335D E91 Touring Project

[balinm 7]

Hi All

Starting this thread to keep track of this project.

My introduction to BMWs started while looking for a daily that would tick all the boxes. The important ones for me were: must be a wagon, must be auto (after driving a manual for the last 7 years and having recently joined the rat race of commuting, this point is very important), RWD or AWD, have a little bit of towing capacity for some light trailer/small tinny towing, must look good, and must perform reasonably well (decent power with nice handling). Initially I was looking for something Japanese but there really isn't a lot that ticks all these boxes, a gen 4 Subaru Legacy would be the only one I can really think of but I wasn't super keen in getting involved with boxer engines. So my attention turned to Euros, specifically BMW. I started looking at e46 wagons but quickly moved towards an e91 just with them being slightly more modern. I bought an msport alpine white 2007 325i e91 in August 2024. It had a few bits and pieces I appreciated, style 193 wheels with some newish dunlops, 35% tints all round, msport exterior and interior(silver interior trim is a must) and I fitted a westfalia towbar. This definitely ticked a lot of the boxes for me in terms of the chassis, I love the e91, it handles great, its comfortable, I can throw everything in the back, go camping and sleep in it, the interior is so quiet and rattle free (for the most part, wayyy better than anything japanese). But... I wasn't happy with the power, especially given the fuel consumption. After driving the car for 4 months I decided life is too short to drive a car that is both very thirsty and underpowered.

So I bought an artic metallic 2007 335d e91 in January 2025. This car came with quite a few bits and pieces that will definitely save some time in the future. It has hybrid turbos, upgraded intercooler, upgraded aluminium intercooler pipe (from turbo outlet to intercooler, this one usually causes issues), tuned to make 300hp and 660Nm at the wheels, has mca procomfort coilovers and lvvta cert for all the mods. There aren't that many of these on the market so I had to scoop this one up from Christchurch and drive it back. I would've had it transported but I had never done the drive from christchurch to auckland so I figured it was a great way to get to know the car. What a good car! It averaged 7.3L/100km on the drive up and its fair to say I wasn't going easy on it.

First thing on the agenda after a good wash was switching out the interior trims. Unfortunately it is not an m sport car so it came with wood grain interior, not my favourite. I switched this out with the door still and interior trims from the other car and it immediately changed the feel on the inside. I also switched the door speakers out from the other car, I upgraded the door speakers to aftermarkets in the 325i do I figured I would swap those across.

There are a few more things I've done since getting this car and the time if this post but I'll save those for the next post.

Edited Tuesday at 07:01 PM by balinm

[Vass 930]

Great to have another touring afficionado on board. Love it! Did see this car for sale a wee while back, did look like a mighty fine package. Congrats on picking it up, the turbo diesels in those are absolute beasts. Love the wheels & body kit too. 

[balancerider 799]

Welcome @balinm - sometimes I feel like Bimmersport is the last bastion of the station wagon / 'touring' in NZ. M57 is a great engine and as you say even giving it the beans the fuel economy is still impressive.

That front bumper looks aftermarket - ? M3 replica. Would be nice to take it back to an OEM M-sport look, though I doubt M-sports came with that colour (Tasman Green?) as standard so would need to get the m-bumper painted. LCI halogen headlights and flush fit (vs the raised ones you have) roof rails would be nice cosmetic improvements as well.