BMW and M Power Owners

[AmDaMan]

What can people tell me about the E87/E81 130i & the E90 330i (<2008)? I'm looking for another hack that is a bit more modern than the E39 530i (although I love this car and will still keep it). I’m after one of these as I really like the engine and they seem good value over here. The fuel economy on the E39 is a bit rubbish though, I take it this did not improve much in the 1/3 series? I’m familiar with the cooling system, rocker gasket issues etc. but I’m not too bothered as I’ll be working on it myself. Cheers

 

[[TW]Fox]

I went from an E39 to an E92 and it was a big mistake. It's not really massively more modern, it's still full of monochrome displays etc and frankly the E87 is a nasty thing to sit in.

I don't think this was a very good era for BMW.

 

[Simon]

You need at least a 2011 Exx for the improved idrive

 

[[TW]Fox]

You need at least a 2011 Exx for the improved idrive

It was September 2008 build onwards.

 

[Simon]

What was? The facelift in 2011 went to decent idrive with combox from CIC

 

[[TW]Fox]

What was? The facelift in 2011 went to decent idrive with combox from CIC

CIC was the last version of idrive available in the E90/91/92 and was introduced from September 2008 production. The Combox began in March 2010 but was hardly a major change, it's still the same CIC system but it added the capability for Bluetooth streaming and album art.

The next version of idrive after CIC was NBT in 2012 and was not fitted to any e9x.

There was no facelift for the E9x in 2011 either. E90 facelift was September 2008, E92/93 was March 2010.

 

[AmDaMan]

Looking at the facelift it seems that's a bit more than I was wanting to pay for the E9x. Maybe I need to reassess the options then - did the 2007/8 E81/7 get the updated idrive as well? Why is it nasty to sit in? The interior looks to be of reasonable quality although I haven't driven one yet.

 

[ShivP]

I test drove a 130i about 8 months back. It was an M Sport facelift with EPAS, 5 door, and heated seats I think. The steering wasn't great, and the suspension was genuinely not good. It bounced all over the place and was just plain unpleasant, potentially the SE would be better but it's clear it was not set up for modern roads in the UK. Far too stiff and high spring rate. In the end this is the reason I didn't go for one as I wanted something more usable "out of the box"
However the engine was great. revs out nicely (as far as I was comfortable with the dealer next to me ) and sounds good. Also probably one of if not the most reliable BMW engine in the past 15 years (N52); only thing I noticed from when I researched was electric water pump failure?

 

[Shadowness]

Little help chaps....

My 140 has suddenly decided not to connect and play music over BT. The phone itself is connected, it shows up in connected devices, and I can make calls etc. But when I click Media, it says no device connected.
On my iPhone, it's connected to the car, and even has the icon in the music player to show it's playing over BT.

Any ideas?

(and yes I already forgot the device on both car and phone and reconnected. Nothing)

 

[ChrisD.]

(and yes I already forgot the device on both car and phone and reconnected. Nothing)

I had no end of problems with bluetooth and my iPhone until I put CarPlay on the car.

 

[Shadowness]

I've had no issues at all until about a week ago.

Occasionally the track playing isn't the one displayed as playing in the car, but that's about it.

How easy is CarPlay to install?

 

[ChrisD.]

If you don't have enhanced bluetooth configured, you need the wifi adapter and some trim tools. It takes about 30 minutes to fit, quite easy and a few YouTube guides on it. Just take your time and use towels etc so the trim doesn't get damaged. Then you need a coding cable and the code itself, the coding process takes about 15 minutes or so.

Playing music using bluetooth used to be terrible. I'd skip a track on Spotify and it would skip sometimes 2 minutes later. It's near instant now. The UI for controlling Spotify/Deezer etc is also much improved.

 

[Dr House]

Just out of interest why is a used 530d cheaper than a 330d if similar age ie around 2015

 

[NVP]

More of them maybe?

 

[Mr Krugga]

More of them maybe?

Thought the same, but a quick Autotrader search reveals that for cars made between 2014-2016, there are 523 cars listed for 33xd series and 209 for 53xd.

I think it's more of a supply and demand situation. There just isn't much demand for big luxobarges out of warranty/lease options.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Just out of interest why is a used 530d cheaper than a 330d if similar age ie around 2015

They generally are not, though obviously there are outliers. According to glasses guide for example a 530d is worth about a grand more than the equivalent 330d on a 15 plate.

 

[Em3bbs]

Just out of interest why is a used 530d cheaper than a 330d if similar age ie around 2015

Negative 'grey' image of the F10 unfortunately. Thankfully the G30 seems to be as good as the E60 so this should change in future.

 

[Robbo]

Just out of interest why is a used 530d cheaper than a 330d if similar age ie around 2015

People like overpaying for an inferior car I guess.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Negative 'grey' image of the F10 unfortunately. Thankfully the G30 seems to be as good as the E60 so this should change in future.

I assume E60 is a typo ? and you mean E39

 

[Dr House]

And there does not seem to be much love for the 330e. How are they compared to a 330d?