My brave pill: E92 BMW 335i with the infamous N54 engine
Discussion
This update might come as a bit of a surprise….I sold the car on Saturday! 
I’d been so certain that I was buying an M3 this year that in my head I think I was done with and ultimately once I’ve decided to move something on, me it a mountain bike or a car, it’s a sitting duck. I figured that I’d chuck it up for sale to see what happened, if it sold cool, if not any doubts were going to be put to bed. I was doubtful that it’d be an easy sell because it’d been modified and they’re not exactly a rare car but in the end it went quite quickly.
I did like the car, but a few things had begun to grate. One was of my own making whereas there wasn’t much I could do about the other….
The combination on Eibach pro springs and M3 arms meant that the front end was really low. It looked great but could be frustrating on speed bumps (especially witches tit jobbies). That was entirely my own fault and I was actually thinking about going back to stock springs if it didn’t sell.
The other thing was the seat position - it’s just too bloody high in an E92. You feel like you’re sat on the car and the more I noticed it the more it bugged me.
So, that’s it for the 335i. It was a rollercoaster at times for sure, but overall a positive experience. I was quite sad overall to see it be driven off but I think that’s quite a nice way to move a car on.
I’d been so certain that I was buying an M3 this year that in my head I think I was done with and ultimately once I’ve decided to move something on, me it a mountain bike or a car, it’s a sitting duck. I figured that I’d chuck it up for sale to see what happened, if it sold cool, if not any doubts were going to be put to bed. I was doubtful that it’d be an easy sell because it’d been modified and they’re not exactly a rare car but in the end it went quite quickly.
I did like the car, but a few things had begun to grate. One was of my own making whereas there wasn’t much I could do about the other….
The combination on Eibach pro springs and M3 arms meant that the front end was really low. It looked great but could be frustrating on speed bumps (especially witches tit jobbies). That was entirely my own fault and I was actually thinking about going back to stock springs if it didn’t sell.
The other thing was the seat position - it’s just too bloody high in an E92. You feel like you’re sat on the car and the more I noticed it the more it bugged me.
So, that’s it for the 335i. It was a rollercoaster at times for sure, but overall a positive experience. I was quite sad overall to see it be driven off but I think that’s quite a nice way to move a car on.
patience young padawan….MDifficult said:
Absolutely LOVE this approach - we're all guilty of holding on to cars long after we've lost interest, but there's so many more out there to try. Glad you've ripped the plaster off... now I'm keen to see what comes next!
My money's on an RS4. Probably Estate, maybe saloon, but secretly I'm REALLY hoping you go for the unloved cab - I think they're ace!
The replacement is far less sensible than any of those…. My money's on an RS4. Probably Estate, maybe saloon, but secretly I'm REALLY hoping you go for the unloved cab - I think they're ace!
pmorg4 said:
Feels like the end of an era! Now that it's gone we can safely say that you've survived the experience of the N54 pretty much unscathed, aside from one injector replacement and BMW dealer incompetence suggesting it needed a top-end strip down when it needed nothing more than a few cheap and easily-accessible sensors 
I know what you mean regarding ride height, my E91 is (to my knowledge) standard and even I find myself scraping the ground from time to time, to the extent where I'm seriously considering either fitting the BMW rough road package to get an extra 10mm or so of clearance, or just throwing in the towel and buying an SUV
I'm sure I'm not the only one who'll be sad to see the end of this thread and your attention to detail, but I'm looking forward to the next instalment
Yeah, it is a little bit. I know what you mean regarding ride height, my E91 is (to my knowledge) standard and even I find myself scraping the ground from time to time, to the extent where I'm seriously considering either fitting the BMW rough road package to get an extra 10mm or so of clearance, or just throwing in the towel and buying an SUV
I'm sure I'm not the only one who'll be sad to see the end of this thread and your attention to detail, but I'm looking forward to the next instalment
It wasn’t the disaster that it could have been; not always plain sailing but generally it was smaller parts causing issue such as the boost solenoids and camshaft position sensors. The downside is a that there’s always that nagging feeling that it’s going to grenade itself purely because of the reputation.
In stock format it was fine, but the Eibachs and M3 arms made it pretty low…speed bumps were like kryptonite.
The next instalment has already started!
roadie said:
I see the new owner has posted on the 335i facebook group and is very happy with the car.
Definitely an end of an era with all the detail given and conversation generated in this thread!
That’s good to hear; I saw his post on a generic E9x group. It’s a good car and probably one of the better ones out there but I may be biased! I think I bought a pretty good car to start with with low owners. Definitely an end of an era with all the detail given and conversation generated in this thread!
Edited by Court_S on Wednesday 10th April 12:34
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