BMW 325i/330i E91 LCI N53

[Levi1501]

Hi,
Just wondering what are people’s general opinion on the E91 3 litre N53 325i/330i Tourings? Are these reliable cars? What are common faults? What sort of mpg can you expect both around town and on the motorway? How does the N53 compare with the N57 E91 330d?

Thanks,
Levi

[Court_S]

Great cars; the N53 has a few more issues than the earlier N52 such as high pressure fuel pump failure. The 325 can be taken up to 330 power relatively easy.

I had a pre-LCI 330 with the N52 and it was one of the best cars I’ve had. Sounded good, quickish (at the time), reliable. Fuel was 23mpg around town and 30-something on a run. The six speed auto box is fine if a bit dim witted my modern standards

[naturalaspiration]

The number one issue with the direct injection N53 unit are leaking injectors - make sure it has the latest index 11 version fitted - all 6- and that there is no excessive oil consumption (caused by bore wash from the said leaking injectors). Also NOx sensors/ NOx cats go bad and there is a reasonably cheap fix with emulators from these guys https://bimmerprofs.com/. It has to idle perfectly both cold and hot (be specific about being able to start the car from cold)

When buying, the best is to hook up INPA and read all the error codes so that you know what you're buying.

Compared to N53, the N52 is much more reliable unit with the only potential issue being it's electrical water pump (same as in N53) but then you are limited to pre facelift E91 (I think).

[Mr Tidy]

I've also read about inlet manifolds coking up on the N53, which generally requires walnut blasting.

Pretty sure the facelift models all have the N53.

I bought a 330i earlier this year with the N52 engine and I'm really pleased with it.

[helix402]

The 325i/330i will use a lot more fuel and go slower than a 330d. But you can rev them more! It depends on your preferences, there is also an current anti diesel trend and some cities are looking to restrict diesel use.

The N57 does has the odd reliability issue. Not as bad as the N47 though. Forgive the broken record but the older M57 is more reliable. A 335d is rather good.

[bmwmike]

helix402 said:

The 325i/330i will use a lot more fuel and go slower than a 330d. But you can rev them more! It depends on your preferences, there is also an current anti diesel trend and some cities are looking to restrict diesel use.

The N57 does has the odd reliability issue. Not as bad as the N47 though. Forgive the broken record but the older M57 is more reliable. A 335d is rather good.

The N53 is remarkably good on petrol so I doubt it is *all that* much worse than the tractor version. It is also not that much slower provided it's rung out properly.. horses for courses as you say

[Touring442]

The old pre LCI cars are so gopping though. I'd risk the odd injector issue just to have the LCI front end, a good looking car rather than a pig with lipstick.

N53's seem less prone to those sodding oil leaks that plague the old N52.

[dave_s13]

naturalaspiration said:

The number one issue with the direct injection N53 unit are leaking injectors - make sure it has the latest index 11 version fitted - all 6- ....

How do you do that on a 2nd hand car you're looking at? You can't really.
If it starts and runs fine then you just have to take the risk really. If there's evidence the injectors are the newer ones then happy days but there might not be.

our E93 325i (N53) is on index 9. It's had 2x HPFP in it's 55k miles (which is bonkers). It runs and drives 99.5% fine though. The odd rough idle on initial cold start but clears as quickly as is comes.

Gearbox is indeed slow in D but in DS it's not too bad at all really.

Great cars but they can bite you in the wallet.

[naturalaspiration]

The latest verson part number is 13 53 7 589 048 and it should be clearly visible once you lift the engine cover, also any bills corroborating the claim would be welcome.

[cerb4.5lee]

I thought my N52 E90 330i(had it for 4 years) was a great all round car and they come highly recommended from me. Although I must admit that I thought my E90 330d(had it for 6 years) was even better(it felt quicker/much better on fuel/loads more punch lower down the revs). I never thought I would say that being a petrol head in fairness.

[mike9009]

I have had my E92, N53 engine 330i for almost three years.

It has never let me down (ie left me stranded). It does 34mpg on my commute and just over 40mpg on a motorway cruise. It is comfortable, refined and extremely competent (maybe too competent to really enjoy?). This week it passed the MOT without any advisories.

I had the ABS pump fail this year (~£500 fix) - dashboard was like a xmas tree! (tyre monitor failure, ABS failure, DSC failure)

I suspect my injectors will need attention soon (rough, cold idle for about 20 seconds and throws the occasional EML, which clears at next restart).

Going to try a walnut blast in a few weeks time too.

Mine is an early 2007 model on about 70k miles (so not worth a huge amount) but I intend to keep it for a few more years, so I don't mind paying a few ££££s to keep it going. <plus my wife will go mad as she hasn't changed her car for seven years>

Mike

[bmwmike]

cerb4.5lee said:

I thought my N52 E90 330i(had it for 4 years) was a great all round car and they come highly recommended from me. Although I must admit that I thought my E90 330d(had it for 6 years) was even better(it felt quicker/much better on fuel/loads more punch lower down the revs). I never thought I would say that being a petrol head in fairness.

That's true though and what diesels do best. Nasp build torque through the rev range with help from gear ratios which multiply torque. A good nasp engine keeps on giving right up to red line. A derv is a shove and all over and ultimately feels faster for that reason.

[cerb4.5lee]

bmwmike said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I thought my N52 E90 330i(had it for 4 years) was a great all round car and they come highly recommended from me. Although I must admit that I thought my E90 330d(had it for 6 years) was even better(it felt quicker/much better on fuel/loads more punch lower down the revs). I never thought I would say that being a petrol head in fairness.

That's true though and what diesels do best. Nasp build torque through the rev range with help from gear ratios which multiply torque. A good nasp engine keeps on giving right up to red line. A derv is a shove and all over and ultimately feels faster for that reason.

Yes and you certainly get more depth to an engine with NA. As a personal preference though I do prefer the 330d as a daily driver because of the effortless shove/punch(you have to rev the 330i really hard to get its performance). For a weekend car I'd always go for a NA engine though for sure.

[bmwmike]

cerb4.5lee said:

bmwmike said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I thought my N52 E90 330i(had it for 4 years) was a great all round car and they come highly recommended from me. Although I must admit that I thought my E90 330d(had it for 6 years) was even better(it felt quicker/much better on fuel/loads more punch lower down the revs). I never thought I would say that being a petrol head in fairness.

That's true though and what diesels do best. Nasp build torque through the rev range with help from gear ratios which multiply torque. A good nasp engine keeps on giving right up to red line. A derv is a shove and all over and ultimately feels faster for that reason.

Yes and you certainly get more depth to an engine with NA. As a personal preference though I do prefer the 330d as a daily driver because of the effortless shove/punch(you have to rev the 330i really hard to get its performance). For a weekend car I'd always go for a NA engine though for sure.

Concur! I work from home so don't really need a car so I guess my n53 5 series is my weekend car. I know that's a bit boring and I should get something far less efficient but turbo petrol don't rock my boat, I like the 530, and my balls are not big enough, perhaps, for a v10 m5.

[Mr Tidy]

I couldn't agree more, but then I don't work anywhere anymore.

No rush hour travel, so I suppose both are "weekend travel"!

Very happy with two 3 litre N52s - a 330i as a daily and a Z4 Coupe for fun days. (Both manual).

Edited by Mr Tidy on Friday 27th September 23:34

[to3m]

To the extent it's a similar sort of car - I've got a LCI E90 330i with the N53. I like it. The engine isn't super nice at low revs, with a grumbly diesel-like idle, but it revs well, and there's definitely no turbo.

The parts+labour cost for replacing the common N53 problem parts (6 x (injector, injector coding, coil pack, spark plug, buffer), 1 x fuel sensor, 1 x NOx sensor) seems to be £~2,000+, so if there's no evidence that this stuff has been done, negotiate price accordingly. The HPFP doesn't appear to be a problem on the later models.

I found the electric PAS (standard on the LCI saloon and estate) a bit light initially, but I've come to not mind it. No idea what the adaptive steering ratio thing is like.

Fuel economy for the journeys I do is ~23 mpg for stop/start town driving and ~34 mpg for longer journeys. My previous car was a E46 330d, and the corresponding figures for basically the same journeys were ~28 mpg and ~40 mpg. You can probably do better if you live somewhere with fewer hills, but I'm assuming the relative fuel economy will be about the same...