^I had just about every single issue that these cars come with. Cars runs strong considering it is on original turbos, but I do go through 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles. It's still not drinking as much oil as '00 E39 M5 did, but getting there for sure.

off of memory...fixed the following under CPO

-HPFP @57k
-all 6 injectors @66k
-pinched vacuum hose on waste gate actuator @72k
-leaking thrust arm bushings, O2 sensors and waste gate rattle@77k
-water pump blew @87k

Impressive things about this car is that even at 90k interior is mint 10/10. The only issue is flaking black tape around steering wheel/horn and inside door handles. Leather is flawless and I am not glueing together door panels like I did with E36. It is aging well, battery is still original 6 years later despite going through 4 years of north-eastern winters.

8/16/2012 3:54:52 PM

That's insane. I keep looking at 135s and 335s, but i just don't think they're worth it unless new under lease. I go to BMWCCA track days and N54 cars drop like flies. You need $2k in cooling upgrades just to keep the damn things out of limp mode.

8/16/2012 4:53:58 PM

I would not even look at turbo anything for track. Get E46 M3 if you want to track. Less money than 335, you have stock LSD and other M-goodies..

8/16/2012 6:59:32 PM

BMWs are good handling cars and thats it. The best time to by one is when it is brand new with a long warranty. My friends 760li just broke down today. Head gasket blown!! A used V12 is $6000.

My G35 with way more miles, several quarter miles races, 150shot of nitrous....still does not use oil, smoke, rattle, or even have a check engine light. My friend has a stock GS430 with 300k miles on the original engine and transmission.

BMW.....wtf?

8/16/2012 7:06:19 PM

Right. Because 760li represents the entire brand.


[Edited on August 16, 2012 at 7:10 PM. Reason : NMSJ]

8/16/2012 7:10:30 PM

Oh same friend had a 745i it had what I call CHRISTMAS TREE. Every light imaginable was on, CEL, brake, transmission, airbag, trac, slip, etc.... damn dash board looked like santa was coming to town.

Anything with a N54 engine is trash.

My main argument is this. How is it that Japanese cars are so reliable and been that way for decades and BMW is still putting out shit!??? And charging a premium price?

8/16/2012 7:20:59 PM

Sports cars aren't made to be quarter miled boss.

And you'll get no arguments about Japanese cars being more reliable. You will get arguments when you say they're more fun to drive than German cars...so try that one and see what results.

Also tell your friend to stop buying beater 7 series.

8/16/2012 7:42:08 PM

Japanese cars can handle just as good as german cars......well some of them. GT-R, G37S, 370z, IS-F, NSX all handle very good.

8/16/2012 11:57:03 PM

1in10^9 Nice to know, do you have any mods installed?

[Edited on August 17, 2012 at 9:29 AM. Reason : .]

8/17/2012 9:29:26 AM

Quote :

""but my brother still has a problem with the engine going into limp home mode and the check engine light coming on.""

So none of you BMW gurus have an opinion on this? Figured someone would suggest something!

MadDriver20, tell your friend he is an idiot for buying used 7 Series. BMW and Mercedes stopped caring about their vehicles' longevity right around the time Infiniti and Lexus showed up and forced them to stop putting so much engineering into their cars.

8/17/2012 10:39:35 AM

Quote :

"G37S"

lawl

8/17/2012 11:50:01 AM

Quote :

"Right. Because 760li represents the entire brand."

To be fair, this thread and the BMW yay thread are full of shit breaking and expensive repair woes. At some threshold, you get enough anecdotes and it becomes empirical.

At this point I feel fortunate that my E60 5 series wagon has been problem free for the 10k miles we've put on it since buying it in April. That said, I feel it's just a matter of time before we're in for a four figure repair bill. the time bomb is ticking.

8/17/2012 12:37:47 PM

^^yeah I lol'ed at that as well. And ditto the 370Z which finished behind a Mustang GT in a recent handling test. Not to say it's a horrible handling car, but it doesn't deserve to be included in company like the GTR and NSX...

8/17/2012 1:37:20 PM

i was holding back, good thing 1in10^9 had my back with

NMSJ

8/17/2012 1:58:27 PM

Yea I hear the GT-R is really cheap to maintain.

8/17/2012 2:00:58 PM

lol yeah... but they also don't leave people on the side of the road regularly due to bad fuel pumps and injectors.

8/17/2012 3:54:34 PM

Quote :

"To be fair, this thread and the BMW yay thread are full of shit breaking and expensive repair woes. At some threshold, you get enough anecdotes and it becomes empirical. At this point I feel fortunate that my E60 5 series wagon has been problem free for the 10k miles we've put on it since buying it in April. That said, I feel it's just a matter of time before we're in for a four figure repair bill. the time bomb is ticking. "

BMW surpassed Toyota as the most valuable auto maker. You obviously made a choice to go with E60 rather than Avalon or M45. I made that choice too. It's not a car for everyone. I talk crap about my 335i because unlike other BMWs I've owned this one has not been as reliable. On the other hand, in 3 years of ownership I have spent $0 on E46 M3 (not counting regular maintenance). Other Ms same story more or less..give or take a cooling system Despite this, I will not go and tell people that on average BMW is more reliable than a '91 accord, because it is not. Then again, it is not in the same segment as honda or toyota.

As for forums depicting a true state of car mfg reliability...ehhh...people usually post or write threads when problems come up, not when they are enjoying the car. If you read hondatech forums you would think civics are unreliable. 80% of the forums are just "I gotta problem" threads or "which intake i should buy?".

8/17/2012 4:54:03 PM

If it weren't for this thread, I might own a 335 by now. Somebody find me a low mileage e46 m3.

8/17/2012 8:51:55 PM

one thing i have decided about my 335 is, you pay to play. i enjoy driving it to work and back every day. i am not looking for a track car, if i was i would be driving a c6. bash 335's as you would like, but there is not another 4 door on the road that i can find that is this much fun for under 25k. i love the people that say they would not get one because of the problems. keep in mind for every person posting negatives their are 100's that are having good experiences. i am however the first to admit these cars are like strippers, lots of fun to date, but not built for long term relationships.

8/17/2012 10:17:14 PM

I do have to say...this car is flippin beautiful: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3213569943.html



I'm just not sure I could keep up with the maintenance overhead. Seems like it would be hard to DD it...

8/18/2012 4:13:53 PM

Why would it be hard to DD that car?

Also how old is that clear bra? It's visible as hell!

8/20/2012 12:00:07 AM

lol... @ that being hard to DD.

8/20/2012 7:35:35 AM

I've paid less so far in my 2 years of owning a M3 than most of you guys on here with your 335s.

8/20/2012 8:06:07 AM

Yeah....

I mean my DD is a big(ger than stock) turbo subaru approaching 200k miles.

I don't want to hear this "a clean, well kept m3 is a difficult dd" crap.

8/20/2012 8:53:48 AM

^^^^,^^^,^

So reliability on an 8 year old 100k+ mile M3 isn't a concern? Noted.


^^

a) I've paid $0 in a year and a half outside of regular maintenance b) Most of us have CPOs, so even when something breaks we don't pay for it

8/20/2012 9:56:20 AM

that engine (s54b32) is pretty damned stout i would worry less on an M3 then the regular bimmers of that age. The solid lifters may make it so the valve train requires adjustment from time to time but seriously... i wouldn't worry that much about it.

how many miles do you need to DD this car for?

I would say into the 170s as long as properly maintained wouldn't be an issue. But if you're one of the CPO people who doesn't ever expect to work on their own car.... then don't worry about it because you'll probably have to do a wheel bearing or two and a clutch....

OHHH NOES!!!

[Edited on August 20, 2012 at 10:27 AM. Reason : .]

8/20/2012 10:20:24 AM

working on your own car is for poor people.

8/20/2012 10:46:43 AM

BMW, the Ultimate Driving Machine...until the warranty runs out

8/20/2012 12:37:40 PM

Your logic is suspect.

8/20/2012 12:42:01 PM

Quote :

"working on your own car is for poor people"

Jay Leno is poor

8/20/2012 12:49:30 PM

He's got like 200 vehicles. If he's turning a wrench every now and then it's for fun.

8/20/2012 12:52:09 PM

its not flawed really. Ultimate Driving Machine shouldn't be so fragile.

8/20/2012 4:56:19 PM

Are you trolling? They're far from fragile.

http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/3-series/2007/reliability.html

8/20/2012 5:03:41 PM

^

agreed.

I have no problem with consumables costing more. Higher performance brake pads, tires, and other wear/tear items will understandably cost more. At the same time, all that extra engineering we're paying for should result in _at least_ comparable reliability to other vehicles.

Stuff like systemic window regulator failures. There's nothing about a BMW that should consider this acceptable when other vehicles have a much lower failure rate. This part has zero to do with performance.

anyway, i'm really not complaining yet, haven't had any repairs to do, and maybe i'll be one of the fortunate ones who can get by for a long time with just scheduled maintenance. The car is a hell of a lot of fun to drive though.

8/20/2012 5:08:35 PM

Stein's nissan is holding up well overtime.

8/20/2012 11:23:23 PM

Quote :

"Higher performance brake pads, tires, and other wear/tear items will understandably cost more."

There's no reason for their brake pads to be overly expensive. Nothing amazing about their stopping performance. And BMW has dictated from on high that all their cars come equipped with run flat tires so they don't have to figure out how to package a spare tire. They said its for safety reasons but that's a load of bull.

Maybe I'm just jaded from what they're putting out these days, as well as my experience with my brother's 335i, but they just don't see like the BMW of days past that actually built cars to last and didn't bother with needless (prone to breaking) gadgets.

8/20/2012 11:43:00 PM

I've pretty much decided that I'm not gonna buy any BMW newer than the E46 generation. Partly because the reliability issue, but mainly because the ugly Bangle styles.

8/21/2012 12:30:28 PM

Quote :

"They said its for safety reasons but that's a load of bull"

While I absolutely hate RFT for handling and cost, you cannot say safety is load of bull. I would LOVE to be able to drive 50-100 miles to nearest shop if I'm stranded somewhere. That is actually a big deal, especially when you factor in vacations/flights can be ruined simply because you had to wait for AAA truck (provided you have AAA!).

Actually, anytime I go on a long trip I have a full size winter wheel in the trunk because I don't want to be waiting, but for scores of trophy wives in BMWs who don't care about handling this is def a safety item.

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 1:16 PM. Reason : s]

8/21/2012 1:14:25 PM

I don't want RFTs on my car, but I think they are a wonderful thing for the vast majority of people... Paired with a TPS monitor that's suitably obnoxious.

8/22/2012 9:30:14 PM

^ agreed on all accounts

8/23/2012 8:13:17 AM

it was 58 degrees here yesterday morning and the turbos were loving it! sometimes i think the 335 sedan is the most fun in a 4 door under 30K.

8/26/2012 3:27:33 PM

So I've finally buffed out the scratches and fixed everything that can be mechanically on my e46 and while its nice to have around I'm looking at a 06 to 08 330 or 335. Should I stay away from the 06 or even 07's for any reason, particularly any bugs that may have been fixed in later years like the aforementioned and recalled HPFP that may not have got as much attention? Im looking at both auto or manual, around 60 to 100k on the clock.

[Edited on August 26, 2012 at 8:14 PM. Reason : .]

8/26/2012 7:49:40 PM

So for a while now my 335i occasionally stutters under heavy acceleration. Do I just need a tune up or can this be a symptom of something worse?

10/29/2012 6:27:46 PM

No codes? Some of my coil packs were on their way out on the e46, but never threw a code and had the same issue as that. Could be a lot of stuff though, spark shorted coil boot, dirty MAF, worn plugs, intake leaks. For the longest time i thought it had something to do with fuel delivery under high load but decided to swap a cheapo coil pack through each cylinder for $25 instead of dicking around with the fuel pump. Checked/cleaned/tested nearly everything I could along with vacuum leaks before I resorted to start throwing parts at it.

10/29/2012 6:57:57 PM

Should I run it by Autozone to have the codes checked?

Also should I buy one of those cheapo code scanners to check stuff like this? Are they pretty much all the same?

10/29/2012 7:27:37 PM

Well you havent really answered the question- is the SRS/CEL light on? If it is, then yes go get the codes pulled at a parts store and be sure to write everything down. If it's not basically only an indy shop or the dealer might find some shadow codes but even then nothing is guaranteed.

10/29/2012 10:40:46 PM

You didn't ask about lights . But no, no lights.

10/29/2012 11:19:45 PM

^could be many things, but spark plugs tend to be an issue with this car. it fouls them up relatively quickly... why it has 45k interval to change them out.

check on your instrument cluster when it was changed last time (provided they reset the counter). if you do need to change them you will need special tool as normal spark plug socket will not work(it is too thick to fit). you need thinner 12 point 14mm socket

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00930875000P?keyword=00930875000&sLevel=0&prop17=00930875000

then once you buy it, you have to modify this socket by taking out the rubber gasket inside. it is easy process, but somewhat tedious. search e90post.com for DIY.

10/29/2012 11:54:45 PM

bmwmsj?

10/30/2012 10:37:38 AM

hey now be nice!

10/30/2012 5:49:02 PM