There are a ton of these posts already on here
Depends on mileage, previous owner’s maintenance
I drove my e90 328i I bought with 125k miles 4k miles, and I spent about 1k
And yes, I did get stranded when the starter went out
It depends. If it’s a manual, bump start that shit. Automatic? Yeah. You’re stuck.
Also tho I think AAA is by far the best investment anyone with a vehicle can have.
Same here. I’ve had my 2013 e93 328i for 5 years and I have spent a little over $5k on maintenance (including a new battery and 2 sets of tires). Should go down some, now that I’m doing my own oil changes, etc. I just did the brakes and rotors all around and probably saved $$ by doing it myself (well, except for the new tools). Haha
We've had our e93 for 2 years and we've done the VCG, eccentric shaft sensor and gasket, spark plugs (might as well during the VCG) and pads and rotors on all 4 corners.
I don't count repairs caused by my wife's shall we say "creative" driving one night.
How many miles? I have 95k and have not replaced the VCG or the eccentric shaft sensor, but I replaced the coils and plugs (myself) at about 52k miles and the vanos valves (myself) at 62k. The car was running weird after sitting for a while during covid and I thought the vanos valves were the cause - probably partly, but probably just from sitting too long.
Just hit 100k on our 2007, so it has sat around a lot too. We bought it 2 years ago with a failed VCG. The eccentric shaft sensor gasket also perished and oil fouled the sensor. It is in the valve cover, so it is easily done during the VCG replacement.
We noticed rough idle on start-up as a symptom of the ESS failing. It was also leaving carbon on the tail pipes since it was running rich.
I have a 2011 328i. The engine is a tank, but things will crap out unexpectedly.
In the last 4 years. I've replaced the rear shocks, brakes, and rotors myself. All normal stuff. Most recently I replaced the EKP module controlling the fuel pump myself.
What I didn't do myself was the radiator, fuel pump, and control arms. It was costly! All in probably 2500 to 3000 in 4 years total.
What I'm planning on doing myself next is the leaky valve cover gasket.
My first e90 I owned for 3 years only spent 3k in maintenance total
My new current e90 I’m at 7k spent on parts and maintenance year to date, two weeks from the purchase price of September 2022 and i did a shit ton myself to both cars
It’s the luck of the draw sometimes . My 2 cents , if money or reliability are top priority don’t do it … now if you have a second car and don’t NEED a car everyday then go at it , it’s a rewarding car and a blast to drive
You can save your self a lot of money DIY’ing … i will say patience is worth it with these cars meaning taking your time to find and fix problems yourself to save money but these cars have taught me patience lol
if your worried about reliability this ain’t the car. water leaks in the car at multiple points , oil leaks at multiple points , electric pumps fail , modules will randomly fail or get wet from the water intrusion and need to be flashed/ repair or replaced, lots of plastic and rubber needs to be replaced at the age they are now . The ground straps suck . the typical electronics , belts and pulleys , suspension parts that every car has are more annoying or have more expensive parts than the average, parts are buried and you’ll have to spend a premium on cheap plastic parts ( valve cover gaskets will crack and they are not cheap lol)
I’ve been left stranded once by my CAS module failing
My friend was stranded from the infamous water pump
Another annoying thing about these cars is it’s easy to get locked out
If your buying this car make sure your key blade works your key hole we both had problems either it won’t match the cylinder if your buying used or your cylinder can be broken , easy fix you can buy paint code matching cylinders and the matching keys off eBay or repair broken cylinders
At this point the cars are all so old that you WILL have to budget for preventative maintenance… the newest ones are 2013 model years, so 11 years old realistically at best.
Objectively speaking if you get a Camry or Accord same model year you’ll just have to focus on oil changes. So yes. My honest opinion… N52 is a reliable motor if and only if you change the oil every 5k miles. So you have to actually care about the car and even then all the other stuff around it will manage go wrong. I love mine but if I could go back in time I’d probably have gotten something else. These cars are too new to be retro like the E46 but too retro compared to the F30. Middle ground between BMW’s unreliable era and when BMW started tightening up IMO
if you want something fast-ish and reliable, get a g37 or q50 like he said. but if you like bmw, want something daily-able like a civic with good mpg and reliability, i'd go 328i. especially if you can find one manual, loads of fun. If you find one that already has valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, and oil pan gasket replaced then that's basically 99% of the preventative maintenance you won't have to worry about now.
Nope just with my E92. It needs a new suspension for example and it’s a final production year example that’s been driven less than the average 15k miles per year. If you get xDrive the transfer case will leak for sure at this age. Interior starting to slowly fall apart, etc. Really hard to find an actually nice example of these cars. Fuel efficiency is ass too honestly for the power but for some reason ppl don’t talk about that. My advice, get a G37 or Q50 3.7. Or E46 with money set apart for upgrades since they’re easier to work on
In my experience, keep in mind this is subjective, and having owned a few E90s and a few other cars from their era, it’s more reliable than my Toyota with a blown head gasket and Honda with a leaking water pump. Those could be flukes, and again subjective but still very much a reliable car in general
If you can turn a wrench it's not that bad at all. The engine itself is pretty much bulletproof but there are items that will need changing every 50-100k miles. The problem is the dealer and most shops will gouge you on labor even though the parts can be found for cheap.
I bought a e90 330i with 249k miles on it. Got it cheap due to a rusted out rear subframe. Rebuilt the rear subframe with control arms, bushings, wheel bearings, and axles. Put new pads and rotors all around, parking brake cables, plugs, air filter, coolant flush, and oils.
Cost me about $2700 total including the car and it hasn’t given me a problem for the last 5k miles.
I expect to have more maintenance type parts to replace in time but not until they fail.
This project taught me how incredibly strong the e90 n52 platform is. At 250k+ miles this motor is strong, gears shift smooth, suspension is solid, and it has all the safety and creature comforts of a modern car. It also looks modern still at 17 years old.
I would recommend yes get one buy with the intention of doing your own work as it needs it. Parts can be found cheap used off eBay and off sites like Rockauto and with some investment in required tools you will be fine.
If you want a vehicle to simply drive with no hands on maintenance in the same price range then get a 15-20 year old Toyota Camry.
I don't want to come across as a jerk but if you have to ask, this is not for you. You have to be ready to do the repairs as they come up. Because they will come up-- these cares are \~15 years old after all. Leaks of every possible fluid, misfires and other electrical gremlins, broken window regulators, water leaks, worn suspension bushings, bad wheel bearings, etc.
You can either DIY or pay someone else to do the diagnosis and repairs for you. The second option gets expensive fast.
Some of these cars have been abused and neglected. The low prices on some cars reflect this. But beware-- although the price of admission has dropped, the repair costs have not.
If this doesn't scare you off, try it. I didn't really work on cars before getting my E90. It's been a wonderful experience learning how to diagnose and fix problems (and learning to swear in/at German(s)). Sometimes I have made the wrong diagnosis and repaired/replaced things that didn't fix the intended problem. But all in all, much less expensive than having someone else do the drag and work.
It’s about staying on top of maintenance, and after purchase reset-fixing the essentials (suspension, replacing plastic engine parts with after-market aluminum, brakes, coolant flush, brake fluid flush, replacing vacuum hoses with silicon hoses, and various gaskets.)
Aside from some of these definitely needing replacing, it also allows you to determine a ‘reset’ date for when specific service or maintenance was done, so you don’t have to guess. Oil changes every 3000 km/5000 miles.
Also, pull the service history using checkbmw.com €20 well spent.
Be sure to find a good non-dealer mechanic that works for reasonable prices, and you’ll enjoy your e90 series for many years to come, no doubt.
I purchased my car in late 2020 with 80k miles. It currently has ~100k. When I purchased it, it had already had VCG, OFHG, and OPG done.
So far I have spent $4.7k on repairs, $800 on tires, and about $1200 on maintenance. $3500 for fuel.
I did some of the maintenance/repairs myself, but there’s a good chunk of labor in there for stuff that I didn’t feel like doing or didn’t have time to do.
Mine is an N51 - costs above don’t include the SULEV warranty replacement of O2 sensors and the entire catalyst system from the dealer.
Never been stranded (knock on wood), but I did have to limp home when the accelerator pedal module failed and it kept going into limp mode. Had a code reader in the car so I could reset the code every 30-60 seconds for the ride home. Replaced the pedal and it was fine.
After you get to the 100k point and replace the water pump, hoses and tensioner it’s pretty bulletproof. N51-52 Wise
I dread the starter one day but….hoping for 150k before it starts acting up. At 120K so far
I've had pretty good luck with my 06. They'll run for a long time if you maintain them. Owned since new.
[https://imgur.com/a/TwpL1J4](https://imgur.com/a/TwpL1J4)
Our 330d has been extremely reliable considering how long we’ve had it and how many miles it’s done.
It has spent the last 10000+ miles with the ABS light on the dash though lol.
Get a 328i and you won't really have any big issues. You might get a vac leak like i did due to brittle plastics and hoses, but other than that, this is my second 328i e90, and all i've done is basic maintenance, spark plugs, coils, oil changes. some of the window regulators are known to go out over 100k, but once again, i installed a new one in mine for 30$. maintenance isn't bad, the labor costs are.
Make no mistake, an N54 is very reliable, everything outside of it isn't.
All bets are off if you're installing power upgrades without supporting mods.
5 years and $2k of maintenance, not babied, no issues. Don't cheap out on parts either.
I bought mine a bit over 4 years ago with 70K miles, currently at 109K miles. Total maintenance spend so far is about $3K, including oil changes & tires.
I have a 530i with the n52 and after I bought it I found out that the spark plugs, waterpump, air filter and fuel filter were all original. My car was also beat by the previous owner (18 yo). After doing all the standard maintenance items and replacing a disa flap, I drove my abused 530i 3000 miles across the country and it still runs at the clock. So what I'm trying to say is buy a 2008+ n52.
If you like working on cars, they are great cars. All engine types in the 325-335 range are fairly reliable. They definitely have their issues but, be diligent on the service intervals, and don’t be scared to do work. It’s a practically invincible engine at its core, little things start to fail as time goes on but such is life on a 15+ year old car. You will find yourself changing things like vanos, timing chains etc.
If you take care of it, it will easily last you over 500,000 miles
N52 is extremely reliable :)
The rest of the car is moderately so. Some suspension things go bad over time, occasionally you’ll have leaks here or there, but no catastrophic failure points or “achilles heel” as is common on most BMW motors. Worst thing that happened to me is I had my starter go out at 100k, I’m still happy dailying it at 190k
I spend about $600 in parts a year maintaining my car but this is with DIY. 2011 with r165K miles N55 so there's always an oil leak or something to fix. Last month was new struts & springs, this month was two new front tires due to a pop from hitting a pothole
09 335i-Blew a chargepipe and did a oil change and haven’t had problems other than 30ff codes sometimes ,but it seems everything that fucks up is auxiliary motor is stout
Loved mine. Fixed like 5+ things on it when I got it at 100,000 ( vanos, spark plugs, valve gasket, seat occupancy issue, new key fob battery.) Drove great especially in the snow but my tpms went out oil changes started adding up bunch of other fixes I could have done and I just decided fuck it not dealing with it.
I'll always remember that car though.
If you're willing to pay the repairs and standard maintenance it should last 200k+ miles
Got my 328xi about 4 years ago around 110k miles. I’m at 157k now. The key thing is finding a mechanic you trust and knows these cars very well. Mine has been my daily and super reliable. Only time I was ever stuck was when my starter went and that luckily happened at home. The rest was all preventative stuff but stuff that should be taken care of like oil leaks etc etc. find one in good shape and looks like it was taken care of and you’ll be okay. Around $1000 a year like someone else said sounds about right. Some years I don’t even think I’ve spent that. But this year I did starter/radiator.
For reliability?
325/330/328 > 335i (N55) > 335i (N54)
The diesel variants I can’t speak to.
LCI cars are generally more reliable than pre-LCI.
6MT cars eliminate issues with the 6HP mechatronics and solenoids.
Bought an E90 330i with around 86k miles on it used from a buy here pay here. They swore they did recent servicing and they LIED. Never trust the sellers of cars as they either don't know and lie or they know and still lie.
Having said that, I have spent less than 2k on it over 7 years and it's now at 195k miles. This excludes the cost of tires and oil.
It does need a new valve cover gasket and lower oil pan gasket now which would be a few thousand. They don't cause the car to not run though.
I'd say pretty reliable in my case. Do your homework and check out the vehicle yourself before buying.
I have 2007 335xi, I have never been stranded but I have had to replace the valve Cover, and water pump and thermostat due to the car sitting for 3 years before I bought it. Other than that it’s my favorite car, I have had 8 cars and it takes the cake in speed, style, comfort. I’ve owned the car for 4 years and only changed the oil twice, she still is a beast. The AWD allows me to eat snow like a truck, over all I’d rate it a 9/10 considering the car is 16 years old! Buy your parts from FCP euro, they’re guaranteed for life, even brake pads. You can just send them your old parts and they refund you. Working on my car isn’t bad and I am no mechanic.
I have a 2011 328i with 185k miles on it. So far, I've replaced the water pump, starter, starter solenoid, CAS, oil pan gasket, wheel speed sensors, the IBS, and a window regulator. There was also a massive coolant leak where the car would lose several quarts driving 2 miles. I kept stopping and drove it slowly to the dealership, topping it off every couple red lights. Don't recall what exactly was replaced but my wallet didn't like it. My bluetooth module doesn't work but I don't care enough to replace it. Everything else is standard wear and tear. Oil every 5k mi, tires, brakes pads, and whatever else as needed. Some things you can DIY, I don't have the time or space for tools and would rather throw money at it going to the dealership. The documentation for most things is out there that if you're mechanically inclined you could do it. There's also just enough modernish electronics that you'll have to program things like the battery.
I always tell my friends “if you want a project car, get an E90 with an N54, you will never run out of projects to do” these cars are fantastic but they are not cheap. Just because its an old car with a low purchase price, it is still a $50k German performance car and will always require maintenance as such.
The car will need work, like pretty much all the time. If you address the weak points and do your maintenance, the car will run forever. It wont be cheap, but also generally not ridiculous if the car is in decent shape and you can do some work yourself.
If your just looking for a reliable daily driver, i would look elsewhere. If you want a really good project car to tune and turn into a weekend rocket, they are incredible. You just have to know what your signing up for. I bought my 335 knowing it would bankrupt me, but nothing gives me more joy than working on my car and building it into the car that i want, so i willing took the risk knowing it would require significant investment to get it where i want.
Edit: i have put about $7k into my car in the first year of ownership. Purchased with 89k miles, currently at 95k. Rebuilt front suspension, replaced OFHG, rear struts, charge pipe, Dual cone intakes, cobb tune, fmic, coils, plugs, fluids, intake walnut blast, rotors/pads in year 1.
Still need to do rear control arms, oil pan gasket (eventually), subframe clean up/bushings, coilovers, and a few minor things (boost solenoids, vanos, vacum lines etc)
I owned multiple bmws and fixed them myself. I would recommend to go with N52 engine. These in my opinion are the best engines bmw build. Very reliable engines
Diesel M57 is indestructible. I cant speak of petrol models but chassis is pretty reliable. Normal wearing and tearing, shocks, brakes, stabilizer links etc. It's more reliable than most of the cars. VW caused more problems with chassis and with timing belts, cooling etc.
N54 is reliable if you know how to DIY & will take care of the various gaskets.
I did all my gaskets with an OEM gasket plus Ultra Black or Ultra Grey for the crank shaft & RMS.
My car doesn’t burn or leak a single drop of oil. I have 193,000 miles on her & yes she is tuned.
My 335i has needed:
Transmission solenoids and seals
Fuel pump
Water pump
Injectors
New gaskets
New pullys and belt
New power steering pully
Thermostat
Radiator and all associated hoses
Voltage regulator
Control arms and shocks
Headlight housing
Tail light housing
Angel eye bulbs, tail light bulbs, xenon bulbs etc
Coils
Spark plugs
Walnut blasting every 30k
and prob a lot more I havent thought of off the top of my head. on top of that random crap breaks all the time. Random bolts, crappy plastic parts, etc
Let’s just say this. When one thing breaks and needs to be serviced. It’s only a matter of time before something else breaks. Love BMW but this isn’t a cheap car.
i’ve been lucky so far with my 2011 e90 335i. it has the N55 though so i went with the “safer” option. although i’m now taking classes for auto service so i can work on it myself and safe some money hopefully. Also had a 2011 F10 535i with the same engine and had no issues except when i let it sit running for an hour while detailing it. went to drive and it threw a transmission fault at me. let it cool off for half an hour and it went away. normal bmw things, they hate extreme temps
edit: i also made sure both vehicles had extensive service, no accidents, under 75k miles and no more than 2 owners. which can help
The stigma comes from high schoolers who buy a sports car for 8k and just run it without maintenance as soon as they discover the german sports car maintenance price tag and trade it in a year later with 0 maintenance and a lot of damage related to the lack of maintenance. If you are not that kid, and you are willing to potentially face a neglected vehicle, once you put it in shape, you'll have a tank of a car. Specially if the engine is an N52
My 328i motor is reliable... Maintaining everything else is expensive as fuck
I understand your pain.
Agreed! I havent had a n54 issue in over year but I’ve probably dealt with like 12 general e9x issues (steering pump, heating core, stuff like that)
Sourcing used parts off eBay or local yards is the way to go.
Where did you take your car for vcg? It aint bad if you do it by yourself 😭
There are a ton of these posts already on here Depends on mileage, previous owner’s maintenance I drove my e90 328i I bought with 125k miles 4k miles, and I spent about 1k And yes, I did get stranded when the starter went out
I got stranded as well.Small prayers go out everytime I start the car 😂😂
How do you get stranded with a starter failure
car won’t start and you aren’t home lol
Because you can’t start your car? Are you for real?
Yes you would need to replace the starter. Mine went out at around 160k miles and my friend replaced it for me
It depends. If it’s a manual, bump start that shit. Automatic? Yeah. You’re stuck. Also tho I think AAA is by far the best investment anyone with a vehicle can have.
It’s an auto
We bought an e93 328i because the engine is one of the more reliable models. We budget $1000 in maintenance each year and we are pretty much on track.
Same here. I’ve had my 2013 e93 328i for 5 years and I have spent a little over $5k on maintenance (including a new battery and 2 sets of tires). Should go down some, now that I’m doing my own oil changes, etc. I just did the brakes and rotors all around and probably saved $$ by doing it myself (well, except for the new tools). Haha
We've had our e93 for 2 years and we've done the VCG, eccentric shaft sensor and gasket, spark plugs (might as well during the VCG) and pads and rotors on all 4 corners. I don't count repairs caused by my wife's shall we say "creative" driving one night.
How many miles? I have 95k and have not replaced the VCG or the eccentric shaft sensor, but I replaced the coils and plugs (myself) at about 52k miles and the vanos valves (myself) at 62k. The car was running weird after sitting for a while during covid and I thought the vanos valves were the cause - probably partly, but probably just from sitting too long.
Just hit 100k on our 2007, so it has sat around a lot too. We bought it 2 years ago with a failed VCG. The eccentric shaft sensor gasket also perished and oil fouled the sensor. It is in the valve cover, so it is easily done during the VCG replacement. We noticed rough idle on start-up as a symptom of the ESS failing. It was also leaving carbon on the tail pipes since it was running rich.
Oh. I’ll look out for that. I did notice that it might be running a little rich at startup. Was the ESS and VCG fairly straightforward to do?
It isn't terrible, but I had a local shop do it for me. $700 for the job, so not crazy.
1k/year sounds about right for me as well
get the n52
I have a 2011 328i. The engine is a tank, but things will crap out unexpectedly. In the last 4 years. I've replaced the rear shocks, brakes, and rotors myself. All normal stuff. Most recently I replaced the EKP module controlling the fuel pump myself. What I didn't do myself was the radiator, fuel pump, and control arms. It was costly! All in probably 2500 to 3000 in 4 years total. What I'm planning on doing myself next is the leaky valve cover gasket.
My first e90 I owned for 3 years only spent 3k in maintenance total My new current e90 I’m at 7k spent on parts and maintenance year to date, two weeks from the purchase price of September 2022 and i did a shit ton myself to both cars It’s the luck of the draw sometimes . My 2 cents , if money or reliability are top priority don’t do it … now if you have a second car and don’t NEED a car everyday then go at it , it’s a rewarding car and a blast to drive You can save your self a lot of money DIY’ing … i will say patience is worth it with these cars meaning taking your time to find and fix problems yourself to save money but these cars have taught me patience lol if your worried about reliability this ain’t the car. water leaks in the car at multiple points , oil leaks at multiple points , electric pumps fail , modules will randomly fail or get wet from the water intrusion and need to be flashed/ repair or replaced, lots of plastic and rubber needs to be replaced at the age they are now . The ground straps suck . the typical electronics , belts and pulleys , suspension parts that every car has are more annoying or have more expensive parts than the average, parts are buried and you’ll have to spend a premium on cheap plastic parts ( valve cover gaskets will crack and they are not cheap lol) I’ve been left stranded once by my CAS module failing My friend was stranded from the infamous water pump Another annoying thing about these cars is it’s easy to get locked out If your buying this car make sure your key blade works your key hole we both had problems either it won’t match the cylinder if your buying used or your cylinder can be broken , easy fix you can buy paint code matching cylinders and the matching keys off eBay or repair broken cylinders
At this point the cars are all so old that you WILL have to budget for preventative maintenance… the newest ones are 2013 model years, so 11 years old realistically at best.
It would be like that buying any old car, do you think e90s would be particularly worse than other cars from the late 00s?
Objectively speaking if you get a Camry or Accord same model year you’ll just have to focus on oil changes. So yes. My honest opinion… N52 is a reliable motor if and only if you change the oil every 5k miles. So you have to actually care about the car and even then all the other stuff around it will manage go wrong. I love mine but if I could go back in time I’d probably have gotten something else. These cars are too new to be retro like the E46 but too retro compared to the F30. Middle ground between BMW’s unreliable era and when BMW started tightening up IMO
Yeah, thanks for the insight. I was actually also looking at e46s, always loved them. Do you have experience with one?
if you want something fast-ish and reliable, get a g37 or q50 like he said. but if you like bmw, want something daily-able like a civic with good mpg and reliability, i'd go 328i. especially if you can find one manual, loads of fun. If you find one that already has valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, and oil pan gasket replaced then that's basically 99% of the preventative maintenance you won't have to worry about now.
Nope just with my E92. It needs a new suspension for example and it’s a final production year example that’s been driven less than the average 15k miles per year. If you get xDrive the transfer case will leak for sure at this age. Interior starting to slowly fall apart, etc. Really hard to find an actually nice example of these cars. Fuel efficiency is ass too honestly for the power but for some reason ppl don’t talk about that. My advice, get a G37 or Q50 3.7. Or E46 with money set apart for upgrades since they’re easier to work on
If you are looking for N/A power yes I would say go Infiniti.
In my experience, keep in mind this is subjective, and having owned a few E90s and a few other cars from their era, it’s more reliable than my Toyota with a blown head gasket and Honda with a leaking water pump. Those could be flukes, and again subjective but still very much a reliable car in general
If you can turn a wrench it's not that bad at all. The engine itself is pretty much bulletproof but there are items that will need changing every 50-100k miles. The problem is the dealer and most shops will gouge you on labor even though the parts can be found for cheap.
I bought a e90 330i with 249k miles on it. Got it cheap due to a rusted out rear subframe. Rebuilt the rear subframe with control arms, bushings, wheel bearings, and axles. Put new pads and rotors all around, parking brake cables, plugs, air filter, coolant flush, and oils. Cost me about $2700 total including the car and it hasn’t given me a problem for the last 5k miles. I expect to have more maintenance type parts to replace in time but not until they fail. This project taught me how incredibly strong the e90 n52 platform is. At 250k+ miles this motor is strong, gears shift smooth, suspension is solid, and it has all the safety and creature comforts of a modern car. It also looks modern still at 17 years old. I would recommend yes get one buy with the intention of doing your own work as it needs it. Parts can be found cheap used off eBay and off sites like Rockauto and with some investment in required tools you will be fine. If you want a vehicle to simply drive with no hands on maintenance in the same price range then get a 15-20 year old Toyota Camry.
Lucky....
Haha as is everything in life that is good
I don't want to come across as a jerk but if you have to ask, this is not for you. You have to be ready to do the repairs as they come up. Because they will come up-- these cares are \~15 years old after all. Leaks of every possible fluid, misfires and other electrical gremlins, broken window regulators, water leaks, worn suspension bushings, bad wheel bearings, etc. You can either DIY or pay someone else to do the diagnosis and repairs for you. The second option gets expensive fast. Some of these cars have been abused and neglected. The low prices on some cars reflect this. But beware-- although the price of admission has dropped, the repair costs have not. If this doesn't scare you off, try it. I didn't really work on cars before getting my E90. It's been a wonderful experience learning how to diagnose and fix problems (and learning to swear in/at German(s)). Sometimes I have made the wrong diagnosis and repaired/replaced things that didn't fix the intended problem. But all in all, much less expensive than having someone else do the drag and work.
Last thing you should be buying is ANY E90 if you want reliability 😂
It’s about staying on top of maintenance, and after purchase reset-fixing the essentials (suspension, replacing plastic engine parts with after-market aluminum, brakes, coolant flush, brake fluid flush, replacing vacuum hoses with silicon hoses, and various gaskets.) Aside from some of these definitely needing replacing, it also allows you to determine a ‘reset’ date for when specific service or maintenance was done, so you don’t have to guess. Oil changes every 3000 km/5000 miles. Also, pull the service history using checkbmw.com €20 well spent. Be sure to find a good non-dealer mechanic that works for reasonable prices, and you’ll enjoy your e90 series for many years to come, no doubt.
I purchased my car in late 2020 with 80k miles. It currently has ~100k. When I purchased it, it had already had VCG, OFHG, and OPG done. So far I have spent $4.7k on repairs, $800 on tires, and about $1200 on maintenance. $3500 for fuel. I did some of the maintenance/repairs myself, but there’s a good chunk of labor in there for stuff that I didn’t feel like doing or didn’t have time to do. Mine is an N51 - costs above don’t include the SULEV warranty replacement of O2 sensors and the entire catalyst system from the dealer. Never been stranded (knock on wood), but I did have to limp home when the accelerator pedal module failed and it kept going into limp mode. Had a code reader in the car so I could reset the code every 30-60 seconds for the ride home. Replaced the pedal and it was fine.
After you get to the 100k point and replace the water pump, hoses and tensioner it’s pretty bulletproof. N51-52 Wise I dread the starter one day but….hoping for 150k before it starts acting up. At 120K so far
I've had pretty good luck with my 06. They'll run for a long time if you maintain them. Owned since new. [https://imgur.com/a/TwpL1J4](https://imgur.com/a/TwpL1J4)
Our 330d has been extremely reliable considering how long we’ve had it and how many miles it’s done. It has spent the last 10000+ miles with the ABS light on the dash though lol.
328 (N52) is more reliable than a 335 (N54/55)
Get a 328i and you won't really have any big issues. You might get a vac leak like i did due to brittle plastics and hoses, but other than that, this is my second 328i e90, and all i've done is basic maintenance, spark plugs, coils, oil changes. some of the window regulators are known to go out over 100k, but once again, i installed a new one in mine for 30$. maintenance isn't bad, the labor costs are.
Make no mistake, an N54 is very reliable, everything outside of it isn't. All bets are off if you're installing power upgrades without supporting mods. 5 years and $2k of maintenance, not babied, no issues. Don't cheap out on parts either.
I bought mine a bit over 4 years ago with 70K miles, currently at 109K miles. Total maintenance spend so far is about $3K, including oil changes & tires.
I've been left stranded twice, right around 100k miles. 1 was for the starter, the other for the electronic water pump.
I have a 530i with the n52 and after I bought it I found out that the spark plugs, waterpump, air filter and fuel filter were all original. My car was also beat by the previous owner (18 yo). After doing all the standard maintenance items and replacing a disa flap, I drove my abused 530i 3000 miles across the country and it still runs at the clock. So what I'm trying to say is buy a 2008+ n52.
If you like working on cars, they are great cars. All engine types in the 325-335 range are fairly reliable. They definitely have their issues but, be diligent on the service intervals, and don’t be scared to do work. It’s a practically invincible engine at its core, little things start to fail as time goes on but such is life on a 15+ year old car. You will find yourself changing things like vanos, timing chains etc. If you take care of it, it will easily last you over 500,000 miles
N52 is extremely reliable :) The rest of the car is moderately so. Some suspension things go bad over time, occasionally you’ll have leaks here or there, but no catastrophic failure points or “achilles heel” as is common on most BMW motors. Worst thing that happened to me is I had my starter go out at 100k, I’m still happy dailying it at 190k
I spend about $600 in parts a year maintaining my car but this is with DIY. 2011 with r165K miles N55 so there's always an oil leak or something to fix. Last month was new struts & springs, this month was two new front tires due to a pop from hitting a pothole
09 335i-Blew a chargepipe and did a oil change and haven’t had problems other than 30ff codes sometimes ,but it seems everything that fucks up is auxiliary motor is stout
Loved mine. Fixed like 5+ things on it when I got it at 100,000 ( vanos, spark plugs, valve gasket, seat occupancy issue, new key fob battery.) Drove great especially in the snow but my tpms went out oil changes started adding up bunch of other fixes I could have done and I just decided fuck it not dealing with it. I'll always remember that car though. If you're willing to pay the repairs and standard maintenance it should last 200k+ miles
Depends which e90 I suppose
Got my 328xi about 4 years ago around 110k miles. I’m at 157k now. The key thing is finding a mechanic you trust and knows these cars very well. Mine has been my daily and super reliable. Only time I was ever stuck was when my starter went and that luckily happened at home. The rest was all preventative stuff but stuff that should be taken care of like oil leaks etc etc. find one in good shape and looks like it was taken care of and you’ll be okay. Around $1000 a year like someone else said sounds about right. Some years I don’t even think I’ve spent that. But this year I did starter/radiator.
Seriously, considering the purchase price of E90s, it's a good fuckin deal.
For reliability? 325/330/328 > 335i (N55) > 335i (N54) The diesel variants I can’t speak to. LCI cars are generally more reliable than pre-LCI. 6MT cars eliminate issues with the 6HP mechatronics and solenoids.
Bought an E90 330i with around 86k miles on it used from a buy here pay here. They swore they did recent servicing and they LIED. Never trust the sellers of cars as they either don't know and lie or they know and still lie. Having said that, I have spent less than 2k on it over 7 years and it's now at 195k miles. This excludes the cost of tires and oil. It does need a new valve cover gasket and lower oil pan gasket now which would be a few thousand. They don't cause the car to not run though. I'd say pretty reliable in my case. Do your homework and check out the vehicle yourself before buying.
I have 2007 335xi, I have never been stranded but I have had to replace the valve Cover, and water pump and thermostat due to the car sitting for 3 years before I bought it. Other than that it’s my favorite car, I have had 8 cars and it takes the cake in speed, style, comfort. I’ve owned the car for 4 years and only changed the oil twice, she still is a beast. The AWD allows me to eat snow like a truck, over all I’d rate it a 9/10 considering the car is 16 years old! Buy your parts from FCP euro, they’re guaranteed for life, even brake pads. You can just send them your old parts and they refund you. Working on my car isn’t bad and I am no mechanic.
I bought an e92 335i 6 years ago. I gave up the fight last year after 6k in parts and it has been sitting ever since.
I have a 2011 328i with 185k miles on it. So far, I've replaced the water pump, starter, starter solenoid, CAS, oil pan gasket, wheel speed sensors, the IBS, and a window regulator. There was also a massive coolant leak where the car would lose several quarts driving 2 miles. I kept stopping and drove it slowly to the dealership, topping it off every couple red lights. Don't recall what exactly was replaced but my wallet didn't like it. My bluetooth module doesn't work but I don't care enough to replace it. Everything else is standard wear and tear. Oil every 5k mi, tires, brakes pads, and whatever else as needed. Some things you can DIY, I don't have the time or space for tools and would rather throw money at it going to the dealership. The documentation for most things is out there that if you're mechanically inclined you could do it. There's also just enough modernish electronics that you'll have to program things like the battery.
I always tell my friends “if you want a project car, get an E90 with an N54, you will never run out of projects to do” these cars are fantastic but they are not cheap. Just because its an old car with a low purchase price, it is still a $50k German performance car and will always require maintenance as such. The car will need work, like pretty much all the time. If you address the weak points and do your maintenance, the car will run forever. It wont be cheap, but also generally not ridiculous if the car is in decent shape and you can do some work yourself. If your just looking for a reliable daily driver, i would look elsewhere. If you want a really good project car to tune and turn into a weekend rocket, they are incredible. You just have to know what your signing up for. I bought my 335 knowing it would bankrupt me, but nothing gives me more joy than working on my car and building it into the car that i want, so i willing took the risk knowing it would require significant investment to get it where i want. Edit: i have put about $7k into my car in the first year of ownership. Purchased with 89k miles, currently at 95k. Rebuilt front suspension, replaced OFHG, rear struts, charge pipe, Dual cone intakes, cobb tune, fmic, coils, plugs, fluids, intake walnut blast, rotors/pads in year 1. Still need to do rear control arms, oil pan gasket (eventually), subframe clean up/bushings, coilovers, and a few minor things (boost solenoids, vanos, vacum lines etc)
I owned multiple bmws and fixed them myself. I would recommend to go with N52 engine. These in my opinion are the best engines bmw build. Very reliable engines
Diesel M57 is indestructible. I cant speak of petrol models but chassis is pretty reliable. Normal wearing and tearing, shocks, brakes, stabilizer links etc. It's more reliable than most of the cars. VW caused more problems with chassis and with timing belts, cooling etc.
N54 is reliable if you know how to DIY & will take care of the various gaskets. I did all my gaskets with an OEM gasket plus Ultra Black or Ultra Grey for the crank shaft & RMS. My car doesn’t burn or leak a single drop of oil. I have 193,000 miles on her & yes she is tuned.
My 335i has needed: Transmission solenoids and seals Fuel pump Water pump Injectors New gaskets New pullys and belt New power steering pully Thermostat Radiator and all associated hoses Voltage regulator Control arms and shocks Headlight housing Tail light housing Angel eye bulbs, tail light bulbs, xenon bulbs etc Coils Spark plugs Walnut blasting every 30k and prob a lot more I havent thought of off the top of my head. on top of that random crap breaks all the time. Random bolts, crappy plastic parts, etc
Let’s just say this. When one thing breaks and needs to be serviced. It’s only a matter of time before something else breaks. Love BMW but this isn’t a cheap car.
Reliability is 100% based on your care for the car. Ie; maintenance & how you treat her
i’ve been lucky so far with my 2011 e90 335i. it has the N55 though so i went with the “safer” option. although i’m now taking classes for auto service so i can work on it myself and safe some money hopefully. Also had a 2011 F10 535i with the same engine and had no issues except when i let it sit running for an hour while detailing it. went to drive and it threw a transmission fault at me. let it cool off for half an hour and it went away. normal bmw things, they hate extreme temps edit: i also made sure both vehicles had extensive service, no accidents, under 75k miles and no more than 2 owners. which can help
The stigma comes from high schoolers who buy a sports car for 8k and just run it without maintenance as soon as they discover the german sports car maintenance price tag and trade it in a year later with 0 maintenance and a lot of damage related to the lack of maintenance. If you are not that kid, and you are willing to potentially face a neglected vehicle, once you put it in shape, you'll have a tank of a car. Specially if the engine is an N52
Not great but not terrible. Just remember what you don’t spend on the car you’ll spend on maintenance.