My brave pill: E92 BMW 335i with the infamous N54 engine
Discussion
cerb4.5lee said:
I really like all your new additions Sam! 
Those new paddles look proper sexy.
I had a subtle factory lip spoiler on the E90 330d, and I felt like it finished the rearend off nicely like it does on yours too.
Cheers Lee.Those new paddles look proper sexy.
I had a subtle factory lip spoiler on the E90 330d, and I felt like it finished the rearend off nicely like it does on yours too.
I think the rear end needs a wee something because there’s quite a bit of metal. The spoiler is pretty subtle but it’s just enough; I didn’t want to chuck on an M4 style jobbie that a lot of people are selling.
Looking forward to getting my wheels fitted in the coming weeks too.
Lovely! I kinda went the other way.. E92 335i to M235i both manuals. Bought a minty 56 plate 335i in 2011 and owned for 7 years. Lovely car. Put Koni FSD shocks on it and eibach springs which improved the handling and ride quality no end. Bigest bill was replacing all injectors at 1600 plus labour. Turbos were replaced within a year of ownership - luckily I took out extended warranty for that first year. Ran a GIAC tune for 5 of those years and the thing was rapid! 265 section rears and 235 fronts. I do miss it. M235i was a bit of a downgrade in terms of performance and looks. N54 was more of a throaty engine. N55 revs more easily though. I reckon the best of both worlds would be a late E92 N55 version with the DCT perhaps. Don't miss the mental car tax though lol
Monkey_boy said:
Lovely! I kinda went the other way.. E92 335i to M235i both manuals. Bought a minty 56 plate 335i in 2011 and owned for 7 years. Lovely car. Put Koni FSD shocks on it and eibach springs which improved the handling and ride quality no end. Bigest bill was replacing all injectors at 1600 plus labour. Turbos were replaced within a year of ownership - luckily I took out extended warranty for that first year. Ran a GIAC tune for 5 of those years and the thing was rapid! 265 section rears and 235 fronts. I do miss it. M235i was a bit of a downgrade in terms of performance and looks. N54 was more of a throaty engine. N55 revs more easily though. I reckon the best of both worlds would be a late E92 N55 version with the DCT perhaps. Don't miss the mental car tax though lol
Thanks. The tax in this is going to bad being a slightly later car; £340 for the year so only a wee bit more than my 130i was.
This will be getting a slight drop on Eibachs later in the summer plus M3 arms but it’ll have I wait because of a wrist op next week. The parts are all in the garage.
My CSL’s should be here today. I’ll get them ceramic coated and new tyres fitted at some point. I’ll be going up to a 235 on the front because they’re half an inch wider than the fronts and I hate the stretches tyre look. The 225’s already look a bit stretched.
Court_S said:
Thanks.
The tax in this is going to bad being a slightly later car; £340 for the year so only a wee bit more than my 130i was.
...
I forgot how much the tax varied on these, but yeah my '59 plate N54 was cheaper as it has the efficient dynamics tech. I know the N55 then dropped of further. The newer the car the cheaper the tax, unlike my current car which is the other way round. I (will) pay £340 because mine was registered days before March 2006! The tax in this is going to bad being a slightly later car; £340 for the year so only a wee bit more than my 130i was.
...
MikeM6 said:
I forgot how much the tax varied on these, but yeah my '59 plate N54 was cheaper as it has the efficient dynamics tech. I know the N55 then dropped of further. The newer the car the cheaper the tax, unlike my current car which is the other way round. I (will) pay £340 because mine was registered days before March 2006!
It’s a bit of pain in the arse but £340 seems like a bargain compared to £630 for the M3. Yeah my 56 plate 335i would be the same as an M3. Started off at around £425 I think.
I think what happened is the car was launched just before the legislation change and was just circa 2kg/km over the 225kg/km threshold. 2007 onwards cars were tweaked to lower emissions below the threshold.
I think what happened is the car was launched just before the legislation change and was just circa 2kg/km over the 225kg/km threshold. 2007 onwards cars were tweaked to lower emissions below the threshold.
My first N54 issue has reared its head…
Under hard acceleration I get the engine warning light and reduced power. Plugging Carly in and I’m getting two codes;
0030FE - boost pressure control, boost too high
003100 - boost pressure control shut down
I’m day to day driving it’s fine and feels pokey enough, but once worked a bit harder it s
ts itself. Turn it off and turn it back on and it’s all good, until you boot it again. The idle on a cold start is a bit lumpy too.
Having googled it, could be HPFP, injectors and / or carbon build up.
I’ll be calling a main dealer to get it looked at under the warranty on Tuesday.
Under hard acceleration I get the engine warning light and reduced power. Plugging Carly in and I’m getting two codes;
0030FE - boost pressure control, boost too high
003100 - boost pressure control shut down
I’m day to day driving it’s fine and feels pokey enough, but once worked a bit harder it s
ts itself. Turn it off and turn it back on and it’s all good, until you boot it again. The idle on a cold start is a bit lumpy too. Having googled it, could be HPFP, injectors and / or carbon build up.
I’ll be calling a main dealer to get it looked at under the warranty on Tuesday.
cerb4.5lee said:
Oh no Sam! 
That isn't nice to hear already. Hope you get it sorted as easily as possible under the warranty though.
Guess it’s the joy of N54 ownership!That isn't nice to hear already. Hope you get it sorted as easily as possible under the warranty though.
Boost solenoids are cheap and an easy DIY but I’m not meddling until it’s been to BMW. I’ll probably take it to Rybrook Warwick because they’re the ones who have looked after it most of its life.
Court_S said:
My first N54 issue has reared its head…
Under hard acceleration I get the engine warning light and reduced power. Plugging Carly in and I’m getting two codes;
0030FE - boost pressure control, boost too high
003100 - boost pressure control shut down
I’m day to day driving it’s fine and feels pokey enough, but once worked a bit harder it sts itself. Turn it off and turn it back on and it’s all good, until you boot it again. The idle on a cold start is a bit lumpy too.
Having googled it, could be HPFP, injectors and / or carbon build up.
I’ll be calling a main dealer to get it looked at under the warranty on Tuesday.
That is a lovely car, I find myself looking at these on evilbay quite a bit & I always feel tempted to pull the trigger on one! The issues with the N54 do check my eagerness a little.. but all cars have their issues. Under hard acceleration I get the engine warning light and reduced power. Plugging Carly in and I’m getting two codes;
0030FE - boost pressure control, boost too high
003100 - boost pressure control shut down
I’m day to day driving it’s fine and feels pokey enough, but once worked a bit harder it s
ts itself. Turn it off and turn it back on and it’s all good, until you boot it again. The idle on a cold start is a bit lumpy too. Having googled it, could be HPFP, injectors and / or carbon build up.
I’ll be calling a main dealer to get it looked at under the warranty on Tuesday.
Hopefully the diagnosis Tuesday isn’t too bad
Waynester said:
That is a lovely car, I find myself looking at these on evilbay quite a bit & I always feel tempted to pull the trigger on one! The issues with the N54 do check my eagerness a little.. but all cars have their issues.
Hopefully the diagnosis Tuesday isn’t too bad
Thanks. Hopefully the diagnosis Tuesday isn’t too bad
I do like it so the toys haven’t been ejected from the pram…yet!
Thanks knew the risks but still took the plunge on the basis that the BMW warranty would provide a decent safety net.
Despite my car being on the naughty step, I got stuck in detailing it. So, I did the following..
The areas around the wheel arches had a fair few stubborn bits of tar which came off with the clay bar.
There were a few light scratches to deal with.
And after polishing
Polished and glazed.
Exhaust tips polished. They need replacing but unfortunately BMW saw fit to weld them to the bloody exhaust.
And all done…
The other day I rev,aced the halogen angel eye bulbs for LED ones.
My V5 should be here the week so I’ll be able to get my plates fitted this week at last. Hopefully Parcel Force will pull their fingers out and deliver my CSL’s tomorrow.
- snow foamed with Garage Therapy zero decon shampoo
- washed with Garage Therapy decon shampoo and dried
- chemical decontamination with Car Pro Trix and Bilt Hamber Korrosol
- washed with Garage Therapy decon shampoo and dried
- clayed with bilt hamber clay and Dodo Juice Born to be Slippy
- polished with Scholl S20 and a purple flex pad
- paint wiped down with Angel Wax Stripped Ease to remove any polish residue
- glazed
- two coats of Soft 99 Kiwami extreme (mega gloss but not massively durable so I only use it in the summer)
- glass cleaned inside and out
- leather cleaned with Angel Wax Heaven for Leather
- interior surfaces cleaned
- tyres dressed
The areas around the wheel arches had a fair few stubborn bits of tar which came off with the clay bar.
There were a few light scratches to deal with.
And after polishing
Polished and glazed.
Exhaust tips polished. They need replacing but unfortunately BMW saw fit to weld them to the bloody exhaust.
And all done…
The other day I rev,aced the halogen angel eye bulbs for LED ones.
My V5 should be here the week so I’ll be able to get my plates fitted this week at last. Hopefully Parcel Force will pull their fingers out and deliver my CSL’s tomorrow.
In other news, I’ve ordered a pair of boost solenoids which were cheap enough on eBay today with some discount codes. I’m convinced these are the issue given the two error codes having done lots of reading up.
These are the two little suckers
They’re a super easy DIY and given that they cost less than half my excess I figured it was worth a shot.
These are the two little suckers
They’re a super easy DIY and given that they cost less than half my excess I figured it was worth a shot.
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