2008 330xi - What to check?
Discussion
Just been to look at a 2008 330xi with 100k km (in Austria), seemed good condition, underneath looked fine, some very slight rust starting on back left arch but looks easily fixable I would think.
Is there anything to check for with these?
Had a short test drive and seemed to drive well and is a reasonable price compared with others for sale, seller has a new car lined up from his dad so advertised it cheaper to get rid, basically above what dealers offered and if it doesn't sell by Friday it goes to them, seems a genuine guy so assume its not bulls
t.
Is there anything to check for with these?
Had a short test drive and seemed to drive well and is a reasonable price compared with others for sale, seller has a new car lined up from his dad so advertised it cheaper to get rid, basically above what dealers offered and if it doesn't sell by Friday it goes to them, seems a genuine guy so assume its not bulls
t.Plenty to check on a N53 330i.
Make sure you check and drive the car from absolute stone cold. Any rattle, misfiring or hesitation could mean injectors, HP fuel pump or a number of other issues etc. From cold on certain mornings mine throws an EML, but BMW have never been able to solve it, despite replacing various bits and bobs.......does not impact the running though....
If you can get a code reader, I would check this too or the idrive can reveal some issues too.
I forget what gasket it is, but at the rear of the engine they can leak a small amount of oil. On a sharp brake downhill you might smell the burnt oil drop - smells like a scented candle.
Fill to the brim and see if it smells of petrol after a few miles. Could be the breather in the fuel pipe assembly.
Been a few recalls on these too. Coil packs need changing under one recall, NOx sensors on another.
Probably missed a few other items to check.....
They can be a nightmare, but in all honesty mine has not been too bad. ABS servo went on it, which has been the most expensive issue..... Fuel economy pretty good, lovely sounding engine, smooth and effortless to drive. Handling is extremely competent (maybe too much so) and just a handsome car.
Make sure you check and drive the car from absolute stone cold. Any rattle, misfiring or hesitation could mean injectors, HP fuel pump or a number of other issues etc. From cold on certain mornings mine throws an EML, but BMW have never been able to solve it, despite replacing various bits and bobs.......does not impact the running though....
If you can get a code reader, I would check this too or the idrive can reveal some issues too.
I forget what gasket it is, but at the rear of the engine they can leak a small amount of oil. On a sharp brake downhill you might smell the burnt oil drop - smells like a scented candle.
Fill to the brim and see if it smells of petrol after a few miles. Could be the breather in the fuel pipe assembly.
Been a few recalls on these too. Coil packs need changing under one recall, NOx sensors on another.
Probably missed a few other items to check.....
They can be a nightmare, but in all honesty mine has not been too bad. ABS servo went on it, which has been the most expensive issue..... Fuel economy pretty good, lovely sounding engine, smooth and effortless to drive. Handling is extremely competent (maybe too much so) and just a handsome car.
Thanks, that helps!
Normally I would have had a purchase check done by Oamtc (they are like Austrian AA but way better imo) where they check it over and give a report, but no appointments anywhere until May/June!
One thing I forgot to mention was at low speeds, I noticed when parking, there was a slight hesitation in the steering wheel when turning, I only noticed it at very slow speeds though, have you had this before? Other than that no rattles or anything else and drove nicely.
Seen mixed things mentioned online from fluids to new rack or column, then some just saying it was like that as long as they can remember and caused no issues, so not sure to worry about that or not.
I do have an ODB Bluetooth reader somewhere and the torque app, could try that to read the codes.
He mentioned either the spark plugs or coils were replaced recently I think for the MOT equivalent, which has no advisories at least. (bit of a language barrier which didn't help!)
Normally I would have had a purchase check done by Oamtc (they are like Austrian AA but way better imo) where they check it over and give a report, but no appointments anywhere until May/June!
One thing I forgot to mention was at low speeds, I noticed when parking, there was a slight hesitation in the steering wheel when turning, I only noticed it at very slow speeds though, have you had this before? Other than that no rattles or anything else and drove nicely.
Seen mixed things mentioned online from fluids to new rack or column, then some just saying it was like that as long as they can remember and caused no issues, so not sure to worry about that or not.
I do have an ODB Bluetooth reader somewhere and the torque app, could try that to read the codes.
He mentioned either the spark plugs or coils were replaced recently I think for the MOT equivalent, which has no advisories at least. (bit of a language barrier which didn't help!)
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff