E91 Straight Six Bearding

[callahan]

How does the thread feel about the black pump version of the E91? Specifically the 325 and 330d saloons.

Looks like I need to buy something sensible and relatively cheap to replace my company 530e, to do around 10-11k commute and a couple of thousand more per year visiting clients.

[JakeT]

The saloon is the E90. Not a welcome sight here.

I joke. The oil burners are fine. The early ones had the M57. I had one in an E46 330d Sport saloon. Absolutely monstered 'outside lane' motorway driving but felt one dimensional to me.

The late models had the N57 engine. That engine has timing chain issues potentially.

Otherwise standard E90 stuff applies, suspension components, bent/cracked wheels, and these cars are sensitive to spec. A low spec 325d will be decidedly 'meh'. The first 325d models came as manual only, too.

ETA: At that mileage, the petrol is probably a better bet unless your company stipulates diesel.

Edited by JakeT on Tuesday 7th July 17:02

[callahan]

JakeT said:

The saloon is the E90. Not a welcome sight here.

I joke. The oil burners are fine. The early ones had the M57. I had one in an E46 330d Sport saloon. Absolutely monstered 'outside lane' motorway driving but felt one dimensional to me.

The late models had the N57 engine. That engine has timing chain issues potentially.

Otherwise standard E90 stuff applies, suspension components, bent/cracked wheels, and these cars are sensitive to spec. A low spec 325d will be decidedly 'meh'. The first 325d models came as manual only, too.

ETA: At that mileage, the petrol is probably a better bet unless your company stipulates diesel.

Edited by JakeT on Tuesday 7th July 17:02

I should really know that, having an E61 as well

I'm looking at an M Sport 2006 manual as I have an option on the comute to go all motorway or all back roads, so I'd want to be able to throw it around a bit as well as slog on the motorway.

It doesn't need to be diesel, just that I will get a fixed amount for mileage so a diesel should save me a bit of money. Either way, it needs six cylinders.

Thanks

[JakeT]

That's understandable. Keep an eye on maintenance costs though, as the diesel does have more 'stuff' to break on it, as is normally the case.

Test both a petrol and diesel model, as I found them quite different in their characters. Same with auto vs. manual, too.

[g3org3y]

Washed wife's car yesterday.

Le Mans blue FTW.



I noticed a 'chirping' at the front of the engine. Tensioner or pulley I suppose? Am I right in thinking it's prudent to minimise driving the car until it's sorted.

[JakeT]

Try not to drive it, as the tensioner on N52s is a bit crap. Get yourself an INA tensioner (and a new bolt), and a new belt too.



In sales news, this is a nice drivers spec. Manual, and no iDrive.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[HurryUpAndWait]

Personally I’d be put off by the Uniroyals. If they’re skimping on tyres, what else have they skimped on?

[MattOz]

JakeT said:

In sales news, this is a nice drivers spec. Manual, and no iDrive.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

My old car. Has had a couple of owners since I had it. Much better to drive than the F31 335i that replaced it.

[fastbikes76]

HurryUpAndWait said:

Personally I’d be put off by the Uniroyals. If they’re skimping on tyres, what else have they skimped on?

Eh ? uniroyal rainsports are brilliant tyre and are certainly no linglong pingpong tyres !

[p1stonhead]

JakeT said:

Try not to drive it, as the tensioner on N52s is a bit crap. Get yourself an INA tensioner (and a new bolt), and a new belt too.



In sales news, this is a nice drivers spec. Manual, and no iDrive.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

People really still paying over £10k for these? I’m amazed if they are! Great cars but blimey.

[g3org3y]

fastbikes76 said:

HurryUpAndWait said:

Personally I’d be put off by the Uniroyals. If they’re skimping on tyres, what else have they skimped on?

Eh ? uniroyal rainsports are brilliant tyre and are certainly no linglong pingpong tyres !

Agreed. Uniroyal Rainsports aren't budget tyres.

p1stonhead said:

People really still paying over £10k for these? I’m amazed if they are! Great cars but blimey.

Rare because manual I suppose.

[ATM]

p1stonhead said:

JakeT said:

Try not to drive it, as the tensioner on N52s is a bit crap. Get yourself an INA tensioner (and a new bolt), and a new belt too.



In sales news, this is a nice drivers spec. Manual, and no iDrive.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

People really still paying over £10k for these? I’m amazed if they are! Great cars but blimey.

I dont think he will achieve 11 grand for that. I would be surprised if he achieves 10.

I dont understand the tyre sizing. Ad says 235 front and 265 rear. Those wheels are 8 inch front and 8.5 rear. You shouldn't be fitting 265 tyres - especially with a lowish profile like 35 - to an 8.5 inch rim. Some tyres places would refuse to do it.

[PeeMac]

Hello E91 beards.

I've been running this 335i manual for 4 months now, really enjoying sorting it out and driving it. It's had an MHD stage 1 map, and goes quite nicely.

There's a lot of pages to this thread, wondered if anybody knew or has previously owned my car?

Edited by PeeMac on Monday 13th July 10:22

[JakeT]

MattOz said:

My old car. Has had a couple of owners since I had it. Much better to drive than the F31 335i that replaced it.

I thought it was yours, Matt. Was it a PH'er that owned it before you?

HurryUpAndWait said:

Personally I’d be put off by the Uniroyals. If they’re skimping on tyres, what else have they skimped on?

I wouldn't say Uniroyals are bad, really. They're well regarded by the people that use them. I'm a bit of a 'premium or bust' person, but a good midrange is no real concern. Much better than Sunny or Accelera tyres.

[g3org3y]

JakeT said:

Try not to drive it, as the tensioner on N52s is a bit crap. Get yourself an INA tensioner (and a new bolt), and a new belt too.

Thanks, will do.

Wife drove the 630 for the first time today. Now we know the Isofix base/baby seat fits, I've told her to drive that until I get the 330 sorted.

I'm worried after she gets a taste for the E63, she may not want to back to slumming it in the E91.

[JakeT]

You might be able to get a multibuy discount when you buy three of everything at once.


Kudos to the kiddy seat in a 6. Access to the back seat is an act of bending bones!

[MattOz]

JakeT said:

I thought it was yours, Matt. Was it a PH'er that owned it before you?

Yes. A PH'er owned if before me and a PH'er bought it from me about 3.5 years ago. Then, the current owner bought it 18 months or so ago. It's a great car, or certainly was when I owned it. Don't expect much has changed.

Edited by MattOz on Tuesday 14th July 10:42

[legendracer]

Am I doubting something?
E 92 330i N53B70, 2008.
Less than 50k miles. Fully serviced and pampered. Gets an occasional high rev blast for few minutes. Runs on 97 octane petrol only And sometimes mixed with redex petrol additive,which has solved the inconsistent idle during cold starts. Now it idles and engine sounds LOT smooth and silent than it was.

I don't know if I should say the avg mpg is 28.

Long drives like London-Manchester gives 40-41 mpg by sticking at 65-70 with cruise control or without.

But small 3 mile cold runs and city duty delivers only 20-21 mpg.

Out of 2000 miles 500 miles has been the 3 mile small runs in cold.

500 miles done in 40 zones, that's 30 mpg.

1000 miles on motorway at speed limits.

2000 miles.
Cost of fuel. £440 pounds
Cost per liter for 97 octane at tesco. £1.14 pounds. Isn't?

So what's average I should shout about. Is it 40 or 20 or 30.

Mind is comparing with a 4 cylinder petrol and diesel. Like a 320i or 520i or 320d or a VW Passat 2.0 TDI.

My yearly travel should be below 10000 miles but above 7000 miles.

[g3org3y]

Auto or manual?

[legendracer]

g3org3y said:

Auto or manual?

Sorry. It's Automatic. ZF6HP