F31 335d x drive Touring - perfect daily ?

[gareth h]

ATM said:

60 is impressive. Most of my other toys struggle to get close to 30 and probably achieve low 20.

I’ve never had anything close to 60mpg, even when I baby it!

[peetee7]

30,000 mile update

So a 30,000 mile update on the 335d now owned for 18 months. Car is currently on 57,000 miles and it's been absolutely spot on. I do occasionally find myself on the classified trying to come up with replacements but in the end they all seem to fall short to me in some way or another - either practicality, economy or performance in all weather. I can categorically say this car is to be kept for the long haul. Naturally the thread will be a place for me to log my ownership experience and adventures .. something to look back on in years to come and of course to share the journey with fellow Piston Heads.

A quick 9 picture summary on my 335d Touring ownership. One word comes to mind. Versatility.


Snowmobile when needed ...




Dragster when needed ...




Off the clock 170mph + when needed ...




61 mpg when needed...




Towing Donkey when needed ...




Track car when needed ...




European tour bus when needed ...




Refuse truck when needed ...




Most important job - the discreet dependable family wagon ...

[peetee7]

Genuine OEM Front brake pads and sensor arrived. The squeal was getting borderline unbearable.



Did some Dragy runs last night. Too much gravel on surface from launch and an uphill gradient. Didn’t manage to crack 4 seconds this time.

[Benmac]

Sub 4s 0-60 always good. They are fab cars (mine's a 340i).

[peetee7]

Font brake pads and sensor changed. No silly brake squeal now on braking which was getting rather annoying. The trackday wasn't pleasant to the previous set

[peetee7]

Benmac said:

Sub 4s 0-60 always good. They are fab cars (mine's a 340i).

love the f31 340i tourer hope you're enjoying it. I adore them

[peetee7]

Not enough snow to justify winter tyres. Didn't want to insult the sottozero's. PS4's doing a good enough job in the snow. Obligatory car park look back picture ..

[Pistonheader101]

Brake squeal always comes back

[peetee7]

Currently the fastest 335d touring over a quarter mile in the UK according to Dragy. GPS verified. Will try again with an empty boot

Must be faster ones out there though

[vulture1]

gareth h said:

ATM said:

60 is impressive. Most of my other toys struggle to get close to 30 and probably achieve low 20.

I’ve never had anything close to 60mpg, even when I baby it!

Yeah 41 or 42 was my best which was about 500miles to the tank. Could have hypermiled more but god boring.

[peetee7]

Attended the PH Sunday Service in my E39 M5 today. Matt Bird was kind enough to give me a PH sticker. Have applied it to the 35d - car is absolutely filthy and can to with a wash soon.

[peetee7]

Front & rear wiper blades fitted at 58,900 miles. Old ones had been on 1.5 years and were beginning to streak. All better now. Parts purchased from Harry Fairbairn Kirkcaldy BMW

[peetee7]

peetee7 said:

Thread Update,

Couple of updates …

Gearbox software updated from Alpina to xHP Stage 3. It’s taken 2 weeks to fine tune the settings to suit my driving style. I’ve got it so that I have nice early shifts when driving slowly in Comfort with gearbox in D mode. In Sport / Sport + with gearbox in S mode the shifts are really aggressive with the car always in its power band. In both modes the gear changes are faster than the Alpina software. Will get the Dragy out and do a few runs to see if my 0-60 and quarter mile times are any quicker .. though Santa Pod is only 15 days away …

Individual Opal White Merino leather is very soft – noticed the driver side bolster showing signs of slight wear. I started looking at seat covers to preserve the driver’s seat and pulled the trigger on a Northcore seat cover. Will modify the cover slightly one day for it to fit more snug with the seat ...




I’ve booked myself with Unicorn Motor Developments at the end of July to go Stage 2 tune. Should see approximately 400bhp / 800nm torque – with the target of running a 12 second flat or quicker quarter mile. Tuning is a slippery slope.

Anglesey trackday booked with some friends – most likely will be taking the 335d instead of the M3 or M5 … I’m an idiot Anglesey is not until September so plenty of time to get the braided brake lines and uprate the brake fluid. More than likely will be Goodridge Brake Lines with Motul RBF600 brake fluid.

Otherwise car is performing daily duties well – errands, nursery and work. Goes under the radar, just another 3 series on the road. Common as muck!

Can't recommend this seat cover. After 8 months this is what my Northcore seat cover looks like. Sent a quick email to Northcore customer services for their research & development. They replied ''Its out of our 6 month warranty period''. Class

If anyone can recommend a high quality seat cover please do let me know.

[JimBR]

I recognise the location of some of the pictures, I don’t think you’re a million miles from me.

Where do you go for servicing? I’ve used JMF Motorworx in the past for other things, but wondered if you had any recommendations (other than BMW themselves).

[peetee7]

JimBR said:

I recognise the location of some of the pictures, I don’t think you’re a million miles from me.

Where do you go for servicing? I’ve used JMF Motorworx in the past for other things, but wondered if you had any recommendations (other than BMW themselves).

Hey! I’ve been using Tamworth BMW up until now but will be switching to Noel Butler at NCB AutoKraft. He’s a great guy and looks after my M cars. Proper old school master tech. I have a major service booked in with him in 2 weeks time.

JMF are excellent both Jon & Paul are great guys and very knowledgable. They did all the hardware mods to enable my stage 2 tune.

[peetee7]

Thread Update,

Car has just ticked over 60,000 miles.



Organised a 335d owners meet up @ Caffeine & Machine. Wasn’t expecting much of a turn out, much to my surprise there was a few very passionate owners out there.

12 x F31 335d
2 x E91 335d
1 x 435d Coupe
1 x F10 535d

16 cars total. I believe this is the largest known 35d meet up. Makes a change from the usual M car convoy and meet ups I’m used to.

[peetee7]

Thread Update

Car serviced last week. Have made a permanent switch from Sytner Tamworth BMW to Noel @ NCB AutoKraft. Parts supplied by Harry Fairbairn Kirkcaldy. This time it was a Service B – Oil / Air Filter / Fuel Filter / Cabin Filter / Oil Filter.


2018 - Service 1 - 16,936
2020 - Service 2 - 10,587
2020 - Service 3 - 8,901
2021 - Service 4 - 8,393
2021 - Service 5 – 7,379
2022 - Service 6 – 8,337

Total Mileage – 60,533

There’s not much paperwork with modern BMW’s as everything is on iDrive, but I am a bit obsessed with collecting paperwork such as receipts etc

[WTFWT]

This is fast becoming THE F31 335d thread. Good work!

I have a pre LCI F31 335d. It’s been mapped by Simon at Emaps.

Suspension next - undecided whether to go the full Birds or just settle for the ACS springs. Mine’s non adaptive. Half of me wants to limit the outlay but then I also intend to keep it a good while as it’s only done 24k miles.

Having had 2x 535ds in the past and a E350d relatively recently, the lack of engine refinement is a bit of an unwelcome surprise. Wind noise too. Maybe I’m just spoiled?

[Thomas_]

Awesome read. I recently sold a 435D and at the point of selling had all the time in the world to replace it. This changed very quickly with Boris saying we can return to the office. So I bought a high spec LCI 335D..haha

There really isnt much better as an all rounder.

WTFWT said:

Suspension next - undecided whether to go the full Birds or just settle for the ACS springs. Mine’s non adaptive. Half of me wants to limit the outlay but then I also intend to keep it a good while as it’s only done 24k miles.

If you do not have adaptive then you'll definitely want the full Birds setup. I have ACS and adaptive on mine and it's great. On a previous 435D without adaptive I fitted Eibach pros and whilst a huge improvement it was under damped and 100% needed shocks. Without them you still get the horrid mid corner weight shift feeling.

Edited by Thomas_ on Wednesday 16th February 10:22

Edited by Thomas_ on Wednesday 16th February 10:22

[gareth h]

Thomas_ said:

Awesome read. I recently sold a 435D and at the point of selling had all the time in the world to replace it. This changed very quickly with Boris saying we can return to the office. So I bought a high spec LCI 335D..haha

There really isnt much better as an all rounder.

WTFWT said:

Suspension next - undecided whether to go the full Birds or just settle for the ACS springs. Mine’s non adaptive. Half of me wants to limit the outlay but then I also intend to keep it a good while as it’s only done 24k miles.

If you do not have adaptive then you'll definitely want the full Birds setup. I have ACS and adaptive on mine and it's great. On a previous 435D without adaptive I fitted Eibach pros and whilst a huge improvement it was under damped and 100% needed shocks. Without them you still get the horrid mid corner weight shift feeling.

Edited by Thomas_ on Wednesday 16th February 10:22

Edited by Thomas_ on Wednesday 16th February 10:22

I’ve got Birds on mine, wouldn’t fit the same again, either just fit springs or go the whole hog and fit KW V3 (probably not hugely more expensive than Birds).