![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Had one and hated it, got rid of it after 3 months. Poor ride, loads of trim rattles. This was when it was 2 years old, can't imagine what most of them are like now.
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
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Had one and hated it, got rid of it after 3 months. Poor ride, loads of trim rattles. This was when it was 2 years old, can't imagine what most of them are like now.
Ok, is it possible you got a poor one? Most reviews professional or just your average forum member highly rates them.
Depends what you came from, and also depends how old the review is. Also depends how much you are planning on paying for one...
They are a seriously old design now and cars have moved on a fair bit.
Soldato
My godmother has had hers since new. It's probably had the easiest life of any 335I pootling round Gibraltar at 30mph.
You know in E30s folk used to use a bag of cement over the rear axle? She uses cases of wine. Hilarious going round corners and the chink chink of the plonk in the back.
Yes. I had three of them and the first two I escaped with only normal maintenance costs. The third however, with the "more reliable" N55 engine, really did bite me in the arse...
Waterpump, Valvetronic system, DME (ECU). All failed within days of oneanother. Cost £3700 in total to fix all that, a wonderful experience. Would have been £5500 if BMW UK hadn't contributed goodwill.
Not particularly old or high mileage car either, 2010 with 53000 miles.
Very nearly PX'd the car a month or two prior to all of this. Gutted!
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Fair point, although I still think performance will potentially degrade with time.
Good thread on them? On my mapped 330D F30 (less torque but more power) there was quite an eye opening difference when I swapped to new Continental CS6, even though the old ones had around 3mm of thread left.
How?
Also remember that Fox has different expectations to most. He's literally spent all his life in a 5 series (not literally) so his expectations will be different. Whilst I understand his point, if the cars were really bad they wouldn't be very popular. Perspective is key here.
Did you seek a non-BMW quote?
Good thread on them? On my mapped 330D F30 (less torque but more power) there was quite an eye opening difference when I swapped to new Continental CS6, even though the old ones had around 3mm of thread left.[/QUOTE]cars done less than 900 miles now so yeah lol was thinking of a lsd but its a big chunk of money if it doesn't improve things 
started looking at focus rs pretty sure I'm going to go in that direction but heard it has poor driving position so will have to wait and try one first
started looking at focus rs pretty sure I'm going to go in that direction but heard it has poor driving position so will have to wait and try one first
That cost included some non-franchise work.
Independent did the water pump (using an OEM pump) and the Valvetronic servo.
Only BMW had the tooling to remove and refit the worn Valvetronic eccentric shaft. DME (ECU) is obviously pretty proprietary too. BMW paid for all the Valvetronic parts and 90% of the cost of the new DME, but franchise labour rate was high, even with a negotiated discount I was paying £128/hr inc VAT, compared to £75 at the independent.
Soldato
Don’t think they fixed this in the f30 either, mine squeaked like some mega squeaky thing until I took it in and the dealer spent a day fixing all the squeaks, all except one where the idrive screen lets out a squirm when going over bumps. Was told that they applied 2 loads of tape to the fixings on the screen but it still makes a noise.
Vauxhalls are popular
Soldato
Just a question which 330i engine is the one to avoid after the m54? N52 or n53?
The N53 is the complicated one. It is a stratified direct injection which delivers great fuel economy but brings with it added complexity.
Soldato
Do you happen to know when they started to use the n53? Was it after 2007 or in the LCI?
It was 2007.