Seeing the light

[PaulHF 5]

New to the forum, forums generally. Looking to buy a e90 325i Motorsport wagon and advice through purchase and ownership. Would love a 335i but perhaps a stretch to justify but twist my rubber arm. Currently own a Lancia Integrale and a Land Rover discovery. As a 17 year old went in the red e46 M3 demonstrator when they first came out. Keen to learn.

[Jacko 2157]

Why 325? Get a 330. More chooch, same amount of fuel (same engine in some cases) .

 

In regards to buying.

Real service history is king, k's dont mean all that much if looked after. 

The basic car is solid, complex multilink rear ends with lots of bushes, which translates to lots of bushes to flog out.

Cabin fans die, and get noisey, not expensive or difficult to fix. Cup holders get stuck... minor stuff. 

 

N52s are pretty bulletproof for the most part. Early ones can have a cam ledge seal that dies, many were fixed under recall. Noisey lifters can be a symptom, but they can also be a symptom of one that spends too much time at idle.  

Electric waterpumps crap emselves, no where near as bad as the internet says, nor as expensive/hard to do as the internet says either. Check the coolant reservoir for blue (bmw spec) coolant, green stuff pretty much translates to poor maintenance. 

Oil filter housings, sump gaskets, rocker gaskets leak

Vanos solenoids die occasionally, or just get dirty.

DISA flaps die and rattle around

CCV systems are complex and die sometimes (lots of oil in intake) 

Coils can die, but no more common than any other coil on plug engine.

 

Good cars though, nothing too scary. 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Jacko

[BozzaFC 300]

+ 1 for 330i over 325i

[balancerider 758]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:24 PM, PaulHF said:

e90 325i Motorsport wagon

@Jacko - E91 330i's are not easy to find, as they're NZ new or UK import only.

[qube 3570]

n52b25  engine relatively thirsty around town and a bit slow especially in the e91 wagon variant.