andy70]

Smuler said:

I’d strongly recommend Forza West in Caldicot, just over the bridge. I use them for my M3.

JB4s used to be traded regularly and removed when cars went into dealers , in the hope they never noticed. So you should be fine.

Brilliant thanks

[bad_panda]

Andy70 said:

ended up with a 335i, which was advertised at the same time locally, so went so see it and ended up with it, 82k on the clock and cost £4900 so quite reasonable.

A 335i with 82k on the clock for £4,900? Are you sure it hasn't been nicked?

[Andy70]

[quote=bad_panda]

A 335i with 82k on the clock for £4,900? Are you sure it hasn't been nicked?


Well he said he needed the cash for a house and it was pointed out that in the service history by BMW not so long ago that the turbo was making a faint noise but nothing that needs attention yet and also he may have noticed it a bit lumpy and researched the walnut blasting and thought he'd cut his losses maybe. The turbo to me is nothing as my mechanic is really cheap and has a sub frame jig he can borrow as I believe the job is done from underneath so not to big a job and if that's all that's wrong then yes it's a good buy