My shed of an E90 330D
Discussion
I bought this in February when I started a job without a company car, and as Its just passed the 10K mark in my ownership, I thought I share how I've got on with it.
So the search started when I accepted a job with a car allowance rather than a company car. common sense told me to lease something but then the doubts crept in, what if it didn't work out, I'd be stuck with a lease I didn't need.
So, I decided to buy, at least for the short term and review in 6 months. I wanted to fit all associated costs within the allowance, so that way the company car tax I was saving was straight into my pocket, and I was earning considerably on the fuel allowance. Win win.
Although my company are pretty relaxed, I wanted something that wouldn't raise any eyebrows, and after having a few 3 series as company cars I was pretty happy that another would fit the bill.
I found the above car, a late 2007 330D. A few options, Auto, Leather, Widescreen Nav, Xenons etc, 2 owners, 64.8K, FSH. job jobbed.
First thing I done was to have it serviced and checked over, no issues found, service cost about £180 from memory.
Next up, Remap at Evole in Luton, £499 saw the power go from 231 to 287BHp, and a corresponding rise in torque.
It was then put to work, with a mix of central London, Home Counties and Motorway work is weekly ritual. It's average just over 40MPG, which given its use and performance available, I'm happy with.
What has gone wrong? Touch wood, very little. At about 68K I notice it had started to use a little water, I topped it up and was concerned when it took almost a litre to return it to max. I decided to jeep an eye on it as I couldn't see any evidence of leaks. Well the next day I was in traffic and noticed a whisp of steam from the grille. I turned the car off and investigated, the car had sprung a leak and lost about half a litre of coolant. I had the recovered to the local specialist I use and it turned out the EGR cooler had split, so I had this and the two thermostats replaced for a total cost of around £560. other than a tail light bulb needing to be replaced, it's been fine.
I've replaced the ageing set of Falken tyres the car came with with a set of Pirelli P Zeros and had a four wheel alignment done, but I'd have to replace the tyres on anything I suppose.
So it's just rolled over 75K, and overall I am pretty happy all things considered. I'll have the car serviced again at the end of September, and the wheels could do with a refurb.
I'll get the winter out of it, but the lure of something shiny and new will likely see me chop it in in spring, What to go for though?
Edited by f1nn on Thursday 20th August 20:48
These are great cars, I just sold my one. I really wish I had got it mapped but my mileage was up at 93 when I had to sell, and I had the slight fear a map would maybe too much for other components to handle. Once the kids no longer require buggies I will be going straight back to BMW for a 335i/d.
These are great cars, I just sold my one. I really wish I had got it mapped but my mileage was up at 93 when I had to sell, and I had the slight fear a map would maybe too much for other components to handle. Once the kids no longer require buggies I will be going straight back to BMW for a 335i/d.
Oh a few other things, I've remembered.
When I got the car most of the brushed Aluminium trims in the car were scratched or damaged in some way, which seemed pretty common.
I had considered changing them to the Piano black versions but decided against it as I thought it might be a bit "coal mine" with the black leather and dark headlining.
I found a company who advertise on EBay who wrap your existing trims. I decided to give that a whirl, and while not quite perfect, you would be hard pressed to find fault, and it's has certainly lifted the interior, I'll post a pic in a little while.
I was then offered a set of genuine BMW dark line rear lights for next to no money, so as these are an improvement in my eyes at least, these were quickly bought and fitted.
A new set of genuine mats were fitted to replace the dog eared universal specials the car came with, why do people do that, the genuine ones were only about £80 and make such a difference.
There are a couple of faults that I need to deal with over the next few weeks.
Firstly, when the tyres were replaced, the fitter noticed the offside front wheel had a very slight crack in it, which again is very common to BMW wheels. Upon inspection, it was evident that this had not happened recently due to the evidence of water penetration under the laquer, and it had been fine for the last 5k miles in my ownership, and god knows how many before I bought it, so the tyre was fitted. it's held air perfectly for another 5K miles but I will get it sorted when I have the wheels refurbished in the next month or so.
The car threw up a warning that both front and rear brake pads need replacing the other day. I thought this odd as the odds on both sets being required at the same time being very remote, and on inspection they are fine and it turns out it is the sensors that have not been reset previously and need replacing. I did try and reset them through the the I drive procedure but with no luck, so for what they cost, about £8.00 each I'll replace them all when I have a morning spare.
And lastly, it passed an MOT test a few weeks ago, with an advisory for a slightly corroded rear coil spring. If I keep the car I'll do something about this, but I don't see it as being neccasarily crititical at this point.
When I got the car most of the brushed Aluminium trims in the car were scratched or damaged in some way, which seemed pretty common.
I had considered changing them to the Piano black versions but decided against it as I thought it might be a bit "coal mine" with the black leather and dark headlining.
I found a company who advertise on EBay who wrap your existing trims. I decided to give that a whirl, and while not quite perfect, you would be hard pressed to find fault, and it's has certainly lifted the interior, I'll post a pic in a little while.
I was then offered a set of genuine BMW dark line rear lights for next to no money, so as these are an improvement in my eyes at least, these were quickly bought and fitted.
A new set of genuine mats were fitted to replace the dog eared universal specials the car came with, why do people do that, the genuine ones were only about £80 and make such a difference.
There are a couple of faults that I need to deal with over the next few weeks.
Firstly, when the tyres were replaced, the fitter noticed the offside front wheel had a very slight crack in it, which again is very common to BMW wheels. Upon inspection, it was evident that this had not happened recently due to the evidence of water penetration under the laquer, and it had been fine for the last 5k miles in my ownership, and god knows how many before I bought it, so the tyre was fitted. it's held air perfectly for another 5K miles but I will get it sorted when I have the wheels refurbished in the next month or so.
The car threw up a warning that both front and rear brake pads need replacing the other day. I thought this odd as the odds on both sets being required at the same time being very remote, and on inspection they are fine and it turns out it is the sensors that have not been reset previously and need replacing. I did try and reset them through the the I drive procedure but with no luck, so for what they cost, about £8.00 each I'll replace them all when I have a morning spare.
And lastly, it passed an MOT test a few weeks ago, with an advisory for a slightly corroded rear coil spring. If I keep the car I'll do something about this, but I don't see it as being neccasarily crititical at this point.
only turbodiesel i've ever been in that pulls all the way up to the redline, instead of a huge midrange and nothing else.Bit of an update for anyone that is interested.
My time with this car has come to an end. It's showing just under 89k miles as it sits outside waiting for a call from the dealer to say my next car is ready for collection.
So how was it? Broadly speaking I've been very happy with it and it's ticked most of the boxes I needed.
Things I liked? Sensible dimensions, effortless urge from the 30D lump, seats, equipment levels, and the fact that for an older car, it's still looks fairly good, to my eyes at least.
Things I wasn't really keen on? Predictably, the ride quality. Okay, the M sport set up is famously unyielding but even on normal tyres there is no getting away from the fact the ride quality is not a strong point.
Talking about tyres, the rears probably had another 2-3k on them so I'd say 20k max out of a pair, fronts have worn fine.
Gearbox. I specifically wanted an auto this time but It's safe to say that modern autos really show how things have moved on compared to this, which can feel a bit ponderous at times.
Reliability? It's been okay. I replaced the thermostats again, as they has had failed again and the car was not reaching full temperature and was starting to have an effect on temperature. My advice would be to go for genuine stats if you are replacing.
This may be of interest: in the IDrive, there is a menu counting down mileage until services etc. At the bottom it shows DPF life. When I bought it at 65k it was showing 120K remaining. At 89K it is showing 110k remaining.
Talking about fuel economy, mine averaged (according to the display at least) 40.9MPG.
The only non planned expenditure was a rear caliper that needed replacing when a bleed nipple sheared when it was getting the brake fluid changed. That, and a service at BMW came to £700 which stung a little.
Actually, that reminds me. BMW gave me a new 120D X drive to drive about in while they were sorting the caliper, and I was surprisingly happy to jump back into mine afterwards, far more refined. I'm not sure BMW would be happy with that and I'm not sure what progress has been made in 9 years....
If I was to keep it, I may have looked at replacing the springs and dampers as it was starting to feel a little baggy.
As it is, it's served me well for the best part of 25K and no doubt will go on to provide swift reliable service for its next owner/s for many miles yet. I think the trick with these cars is to keep them well serviced and maintained, which they are now at the age and value where owners will scrimp.
So would I have another? Yeah in a heartbeat. In fact I'm not straying too far... I'll be picking up an E92 335i in the next couple of days.
Will a 300+HP twin turbo petrol be better or worse to live with? I'll keep you posted!
My time with this car has come to an end. It's showing just under 89k miles as it sits outside waiting for a call from the dealer to say my next car is ready for collection.
So how was it? Broadly speaking I've been very happy with it and it's ticked most of the boxes I needed.
Things I liked? Sensible dimensions, effortless urge from the 30D lump, seats, equipment levels, and the fact that for an older car, it's still looks fairly good, to my eyes at least.
Things I wasn't really keen on? Predictably, the ride quality. Okay, the M sport set up is famously unyielding but even on normal tyres there is no getting away from the fact the ride quality is not a strong point.
Talking about tyres, the rears probably had another 2-3k on them so I'd say 20k max out of a pair, fronts have worn fine.
Gearbox. I specifically wanted an auto this time but It's safe to say that modern autos really show how things have moved on compared to this, which can feel a bit ponderous at times.
Reliability? It's been okay. I replaced the thermostats again, as they has had failed again and the car was not reaching full temperature and was starting to have an effect on temperature. My advice would be to go for genuine stats if you are replacing.
This may be of interest: in the IDrive, there is a menu counting down mileage until services etc. At the bottom it shows DPF life. When I bought it at 65k it was showing 120K remaining. At 89K it is showing 110k remaining.
Talking about fuel economy, mine averaged (according to the display at least) 40.9MPG.
The only non planned expenditure was a rear caliper that needed replacing when a bleed nipple sheared when it was getting the brake fluid changed. That, and a service at BMW came to £700 which stung a little.
Actually, that reminds me. BMW gave me a new 120D X drive to drive about in while they were sorting the caliper, and I was surprisingly happy to jump back into mine afterwards, far more refined. I'm not sure BMW would be happy with that and I'm not sure what progress has been made in 9 years....
If I was to keep it, I may have looked at replacing the springs and dampers as it was starting to feel a little baggy.
As it is, it's served me well for the best part of 25K and no doubt will go on to provide swift reliable service for its next owner/s for many miles yet. I think the trick with these cars is to keep them well serviced and maintained, which they are now at the age and value where owners will scrimp.
So would I have another? Yeah in a heartbeat. In fact I'm not straying too far... I'll be picking up an E92 335i in the next couple of days.
Will a 300+HP twin turbo petrol be better or worse to live with? I'll keep you posted!
Edited by f1nn on Thursday 19th May 15:19
f1nn said:
And what can only be described as the most pointless option, a compass in the rear view mirror. I'm assuming the first owner was a company car driver who was working up to a budget and want to squeeze every last few quid out of it.
Going by what BMW charge for options that must have been £200-300 at leastFunnily enough I've had my E91 330D for nearly 4 years now, and having just been awarded a company car/allowance and spending nearly 2 months trying to decide what to buy/lease I'm actually just going to keep my 3 series and freshen it up whilst also leasing my wife a new Qashqai.
I couldn't find anything worthy of replacing the 3 series in budget, and it still looks very tidy so I see no reason to change.
I know what you mean about the new autos making the ZF in the 330d feel sluggish though!
I couldn't find anything worthy of replacing the 3 series in budget, and it still looks very tidy so I see no reason to change.
I know what you mean about the new autos making the ZF in the 330d feel sluggish though!
It's not even close to being a shed!
Taking your 'shed' to a BMW dealer for servicing and paying £700 is a ridiculous thing to do.
The 335i will be a lot more fun compared to the 330d (currently have an E91 335i and E91 330d) but fuel consumption will be a shocker after the derv.
Maybe try to find yourself a good BMW specialist - don't take a 335i to the main dealer.
Taking your 'shed' to a BMW dealer for servicing and paying £700 is a ridiculous thing to do.
The 335i will be a lot more fun compared to the 330d (currently have an E91 335i and E91 330d) but fuel consumption will be a shocker after the derv.
Maybe try to find yourself a good BMW specialist - don't take a 335i to the main dealer.
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