6 Months In

"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
09/03/2018 at 15:51 • Filed to: None

I bought Fiona, my 328 Xdrive E90 on January 26th. Which means it’s been over 6 months now. So it’s time for a bit of a review.

I like this car A LOT. It’s comfortable, powerful(enough). The AWD means can be fun, but always feels safe. I’m sure you’re wondering, “but how much have you spent in maintaining the thing?” Well about 25 bucks?

I’ve put nearly 10,000 miles with the car sitting at about 111,00 right now. The front break rotors and pads had to replaced but that was done during the 1000/1month warrenty the dealership gave me. A week or so into my ownership I had to top off the coolant, but I haven’t had to again. That bottle of coolant is the only maintenance cost I’ve had so far.

I’ll probably do an oil change befor winter and that’s going to cost about 80 bucks. 7 quarts of special full synthetic and a 20 dollar fliter.

I know the car will cost money money eventually but so far this has been the lowest maintenance cost er mike Car I’ve ever owned.

Some Pros and Cons

Pro: comfortable, heated seats, and dual climate control make long trips with my wife much easier, as she’s comfortable when I’m sweating my arse off. Decent power, AWD, good looks,

Cons: poor fuel economy typically 25 average and that’s 91 of coarse. Because it’s manual the auto locking doors don’t Auto Unlock. It’s essentially a base model so no cool projector lights, and the seats are fully manual. That one is good and bad.

The nagging feeling that one day it will cost a lot to maintain lol.

DISCUSSION (18)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 16:17

All of your cons are better than all of my pros

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/03/2018 at 16:22

Yeah it’s a nice car. I’m spoiled now.

Captain of the Enterprise > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 16:34

Very nice! I would like the dual zone climate control in my next car, it’s so nice since I like to be cold.

Klaus Schmoll > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 16:46

Kinja'd!!!

18 months and 17k miles in (now at 110k miles) , all it owes me besides oil changes and a few filters is one injector for cyl 6. Had it done at BMW and even that didn’t break the bank.

I’ve now discovered that the owner of the indie garage that is just down the road drives similar vintage BMWs himself and knows how to keep them going/has the diagnostic tools, so I don’t have to visit the stealership anymore.

While this isn’t my car for the next ten years, I plan on keeping it for the next 2-3 years, let’s see how that works. Right now, it hasn’t needed more than the Accord I had before.

My mom’s E39 turned into a terrible money pit around the 15 y/o - 200K mile mark. So maybe we’ve got a little time to enjoy ours before we have to dump them? Fingers crossed!

E90M3 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 17:03

The dealer does my oil changes, $100 before tax. How long are you running your oil?

CompactLuxuryFan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 17:06

Didn’t realize yours was a manual! Pretty sure you can have it coded to unlock the doors when you turn off the ignition. I enjoy the double pull mechanism and all my BM W products have been manual so I’m used to it.

Your oil change interval seems to be about twice as long as mine. Then again, the N54 seems to be much more fickle than your N52.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 17:20

Lukewarm take: manual seats are better than electric ones. You can move them way faster, and moving the passenger side seat back is way easier with manual seats when there’s nobody sitting there.

Klaus Schmoll > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/03/2018 at 17:29

They also go down lower since there are no electric motors and stuff. Nice for tall people and/or sitting lower = feeling more connected to the car.

My buddy who works at BMW R&D in Munich told me that they actually prefer loaner cars with manual seats over electric ones. Two seconds to adjust the seat versus 30 or even a full minute, depending who drove it before.

Michael Woyahn > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 17:44

Funny story, I saw a car this summer that was identical to yours on I-94 in between Milwaukee and Madison. Same color and it even had an ACE WI- plate. There was an older lady driving though, so I’m assuming that wasn’t you lol.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/03/2018 at 18:18

The only down side on these seats is the hight adjustment it’s kind of a pain with the manual seats. Instead of a ratcheting lever like most it’s just a spring loaded release like an office chair. If you pull the handle while you’re in the seat it’s probably going to go all the way down no matter what. Trying to get it to come back up basically means you need to get out of the seat, or the car.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > CompactLuxuryFan
09/03/2018 at 18:21

I checked the owners manual and it agreed with the 15000 as long as you use full synthetic.

I do like the double pull to unlock and get out, that’s not bad. The problem for me is when I get out of the car and then need to get into the back seat. But now I have to reach back into the front of the car to get to the unlock button that for some reason is on the dash not on the door.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Klaus Schmoll
09/03/2018 at 18:22

Could you ask your buddy why the hell my door unlock button is on the center of the dash and not on the doors?

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 18:25

Wow, that’s stupid.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/03/2018 at 19:07

Yup. They really wanted you to get those power seats.

Party-vi > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 19:52

I believe the doors unlocking is a key fob/programming thing. My E46 would unlock the doors after I shut the car off with key 1, and would keep the doors locked if I were using key 2. Might want to see if the dealer or if an E90 forum has info on this.

CompactLuxuryFan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 23:09

Why not just use the key fob? Lord knows the car freaks out if you open the door with it still in the slot.

CompactLuxuryFan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/03/2018 at 23:10

I’ve always just done 5K but more recently it’s been every year because I don’t go 5K in that long (Apologies for the double reply)

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > CompactLuxuryFan
09/04/2018 at 07:46

Sometimes I leave my keys in the car #smalltownlife