Quote :

"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?"

Fixed it with this advice:

Quote :

"At least once a month and preferably twice a month take the car onto an interstate or high speed road. Warm up the motor at low RPM's and then put car in 3rd gear and do 65-70 mph. It will turn about 4500 rpms. Drive like this for a good 20-30 minutes. You will notice that the engine pulls harder and runs better. This method helps to burn off that oil and carbon on the back of the valves, but this only works if you do it often and before the buildup becomes an issue."

More tips:

Quote :

"I found these tips from another BMW forum on preventing carbon build-up on the back of the valves. Providing it as information, hoping it can help anyone who shares this concern. I don't think I am allowed to provided the link but I copied and pasted the post for from the member who posted it on that forum. ------------------------------------------------------------ To all of you. Take this from a guy who had an N54 with 70k plus miles on it. I dealt with all of the symptoms you guys described and think I have reasonably figured out how to work around it. First, you MUST drive the car at sustained high RPM's at least once or twice a month. I had all of the symptoms you guys have described in this thread and they started around 30k miles. By 50k miles the engine ran better than at 30k miles and I am about to explain how I accomplished that without the shop ever looking at the motor. 1) At least once a month and preferably twice a month take the car onto an interstate or high speed road. Warm up the motor at low RPM's and then put car in 3rd gear and do 65-70 mph. It will turn about 4500 rpms. Drive like this for a good 20-30 minutes. You will notice that the engine pulls harder and runs better. This method helps to burn off that oil and carbon on the back of the valves, but this only works if you do it often and before the buildup becomes an issue. 2) Use BMW fuel system cleaner plus every 5k miles. It does not wash over the valves, but the injectors on this car do seem to foul easily. In addition, stick to BP/Top Tier gas. I have tried every brand of gas and I have the best luck, in the N54, with Shell, Chevron and BP (in that order). 3) Use different brands of gas every other tankful. If you like to use one brand repeatedly then after 5 tanks of that brand switch to another brand for 2 tanks. This helps to get rid of gas additive buildup on the injectors...it does happen and some of these stumbling and hesitation problems are not carbon buildup but rather injector buildup. 4) The obvious. Change the oil every 7500 miles or less. It does help. Trust me guys. I learned this stuff from a master BMW tech/foreman who has been working on these cars his whole life. While direct injection is newer technology, he knew enough about it to counteract the carbon buildup problem. He drives an N54 and has 145k miles without ever doing a carbon cleaning. He does exactly what I do and I know other people with high mileage N54's that run great following this routine. I sold my N54 with over 70k miles and the used car manager said it was one of the best, if not the best, running N54's he has driven that was out of warranty. I told him what I am telling you and explained how this ritual does work. I plan to do the same to my N55. Lastly, those of you that drive slow city driving...this engine will hate you and punish you. Make sure you do what I suggested even more so than the highway commuters. The engine needs to get hot to burn off that oil blowby. "

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694228

11/2/2012 6:49:41 PM

what's your temp gauge sitting at when you're doing this?

11/3/2012 11:13:19 AM

^I was thinking the same thing, although what is described could work my money would be on the fouled plugs burning off any buildup rather than cleaning the oil film off the valves doing that trick.

11/3/2012 8:23:55 PM

They put a temp gauge on this car?

11/3/2012 8:27:52 PM

^I wouldn't drive a twin turbo'd car that didn't have one...

11/3/2012 9:34:22 PM

i did this in mine over the summer and it ran about 240-245 the whole time. which is pretty much what it always runs.

11/3/2012 9:41:29 PM

Small rant. Why the fuck does my car have a steering wheel button to toggle the air circulation mode, but it doesn't have a button to mute the audio system? #thingsthatmakeyougowtf

Quote :

"what's your temp gauge sitting at when you're doing this?"

It hit 240 and didn't go much higher.

Quote :

"They put a temp gauge on this car?"

What car doesn't have one? Clearly I must have missed the joke...

11/8/2012 12:12:43 PM

If they don't come with turn signals...

11/13/2012 9:48:35 AM

^^My old e60 didn't have a temp gauge but my f10 does. I thought this was the same with e90 vs f30.

11/13/2012 10:01:13 AM

^https://www.google.com/search?q=e60+instrument+cluster

11/13/2012 11:35:46 AM

they must have done that with the 535, the e60 launched with fuel consumption. Mine had fuel consumption there.

11/13/2012 1:18:07 PM

turbo engines get the temp gauge. 328 had consumption as well.

11/13/2012 3:29:32 PM

Over the weekend I had my DME fail along with misfiring on cylinders 1-3. Looks to the the faulty diode issue in the 07's. Going to open up the DME and find the faulty MOSFET and replace it. Hopefully that works or I will have to go to the stealer and expect to pay ~2k for a new one.

12/4/2012 2:26:30 PM

My e46 gave me misfire codes on Cylinders 1-3 as well this past weekend. I wasted 3 days tracking down what I thought was an ignition/fuel issue. Turned out to be a simple vacuum leak on a hose underneath the intake.

Just throwing that out there.

[Edited on December 4, 2012 at 2:51 PM. Reason : .]

12/4/2012 2:50:44 PM

Sold mine. 95k. Got $19k. Not too bad considering I paid $22.5 after exactly 2 years of driving.

eyeing m3s, but most are above KBB. may get a beater until F80 comes out and e90s drop.

enjoy your TT madness!

12/8/2012 4:24:13 PM

^ Nice! What were the relevant selling specs again?

12/8/2012 6:12:22 PM

^^ I don't know if I've ever seen an M3 of any generation at KBB price, unless maybe if it was all fucked up or something. It's just one of those specialty cars that KBB is out to lunch on.

I think KBB on my Z06 is like $12,500 or something. It's absurd. Supra TTs and FD RX-7s used to be MASSIVELY mis-priced on KBB (like probably 1/2 or 1/3 of what they were worth). KBB is an OK tool for a Camry or an Explorer or something, but I would pretty much ignore it with regard to an M3.

12/9/2012 1:32:19 AM

^^it has been a 2 owner CPO car so just about every single problem affecting these cars has been resolved with warranty....new h20 pump, leaky oil filter housing, waste gate rattle, bushings, injectors, hpfp have all been resolved. i also recently did, plugs. documented 7k oil changes bla bla bla... and all the records since new helped sell it well considering the high mileage.

i sold it with a broken windshield, dead angel eye and fog light, brake light on...etc. i think the fact that it was a coupe with red leather zcp/zpp/zsp and 6-speed helped as well. of course i got a father who was buying it for his 18 year son Kid pointed to the oil filter housing and asked "is that where turboS are?". it was entertaining to say the least

^duke, from my experience kbb is usually useless on M3 as they age past 100k/10yr since maintenance comes to play...aka e30/e36. i sold both e36s well above kbb, but on e90s until a year or so ago KBB was dead on. i think once F80 is revealed we'll see a flow of FS ads. just like E60 M5s are now flooding the market since F10 came out.

12/9/2012 12:13:17 PM

I found KBB to be out to lunch of E46 M3s even as far back as 5-6 years ago. I've seen it totally out to lunch on all kinds of "specialty" type cars, even late model ones. Not to say that it's always wrong, but I pretty much ignore KBB*, because I've seen it so drastically wrong so many times.

*other than as negotiating leverage against an ignorant seller when it's to my advantage.


Also, is HPFP ever really "resolved", or just patched up until the next time it dies? Have they ever finally redesigned an updated HPFP that will really solve the issue?


and what in the fuck was that guy thinking, buying a 335i for his 18-year old son?! Holy shit.

12/9/2012 3:53:07 PM

Concur on specialty cars or anyting old. supra, 944s, Z32s, mr2s, etc, but last E46 M3 was made 8 years ago, so i guess they are going in that direction as well.

...and yes, i use kbb when buying, not selling since we all know you make a buck when you buy the car, not sell the car. double standard galore must be applied

12/10/2012 4:27:35 PM

I'm now 5,000 miles past the recommended change on my brakes on my 330.

Am I being retarded or is this okay? How would i know if this is dangerous, i dont feel any real difference in my stopping time or hear any noises.

Also, any recommendations on where to get this done relatively cheaply (doing it myself is not an option). Leith charges what feels like insane amounts to do anything on these cars. Having to replace my BACK WINDOWS which i never ever even use for $1,000 pissed me off and i'm not sure im going back there. Also i think it was like 400-500 for new battery install. Just brutal pricing on everything there.

1/16/2013 12:36:36 AM

Face, there's a trusted guy from NCSU working at a local garage that can handle work for you. I think his name is Ahmet and he's the service manager at West German Garage.

1/16/2013 12:50:31 AM

instead of starting a new thread I figured this was close enough to a general bmw thread I would put this here. I'm looking at picking up a bmw for a dd that I can take trips across the state (i live in charlotte and from wilmington so I make that horrid drive down 74 a bunch) but still take to the mountains and put it through its paces. Ide like to stay <15k, was looking at e46 330i's, and even glanced at the 46 m3's, found a bunch right at 14-15k with 100k-130k miles. A buddy at work has an 09 335i modded and hit 396hp on the dyno with 486ft-lbs, makes me drool riding in it but to get near the 15k they have high miles and I don't want to replace half the car right off the bat. Just looking to get some opinions

1/17/2013 6:42:50 PM

^Get a nice 2006 E90 330i or '07 328i. 50-60k miles $12-16k

1/18/2013 4:16:03 PM

06 330 is the only BMW I would buy

1/19/2013 1:54:19 AM

Found a couple e46 330 zhp's for sale, people who have them seem to swear by um, haven't really looked at the e90's yet, have to keep my eye open for them

1/19/2013 2:02:23 PM

e90 n/a is a lot better car in just about every way than n/a e46 regular 3 series.

1/31/2013 3:38:29 PM

Welp, I got 12-13k miles out of my set of DWS rear tires. My brother reports 35k out of his 535i's rears, so I must be going something wrong right.

2/8/2013 3:48:28 PM

Same here! I got 12k out of ventus V12s on 335i. Not sure either why is this car eating tires like this...and I didnt even drive it hard?

2/10/2013 1:32:00 PM

Luckily my DWS's have a 50k warranty so I'm expecting to pay way less for replacement than the 500 otd I paid to put them on. I've been going through Discount Tire for like a decade and they've always been great.

2/10/2013 4:35:50 PM

$25,900 a good price for a 2010 135i Coupe (6 speed) with 30k miles on it?

2/15/2013 9:58:36 AM

CPO?

2/15/2013 11:06:12 AM

Yeah, at Hendrick BMW in Charlotte. My brother might buy it.

2/15/2013 12:32:28 PM

That would be a steller price imo. I'd buy the shit out of it.

It's not listed on their website. They have one for 25.9k, but it's not what you're describing.

http://www.hendrickbmw.com/certified/BMW/2008-BMW-135-b40f58180a0a0064014435e519d4dbc9.htm


nm I found it at Performance - http://tinyurl.com/b23bg2e

No CPO, but I would imagine some of the factory is still available. Question is how much...

I wonder why they didn't CPO it. It was in an accident a few months ago...maybe that's why there's no CPO and the price is so low. Looks like you have to buy the accident report to find out.


[Edited on February 15, 2013 at 1:23 PM. Reason : No maintenance history on Carfax...worth a call to a the dealer to investigate]

2/15/2013 1:12:37 PM

sorry, my bad about the CPO. It does still have a bit of factory warranty left and my brother is aware it's been in an accident. No frame damage though.

He has a friend that works at that dealership and gives him the inside scoop on a lot of stuff.

[Edited on February 15, 2013 at 2:58 PM. Reason : and apparently i didn't pay attention to the dealership either ]

2/15/2013 2:57:11 PM

I'd like pay more to get the CPO. Could also roll the dice I guess...

2/15/2013 3:53:45 PM

Apparently a recall going out next month on battery cable for 07-11 models

2/17/2013 11:38:17 AM

Looking for a collision center that has BMW certified techs on site. I know Performance BMW is a BMW Certified Collision Center but wondering if there are other options. Anyone?

2/27/2013 8:25:34 PM

None local that I know of. Who does Leith use?

2/28/2013 3:09:03 PM

Bought a 2000 BMW M Coupe in October 2012 from a private party.....had a neutral BMW dealership do a prepurchase inspection, they claim no subframe issues on the phone and provide a written quote for some things they found (nothing big). I take it to Enthusiast Auto (niche BMW dealer in OH, specializes in M cars and rare finds, solid reputation from what I see on forums), they tell me the rear subframe is cracking and needs to be fixed.

See pics:










So, (1) do I have any legal recourse on the place that did the original inspection? (2) for those automotively inclined, based on the pictures, is this a must fix?

Help appreciated! GD first world problems.

3/1/2013 6:44:21 PM

fuuu that sucks

3/1/2013 6:44:57 PM

1. I doubt it. What was the gap between the two shops looking at it?

2. From googling it looks like a pretty expensive thing to fix, but i wouldn't leave it if it were me.

3/1/2013 7:34:41 PM

Bought it in October...just check it checked out....about 3k miles in between.

I got a really good deal on the car after haggling lots of sellers, but it's still a kick in the dick. Along with the expected stuff, estimated bill is 3500

3/1/2013 8:29:11 PM

hopefully not a DD?

3.5k is indeed a dick-kick.

3/1/2013 9:09:49 PM

looks like some welding would fix it $cheap

3/2/2013 11:48:31 AM

The welding isn't the expensive part, it's removing everything to get to it that's no cake walk.

3/2/2013 5:38:29 PM

Spoke with BMW NA...offered no help as 'the car is out of warranty', despite referencing the e46 subframe lawsuit and recall, and that some m coupes have been repaired out of warranty. Sigh.

3/5/2013 9:00:34 PM

Sorry to hear that man. Best of luck with it all

3/6/2013 8:23:03 AM

So I've had my 335i for a little over two years, and haven't had a single problem with it. The CPO is up in August and I'm debating if I want something else (and should prepare to sell it), or if I'm gonna roll the dice and own it out of warranty...

What would you all do?

Part of the problem is there isn't much I would wanna move on to at the moment. Can't really afford the E9x M3 (would want CPO), not sure I'd wanna go back to the E46 M3. Perhaps a newer 135i? I like my 4 doors, but perhaps could do without. Don't really like the styling either. I love the styling of the BRZ, but don't wanna go back to 200hp land.

3/6/2013 11:14:53 AM

Hold on to it another year and hope that Subaru releases a turbo/supercharged BRZ. And if they don't, then start brainstorming again

3/6/2013 11:28:31 AM