[krahooligan]

Hey guys! Coming on over from the n52 side of things and had a few questions regarding what to steer clear of when purchasing an 07 335i!
I know he hpfp's can go bad. And water pumps. Is there a specific manufacture date I should steer clear of?
Any advice welcome.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

Hey guys! Coming on over from the n52 side of things and had a few questions regarding what to steer clear of when purchasing an 07 335i!
I know he hpfp's can go bad. And water pumps. Is there a specific manufacture date I should steer clear of?
Any advice welcome.

Start the car cold, rev the motor in park to 2,000 and let it fall. Listen for wastegate rattle from the turbos on the deceleration. Sounds like a penny banging around in exhaust. This would be a sign of worn turbos or turbo wastegates. Either way it's a headache to fix unless you like wrenching on your car.

[WedgePerformance]

Feel free to email me if you have any questions. WedgePerformance@gmail.com

[Tiago@VRSF]

Wastegate rattle is pretty common, our shop car has had it since 30k miles and the turbos are still running strong.

These cars don't really have water pump failure issues that aren't common with most BMW's. If the car has around 50-60k miles I'd look for a new water pump ASAP.

I run a car through the gears at close to redline when test driving used cars. A lot of the potential issues you'd realize (waterpump/HPFP/injectors/turbos) will cause either a CEL or a misfire if the car hasn't been well maintained. Maintenance history will also help but you should plan for new coils/plugs anyway unless you have records showing they've been recently done.

[Eat.Sleep.Race]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

Hey guys! Coming on over from the n52 side of things and had a few questions regarding what to steer clear of when purchasing an 07 335i!
I know he hpfp's can go bad. And water pumps. Is there a specific manufacture date I should steer clear of?
Any advice welcome.

If your getting a 2007, your HPFP is likely to fail, water pump failure, and the dreaded oil leaks form valve cover gasket, oil filter gasket, and oil pan gasket.

Good luck, get an extended warranty if available thru bank or dealer. Well worth the extra $30 a month payment..

[stanlalee]

As long as you don't buy a low mileage 2007 where it hasn't been driven enough for the common stuff to fail and get replaced with newer revision stuff you'll be fine. The problem comes when you buy a car with 20k miles on original revision fuel pump, water pump, injectors because it hasn't been driven and your factory warranty has timed out. At this point you may even be timed out of the 8yr turbo replacement warranty. Get one with a good 60-70k miles which is still excellent for a car of that year and let the previous owner do the dirty work (and you get a better price to boot).

What your gonna find is some of the common stuff costing more. Go ask your dealer the difference in cost for the valve cover gasket for kicks (you do have to remove injectors but they are easily accessible and easily removed).

[924er]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

Hey guys! Coming on over from the n52 side of things and had a few questions regarding what to steer clear of when purchasing an 07 335i!
I know he hpfp's can go bad. And water pumps. Is there a specific manufacture date I should steer clear of?
Any advice welcome.

I would steer off from any 06/07 build dates but that's just me. They just have way too many issues from what I seen on these forums but then again 07s have the most 335i built. If you do get an 07 check service records and if turbos have been replaced. Coming from an NA you won't be too happy

Originally Posted by 924er

I would steer off from any 06/07 build dates but that's just me.

Right...because everyone knows that BMW built the most troublesome cars in the span of only one month.

[Tiago@VRSF]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Right...because everyone knows that BMW built the most troublesome cars in the span of only one month.

I'd agree. There's no specific "bad" month for these cars.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by Eat.Sleep.Race

If your getting a 2007, your HPFP is likely to fail, water pump failure, and the dreaded oil leaks form valve cover gasket, oil filter gasket, and oil pan gasket.

Good luck, get an extended warranty if available thru bank or dealer. Well worth the extra $30 a month payment..

That pretty much nails the common issues.. I would add make sure spark plugs are relatively new as that could be a source of misfires, but beyond that these cars are pretty solid.

Our shop 2007 early build has 160K on it and running super strong. I have replaced all the above mentioned except for the oil pan gasket.

Mike

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Well in terms of the aftermarket world for Lighting, 2007 are the most problematic (sensitive to error codes). I thought the 2007 were also the most prone to DME failure. Other then those things, that's about it.

Other then that regular maintenance is important for all years, injectors, fuel pumps, water pumps, oil filter gsakets, oil pan gaskets, all fail on any year.

By no accident the older the car the more susceptible you are to worn parts and older parts will be more dried out then newer parts. The engine is stout but these cars do require preventative and proactive maintenance.

In an ideal world, I'd want a full service history of the car showing when the last time it had injectors, fuel pump water pump and any other gaskets replaced. If you can't find those details prepare for those to fail sooner then later.

[krahooligan]

Originally Posted by 924er

I would steer off from any 06/07 build dates but that's just me. They just have way too many issues from what I seen on these forums but then again 07s have the most 335i built. If you do get an 07 check service records and if turbos have been replaced. Coming from an NA you won't be too happy

would you suggest an 08 then? the 09 starts to get out of my price range...

[924er]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Right...because everyone knows that BMW built the most troublesome cars in the span of only one month.

Lol yupp

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Eat.Sleep.Race

If your getting a 2007, your HPFP is likely to fail, water pump failure, and the dreaded oil leaks form valve cover gasket, oil filter gasket, and oil pan gasket.

Good luck, get an extended warranty if available thru bank or dealer. Well worth the extra $30 a month payment..

+1
also check when the last time spark plugs and ignition coils were replaced.

[krahooligan]

Originally Posted by 924er

Lol yupp

so that's bs about what people say then?
ive been told to stay away from ones with a build date of before 03/07...
rumors?

[924er]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

so that's bs about what people say then?
ive been told to stay away from ones with a build date of before 03/07...
rumors?

I would just stay away from those first years bmw released a new car. Same goes for any car make. The newer models have all the revised parts as bmw worked out all the kinks.

If u can afford the newer ones get it

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

would you suggest an 08 then? the 09 starts to get out of my price range...

The only difference in reliability between 07' and 08' are DME failure is more prevalent on 07's (still rare enough to not even consider). You also get a nicer Nav system on 08' and they are easier to BB flash if you go that route. The latter two much more significant reasons to choose a 08' over an 07'.

09-10' have LCI styling updates (the front is uglier and rear looks better so its a wash as far as I'm concerned). Mechanically there will be no difference. Obviously newer models are going to have the latest revisions of recall/trouble parts but most older cars have long had the same things replaced under warranty/recall. If your service manager is nice he can easily print out your cars history (had them print my service records from day one).

I love my 07'. Got the turbo's replaced under factory warranty 3000 miles after I bought the car (which didn't fix anything as the new turbos rattle more than the old...but they have less wear which is more important than rattle). In 35k miles all I've had to replace were spark plugs DIY, and oil housing gasket. Well clutch but that's due to Ethanol and a heavy foot.

[krahooligan]

Originally Posted by stanlalee

The only difference in reliability between 07' and 08' are DME failure is more prevalent on 07's (still rare enough to not even consider). You also get a nicer Nav system on 08' and they are easier to BB flash if you go that route. The latter two much more significant reasons to choose a 08' over an 07'.

09-10' have LCI styling updates (the front is uglier and rear looks better so its a wash as far as I'm concerned). Mechanically there will be no difference. Obviously newer models are going to have the latest revisions of recall/trouble parts but most older cars have long had the same things replaced under warranty/recall. If your service manager is nice he can easily print out your cars history (had them print my service records from day one).

my wife is my service manager
ha so that's taken care of.
I prefer the look of the 07 08 model years, and the nav is a good option, but not necessarily a deal breaker for me. I have never had a car with nav, so I guess maybe I don't know what im missing out on. heated seats is a must though....
is DME failure associated with misfires? forgive my ignorance, I don't know what DME stands for.

[musc]

The 07s had the DME failure and the powersteering pulley hitting the subframe issue. Neither were super common but something to consider. Personally I'd get the newest N54 my budget would allow.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by krahooligan

my wife is my service manager
ha so that's taken care of.
I prefer the look of the 07 08 model years, and the nav is a good option, but not necessarily a deal breaker for me. I have never had a car with nav, so I guess maybe I don't know what im missing out on. heated seats is a must though....
is DME failure associated with misfires? forgive my ignorance, I don't know what DME stands for.

DME is the ECU (brain). It can be a very costly repair if done at the dealer. However, some electronic guru's have been able to repair it for a fraction of the cost.

[musc]

Usually the DME failure is an inexpensive MOSFET which is a buck or two in cost. There is a good DIY on the forums to repair it. Locally my friends found a TV repair guy that replaces it for $20 and the cost of the mosfet ($1-2). You will need to replace the coil and plug with the corresponding MOSFET as well. If you had to replace the whole DME unit itself (not typical), it can get costly.

Here is the thread that will give you some insight to the DME/MOSFET failure http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=734162

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by Eat.Sleep.Race

If your getting a 2007, your HPFP is likely to fail, water pump failure, and the dreaded oil leaks form valve cover gasket, oil filter gasket, and oil pan gasket.

Good luck, get an extended warranty if available thru bank or dealer. Well worth the extra $30 a month payment..

I can vouch for all of these on my 07. Sucks but at least the replacement parts are improved. I literally have done everyone of the things you mentioned but I have 209,000.