BMW Buying Advice Required Please

Here's a picture from the advert:



It is now filthy after 120 miles on the M1/6/42/5 and it could do with some detailing/cleaning so I will post a few of my own pictures once I've given it a once over.

First questions for the hive mind:

1) I need 2 new front tyres. Keen to go non-RF for comfort and this has already been done on the rear and I have the BMW pump & gunk in the boot. I want good all weather performance (doubt I'll ever put winter tyres on) with low noise. Not looking to skimp on cost here at all but likewise I'm no Sebastian Vettel so don't necessarily need the grippiest rubber. Hope there aren't too many contradictions in there.

2) The chrome window trim is quite dull, what is the best product to use to bring it back to life?

3) Once tyres are changed I'm going for a full 4 wheel laser alignment at a local specialist (http://www.alineyourcar.co.uk/). I have used them before and they are very professional etc. Question is, do I just ask them to go for factory standard or is there a recommended tweak based on using non RF tyres?

I think that's all for now. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom you choose to share.

Cheers

Rob
 
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No, it doesn't.

Those are not that cars original wheels - they are 18" MV3 wheels from an M Sport. If they are fitted with the correct tyre size they are 225/40/18 at the front and 255/35/18 at the back.

I beleive they are W rated though - my 335i had the same wheels and I remember being suprised they were W.
 
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[TW]Fox;24119419 said:
No, it doesn't.
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That is a google fail on my part. Thanks for the correction - I will confirm with my eyes tomorrow before ordering.
 
Quick update.

2 x Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2 tyres fitted this evening. First drive to work tomorrow which should be fun.

Looks like a have a lazy EGR thermostat so have ordered a replacement (£28) which will be fitted when it arrives.

Will be getting a 4 wheel alignment carried out ASAP to look after the new tyres. This will complete the small jobs list I identified when buying the car (until I get the rear discs and pads done in a month or so).

I'm now looking at the BMW Alpine speaker upgrade kit (standard stereo is pretty poor) as it gets decent reviews and actually seems decent VFM (despite being BMW supplied!).

Went for a drive last night and had the chance for a little play. In sport mode this car can really shift. Remember that I'm starting from a fairly low base (150 bhp Astra CDTI) but the smooth, relentless power delivery have left me mightily impressed. As reviews seem state with some regularity, the car/engine seem very un-diesel like and free revving.

Cheers

Rob
 
[TW]Fox;24115394 said:
At 65k it becomes a much more difficult decision, I had assumed with your budget you'd have bought a lower mileage one. 65k is probably the worst mileage to buy an E92 on - it's not high enough to result in a significant price saving - it'll be no cheaper than one on say 59k - but it is over the 60k limit so doubles the warranty cost. At £800 it becomes a far more difficult decision.
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It depends I bought my 335i at 67k miles (admittedly at the time for a very good price) and I thought it was a no brainer to get warranty regardless of the cost. Considering what a fragile soul the n54 engine is (HPFP, Injectors, LPFP etc.) I didn't want to take the risk. I'm not sure if the 335d is as bad but that's for the OP to do his research and decide. Looks like a nice car and yep the standard audio is pretty dire which is why I sought one with at least the business audio upgrade. Enjoy!
 
SS-89 said:
It depends I bought my 335i at 67k miles (admittedly at the time for a very good price) and I thought it was a no brainer to get warranty regardless of the cost. Considering what a fragile soul the n54 engine is (HPFP, Injectors, LPFP etc.) I didn't want to take the risk. I'm not sure if the 335d is as bad but that's for the OP to do his research and decide. Looks like a nice car and yep the standard audio is pretty dire which is why I sought one with at least the business audio upgrade. Enjoy!
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Is the N54 really that bad? I was looking at buying a convertible for the summer. (For the kids - honest!)
 
topbanana said:
Is the N54 really that bad? I was looking at buying a convertible for the summer. (For the kids - honest!)
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No, the N54 is a master piece, and it seems that a lot of it's overwhelming positive points are overshadowed by slight negative points.

The only thing that scares me with my 335i is the turbo's going, because that is a £2-2.5k job and there is no getting away from that.

HPFP/injectors etc - don't bother me anymore. Part prices have dropped massively in the last 5 years and now an amateur home DIYer can do a lot, as long as they have a laptop handy, the right software and the ability to follow online DIY posts.

I will not be renewing my warranty this year as the price of it is continually going up (even though i'm still under 60k) and this coupled with the fact that the part prices have dropped and that any good BMW independent can do almost all jobs, means that, for me, it isn't worth it anymore. There was as time, when the E90/E92 was new, that only BMW could do coding etc to the car and had all the toys, and things like injectors were £200 each. Now, as i said, all good BMW independents can do most jobs and injectors are now around £111 each.

The only other thing i should make you aware of with regards to the warranty - it is absolutely fantastic if a part which is covered fails completely. However, with a lot of car problems, this does not happen. Often there are intermittent problems, which often the car won't commit to it's memory, so when they plug it in, there is nothing in the cars error memory. This is very frustrating as they will refuse to do anything unless they can get a fault reading. This is excluding those problems where the car simply just doesn't feel right, but there are no error messages per se. If you have one of those, like your gearbox is not changing smoothly - forget it. In these instances, you may as well use your warranty as toilet paper for the good it'll do. What will happen is you will have to book the car in for an entire day (and you'll possibly have take the day off to do this), one of their "highly trained mechanics" will drive the car, you'll pick the car up at the end of the day and they'll tell you "Our mechanic couldn't detect anything wrong with the car - thanks for stopping by. Have a nice day". Unless there is a fault code - dealers simply don't want to know these days. Dealers don't employ mechanics anymore, who investigate problems and try to find solutions, they employ fitters who also happen to be able to plug a car into a computer and if computer says no, that's the end of it - as far as they're concerned - the car is fine. And it is for this reason i will never take my car to a mechanic for any sort of repairs.

In fact, i've currently got the full comprehensive BMW warranty and got a fault light coming on every now and then, and i'm reasonably sure i know what it is (VANOS - £70 for a new one x2). However, i still can't be bothered to take my car to the dealer to have it fixed because i know what will happen - i will waste my entire day taking it 20 miles to the dealer, they'll plug it in and say "sorry sir, there is no fault codes in the memory. Let us know if it comes back on. Thanks, bye."
 
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Thats a dealer problem not a warranty problem. There is no requirement for computer to say 'broken' before a claim can be authorised.

As for going up in price - monthly warranty protects you from that.
 
[TW]Fox;24136886 said:
Thats a dealer problem not a warranty problem. There is no requirement for computer to say 'broken' before a claim can be authorised.
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Of the two that i have been to, they have both reacted in the exact same way. They need a fault code or a definite diagnosis to put it through the warranty. However, if you are on good terms with your dealer (ie, you've bought you car from there or have bought cars in the past from them) they are often far, far more accommodating. Which is kind of a pain for those of use who want to buy our cars privately and take out the warranty.

From what many other people have said, this is not just my experience either - this seems to be the way most dealers operate (there are a select few who are well known to be more accommodating)

[TW]Fox;24136886 said:
As for going up in price - monthly warranty protects you from that.
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But you end up paying a good few quid more for the privilege of paying monthly. As we all know, warranties are just another insurance, which means one needs to balance risk against cost. And as far as i can see, now with an E92/E90 the potential for things to go wrong and the cost of them, does not reflect the price paid for the warranty.
 
I've decided to leave the warranty and 'go it alone'. I plan to treat the car well, take on as much preventative maintenance as is reasonable and maintain very regular service intervals.

The car feels so much better with the new tyres. Off for wheel alignment tomorrow which should help too (assuming it is out).

The EGR stat has arrived and will be fitted on Sunday. After doing some reading I'm expecting to have to replace the main thermostat too as that is more likely to be the one that has 'gone'. It seems an engine that runs too cool won't allow the DPF to regenerate.

Have decided to put the remap on the back burner for a while. Although performance is intoxicating and addictive, I also have an eye on long term reliability and can't help but think I'd be risking a bit too much (at least for now) on having a remap.

In its place I'm likely to upgrade the audio sooner as I'm running the lowly 'base' audio. I will either go with the BMW Alpine kit or the Gladen / Mosconi kit. Please share if you have experience of either kit (or alternatives around the £400 - £600 mark).

Still loving the car - makes me smile each time I see it and get in for a drive.
 
Good call on the warranty, just keep the money aside you would have spunked on the policy.

Definitely keep an eye on the hidden menu coolant temperatures; the EGR stat is easy but the main one is a little more involved, but perfectly do-able.

Alpine audio upgrade is a must (or similar) I've fitted the Logic7 underseat subs to mine, with great results.

Remap? Go on, you only live once.........
 
Fitted to EGR thermostat today. Took about 40 minutes, but 20 minutes of that was spent retrieving a strip of sockets that fell into the engine bay and were resting on the bottom cover.

Also performed another minor fix by lubricating the blower/fan spindle. I was getting a slight squeak / squeal when the fan was on low and I turned a corner. Seems a common issue on e9x cars (according to the internet) but at least it was an easy fix. Took about an hour all in as I had to strip out a few interior bits to get to the fan.

Will be monitoring temps on my way to work tomorrow, but I fully expect to be ordering the main stat for replacement next weekend to get to target temps.

Wheel alignment was completed yesterday. Not sure I'm sensitive enough to feel an improvement, but the printout shows it was slightly out on a few of the measurements and it is now spot on.

I've also bought myself a cable which will let me 'code' the car. Only cost £30 and it should help with the audio upgrade I'm looking at.

Dave L - Thanks for the support. :) Did you fit the Alpine kit yourself? Do you have a 335d? Remap?

Cheers

Rob
 
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