E91 Straight Six Bearding

[cerb4.5lee]

Naldrett said:

A wee bit 'arty' perhaps but nice to see someone appreciating the significance of the last of the line BMW straight sixes in an E91:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FPU_l-BujI

Enjoyed that cheers, and it makes me miss my old 330i. It also backs up what I've always said about how muted the N52 engine is, you literally can't hear hardly anything from the exhaust/inside the cabin. Its a shame that such a lovely engine isn't more vocal as standard for me.

I guess BMW designed the E9x 3 series purely as a cruiser, and a vocal engine/exhaust would be out of character for its remit. Its such a silky smooth and free revving engine and I love it for that.

[bodhi]

cerb4.5lee said:

Enjoyed that cheers, and it makes me miss my old 330i. It also backs up what I've always said about how muted the N52 engine is, you literally can't hear hardly anything from the exhaust/inside the cabin. Its a shame that such a lovely engine isn't more vocal as standard for me.

I guess BMW designed the E9x 3 series purely as a cruiser, and a vocal engine/exhaust would be out of character for its remit. Its such a silky smooth and free revving engine and I love it for that.

I think that's just the E9x Installation - the same engine in my 1 Series Coupé is far from muted, even with the Logic 7 up loud, you can still hear it burbling away - you can even hear pops and crackles on the overrun.

[cerb4.5lee]

bodhi said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Enjoyed that cheers, and it makes me miss my old 330i. It also backs up what I've always said about how muted the N52 engine is, you literally can't hear hardly anything from the exhaust/inside the cabin. Its a shame that such a lovely engine isn't more vocal as standard for me.

I guess BMW designed the E9x 3 series purely as a cruiser, and a vocal engine/exhaust would be out of character for its remit. Its such a silky smooth and free revving engine and I love it for that.

I think that's just the E9x Installation - the same engine in my 1 Series Coupé is far from muted, even with the Logic 7 up loud, you can still hear it burbling away - you can even hear pops and crackles on the overrun.

From what I read the N52 is also a little louder in the Z4 too. The 3 series is a motorway muncher, so I guess it makes sense to have the engine/exhaust unobtrusive. Although I have to admit that my Z4M was quiet even with the roof down, so I think it could just be a bit of a BMW thing in general...sad really because they make some cracking engines, and it would be great to hear them more for me.

[Patrick Bateman]

Z4 I drove with the N52 was very muted, both induction and exhaust. Nothing like the Boxster I ended up getting, engine being right behind does help!

I'd be curious to see what the sound generator mod was like in the cabin.

[ferrisbueller]

My M54'd Z4 was certainly audible at both ends, without being overly intrusive or shouty, plenty of bark, pop, burble and woofle. Roof down obviously enhanced that but nowhere near Boxster sound levels.

E9Xs are quieter, certainly from the exhaust. I get plenty of pleasant engine noises in the cabin though. I find it well judged for something intended to be used as a daily. Noisier would be annoying when you're just ticking off the miles IMO.

[Patrick Bateman]

ferrisbueller said:

My M54'd Z4 was certainly audible at both ends, without being overly intrusive or shouty, plenty of bark, pop, burble and woofle. Roof down obviously enhanced that but nowhere near Boxster sound levels.

E9Xs are quieter, certainly from the exhaust. I get plenty of pleasant engine noises in the cabin though. I find it well judged for something intended to be used as a daily. Noisier would be annoying when you're just ticking off the miles IMO.

M54 in my 330Ci with the exhaust valve stuck open was the perfect balance for me. Not intrusive at all but even when going about town or pulling away from the lights it had a bit of a growl about it to suggest it wasn't just a humdrum sewing machine.

[Naldrett]

I had the BMW Performance exhaust on my E91 330i (N52). For me it was a great balance of allowing a bit more noise (including some pops on the over-run) and zero drone on the motorway. Seemed to get better with the miles too. Here’s an example:

https://youtu.be/8r40bzDy9LI

Quite pricey though, and always protruded past the bumper a little too much for my liking - but small niggles for what it brought and the fact that it was an official BMW product.

[bmwmike]

Patrick Bateman said:

M54 in my 330Ci with the exhaust valve stuck open was the perfect balance for me. Not intrusive at all but even when going about town or pulling away from the lights it had a bit of a growl about it to suggest it wasn't just a humdrum sewing machine.

Nicely put. I feel the same way about the n53 in my f10. There is no exhaust flap (came from factory like that) and it has a nice burble outside at idle. When pushed it makes a nice growl which is easily heard in the cabin but just cruising around its pretty silent. Only downside is that annoying HPFP tick due to direct injection at idle.

[Mr Tidy]

cerb4.5lee said:

I guess BMW designed the E9x 3 series purely as a cruiser, and a vocal engine/exhaust would be out of character for its remit. Its such a silky smooth and free revving engine and I love it for that.

I think they must have designed it that way - I can't hear the N52 engine in my E91 325i unless I get it revving way past 4,000 rpm!

But the 3 litre N52 in my Z4 Coupe with a custom cat-back exhaust is there all the time - it's hard to believe they have the same engine.

[Dannbodge]

So I'm thinking of selling my 335i (E90 but close enough) and want a bit of insight into pricing.

'09 LCi N54 Manual
64.5k miles
FSH (Serviced April 18, MOT'd Feb 19)
All big ticket items done within the last two years (Turbos, Waterpump, Injectors etc)
Every Option (Inc Individual ones) except DAB and Keyless.

I was going to advertise for 14k and accept nothing less than 13k.

Everything for sale currently is either high miles, older or poor spec/history.

Thoughts?

[ATM]

Dannbodge said:

So I'm thinking of selling my 335i (E90 but close enough) and want a bit of insight into pricing.

'09 LCi N54 Manual
64.5k miles
FSH (Serviced April 18, MOT'd Feb 19)
All big ticket items done within the last two years (Turbos, Waterpump, Injectors etc)
Every Option (Inc Individual ones) except DAB and Keyless.

I was going to advertise for 14k and accept nothing less than 13k.

Everything for sale currently is either high miles, older or poor spec/history.

Thoughts?

Worth a try. I've had several offers at 9 grand for my 335i e91. Currently got 43 watchers whatever that means.

[Mike335i]

Dannbodge said:

So I'm thinking of selling my 335i (E90 but close enough) and want a bit of insight into pricing.

'09 LCi N54 Manual
64.5k miles
FSH (Serviced April 18, MOT'd Feb 19)
All big ticket items done within the last two years (Turbos, Waterpump, Injectors etc)
Every Option (Inc Individual ones) except DAB and Keyless.

I was going to advertise for 14k and accept nothing less than 13k.

Everything for sale currently is either high miles, older or poor spec/history.

Thoughts?

I like your thinking and best of luck, if you get that kind of money I'd be tempted to sell mine.

'09 LCI E90 N54 M Sport Manual, just shy of 80k miles and full service history, Logic 7, ProNav and DAB so decent spec. I paid £14k at a dealer 2 years ago so getting anywhere close £12-13k private sale would make me VERY happy.

[bmwmike]

Mr Tidy said:

I think they must have designed it that way - I can't hear the N52 engine in my E91 325i unless I get it revving way past 4,000 rpm!

But the 3 litre N52 in my Z4 Coupe with a custom cat-back exhaust is there all the time - it's hard to believe they have the same engine.

Not so hard to believe, most of the noise from an engine is intake/induction or exhaust relayed, unless you're sat with you head under the bonnet in which case it's mechanical.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the different applications (e90, e92, z4 etc) of n52 had different exhaust and or intakes, even same car in different markets. For example i know the n53 intakes and exhaust vary hugely between the different cars.

Edited by bmwmike on Wednesday 26th September 14:00

[p1stonhead]

my 325d (2009) just hit 103,000 miles and still runs absolutely perfectly. What a great workhorse.

Cliche but honestly feels like it did tens of thousands of miles ago. Not had a single issue in nearly 40,000 miles since I bought it. Will keep it till it dies.

[Mr Tidy]

Interesting - my 06 plate E91 325i is not far short of 136k miles and still going strong (apart from the dead electric water pump a couple of weeks ago)!

At least it won't need another one while I have it.

[MajorMantra]

Fellow N52ers, what service interval are you working to?

I intend my next oil change to be long before the car demands it, but I don't really have a strong feeling about when this will be.

I serviced the car last November with an LL-04 oil and have done less than 6,000 miles since then. I'm thinking of doing it next around 8-10k, but only because that feels right, not for any well thought through reason.

[Patrick Bateman]

Well changing it early won't do any harm. 10k seems like a fair interval, I'd ignore any of the longlife stuff personally.

[ferrisbueller]

The recommended Castol Edge is LL anyway.

[Patrick Bateman]

To clarify, I meant ignoring the intervals, not the oils.

[ATM]

Patrick Bateman said:

To clarify, I meant ignoring the intervals, not the oils.

Clarified oil - I thought that's butter?