BMW e92 325 yay or nay?

inogen

inogen

inogen

Soldato
Joined
19 Jul 2009
Posts
7,413
I'm coming to the end of my time with my 325Ti Compact. I've had it 10+ years and it's a been a great car.

I'm thinking of replacing it with an e92 325, maybe 330, or even a 335 twin turbo. But I think probably the 2.5 325.

I'm looking at examples at around 100k miles. I only do about 3-4k per year, mixed. Weekly or bi-weekly 10/20 mile journeys and maybe 10 or so 200 mile throughout the year.

Is there anything in particular I should be aware of or should avoid?
 
Nope, they're pretty much good in all areas.

Obviously make sure it's got a full history if possible with frequent oil changes, ancillary work completed. If you're looking at the 2.5 one it'll be the older N52 which is a great engine in general, but does leak oil a bit from about 4 common areas. Other than that, it'll likely just need routine maintenance work done, as any 100k miles 17+ year old car would need

If possible, I'd get the 330i. Depending on the age, it'll be 3litre N52 engine which comes with 252bhp instead of 215bhp(?) in the 325i. Fuel economy will be pretty much the same, running costs identical and I think they're even taxed the same. Again, if you look at this just look for DISA valves (or at least the big one) having been replaced as they nearly always snap off, VANOS solenoids normally need changing at some point and the various oil seals which leak (rocker cover, sump and oil filter housing/oil cooler).

What's your budget?
 
Gaygle said:
Nope, they're pretty much good in all areas.
Click to expand...

I am not sure this is true.

Only the first few months of production had the older 2.5 litre engine - most were built with the later 3 litre engine which is hardly the most reliable engine BMW ever built, particularly the injectors which are not cheap to replace either.
 
had a n52 had to replace a few coils and starter motor, battery and rad, all were the original parts that went faulty, car was then 14 years old, gave the car to a family member its now on nearly 200k.
 
Gaygle said:
Nope, they're pretty much good in all areas.

Obviously make sure it's got a full history if possible with frequent oil changes, ancillary work completed. If you're looking at the 2.5 one it'll be the older N52 which is a great engine in general, but does leak oil a bit from about 4 common areas. Other than that, it'll likely just need routine maintenance work done, as any 100k miles 17+ year old car would need

If possible, I'd get the 330i. Depending on the age, it'll be 3litre N52 engine which comes with 252bhp instead of 215bhp(?) in the 325i. Fuel economy will be pretty much the same, running costs identical and I think they're even taxed the same. Again, if you look at this just look for DISA valves (or at least the big one) having been replaced as they nearly always snap off, VANOS solenoids normally need changing at some point and the various oil seals which leak (rocker cover, sump and oil filter housing/oil cooler).

What's your budget?
Click to expand...

About 5k. Maybe a bit more.

[TW]Fox said:
I am not sure this is true.

Only the first few months of production had the older 2.5 litre engine - most were built with the later 3 litre engine which is hardly the most reliable engine BMW ever built, particularly the injectors which are not cheap to replace either.
Click to expand...

Is the 3L one you're talking about the N52?

The N53 is the newer one isn't it? With the direct fuel injectors?
 
Last edited:
[TW]Fox said:
I am not sure this is true.

Only the first few months of production had the older 2.5 litre engine - most were built with the later 3 litre engine which is hardly the most reliable engine BMW ever built, particularly the injectors which are not cheap to replace either.
Click to expand...

The N52 is also available in the 3.0 Litre engine and is well known for its reliability

The specific engine codes for the N52 are - N52B25 and N52B30. Both very good reliable engines. The N52 engines are available on the e9x platform between 2006 and 2007 afaik.

The performance of the N52B30 is decent. I had a E92 330i Coupe before with that variant of engine, around 268bhp IIRC. They also make a nice noise, but can be quite thirsty.

The newer and less reliable engines are the N53 which have injector issues and can be costly to repair - but at the same time, there performance is good and the fuel economy from them is better then the N52
 
Sohail Rahman said:
The N52 is also available in the 3.0 Litre engine and is well known for its reliability

The specific engine codes for the N52 are - N52B25 and N52B30. Both very good reliable engines. The N52 engines are available on the e9x platform between 2006 and 2007 afaik.

The performance of the N52B30 is decent. I had a E92 330i Coupe before with that variant of engine, around 268bhp IIRC. They also make a nice noise, but can be quite thirsty.

The newer and less reliable engines are the N53 which have injector issues and can be costly to repair - but at the same time, there performance is good and the fuel economy from them is better then the N52
Click to expand...

Thanks.

When you say thirsty, how thirsty?

I think my 325ti M54 can be a thirsty at 28mpg or so if I drive it like that. I can also drive it and comfortably get 34mpg.
 
Last edited:
inogen said:
Thanks.

When you say thirsty, how thirsty?

I think my 325ti M54 can be a thirsty at 28mpg or so if I drive it like that. I can also drive it and comfortably get 34mpg.
Click to expand...

Probably not too far away from what your used to tbh

For me I went from my first car (Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI) straight to a 330i SE and then upgraded to a 330i M Sport. So as expected they were considerably worse on MPG but I don't regret it at all they're great cars

I think the issue is they sound so good and with them being NA they do benefit from going through the rev range to get to the power. So often I would see 15-20mpg around town. But being sensible e.g. on a 2 hour drive 33-35mpg would be possible.
 
Last edited:
Sohail Rahman said:
The N52 is also available in the 3.0 Litre engine and is well known for its reliability
Click to expand...

But it's not found in many of the 3 series coupe, which were released just before it was replaced.

The majority of 3 series coupe therefore will not have it. Only the first few months of production.

The newer and less reliable engines are the N53 which have injector issues and can be costly to repair - but at the same time, there performance is good and the fuel economy from them is better then the N52
Click to expand...

I think March 2007 production was the point at which these were found in the Coupe, which is only about 4-5 months since the beginning of production. All M Sport cars, for example, are March 2007 or newer. Therefore I think the reality is that if you're going to buy the coupe, you're almost certainly going to get the newer engine.
 
Last edited:
[TW]Fox said:
But it's not found in many of the 3 series coupe, which were released just before it was replaced.

The majority of 3 series coupe therefore will not have it. Only the first few months of production.
Click to expand...
Unless I'm mistaken the e92 began production in June 2006

and I know for a fact that the N52B30 was available until in e92 form until at least June 2007

I've owned 2x 330i e92s one was registered April 2007 and the other June 2007 - both had N52B30A engines - https://i.ibb.co/Kx18Bz3/yb07lck.png & https://i.ibb.co/P6XJqy5/yk07wgj.png

Also the OP said his budget is around 5k so this likely puts him in a position to be looking at 2006 / 2007 vehicles afaik.
 
Your June registered car was probably built prior to March 2007, which is when production switched. First UK cars were September 2006, realistically there is about 6 months of production from a total of 7 years before the engine change.

But most UK cars are M Sport, and these didn't appear until March 2007 either.

I agree with you that it's the better choice of engine, I just think it'll be difficult to find one.
 
I thought is was just an ownership risk with no particular recall - whether there ever was a design improvement , weren't failure+ingestion of swirl flaps also common.


... so can you, initially, identify the N52B25 and N52B30's by looking for specific 268 power output in autotrader ?
 
[TW]Fox said:
Co2 emissions is another one, the newer engine has lower emissions.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think if I can find one with the injectors replaced, I'll go with the new one. Seems to me like the older engine 330s are £395 in VED (the same as my M54) whereas the new ones are £290. Not a great big deal, but things are only going in one direction regarding emissions.

The other thing I've thought about is the iDrive screen. CCC>CiC. That got a res bump from 640x240 to 1280x480 in 2008/9.
 
Last edited:
inogen said:
.

The other thing I've thought about is the iDrive screen. CCC>CiC. That got a res bump from 640x240 to 1280x480 in 2008/9.
Click to expand...

September 2008 production onwards.

But there were lots of earlier cars registered quite late into 2009, which therefore don't have it.

Mine was an October 2008 car which did.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom