by "Stupidru" (Schm1an)
Published 04/27/2017 at 13:26
by "Stupidru" (Schm1an)
Published 04/27/2017 at 13:26
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STARS: 0
Ladies and Gents,
I’m looking to get rid of my 2004 Acura TL, just because I’m bored with it. I absolutely want to stick with a manual transmission, I want RWD, is kinda/sorta/fairly reliable, won’t cost an absolute fortune to fix, has a back seat big enough for a car seat, I don’t want to take a step down from the ‘luxury’ of the TL, and the car has to cost less than $15k. I can turn a wrench but don’t necessarily have the time to spend 8 hours every weekend, so I’m coming across the 328i and had a few questions.
Every time I think I’ve found the proverbial needle in the haystack and find posts that say the E9X N52 is reliable and that maintenance won’t cost you as much as people lead you to believe, I find things like the valve cover gaskets, the valvetronic motor & seal, the eccentric shaft sensor that make me rethink BMW ownership. I’m not afraid to spend a few bucks here and there to keep my cars running, but if it’s going to cost $1k/mo, I’m going to keep driving my TL. I believe I’ve done my homework, but there’s nothing better than hearing others’ experiences.
After 100k miles, what’s the maintenance like? I know about the water pump & thermostat, but w
hat are other not-so common repairs that one could expect? I see very few N52 cars over 250k; what does it take to get the Bimmer to that kind of mileage? If anybody keeps meticulous maintenance records for their cars, I’d like to hear your cost per mile. (FYI, taking my TL from 115k to its current 159k, I’m averaging a total cost of ownership of $0.278/mile)
Thanks all!
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
04/27/2017 at 13:36, STARS: 0
Bought my 2009 E92 in September 2015 with 55k miles. I currently have 87k miles on it. So far I have to replace a couple of coils and a valve cover gasket. Aside from that, I haven’t really had any issues. Be prepared for crappy cupholders and for the seatbelt helpers to suck if you go with a coupe. I have room in the back sear for my stepdaughter to fit fine in her booster seat. I change the oil every 5-7k miles and currently use 0W40. If you maintain it properly, you should be fine.
"gawdzillla" (gawdzillla)
04/27/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 1
do not expect any BMW as maintenance free as the Acura,
the only other car I can think of that actually meets your criteria is this one car that has a bmw grill .... the Pontiac GTO
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
04/27/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 0
GTO is also on the short list
I’m not expecting the BMW to be as maintenance-free as the TL, but I just don’t want it to be a Volkswagen that breaks if you look at it wrong
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
04/27/2017 at 14:17, STARS: 0
Thanks for the info! What is the back seat like? My son is 18 months old, so I still have to strap him into his rear-facing seat. I’m 6'2" and 220lbs so I’m not tiny, but I’ve heard it’s a fairly spacious back seat.
Is it true that you can configure the E92 to automatically slide the front seats forward when you unlock the car? I thought I read that, if you have iDrive or the Comfort Access... do you know anything about that?
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/27/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 0
I have an E92 335xi with iDrive and Comfort Access. I don’t know anything about this auto seat sliding. The only thing like that which comes to mind is you can set the driver’s seat to return to your memory position when you unlock the car.
The back seat is “ok” in that yes technically adults can get back there. I’m 5'11" and with the driver’s seat set for myself I can sorta get in behind it. I have juuuuuuust enough headroom. But getting a kid in and out of a car seat, you have to reach in from the front and there’s a flipped-forward front seat in your way. The seat flips forward with a manual lever and there’s a switch on the surround for the lever to power slide it forward.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/27/2017 at 15:07, STARS: 0
I have an e90 328i and an e92 335i. Both, if maintained well, will be pretty trouble free. The key is to get a good car that has really been taken care of. Consider looking on e90post in the classifieds for a car. The backseat in the e92 is downright spacious. I have regularly put 4 normal sized adults in and no one complained. Sure, it won’t feel super roomy but it’s absolutely not uncomfortable once you are in the seats.
My 328i was purchased around 50k and is just under 90k. Have done maintenance like spark plugs, battery, and many many oil changes. Only surprise was the rear main seal, which required the transmission to be dropped. The n52/n54 like to leak, but many of the repairs are easy to DIY. And it’s very easy to spot and figure out if a car is leaking oil. I strongly recommend getting a sport package (or m-sport if you can find it), 6 speed manual, RWD car. It will be ridiculously fun.
The N52 is a gem of an engine. Reliable, smooth, sounds fantastic, and it’s pretty easy to work on. Let me know any specific questions, I’m pretty well versed in the E9x chassis.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
04/27/2017 at 15:29, STARS: 0
No worries. It is big enough to hold two children, but if you put adults in the back it’s going to be somewhat cramped and difficult to get out of. I am pretty much the same height and weight as you, so I can tell you that from experience. I can get in and out of the back, but obviously it isn’t going to be as easy as with a sedan. I take my stepdaughter to school every day, so I have gotten used to getting her in and out of the car without issue.
I know you can raise and lower the windows if you have the comfort access remote. You may can program it to do the same with the seats, but I am not 100% certain on that. I did not want iDrive, so can’t tell you too much on that aspect of it.
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
04/27/2017 at 15:44, STARS: 0
Thanks! I’ll add the Rear Main Seal as an item to dig deeper into.
Mind if I pick your brain for a minute?
Any big reasons to get a sedan over the coupe, or vice versa? If anybody would know, it might be you...
I know at least for the time being that a 335 is a look-but-don’t-touch type of car, but is the 328 still fun as a DD? I’m not going to be drifting the thing all over, but I like to have fun. How’s the straight line speed? Enough to keep things entertaining?
Thanks again!
"MyJeepGetsStuckInTheSnow" (myjeepgetsstuckinthesnow)
04/27/2017 at 16:14, STARS: 0
Every time I had to take my out of CPO warranty BMW into the shop for something I couldn’t fix myself it was a minimum of $1k. It was also quite often as I travel a lot for work and had minimal time for wrenching.
"Montalvo" (m5goesroundtheoutside)
04/27/2017 at 16:59, STARS: 0
The coupe/sedan choice doesn’t come into play until the last year of the E92. The last year of the coupe for the 335i they actually have the N55 motor.I dont know if a similar thing happens for the 328 trim. All the cars manufactured in 2012 then changed to the new body style. I can’t speak on 328i ownership but I love the 335i to death.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/28/2017 at 00:52, STARS: 1
The Coupe is a 2+2, there’s no middle seat in the back. The middle seat in the back of the sedan is not very good anyway, so that doesn’t bother me. IMO, the coupe looks better. The coupe also comes with xenon headlights stock, while the sedan gets halogens stock. The xenons are awesome and really make the car look great, but also perform awesomely at night. They are adaptive and follow the steering wheel, so they turn as you turn. All coupes have folding rear seats that are easy to get down.
If you could find a 2009+ (LCI, this is when the face lifted sedan was introduced) M-sport E90 328i, i would get that, as the face lifted M-sport sedans look amazing. Otherwise, find a nice clean E92. But I recommend going and seeing how you feel about access to the back seat. I don’t think it’s a problem but I don’t know how it would be for putting a kiddo in a booster seat.
My 328i is automatic and doesn’t have the sports package, but it is RWD. It’s still very fun to drive, mostly because it has hydraulic steering. It’s awesome on back roads, and is relatively peppy. It sounds really good and revs very nicely. I never felt as if it was slow or underpowered, I always feel impressed with its speed when I drive it. In these cars, 80 really does feel like 60... you will not notice how fast you are going until you look down. Definitely get a manual, that makes it feel much faster. My 335i is a sport package RWD with manual and it feels amazing compared to my 328i, which itself is pretty damn good. A RWD 6MT 328i with sport package will be an awesome daily driver. If my 328i was manual and had the sport or m-sport, I probably never would have gotten my 335i tbh. Glad I did though!
Also, I regularly (multiple times a week) fit 4 adults in my car with some bags in the trunk. The coupes are not impractical at all.
"Alex" (akahn221)
04/28/2017 at 11:51, STARS: 0
I got my 2007 e92 328i manual after 3 different owners with 68k. Had the dealership replace all four tires, front brakes, valve cover gasket and an oil change. All I had to do from there was replace the battery which is normal for any car of that age and the belt tensioner which is also a normal thing for the amount of miles that’s on this car. I’m at 79k right now and I absolutely no problems. She’s been doing great things for me. Keeping me entertained and wanting me to keep her forever. I am in the process of selling her because I want to try and go for a lease (yea I know stupid idea but it’s what works for me during this time) if you are interested in mine I would be more than happy to give you more information. But anyway good luck with the search these cars were truly made for a car enthusiast on a budget.
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
04/28/2017 at 14:36, STARS: 0
Thanks for the reply Alex— where are you located?
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
04/28/2017 at 14:36, STARS: 0
Great response, thanks so much!